2023 Tahoe Buying Advice - Ordering vs Looking For?

[Polo08816]

This change won't happen overnight but it is what every manufacturer is doing in America at least. A lot of those "inventory' vehicles are not on the lot yet or coming soon.

They are going to a much more lean model. Less waste and can maintain price better without tons of aging units they have to sell before they get older.

Makes sense. Having 100s of the same model never did make much sense. Takes up real estate. Gotta keep them clean. Gotta keep them secure . just tons of waste throughout.

I welcome the change.

This can't possibly happen with the legacy mfg-dealer model. Manufacturers book the revenue when the vehicle is shipped to the dealer. Consumers buy from dealers. The manufacturers customers are the dealers, not the consumers.

The manufacturers that do direct-to-consumer models like Tesla control their process and have a much cleaner situation. Never heard of a Tesla "dealer" with a 4-square, first they don't have dealers, just delivery centers, and second they have transparent pricing because there's no middleman trying to work an additional profit.

Manufacturers have an incentive to maximize their own profit, which generally means running factories flat out.

Most Americans want to see and feel what they will buy - especially something as expensive as a home or house purchase. Most Americans aren't in a financial position to have a car order in the hopper with the expectation that their current vehicle will be a total loss or beyond repairable in 3-6 months time.

A manufacturer can choose to have the order-only model but they're leaving a lot of volume on the table for their competitors to gain market share. I only see an order-only model viable for exotic car manufacturers - not a mainstream auto manufacturer.

We call this a change.

Covid facilitated this change.

Manufacturers and dealers got to test run something no one though possible.

Even ****** cars were getting marked up or pre sold.

Gross on vehicles during covid was incredibly high.

The lean model is the new model. The pre sold model is the new model. The placing your order and waiting for your vehicle is the new model.

It is new. As in has not been done. As in goes against the status quo. As in tesla and its ilk are also a driving force behind these decisions.

Oh, you haven't heard. I would argue that Tesla is in a position where it has to respond to competition it didn't have a few years ago:

Tesla offers $3,750 discount for Model 3, Model Y deliveries in December | TechCrunch

Tesla's discount might be a way to boost Q4 sales as many customers push deliveries to 2023 to be eligible for the EV tax credit.

techcrunch.com

And it's a reaction to losing market share from competition:

Tesla still owns US EV market but is losing market share, shows new data

S&P Global Mobility released new EV sale data that show Tesla still owns the US EV market, but it is losing market shares.

electrek.co

Tesla is offering a $3750 rebate on Model 3 and Model Y if you take delivery this month. If you ordered a Model 3 today, you would be able to take delivery in December per their website. If anything, Tesla is going more towards a volume model because the competition has increased. That's how much and how quickly the car market has changed in the last few months.

 

[TXNJ]

We call this a change.

Covid facilitated this change.

Manufacturers and dealers got to test run something no one though possible.

Even ****** cars were getting marked up or pre sold.

Gross on vehicles during covid was incredibly high.

The lean model is the new model. The pre sold model is the new model. The placing your order and waiting for your vehicle is the new model.

It is new. As in has not been done. As in goes against the status quo. As in tesla and its ilk are also a driving force behind these decisions.

I generally agree with all of this. I do think we are going to move to a 'order and wait' model, but with shorter (and more predictable) wait times than we currently experience.

Where I am less certain is what that will look like further down the road (like 3+ years from now). Dealers only have two things they can really compete on, and those are price and availability. it's not like a group of competing Italian restaurants, where they can all produce a pizza using a general industry-accepted ingredient list, but have wildly different products at the end and you are giving significant weight to the one that tastes the best. A Yukon SLT has a fixed ingredient list and will be the same no matter who you buy it from. Sure, there are the intangibles like service, how much they hassle you in finance, loaner car programs, etc., but many buyers are willing to put a lot less weight on these aspects than they are price and availability. The availability aspect wasn't a significant factor in the past. Today it's the leading screening attribute. So I wonder if down the road you will see dealers slowly build their unsold inventory, using fancy algorithms to predict what they have the best chance of selling, as a means of differentiating themselves from other dealers. And then, like everything in life where you have to follow the herd or be left behind, do other dealers follow suit.

If you had 3 dealers in your local area, and one of them was known to carry more inventory than the others, you are likely going to at least inquire of them first. I think the dealers will see this as an opportunity to justify keeping the prices closer to MSRP and they will work hard to dial in their predictive models that tell them what models/trims they have the best chance of selling off the lot.

 

[shekmark]

I tried for a while and gave up.
Plus because of the chip shortage, not only are dealers that have vehicles in stock asking for MSRP for vehicles with less standard items but then put extra crap on them we don't want...I am going to ride it out. I gave up on buying an F350 too because of the new policies and dealers that were selling below invoice at ford got their hands slapped. I ended up ordering a Ram TRX at 10K below the sticker price. Now with the big incentives at JEEP (below Invoice)...I am thinking about possibly getting a grand wagoneer. I will wait to see if GM starts getting a build-up of inventory...I don't trust the JEEP twin-turbo v6. I rather get a 6.2 V8.

I believe it’s actually he new inline 6. Supposed to be nice motor. Two versions but both have lots of power.

 

[meatman1947]

I have been in the market for a 2023 Tahoe LT for about 6 months now. As I won't pay more than MSRP (most dealers want $2k - $8k over) and I am not in a rush it's been a lot of looking. I finally found two dealers within 100 miles of me that are selling at MSRP but neither had an LT in stock or comming.

After speaking with one of the dealers I placed an "order" with them for a 2023 Tahoe Silver (Luxury Package, 20" wheels, cross bars, Max Trailers (if they can get it) $69,330MSRP). No money down and I can walk any time, but the dealer explained this is not a traditional "order" where GM would build the Tahoe but when given the chance by GM the dealer would find a car that I want and take it in their stock to sell to me. I guess once a month or so dealers can pick a couple of newly built vehicles from a GM list to bring to their lot. I was told it takes about 12 weeks for this process, depending on what is offered and who has put their request in before me.

Has anyone done an order like this? Is there any other advice? I don't mind waiting but the value of my trade is going down and rates are going up.

I have looked anywhere within 250 miles of me and either the car/color is not available or if it is they what way over MSRP.

Thanks.

I JUST ORDERED ANOTHER NEW TAHOE PREMIER, THE ONE I BOUGHT DIDN'T HAVE ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL (SALESMAN SAID IT DID)AND THE DEALER TOLD ME THAT THEY ARE TAKING ORDERS ON ALLOCATION ONLY, MEANING THAT WHEN GM SAYS THEY HAVE AN OPENNG THEY WILL LET THEM ORDER IT AND WOULD TAKE 8 WEEKS