Inventory or Order?

[Johnny Fr]

The order process seems to come with a shroud of mystery. I asked on another post, and the response of course was crickets lol Because any comments someone makes, piques my curiosity. Be nice if there were an ultimate thread regarding ordering, or, maybe when I search I just didn't find it.

We put a deposit on 5/31 for a Tahoe HC with one option, HC Deluxe package. The dealership gave me the order number, and it's in a preliminary status as of yesterday. From the forum, I take this to mean that there are no constraints and no errors (Lakeshore blue, mocha, HC, HC deluxe--be hard to imagine any error). This doesn't mean much, but, it does have an order # in the system.

I do not find any difference with discount or no discount. Ours is $3,900. NO DEALER ADD ONS.

A far cry from what I've seen on the forum like $8k, but, I did a reality check. Another dealer emailed me would you like to order, I said we did already, the above, can you do $4,400. The person had the courtesy to reply we cannot, that is a steep discount on a factory order. It is, what it is, but told me, they are not willing to give me the deal I already have. That's fine.

I too wonder, if I've got 3 Premiers on the lot, why would I, the dealer, want to order a HC other than it likely has more profit in dollars? Is this order my order, or nothing more than the dealer's order, who is free to sell it to somebody else if they are willing to pay list? They didn't like the question but said I can get my deposit back. In that case, they're stuck with a fairly normal HC (there are 2 exact matches as I type within 300 miles), but maybe it's harder to sell than a LT.

Why are we ordering? Because to us, this is a really large purchase, a number that I never dreamed of, so I'd rather get a car built for me and avoiding options we don't want. Let me just be frank--I cannot buy a vehicle in good conscience when the first digit is a 9 in the list price. Just me.

I'd love to know more about the order process, but for the above reasons, we want to order, not take from inventory. And I didn't feel there is less discount.

Our only concern is the car doesn't get built and we get pushed into a 2026. To me, the sweet spot is getting the last of the model years. The closest we have come is a 6/11 build on a 2011. An August build would be nailing it, in my mind....

Maybe it's been answered and I didn't see it. Is the order linked to the customer? Or is it merely something between the dealer and GM, hence all the mystery and the customer being unable to simply log in and see the status....

 

[Protect1989]

From every dealer I have spoken with, they will not add any discounts to factory orders but will on existing inventory. Which makes sense, they want to move the inventory they’re sitting on and why discount a vehicle someone already is committed to buying.

I get GM employee pricing and a few dealers have been willing to couple that with other discounts on their current inventory.

Unfortunately I haven’t found the exact one I’m looking for so the options are custom order and get GM employee pricing OR keep hunting until I find one that matches my needs or areas I can compromise to save an additional $3000-$5,000

 

[Stbentoak]

I would be hard pressed to take one off the lot unless it had a pretty great discount. When you're popping this kind of money for a vehicle, I want exactly what I want... exactly how I want it.... and I'm willing to wait for it. I don't frankly care if it costs me a few thousand more. This is a long-term investment in contentment and something I use practically every day....as far as a vehicle goes....

 

[Johnny Fr]

From every dealer I have spoken with, they will not add any discounts to factory orders but will on existing inventory. Which makes sense, they want to move the inventory they’re sitting on and why discount a vehicle someone already is committed to buying.

I get GM employee pricing and a few dealers have been willing to couple that with other discounts on their current inventory.

Unfortunately I haven’t found the exact one I’m looking for so the options are custom order and get GM employee pricing OR keep hunting until I find one that matches my needs or areas I can compromise to save an additional $3000-$5,000

Since you get employee pricing, can I ask you respectfully, if the dealer told me your order is AAAAA1 (that's the format), and it is in a preliminary status, which is not unexpected.

Does GM know that order # AAAAA1 is on behalf of me, GM knows my name, or they have nary a clue, it's simply a vehicle that John Jones Chevy has placed (I made this name up).

If the latter is true, what would stop a dealer from selling it to the highest bidder? In your description, people are paying list, that's what prevents it. But I'm not, mine was discounted $3,900.....

If the former is true, then it's no different than a Japanese dealer and they absolutely will sell to the highest bidder, so to prevent that, buy off of the lot. Besides, their vehicles are not highly customizable, the are sold with packages.

The only other vehicle I have ordered is a BMW. In this case, BMWNA had my name associated with the vehicle. I could choose to have it shipped to any dealership in the nation, or, to the SC Performance Center. This was on a 2007, maybe it's changed. But as we all know Euro cars always had the option to pick up in Germany, where it's cheaper, but, the savings is spent on a Euro trip, i.e. a trip to Europe becomes free and the overall expenditure is the same.

The fact that here I learned only the dealer and only chatting with GM can return the status code, tells me, an order isn't really the customer's order, or that's the implication....if it were not, then a customer could simply login to find the status, like BMW in 2006/2007.

 

[Johnny Fr]

I would be hard pressed to take one off the lot unless it had a pretty great discount. When you're popping this kind of money for a vehicle, I want exactly what I want... exactly how I want it.... and I'm willing to wait for it. I don't frankly care if it costs me a few thousand more. This is a long-term investment in contentment and something I use practically every day....as far as a vehicle goes....

In our case, they all have 24" rims, which I totally get, a dealer can't just throw them into the deal they're $2k+, and many have screens in the back and super cruise. That's why we have to order and also I just would rather have a car come off the carrier and we pick it up, at this price level. Again I'm odd. We test drove a Premier with 9 miles on it. When we came back, there were 17. I can't expect you to see 17 miles on the odometer, and say, shucks, I'll pay $85k for it I don't care that people have been going in and out of it and driving it. That's a demo to me, but again, that's me, not the dealer....oh, and this....how about talking with the sales manager for 20 min inside while she showed us the features, engine idling, AC and rear AC on. Now that I think about it, was there an hours running stat being kept on the infotainment....this vehicle is being used to show others the Tahoe. Likely same with any car in stock if a customer wants to see it. Why not treat a Tahoe like a Ferrari? lol

 

[Protect1989]

Since you get employee pricing, can I ask you respectfully, if the dealer told me your order is AAAAA1 (that's the format), and it is in a preliminary status, which is not unexpected.

Does GM know that order # AAAAA1 is on behalf of me, GM knows my name, or they have nary a clue, it's simply a vehicle that John Jones Chevy has placed (I made this name up).

If the latter is true, what would stop a dealer from selling it to the highest bidder? In your description, people are paying list, that's what prevents it. But I'm not, mine was discounted $3,900.....

The dealers I have spoken with have given me 2 options.

1) I place an order, no deposit, no strings attached. Technically they could sell it out from under me but my sales guy is supposed to prevent that (fingers crossed)

2) I put down a deposit. Now it’s mine and they can’t pull it from under me even if someone offers full price (supposedly)

 

[Stbentoak]

In our case, they all have 24" rims, which I totally get, a dealer can't just throw them into the deal they're $2k+, and many have screens in the back and super cruise. That's why we have to order and also I just would rather have a car come off the carrier and we pick it up, at this price level. Again I'm odd. We test drove a Premier with 9 miles on it. When we came back, there were 17. I can't expect you to see 17 miles on the odometer, and say, shucks, I'll pay $85k for it I don't care that people have been going in and out of it and driving it. That's a demo to me, but again, that's me, not the dealer....oh, and this....how about talking with the sales manager for 20 min inside while she showed us the features, engine idling, AC and rear AC on. Now that I think about it, was there an hours running stat being kept on the infotainment....this vehicle is being used to show others the Tahoe. Likely same with any car in stock if a customer wants to see it. Why not treat a Tahoe like a Ferrari? lol

Because it's not a Ferrari. A demo vehicle usually has 200 to 2000 miles on it and has been driven by people and or a sales manager for a while and usually includes a pretty decent discount but a brand-new warranty. I wouldn't be totally afraid of a demo vehicle as long as it was given a full new warranty and a 10 to 15% discount and it was exactly what I wanted. Otherwise, order it wait it out and you'll get a brand-new vehicle with just a few miles on it.

 

[Protect1989]

Because it's not a Ferrari. A demo vehicle usually has 200 to 2000 miles on it and has been driven by people and or a sales manager for a while and usually includes a pretty decent discount but a brand-new warranty. I wouldn't be totally afraid of a demo vehicle as long as it was given a full new warranty and a 10 to 15% discount and it was exactly what I wanted. Otherwise, order it wait it out and you'll get a brand-new vehicle with just a few miles on it.

I just had a situation where a dealership had a Tahoe that I wanted to purchase. It was currently being used as a demo vehicle by the dealership owners wife.

They did not want to even discuss pricing/negotiate in any way because that meant the wife would have to give up the truck. They told me they can reach out when it gets a couple thousand miles on it.

Choosing the wife over a paying customer is 100% their choice, but they absolutely lost a future customer from me.

 

[Johnny Fr]

Because it's not a Ferrari. A demo vehicle usually has 200 to 2000 miles on it and has been driven by people and or a sales manager for a while and usually includes a pretty decent discount but a brand-new warranty. I wouldn't be totally afraid of a demo vehicle as long as it was given a full new warranty and a 10 to 15% discount and it was exactly what I wanted. Otherwise, order it wait it out and you'll get a brand-new vehicle with just a few miles on it.

I totally get it, but for some of us the prices of these vehicles is up there. And besides, we have this notion of mechanical sympathy. You'll see us in the company garage walking pretty far to park away even though our vehicles are quite ordinary. At any rate, it does feel as if a custom order, is between the dealer and GM, not the customer and GM. Haven't seen anything yet to the contrary. The fact that a customer can't get status online and must rely upon the dealer or chat GM, is a red flag, at least to me. On a positive note, there has to be some code of honor when doing business. If a dealer makes a person wait months then sells the vehicle to a higher bidder, that's not great and surely it would be reflected somewhere.

edit p.s. I just went to the website and put in the 6 digit vehicle order chatting with the virtual assistant. It said your dealer has submitted your order, but it has not been officially accepted by GM. That was very easy, seriously. And interesting both the dealer and the virtual assistant say, "Your order."

 

[Johnny Fr]

I just had a situation where a dealership had a Tahoe that I wanted to purchase. It was currently being used as a demo vehicle by the dealership owners wife.

They did not want to even discuss pricing/negotiate in any way because that meant the wife would have to give up the truck. They told me they can reach out when it gets a couple thousand miles on it.

Choosing the wife over a paying customer is 100% their choice, but they absolutely lost a future customer from me.

That sure is strange. What has surprised me is most dealers I've looked up online, have only 80 cars in stock. And usually, 0-2 Tahoes. Oddly, the last 2 dealers had 5 Suburbans each, one had 0 Tahoes, one had 1 Tahoe. Per the mfg numbers, Tahoes outsell Suburbans. And sales wise is 1/2 of all Buicks!