Special Ordering a New Car

I got Dealer 3 to match Dealer 2 with the Costco price. Both of them said factory rebates/incentives will be applied when the car arrives. Now let's see if any of them will budge to give me a better price. :)
 
Every dealer knows how to order a vehicle. What they want to sell are vehicles on their lot - so they give you a song and dance about their not 'knowig' how to do.

You ask to speak to the new car sales manager - you say:

"I want to special order a vehicle the exact way I want it. I will buy one if you have it that way. I will not have you 'get' the car from another dealer. Otherwise we have a chance to special order what I want. Will you do it - yes or no. Don't waste my time - I won't waste yours."

If he says no - you say thank you and walk away.

if he says yes - then the next step of the painful procedure begins. Usually the problem in the car is color. Not option packages - and make sure you don't overpay buying less vehicle than you can get for less money since many packages have tremendous discounts off retail - if you spec-order options it may make sense to special order a higher levvel so it costs less money.
 
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RalphInCA said:
I cannot wait until Amazon starts selling cars.
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That's good and bad... Bezos doesn't care at all about net revenue, and yet the market keeps propping up his stock irrationally.
He's no Buffett, that's for sure.
 
comanchepilot said:
Every dealer knows how to order a vehicle. What they want to sell are vehicles on their lot - so they give you a song and dance about their not 'knowig' how to do.

You ask to speak to the new car sales manager - you say:

"I want to special order a vehicle the exact way I want it. I will buy one if you have it that way. I will not have you 'get' the car from another dealer. Otherwise we have a chance to special order what I want. Will you do it - yes or no. Don't waste my time - I won't waste yours."

If he says no - you say thank you and walk away.

if he says yes - then the next step of the painful procedure begins. Usually the problem in the car is color. Not option packages - and make sure you don't overpay buying less vehicle than you can get for less money since many packages have tremendous discounts off retail - if you spec-order options it may make sense to special order a higher levvel so it costs less money.
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My wife wanted a white Ford Edge with light leather interior. All the white Edges we looked at had dark interior. Dealer's computers were on the fritz that day, so went home and built the order to her specs, came out less than anything on the lot (used the Costco program so apples to apples comparison between lot cars and build sheet). Sent the build sheet to the dealer and 3-4 weeks later, car was delivered to the dealer.
 
Car buying is a much-too-clumsy and out-of-date process. It really ought to be possible to order a new car online, configured as you want it, with a firm price established at the time of the order, without talking to anyone. A customer should be given the choice of home delivery or picking it up at a dealer.

If I could do that, I would be more likely to buy a new car. As it is, I would rather drive an old beater.
 
I wish we could just buy vehicles direct from the manufacturer. The only value a dealership adds is somewhere local to go if there's a problem, they're certainly not any more knowledgable about the cars than someone who's done a little internet research.
 
RalphInCA said:
What if Amazon shipped cars through dealers? In other words - order online pick up at the dealer. Would that work?
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Thats what truecar and Costco offer. A fixed price but delivery through the dealer. You still have to deal with the unpleasantness of dealing with a car dealership. It's like getting a great price on getting a tooth drilled at the dentist.
Buying a car through Amazon should be fully online and end with a car hauler dropping off the car in your driveway.
 
cowman said:
I wish we could just buy vehicles direct from the manufacturer. The only value a dealership adds is somewhere local to go if there's a problem, they're certainly not any more knowledgable about the cars than someone who's done a little internet research.
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This qualifies as the most ridiculous post of the week.
 
Mike Smith said:
This qualifies as the most ridiculous post of the week.
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That is certainly correct for the new car buying process. I find car dealership sales reps to be utterly useless. Sure, the service people know the cars and where to look up stuff, the sales drones don't.
 
weilke said:
That is certainly correct for the new car buying process. I find car dealership sales reps to be utterly useless. Sure, the service people know the cars and where to look up stuff, the sales drones don't.
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Your n/1 study.........
 
Mike Smith said:
This qualifies as the most ridiculous post of the week.
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What's so ridiculous about it?

Dealers rarely seem to know much about what they're selling. The service centers are the only thing there that's useful and that's only when the vehicle is still in warranty when you probably aren't going to need them anyway. Out of warranty I wouldn't got to a dealership service center.
 
Mike Smith said:
Your n/1 study.........
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So you think I have bought one new car in my life ?

New car dealers are a terribly inefficient method to distribute a complex and capital intensive product. The real estate, the capital tied up in inventory, all the personnel involved etc. It's an antiquated retail model. I should be able to configure, order from the mfgr and get the thing delivered to my home. Pulling off the foil covers, checking the oil and loading the car on a rollback doesnt require a retail location and garish advertising in all the local outlets.
 
cowman said:
What's so ridiculous about it?

Dealers rarely seem to know much about what they're selling.

Not sure when or where your experience comes from, but it is far from normal....FAR from normal.

The service centers are the only thing there that's useful and that's only when the vehicle is still in warranty when you probably aren't going to need them anyway.

This is pretty accurate, most manufacturers are building solid vehicles today.

Out of warranty I wouldn't got to a dealership service center.

Times they are a'changing, it wont be very long before you will. Independent shops are closing at a pretty good rate because they simply cannot afford the technology to work on newer vehicles, I see it everyday. You wont be able to do it yourself, you will go to the dealer because they will be the only place capable.
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With that, I will withdraw and let the dealership flogging continue.
 
weilke said:
So you think I have bought one new car in my life ?

New car dealers are a terribly inefficient method to distribute a complex and capital intensive product. The real estate, the capital tied up in inventory, all the personnel involved etc. It's an antiquated retail model. I should be able to configure, order from the mfgr and get the thing delivered to my home. Pulling off the foil covers, checking the oil and loading the car on a rollback doesnt require a retail location and garish advertising in all the local outlets.
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If you have bought 5 a year, every year for your adult life it still equals n/1. So far in 2017 there have been @ 11.5 MILLION new vehicles sold in the US. Your experience is neither vast nor mainstream. There are many reasons your idea wont work, many reasons why dealerships are essential, but my grandmother always told me that "someone convinced against their will is of the same opinion still", so I know I couldn't convince you.
 
weilke said:
So you think I have bought one new car in my life ?

New car dealers are a terribly inefficient method to distribute a complex and capital intensive product. The real estate, the capital tied up in inventory, all the personnel involved etc. It's an antiquated retail model. I should be able to configure, order from the mfgr and get the thing delivered to my home. Pulling off the foil covers, checking the oil and loading the car on a rollback doesnt require a retail location and garish advertising in all the local outlets.
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The only problem I see with this model is the test drive. I wonder how many people would be comfortable buying a car they've never driven?
 
ColoPilot said:
The only problem I see with this model is the test drive. I wonder how many people would be comfortable buying a car they've never driven?
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I would, and I think lots of people would, once they get used to this distribution model.

Especially for "appliance" type cars like Honda Accord's, Camry's, pick up trucks, – very common type cars. The only cars that need a test drive are the specialty type cars, sports cars etc.
 
ColoPilot said:
The only problem I see with this model is the test drive. I wonder how many people would be comfortable buying a car they've never driven?
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I don't test wash a washing machine either. It's a car, push one pedal it goes faster, another one it goes slower.

I am not saying that we don't need car dealers. I am sure there are people who feel that they need the dog and pony show, the 'manager', the 'managers manager', the meeting with the 'finance guy', the upsell on the special protection plan for the windshield etc. I am saying that dealers are worthless to me.
 
weilke said:
I don't test wash a washing machine either. It's a car, push one pedal it goes faster, another one it goes slower.

I am not saying that we don't need car dealers. I am sure there are people who feel that they need the dog and pony show, the 'manager', the 'managers manager', the meeting with the 'finance guy', the upsell on the special protection plan for the windshield etc. I am saying that dealers are worthless to me.
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I agree the dealer process sucks the way it is now, but I still think most consumers want the test drive.

Maybe Tesla has it right, you can go to the showroom to drive the car if you want, but the purchase itself is all done online and no haggling over prices. From what I've read, at the Tesla "dealership", if you decide to purchase they sit you down at a computer and pull up the Tesla website.
 
ColoPilot said:
I agree the dealer process sucks the way it is now, but I still think most consumers want the test drive.
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Setting up a few places where anyone can come test drive popular models on a weekend with an appointment, would be easy. Dealerships and manufacturers do this at race tracks and large parking lots all the time for overstock used inventory. Could even be done in conjunction with a car rental company for location and staff. Test drive costs $75 refundable if you purchase to keep the lookieloos away.
 
Mike Smith said:
Your experience is neither vast nor mainstream. There are many reasons your idea wont work, many reasons why dealerships are essential
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In your lingo, there are 58 billion reasons dealerships are not essential. That's the market cap of Tesla.

Which exceeds the cap of GM. And Ford.

There are vast numbers of investors, not just one, who compare automakers. Millions of them. If they deemed conventional dealers as essential, they would give Ford and GM the bigger caps. But they don't.
 
Mike Smith said:
If you are using Tesla as your argument, you already lost.
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The argument was that conventional dealers are not essential. You avoided that topic entirely in your response, and wandered instead into the weeds of batteries and so forth.

The fact remains, investors are fairly astute, and massive numbers of them, on the whole, say Tesla doesn't need conventional dealers to be a more valuable company than GM or Ford. That is a powerful argument that conventional dealers are not essential, contrary to your claim.
 
I deleted my post, deciding this isn't something I really give a **** to argue about. I think you're wrong. Time will tell. Good evening.
 
NoHeat said:
The fact remains, investors are fairly astute, and massive numbers of them, on the whole, say Tesla doesn't need conventional dealers to be a more valuable company than GM or Ford. That is a powerful argument that conventional dealers are not essential, contrary to your claim.
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Tesla's market cap is pure Wall Street fiction. A company with no international distribution to speak of, and a niche vehicle, is "magically" worth what two giant multi-nationals with global operations are worth. LOL. Hilarious.

The phrase that's well known on Wall Street for this sort of behavior is: "The market can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent."
 
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