Changes are Coming

13COBRA

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How will this work on trades, I would think smart people are going to order based on an agreed value of any trade and such to know the total cost and what they'd need to bring at pickup. But from the dealer side, a lot can happen to a trade in a month.

In a month? Nah.

In the current 3-6 months, yeah.
 

tones_RS3

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LOL
I emailed them the other day for shits and giggles. The salesman wrote back that they are doing Jailbreak car orders at 3K ADM. That would make the car a 100K car.

I was like,...........

giphy.gif
 

CobraBob

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What is the up side for the customer outside the perception you are "custom ordering" your vehicle?
I've bought and owned well over 100 vehicles and I can't recall ever ordering one, though I've always gotten what I wanted. I've had cars dealer swapped or I just went and bought it at the dealer that had the car in stock.

When I sold cars, Honda, VW, Audi, Mercedes, I'd say less than 5% were ordered and those were usually specialty cars, S-Class, CL, SL. The overwhelming majority of sales were people who came in and bought a car. Consumers are impulsive and we live in the age of now where Amazon will deliver things the same day, etc.

The only upside I see is for the manufacturers.
A.They can produce less cars saving on wages and making more profit by offering less incentives.
B. They can phase out dealers and go to Tesla model further increasing their profits.

The consequences for the consumer is they will pay more and get less.
Example: I bought my 2016 XLT in Dec 2016. It listed for $53k I bought it for $40k and got 0%. The truck cost me $40k +ttl
Today's market that truck is $56k and I would pay msrp and 2.5% @60mo.
Today that truck would cost me $ 59k.
Is that truck worth $19k more? Not to me.

My 2019 Platinum's msrp was $69k and I paid $62k with 0%, so that truck cost me $62k +ttl. Today that truck is $75k+ttl @ 2.5% with $15k down at 60 mo that truck would cost me $79k. Is that truck worth an additional $17k. Not to me.

Normally every 2-3 years I'd get a new truck but I'm not going to pay and additional 27% for the privilege. I'll wait until I need a new truck in another 5 years or until things go back to normal. And I suspect so will a lot of other people.

I guess a plus for the dealers will be that people will be keeping their cars a lot longer so the service side will be booming.
Upside for the customer? Pretty simple. You get exactly what you want. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Over the years, dealerships have encouraged buying either what's on the lot or buying a vehicle already ordered by the dealership and on its way soon. I cannot remember the last time ANY dealer suggested that I custom order the vehicle I want. THAT is about to change if custom orders are going to be a standard.

@triple-s, I'm with you. I hate the dealer experience. It is never something I look forward to. So any changes made that reduce or eliminate the dealer hassles, including the closing hassles I mentioned before, I'm all in. There was a time, decades ago, when dealer experiences were actually decent. I'm talking back in the late '60s and early '70s.

EDIT: My one exception is dealing with Nick. I've never bought from him, but just based on what others have said and what he himself has said, he is a big exception.
 
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Weather Man

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Upside for the customer? Pretty simple. You get exactly what you want. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Over the years, dealerships have encouraged buying either what's on the lot or buying a vehicle already ordered by the dealership and on its way soon. I cannot remember the last time ANY dealer suggested that I custom order the vehicle I want. THAT is about to change if custom orders are going to be a standard.

@triple-s, I'm with you. I hate the dealer experience. It is never something I look forward to. So any changes made that reduce or eliminate the dealer hassles, including the closing hassles I mentioned before, I'm all in. There was a time, decades ago, when dealer experiences were actually decent. I'm talking back in the late '60s and early '70s.

It already has changed Bob. I bought my Lincoln over the web with a trade over a year ago. They delivered it from 75 miles away to my house and did paperwork on my back porch.
 

HISSMAN

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This is all a result of Tesla's buying model. Which is fine. There is just something about a good brick and mortar.
 

13COBRA

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Dodge introduced the Jailbreak editions, and Ford introduced the "No, no..you cannot order it that way", edition.
Ford still allows retail orders just like they have.
It already has changed Bob. I bought my Lincoln over the web with a trade over a year ago. They delivered it from 75 miles away to my house and did paperwork on my back porch.
We do about 20% of sales this way.

Sent from my Potato
 

SecondhandSnake

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Can't say I'm surprised. This may be in the interest of supply constraints now, but you know it's going to stick around and pad the bottom line in the future.

GM and Dodge are already embracing the order model. OEMs are really looking to squeeze the dealers as much as possible. They'll get much fatter margins on less volume, giving up more impulse sales. (Which anecdotally, even as a person who custom orders, everyone else I know falls in the impulse category.) The customer is going to pay through the nose in the near future. But I'm sure other lower ranked OEMs are going to be poised to scoop up those impulse sales. I bet Nissan is already drooling.
 

RickyBobby51

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Anything ordered 'retail' for customers is excluded and can be spec'd however.

This is such a lazy move. It's frustrating.
Nick. Is GM doing the same? I went to my Chevrolet dealer (Kearny Mesa Chevrolet in San Diego) to put a deposit down on my specific build of a 3500 2022 Duramax, and the salesman and the Manager said that they could not even take my money/ build order because they don't have an allotment to even request such a truck to be made. Also they sincerely had no horizon for an order to be permitted to be placed. Wow! (They appeared to be quite sincere). Is this the new normal?
 

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Not much IMO, @Tractorman. What will affect impulse buying like I said, is people finding out that they can custom order their vehicle with the exact features/options they want if they choose to do so, and get it delivered in a month or so. Funny, you can go onto a manufacturer website, select Build-It-Now, select your powertrain, color, wheels, packages, features and get a price. Try, though, to find the car you configured at a dealership near you. You likely won't. You'll find that about 90% of the cars you're shown aren't the exact configuration you put together. Exterior colors may vary. Packages may vary. Interior color may vary. One or more features/packages may differ from your configuration. I think people will like the opportunity to actually order what they configured, subtracting any discounts they're entitled to. It makes sense. Those who want an assist can still order from a brick and mortar dealership. Those who want to walk away with a vehicle they've selected from the dealership's limited stock can choose to do so.
 

me32

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So i am assuming dealerships will be much like tesla, very small with service department. Lots of job loss for the big dealerships i see comming.
 

Weather Man

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So i am assuming dealerships will be much like tesla, very small with service department. Lots of job loss for the big dealerships i see comming.

I dunno, I had more than one dealer principal tell me the only reason they sold new was to get the used. Dealerships that can work the auctions will keep their sales staff fed.
 

me32

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I dunno, I had more than one dealer principal tell me the only reason they sold new was to get the used. Dealerships that can work the auctions will keep their sales staff fed.
Noticing the high volume dealers in Cali have reduced sales force in 1/2. Makes sense if there is nothing to sell. Service department look overwhelmed. Not enough techs to keep up with demand. Ford called me to schedule an air bag inspection. The new replacement maybe faulty too. They offered mobile service or if i brought it in a free oil change.
 

q6543

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Wait until these cars get 2-3 million mile life expectancy.

I think there is already a 1 million mile tesla over in Europe.
 

derklug

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Get one that was initially sold in Canada, rust will get it before the first oil change.
 

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