My Local Ford Dealer Frat House

[97K15004WD]

I had a pleasant dealership oil change experience at my local North NJ Chevy shop yesterday. But it was jarring not seeing a single new car in inventory. Not one!

That's really strange. The car lots I drive past are lower than usual in inventory, but not like that. I'm talking all brands - not just one. Now granted, I am also not looking every day but this past week there were plenty of cars on the Chevy dealerships lot here. Were they all new cars - I don't know. But the lot wasn't empty either.

Might be a local dealer issue. Cash crunch, low on the list for receiving cars from GM, failed to place orders in a timely fashion, etc. No way to know unless you are in the business itself. Some people just wait too late to order things and miss out. Think about the ammunition shortage, heck, any shortage. Some people are still getting things because they are faster, pay more, or accept lower quality.

We have no shortages of any kind that I have seen or experienced around here. We might be the exception, but if we are, I would be very surprised.

 

[tombalas]

That's really strange. The car lots I drive past are lower than usual in inventory, but not like that. I'm talking all brands - not just one. Now granted, I am also not looking every day but this past week there were plenty of cars on the Chevy dealerships lot here. Were they all new cars - I don't know. But the lot wasn't empty either.

Might be a local dealer issue. Cash crunch, low on the list for receiving cars from GM, failed to place orders in a timely fashion, etc. No way to know unless you are in the business itself. Some people just wait too late to order things and miss out. Think about the ammunition shortage, heck, any shortage. Some people are still getting things because they are faster, pay more, or accept lower quality.

We have no shortages of any kind that I have seen or experienced around here. We might be the exception, but if we are, I would be very surprised.

I went back this morning to just give it another look. Other than 3 new Bolts parked in the side lot, which had "Hold" signs on them and the window stickers removed and placed in the back seats, nothing else on the lot was 2021/new. The few cars that were on the lot were used or customer cars with "not for sale" signs on them. The dealership was staffed up, and they didn't seem upset, so I suppose they are selling everything they order in advance. I also presume that once the trailers drop off any new cars, they don't stay on the lot for long as they are collected by customers. Never seen anything like this before.

 

[DejaVue]

There's this thread, and then there's the thread with posts saying they can't believe anyone would buy a car from a place like Carvana instead of going to a dealership.