Tips when ordering new vehicle

idk, I think dealers have incentive to actually sell cars. The only manufacture direct I ever dealt with was Tesla, and the reps there did not seem fond or care much for selling a car. Their mentality was if you want it, you will put up with our bs. Long waits, the whole run around etc. maybe it’s just because Tesla are in high demand. But certainly not ideal if that was the only way cars could be brought.

atleast with dealers, if one gives you a hard time I’m sure there’s another willing to accept your business.
Come shop in Utah lol.
 
Ford seems to be pretty good for ordering. It’s pretty easy to qualify for the X-plan, which is a fixed no-haggle price slightly below MSRP and limits dealership add-on fees. After I ordered my 2021 Escape, I got an $750 off coupon in mail. Upon delivery I had an additional $750 discount for X-plan customers that showed up in the dealers computer I wasn’t expecting along with $2500 in rebates.

Every time I have tried getting a specific Toyota, it always seems like the dealer is either unwilling to order or Toyota makes them take what they give them.
 
I don't know what OP is looking to buy, but FCA lets you see vehicles that are in transit to dealers, that's how I found my Jeep. First one I found that met my criteria was sold, but I kept looking and found a second one a week or two later. Negotiated over email, gave them my CC for a $500 down payment and about 3 weeks later I went to pick it up. Dealer was great, couldn't have been easier.

I love making the first contact through their website, you can really tell which dealers you want to work with and which ones to run from.
 
Come shop in Utah lol.

Yep-for sure. There is a Cabal which consists of a very small group of families that control the auto market in Utah. It's them or buy a car in Nevada or Idaho. They could care less if you buy a car or not. Tesla can't even sell new cars here. You want a new Tesla-you have to take delivery in Las Vegas.
 
We ordered our 08VW and my 11 135i. One in person, the other through the dealer online service. Got great deals both times, and was pleased with the transaction. Just shop around and know your target fair price. Understand every line and every thing you’re paying for.
 
I have ordered an Oldsmobile Cutlass (boomers know what that is) only way to get a V8 5dpd manual.
Two Dodge Dakotas
And my Son ordered a Chevy (Holden) SS Sport Sedan from Australia. All good deals and just what we wanted!

We Tried to get a Honda Element with a manual transmission the last year of production. Honda dealers can’t order a car. Honda sends them the cars they think will sell. They do a search of other dealers for your car and tell you they can “order it”. Well they were building Elements in Ohio every day with manuals, but WOULD NOT send one to Texas.
Best my dealer could do was get one being sent to Boston in a few days and charge me $1800 bucks to ship it to Houston. Never did get that car..stupid way to turn away a buyer with cash in hand!
 
You won't get as good a deal as something that has been on the lot for nine months, but you'll get exactly what you want. I've ordered two cars, price is agreed ahead of time but manufacturer incentives and financing rates are whatever they are when the car arrives. Both cars I put on the contract that I would only continue with the purchase if the car came before X date and that the interest rate was at or below X percent.

I keep my cars quite a while so I want exactly what I want. No compromises.
 
I think it’s a thing of the past. These days they have a few packages and that’s that.

I ordered one in my youth. The ability to research helped with price negotiation. The dealer effectively has no carrying cost, so that’s a savings to them.

In my case, when the car arrived, they tried to raise the price. It was a darn attractive car at a highly competitive price. I had to threaten a lawsuit. The car had 45 miles of test drives when they relented a couple of days later.


I like “ordering” a car the way my grandfather a small town mill manager would order a car in the 1940’s: Every couple of years Grandma would get on the phone and order a new Oldsmobile,
from the dealer and an hour later they would promptly drop one off.
 
The days of ordering exactly what you want seem to be long gone especially for foreign nameplates. I remember pricing out a Camaro years ago. The salesperson brought out an ordering sheet that must have had 50 different options on it if not more. They send that off to the factory and a month or two later your car comes in. Now, the factories make what they make and the dealers search inventory at their network and try to find the vehicle that matches closest to what you want. The dealers say they don't even know what's coming in on the truck until the vehicles arrive.
I ordered my 911 with exactly what I wanted. Well worth the experience.
 
I ordered my Camaro SS last July, simply because the vehicle with the options I wanted really didn't exist (anywhere in the country, seriously). If I was going to spend the $$$ on a car like this, I wasn't settling for a color or options I did or did not want.

My salesman was amazing and made the process very clear/easy. Basically, I would get the dealership discount off MSRP (some $2000 or so) and I was at the mercy of whatever incentives (if any) were available at delivery by Chevy. It was not locked in at order, so that was the only caveat. But I wasn't going to sweat over $1-2K, potentially. The incentives didn't change any, so it made no difference in my case.

Picked my options and they got the car ordered. Exactly 8 weeks to the day, it showed up on the lot and was ready for pickup.

I'd gladly do it again in the future, especially to get exactly what I want.
 
I ordered my new Jaguar F Type exactly the way I wanted it. At the time I placed my order, not one of the 6 dealerships that I requested a quote from would commit to anything other than MSRP.
But.... a couple told me that whatever incentives that were in place at the time of delivery would be included. Delivery time was quoted at four months but actually took only three months. My car was built just prior to the temporary shutdown due to the chip shortages.

When the car arrived, the program was either 0% financing or a $10,000 rebate for cash. I financed through my credit union and took the $10,000 discount and will pay it off next year.
The dealership was friendly and professional throughout the entire process and kept me fully informed. No complaints from me at all.
 
I just use a site like cars.com and search until I find what I want. Then I research the dealer to make sure they aren't sheisters before reaching out to their internet sales guy/gal. I negotiate over email/phone and go pick it up.

It's hard to custom order a vehicle now because of the packages that go together. I think like most have said, you'll get a better deal just going with something that is on the lot.

My Dad ordered a Subaru Outback a few years back and had a pretty bad experience. Took way longer than they estimated to get the car and was more hassle than it was worth.
 
Always buy from dealer inventory. It is easy to search online to see who has what. When you find what you are looking for go to that dealer and make your best offer. Had a good friend who was a manager at a dealership many years ago and this was one of the many helpful hints he told me when buying a new car.
 
When I ordered my 911- it was a PTS-paint to sample color (etna blue) with carbon brakes. I got to pick exactly the options that I wanted and had it delivered to Porsche North America for delivery. They sent me photos tracking it being built. Took 9 months (like having a baby) but it was definitely worth it. One of a kind.
 

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Dealers wanna sell from inventory to minimize carrying costs and to not lose a customer to another dealer.
If you are in the market for a big seller, you probably cannot order and if you can you will probably pay more.

Use the Internet and find the car you want.
On our recent purchase of a Lexus, I knew what i wanted and was not gonna pay that kinda money and settle for something else.
Our dealership did not order the vehicle, they found one slated for a different dealership and traded for it.
The vehicle was delivered from Canada (mfg plant) to my dealership and 2 other cars were delivered to the other dealership.
I waited 5 months for the RX. I'm sure I could have made a much better deal on a car from the dealer's stock.
Good luck.
Yep … normally do “Build Your Own” just to reach “Find this Vehicle” … use that short list to work the price …
 
Don't beat yourself up over an option. If you want it, get it otherwise you'll be PO'd that you didn't spend the extra couple hundred bucks. For me it was upgrading the brakes and a limited slip differential. Pennywise as they say.
agree but would add there are different types of options, those that are easy and cost effective for the dealer to add on and those that are not. for instance, i have had factory remote start and heated seats added by the dealer to new lower-trim vehicles that were not built with those features at basically the same cost as they would have been had the factory installed them. on the other hand, something like a limited slip, different axle ratio, etc. could cost a lot more to add at the dealer than it would on the assembly line.
 
It seems you're not super picky on what you're getting, so I'd just find one that is already at a dealer within a reasonable range and go and get it. Or if its not a hassle to buy out of state, pick one up in Atlanta and treat yourself to a road trip through the mountains home? I think you can always get a better deal buying a car already in a dealers inventory.
 
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