I came to bury Derek Kreindler instead of praising him.

I came to praise Derek, not to bury him.

I agree with Derek's point of view, but disagree with his point of view. And again agreed with him. Wait a minute, it will make sense.

One of the several admirable ways my former boss and more former employees think differently from traditional car magazines is his relentless attention to the real reasons behind the car manufacturer’s product planning decisions. Every time some writers on social justice and European holidays complain about the lack of brown diesel power, gear levers, MB-Tex interiors, and E30-sized station wagons, Derek will release hell to this poor guy and point out that American consumers get what they get The model combination, because this is the model combination they voted again and again with their wallet. He never tires of forcibly shifting the responsibility of today's tepid dealer inventory from the original equipment manufacturer to the buyer.

In doing so, he kind of broke the fourth wall of car news. Everyone in the business talks to the same product planners and gets the same numbers, but no one wants to annoy readers by pointing out his responsibility for the disappearance of the enthusiast-centric car. This is an interesting double standard. You can pretend that the Porsche IMS problem and a hundred other similar objectionable quality problems do not exist to hurt the customer. You can screw him up with faulty junk products, but you can't make it worse. Instead, the author conspired with the reader in a stylish way, pretending to believe that the reader was ready to buy a brown diesel manual truck as soon as he showed up. This makes readers very gratified. As a consumer of automotive media, he believes that he is very different from the other 2 million people who received CR-V non-physical mobile phones last year. All the others bought CR-V-style things because they were idiots, but he did it because the stylish station wagon of his dreams did not show up. This modest conspiracy was widely regarded as beneficial to all parties involved, and caused many people to write very compliments in the comment section-but Derek did not play that role.

The young Mr. K refuses to give new car buyers a pass on this matter, even if they are important members of B&B, which is both admirable and charming. However, as a gray-haired veteran in the showroom sales hall, I have to wonder whether all the responsibilities—such as the existence of the BMW X4—can be directly put on the shoulders of the American middle class. Is there another reason for us *ahha* enlightened connoisseurs to show that our black wool is unevenly distributed among the endless flocks of white sheep and cannot get the cars we are really ready to buy?

Or, remove the coat of versatility from the question-why the fuck should I buy a two-door car to install a manual transmission on a Honda Accord V6?

Let us apply Derek's reasoning to this question. Is it because no one wants a V6 manual Accord sedan? I do not believe. Someone wants it. I want it. I have talked to other people who buy a variable-speed coupe or an automatic car because they can't have the manual car they want. The problem is that we, the American "Best Car Buyers" (WBSSBOA), are not Honda customers. We think we are, the automotive magazine industrial complex pretends that we are, and TV commercials pretend that we are, but we are not.

We are customers of Honda dealers. In turn, Honda dealers are Honda's customers. When Honda sold a car to the dealer's floor plan bank, son, the car was sold in Honda's eyes. It didn't matter whether it stayed behind the detail shop for seven years before getting the temporary label. In practice, of course, dealers almost always move metal faster than this, even if the metal is garbage. In exchange for agreeing to borrow money to buy millions of dollars worth of inventory, and then they have to use regional TV commercials and newspaper ads, as well as free popcorn and deceptive business practices, etc. to sell, the dealer can tell Honda the fuck will be. Their power is not absolute—please note that you can now install air conditioners and/or stereos in Honda factories, which breaks the heart of despicable dealers who like to profit from these add-ons, like John Bonham Like alcohol-but it is powerful.

Now let us sit down and let Uncle Jack tell you a story. In 1995, I worked in a very small Ford dealership. There are less than 200 cars and trucks on our land, various periods, blank spots. But you can bet that at least 10 of these trucks are identical Zhongliu Green Explorer 4WD XLT 945A packed trucks. Why? Because we can sell everything we get. If the 11th Explorer 4WD XLT 945A parcel truck in Zhongliulu appears and we don’t have room to accommodate it, we will ask the service staff to park on the street.

How many Explorer Eddie Bauer trucks do we have? There will never be more than two, usually none. this is very simple. Bauers' sales volume is not enough to justify keeping an inventory. 95% of those who come to find Bauer can transfer to XLT 945A. The opposite is not the case, because the rental cost of Bauer is much higher because it does not have a "top-to-bottom sticker discount". I will further elaborate on this concept at other times.

"But Jack," you said, "Why don't you stock up on five Willow Green XLT and five Bauer (or God help me, Limiteds) inventory?" Good question. The answer is simple. We can never guarantee that the distribution flow of Willow Green XLT is constant. So we need to get every one we can get, even if it means there will be 15 in stock occasionally, because then we don’t have a situation where we sold 6 in one weekend (it happened all. time.) and nothing Leave anything. Faced with the choice between the certainty of selling Willow Green XLT and the possibility of selling red Bauer, we continue to choose XLT in large numbers.

Every Ford model has the equivalent of Willow Green XLT. For Escort, it is the emerald green cheapo LX hatchback. For the Taurus, it is a silver GL sedan. For F-150, it is a red XLT super cab. We cannot bear the consequences of these commodities being out of stock. Out-of-stock of these products will result in loss of customers to another distributor who owns these products.

Therefore, from the air, our dealerships below 200 units have a very single cultural appearance. We actually only sold about twenty different models and equipment combinations. Everything else is a special order. If you special order, you can own that black Explorer Limited 2WD. But you will wait. This is America, and people don’t wait.

On the other hand, if you go to Europe, you will find that car showrooms are just like that-showrooms. You look at the cars they own and then order the cars you want. You are a customer. The dealer is the delivery method. This approach is completely different in all its impact on basic business practices, and I think it should be repeated:

Swear i mean they rewind that line so much

In Europe, you are the customer. The dealer is the delivery method.

In the United States, the distributor is the customer. Distributors want fast turnover of inventory. He does not have enough space to store inventory, nor does he have unlimited funds to purchase. Therefore, it is not only important that potential inventory units have buyers; it is important to have buyers now.

Suppose Honda brought back the V6 manual sedan. Suppose they need at least 10,000 productions to make it worthwhile. For every Honda dealer in the United States, this is approximately 11 units. Can the dealer sell 11 manual V6 cars a year? I bet they can. But they would rather have a place for an automatic I-4 sedan, because that car is guaranteed to sell quickly. They can use I-4 automatic EX to sell more than 11 times in the lot every year. Here's the thing: they can use that location on their lot as another color I-4 EX, thus keeping customers in their lot. Customers like to see all the available colors of stock cars. It helps to sell cars that are not that color because it creates the illusion of choice. For this reason, we always put a white XLT 945A next to the green-so people can see it and then buy the green one. Therefore, the reason why you can't get a manual V6 sedan is simple: compared to the more popular options in stock in this field, dealers will still maintain inventory at a loss even/when it is sold.

Why can't I specially order the V6 manual sedan? The same reason Honda won't sell me a brown V6 manual coupe, even if I pay extra and wait for it. Manufacturers are extremely sensitive to small batch production. Honda does not want to sell 2,000 specially ordered manual V6 sedans each year. It created a complete additional model for EPA certification and put it in the manual to observe the recall. too troublesome. Similarly, they do not want to sell 500 brown V6 manual coupes. It is best to force that small buyer group to choose only a few colors.

"But Jack," you mean, "the situation you describe has existed for thirty years. What has changed?" Well, what has changed is the model combination, especially in manufacturers like BMW. It exploded. They once produced a 3 series-320i-which had two doors and had no choice. Now they have produced so many three models, some of them are called Fours, others are called X3, others are called X4, and the abbreviated version is called X1 and 2 series.

BMW dealers in 1980 only needed space for a few 320i coupes. Today's BMW dealers need to keep an inventory of no less than 12 popular 3 series models. When the X4 debuts, your local BMW dealer needs to make room in its lot to stock, for example, five silver X4s with Premium and cold weather kits. Where did that space come from? Does it come from high-margin products like 760Li or M6 Gran Coupe?

of course not. It comes from the weird, 328i Sport manual, Z4s, non-DCT M3s. The space comes from inventory that is not guaranteed to turn. The same is true for the V6 manual version of Accord, which was once available for sale, although its sales were small. This space can be better used for HR-V or Pilot Touring or any of the more than a dozen other vehicles that Honda did not sell in this country more than two decades ago. Where do you think the nasty CLA space comes from in your local Mercedes-Benz store? Not from the bright black S-Class with the basic option package. Not from GLE350s or what they are called now. It comes from manual SLK250s and C250 Sports.

Is there a solution for this situation? In the short term, absolutely not. In the long run, local assembly and more flexible supply lines may reduce the waiting time for new car orders to a window acceptable to ordinary Americans. Say, a week. I think that if BMW can deliver the 3 Series to the customer 7 days after the customer specifies it, as many as half of the customers will choose a customized order. Too bad, this situation can only be realized long after the last character on all available cars has completely disappeared. When Honda can provide me with a brown V6 manual Accord with fabric interior and 17-inch wheels in time, it will be impossible to make it.

At the same time, what can you do? this is very simple. Buy strange things. Order something that the dealer doesn't have. A different color. Strange combination of options. Gray-green coupe with brown interior. Use your wallet to vote for something else. No matter what it is. Because when you order a car from the factory and refuse to agree to accept a dealer's vehicle or the next best thing in their inventory, you will become something you have never had before.

You become a customer of a car manufacturer.

Although the second-hand market is so strong...

Used cars are much better than before...

The price of used cars is also much higher than before...

However, your money can get more. The average age of the car is 11 years. If an 11-year old car comes from a good manufacturer, it has at least 50-100K miles.

Finding the exact car you want instead of Willow Green XLT is equally difficult.

Surprisingly, the emerald green that was so popular in the 90s—more like fake Crayola green—is now a poison to dealers. Ask Chevrolet how many Rainforest Green Metal Cruzes they have sold so far...

In fact, it’s weird to see advanced options like Model S or 911 still offering dark green as a color option, but it’s also eye-catching when you stumble upon the weirdo who actually bought it. In the late 1990s, it seemed that every four cars were painted in this color, and now no one wants them.

Unfortunately, Model S no longer offers green.

I like Guard Green on Mustang. Especially the black wheels.

"What can you do during this period? It's very simple. Buy strange things. Order things that the dealer doesn't have. A different color. A strange combination of options."

I do this every time I order a car. After I finish, go directly to the manual gearbox on the mainstream vehicle in the BHPH lot? Check.

Red interior. Oh yeah baby. Although it is not possible to use a contrasting color (such as bright blue or green) for specification.

The rear-wheel drive V8 in the snow rust belt, take some snow tires!

It's always interesting to see where they ended up and how long they sat before being sold to some other aspies who focused on some obscure combinations.

"After I finish, go directly to the manual gearbox on the mainstream vehicle in the BHPH lot? Check it out."

BHPHs avoid anything that is not 2006 Altima w/120k miles. The unwanted birth car you ordered looked a lot like mine. Two things happened...

A) It was sold for a total price of US$2-4000 in less than a week. I laughed, pushed the buyer’s order to everyone’s face, and commented on how much I have in the next three weeks. good.

B) It was in a weak state for most of the six months until we sold it at a price exceeding the net cost of $79.

I remember that a 65,000-mile 5-speed Forester 2.5X I sold on eBay was very beautiful. I sold the roof and alloy on eBay. The three people sniped at each other until it brought in $9,165.27. In fact, before that person came to pick it up, I forgot the price of $8,495 from the glass. That's embarrassing. In addition, he drove his other car-a 2010 Fusion Sport and 6MT.

People are a little crazy about second-hand Foresters, especially if they are X. This does not surprise me. I don't know much about that particular model, and I don't like the high-quality fuel requirements.

My wife drove a red 2008 Forester Sports, 5-speed manual, 88k miles, intact. I drove the car to the mall recently, and a couple came over and asked if I wanted to sell it. They gave me 12K. The new car is priced at US$21,000.

I don't think the 3.5L Fusion Sport has a manual option. I thought it could only be used on I-4, even so, it is as rare as a hen's teeth.

When they came out, I started a new sport. I don't care much about riding, and an idiot salesman won't shut up. The first and only test drive of a new car I didn't like. It's not so much a car as it is him. He also instructed me to drive on the most bumpy road in the city, as if trying to highlight a negative aspect found in the entire car.

When we came back, I had to hear all the information about how all the power of the Fusion Hybrid comes from regenerative braking. I started to explain how wrong he was, but then I just wanted to leave there. I pretended to be a phone call, so I suddenly had to leave.

Note: I have a terrible back. For ordinary people, I believe that Sport has a good riding experience.

Did I monitor a mile-high *LH* New Yorker somewhere in Florida?

I remember that when using the Corvette Configurator, you can pay an additional $500 to cover any contrast exclusions. Red interior in any exterior color? They will do it.

Before ordering such a car, the dealer may need a large deposit, and you will certainly not make a deal—I bet the effective price of this option is much higher than $500.

If you customize the order and pay an extra fee, Audi (for example) will do "any color you want" on the outside.

(IIRC BMW and Mercedes will also, if you ask the dealer is good.)

Baruth's Audi window sticker says that his custom paint is $2,500. To be honest, I think this is a deal. I really can't get factory-quality paint jobs at a lower price. After-sales paint may be more harmful to resale than factory customization.

I ordered my customized version of 330i. I want "no sunroof", manual, sports, and "not on the list" things.

After talking with BMW NA, I found that I can buy the cloth seats I saw in Europe. I paid an extra fee to the dealer, but it was still lower than "leather". Well, I did cheat a bit, because I have a German 3-er directory. (I avoided the lattice interior option)

This car was made urgently and arrived one month in advance. The black microfiber seat has almost no wear even after ten years of use. This car is unique and the cloth seat is better than plastic/leather. If I get a new one again, I will do the same thing...

How many unsatisfied Subaru must I buy before they sell me 6 tons of Levorg?

My boss and I make a joke every time we buy something-finally sold after 120 days of the floor plan-one of which is obviously a stupid choice specially ordered, such as a hard-mounted Montego Blue 328i sedan , With chestnut brown Dakota leather and a 6MT...

"There are three people stupid enough to pay for that car—the person who bought the new car, you, and the current idiot."

From a strictly financial point of view, buying a car with unpopular specifications is just a foolish act. It might be a stupid PITA for a dealer trying to move these strange-spec cars, but the original owner just got the car he wanted in the way he wanted.

Good idea, especially for keep and hold buyers. It’s one thing if you focus on standard mileage and 2-5 years worth of wear and tear, and if you drive it for more than 10 years (or plan to add very high mileage within these 2-5 years), it’s completely different. One thing. If I have been driving a car for ten years or more, why should I defend it exactly to the specifications I want?

This sounds like the BMW of my dreams...

Almost exactly what I said to the person who bought the (at the time) three-year-old 2006 Scion Xb in the garage, manual transmission, two-tone paint job. "The market for this car is very small, and I may be the only one." Got a lot

This is what a 5-year-old MkII 3.8L Jaguar coupe looks like in British Racing Green, with wire spoke wheels and imitation hubs that may not have been seen before in northern central Florida... The car runs very well, but Weber flanking carbohydrate needs to be adjusted. The nearest Jag dealer is a hundred miles away.

They have dropped to about $1,300. After about a month of tire kicks and pretending that I want something more practical, I reduced them to $965, just below my budget at the time. I'm so happy, I can't even pretend that I want to pay less. The lot manager might have told the trader the same thing about three people who were stupid enough to buy this car.

But I spent three years of trouble-free time. When it needed a new timing chain, I replaced it with a completely rebuilt and newly painted Volkswagen, or even a Volkswagen mechanic.

My mechanic friend taught me how to adjust Weber. The only problem I encountered was that when I was working in the second class, my now long ex-wife and some friends went out for fun, the month I bought it, and the left Put it on the side of the road when you turn. Fortunately, it is fully insured, although insurance companies don't like it a bit. They rebuilt it, but it took them three months to find replacement parts.

I still remember the newspaper advertising manager I worked with, and he taught me how to rely on many things to understand the difficulty of finding a buyer. But I have to kick a few hundred tires in a few weeks to get it, but as a 21-year-old guy driving a sharp Jaguar in a party college town is worth it. And this situation is so rare that most people like it more than the troublesome E-Jags that followed it.

I bought a Norton motorcycle three or four years ago. They only made it in the UK under similar circumstances and sold for $400, while the new Norton sold for ten times or more.

Let's listen to the sounds of rare vehicles (of course, provided that you can find the parts).

I like you, I think I am reading myself in this story.

@28-Cars-Later Yes, our thoughts and operations may be very similar.

The less you pay a dealer or car factory or even a private car owner, the more modifications and/or other pleasures you will get.

Another trick I learned, when my 55 3/4 ton panel truck (don’t ask why, I just want something with a lot of space)... when it throws a crank pulley. When I was standing in his office, the mechanic set a price for GMC pulleys, and I was shocked to find that pulleys cost more than $100 in the early 1960s.

But he said there was no need to worry, and called a Chevrolet dealer whose parts department was open (it was Saturday) and the Chevrolet parts dealer quoted him a price of about $30.

The owner then told me that Chevrolet and GMC share a lot of parts, but GMC parts cost much more.

If you work hard, you can reduce the cost of your car in many ways, which is really amazing. Snd parts interchangeability is just one of them, trying to scare the seller the other. We all do what we can.

Or a lightweight trolley RWD 328i station wagon, made of Tasman Green and Chestnut Dakota leather? In Maine? Like the one I ordered in 2011 and planned to keep until my grave?

But Jack talked about this dilemma in an earlier article-unicorns sell well in private, but they are dealers’ poison. If I decide to sell my station wagon, I already have a production line.

This is the car I have been looking for -__-

Factory order is the only way to get the 335i the way I want: mainly 6MT, but Msport, Mbrakes, mineral gray/red leather, no BS technology/navigation bag. I really don't care about the resale value.

Blue/brown is a bit disgusting, hey, who should I judge...

This is very similar to my car (Oriental Blue/Natural Brown, Manual Transmission 330). However, Montego's blue is much more pronounced. Oriental blue is often mistaken for black in low light. I am a fan of brown interiors. BMW and Audi provide it, as well as Lexus in non-Fsport IS. I think you can also get brown leather in Mustang.

Volkswagen supplies brown leather for the MKVII Golf in Europe. It made me very sad that it did not cross the pond.

Great reading. I will add external forces that influence buyer choices, such as chicken tax and CAFE/light truck loopholes.

So, when a customer orders an out-of-stock car at a European dealership, what is the average waiting time? Is the structure of the manufacturer/distributor relationship very different? Is the dealer's footprint much smaller?

I think the answers to your #2 and #3 questions are both yes. And I am sure that the dealership is small. This is just what we call a "boutique" in the United States, and there is no real inventory for sale.

Only the second-hand car batch is similar to the US batch model.

I think the buying habits are a bit different. In the United States, ordinary Joe drove to work one morning, his car broke down, and two days later he had a brand new one. In Europe, things must be considered more in advance.

1. Depending on the situation, it may take 1-3 months for European brands if there is no stock elsewhere in the EU. 2. Distributors are not owned by OEMs, so there is no difference. Now large international companies, for example, Inchcape owns almost all regional distributors of certain brands + some smaller distributor owners. Each dealer also has a stock of new cars, and choose what will sell well based on their knowledge. American type customers who wish to buy a car on the same day are welcome to choose from a list of 10 vehicles from small dealers. The car supermarket also has hundreds of new cars from many different brands. 3. Yes. There is no need to own hundreds of cars at a dealership. Those supermarkets are more like distributors in the United States.

When I asked about this recently, they said it was about 6 months.

May be lucky, only 4.

First, they have to build it (depending on the brand, custom orders *may* enter the production line's head; the people at Volvo told me they did just that).

Then it was put on a slow boat.

Then it will be shipped to your dealer.

http://www.autostadt.de/en/ort/

http://europeforvisitors.com/germany/cars/vw-autostadt.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autostadt

BMW can be as short as 6-8 weeks to the east coast. It took a week or two to build it, and 6 weeks to transport it-my current car took six weeks the day after I returned it in Amsterdam (I picked it up in Munich). When I was interested in the C250 Coupe, Mercedes said the same thing about the order. Of course, it depends on their backlog of orders. For example, it takes longer to get the 2 series than to get the 3 series.

In the end, every BMW is built to order. Whether the order comes from the dealer or the end user is largely irrelevant. BMW itself will not manufacture cars until someone buys and pays for it. In most cases, car parts will not be manufactured until the order is placed.

I think other Germans work in roughly the same way. I don't know what Volvo does, the volume there is much smaller.

The dealership is much smaller, and a large BMW dealership is like a small Detroit 3 dealership. My local dealers don’t actually own many second-hand cars. They are part of a large car group and there is a "used car supermarket" on the street. Therefore, all they have is a few primo CPO cars in the parking lot.

What's impressive about my car delivery is that the ship it was on arrived in New Jersey on Friday afternoon. The first thing on Monday morning was at the dealership in Maine. I picked up the car on Monday night.

Interesting article. The conclusion I came to the last time I bought a car was that if I wanted something weird, I had to order and wait-in my case it was almost 6 weeks, and I was fine with it. It is helpful to have a little patience and not need a new car on the day you walk into the dealership.

The real problem comes when the manufacturer stops making a certain color/decoration/transmission. If you want to vote with your wallet and wait 6 months for a special order, it doesn't matter, you can't own that manual V6 Accord sedan.

If you *really* want it, you can always have a mechanic replace it for you...

My Verano waited for 3 months.

I really want a V6 MT Accord sedan...

I have been watching SS for a while. For whatever reason, I can’t stop thinking that I should specially order this color brochure: http://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/631379319/overview/

I will never sell it, but I have to cry out loud, it is not black or gray!

o That thing is sweet! In the manual? green? I will treat it as a used car in the next few years.

SS must be on the wish list. Great car.

The local Chevrolet dealer (DC area) has this color. It's been a while-though not a manual.

I must vote against any shades of green. Green cars are not as aging as other colors, and they are only popular in a short period of time.

Don't paint your car, house, living room, etc. green-anything you think you will keep for a while.

Examples of super outdated green? 1996 Grand Cherokees 2000 Blazer/Bravada 2004 Taurus Any Tacoma and they are also currently producing rough green Corolla. http://www.toyotareference.com/colors/corolla/toyota_corolla_14_6W3_28.jpg

In contrast, these cars in other colors look good.

The problem with green is that it was a popular color in the 1990s, was overexposed and started to look old. Only now began to recover.

However, some green cars look very beautiful.

So far, green is the most eye-catching color on the second-generation LS400. http://media.ed.edmunds-media.com/lexus/ls-400/1996/oem/1996_lexus_ls-400_sedan_base_fq_oem_1_500.jpg

Green 1991 "+" Taurus SHO is highly sought after because of its rarity... http://bringarailer.com/wp-content/plugins/PostviaEmail/images/1991_Ford_Taurus_SHO_Green_Plus_For_Sale_Rear_resize.jpg

...But then the second-generation models in 1992 and later adopted green as the most common color, which eventually led to overexposure.

I saw a green Tesla Model S that is no longer available, and it is very eye-catching. The best Model S I have ever seen. (It has silver 21s instead of these 19s.) http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=23776&d=1371304281

If I want to order Chevrolet SS, its green color will be different from the above picture: https://content.homenetiol.com/468/2089542/640×480/fcaf1e2206024549ae280ccaa0faf89f.jpg

Oops, I hate that green LS. It looks like something a bad dentist would prescribe. A good dentist will have a white one. Or gold.

SHO, okay, that green looks good. I like the green Tesla, but only because it looks black.

Still don't like any kind of green SS. Looks too rent!

But I think that even if you get an unusual green, and it’s not overexposed like it was in the 90s, it will still age.

Green will eventually become popular again. Colors come and go. Nonsense non-colors will not "stay in" forever.

My Tasman Green BMW is spectacular.

Green had come back before. The green explosion in the nineties occurred after a period of about ten years ago. I remember I read that no one bought or sold green cars of any color. The pendulum swings again.

Chevrolet has a very beautiful dark pine green. I have seen some Cruzes of this color. This is also one of their few extra cost color options.

On the contrary, I like Corolla Green. I am also a big fan of deep cherry red and maroon red, various browns and blues. I really dug evergreen pearls with a combination of two tones of anthracite on my 4Runner. This is another thing I miss very much and is now considered to be very "outdated": a two-tone SUV. Can you still get the Ford Expedition in two tones?

Yes, Expedition is two-tone in both Limited and King Ranch versions, and possibly XLT.

Encore is two-tone. Enclave is two tones!

My favorite dual tone includes Montero Limited, QX4, ES300 and LS400.

It's so pitiful not to buy their two-color expedition fool!

OMG. The couple is really a headache. What a waste of factory labor, floor space, and the sanity of process engineers

Disappeared but not forgotten: the white and medium Tan Isuzu Trooper II (there are also rarer A/Ts; my navy blue has a stick.)

You can, but it's just the body cladding. The only real two-tone paint process is on the truck. Masked and ran across the booth again.

I did not consider it from the perspective of additional work. I am glad that you are always here to remind production reality and make sure we hate everything!

Speaking of colors, has anyone noticed that BROWN is back? I have noticed recently that many new cars and trucks from different manufacturers are painted with beautiful brown metallic paint.

The dark green Honda used in the late 90s looks black at night, but it hides dirt better than black during the day. However, I agree that colors are overused.

I don't know, my 1994 Toyota Tacoma was dark green before, and when I finally threw it away 18 years later, it didn't look so outdated.

On the way I bought second-hand tuners from people on craigslist, I saw an absolutely beautiful Aero series Mercury Grand Marquis in dark green, which I had never seen before on GM. Together with the diamond spoke wheel, its setting is very good.

Given the combination, it must be between 92-96 MY.

You are right, it is not up to date... it will always look good.

My dark green 95 Cherokee Sport looks like the perfect color for a Jeep SUV.

I admit that I prefer green as a color for many things, although I don't think you have to be as biased as I am on this subject to appreciate any of the two examples above.

However, I am the same person. When I had the opportunity to choose the color of my bedroom in our new house in Florida, as a teenager, I went against everyone’s suggestion and chose a lime green instead of painting. Something as big as a room is in such a strong shadow.

They were right... I was shocked when I saw it on the wall instead of on the paint flakes. However, the house painter kindly applied a lighter shadow to the second coat, saving me from having a room that would actually glow in the dark.

But a soft dark green, such as the British racing green on the Mk II Jag I once owned, can be a great color...a bit unique and not fancy.

I also once owned a green 76 VW Rabbit. I think the name of the color is Alpine Green. Lighter and more prominent bright shadows than the example above, but still good.

I hate that era, if you pay to paint it, you can't buy a new green car, even if.

I also have a neighbor who can see his 96 Grand Marquis from my front window. From my front window, it is dark green, although I don't think it is as dark as what I see today. It also has diamond spoke wheels, and the combination looks neither old nor rough.

I realize "de gustibus non disputandum", @CoreyDL, but I just don't think your example is convincing. I also like the green suit jacket color at the turn of the century.

Green looks better than many other colors, including most browns, with the exception of dark chocolate brown, which may have a medium tan inside.

Therefore, the vote for green is 1 to 1.

Does anyone have an opinion on green as a car color or other colors?

Studies have also shown that green is a relaxing color, which may increase the spread of the green walls of institutions. This is one place I agree with you, green is an ugly color. The obvious result of a night of excessive indulgence is another example of ugly green that I think of.

But almost all the wide range of colors have good and bad examples.

+1 because it is not black or silver. -1 because it is not yellow, red or orange. Or brown! !

I'm not on the market at all, but I *like* that color.

But I am surprised that I also like the old-fashioned "reed green" European colors of the 70s-80s.

...I waited six weeks to receive my Mazda 2, although like most mass market manufacturers, Mazda itself does not make "special orders"...

...Instead, after I specified the exact combination of decorations, options, and colors that I was interested in buying, and after confirming that there was no such beast available for trading in the United States, my dealer asked Mazda when the specific combination would appear Pre-allocate production in their Hiroshima, and reserve delivery months in advance to pay a reasonable down payment... This is not the usual practice, nor is it the purpose of Mazda's US distribution plan, but a reputable and resourceful Distributors can find a way to meet strict requirements and make sales...

...Yes, it has features such as a cane and clutch, and yes, other brands under consideration have lost sales because they did not provide the above options: some of us still vote with our wallet... ...

I did the same for my Honda Fit Sport ('07-'12). Due to Honda’s limited palette, I want a blue manual, and I’m willing to wait. The first one took nearly 10.5 weeks, and the second one took longer, and was finally resolved through dealer swaps. I told my sales representative that when I buy a new one, I am not willing to solve it... I want what I want! :-) By the way: I think this is why I can't own a blue 6-speed Accord Coupe!

… Exactly like this: If I pay a premium for a new car, I hope it will fully meet my specifications… If I am willing to compromise on anything that is readily available, I will be better off buying a used car and saving a lot of depreciation costs ...

There is a red copy of the acclaimed Focus ST at the dealer in my town. It has been sitting in the front row of the lot for at least a year. I think this is just the wrong market for that car.

You mentioned BMW is very interesting because there are all car brands, customizing BMW (and their FWD sister brand MINI) is still relatively easy, and they still provide manuals for many (but not all) configurations (how about mine? 328i Touring 6MT Oh, that was offered last year, they actually sold about 11). In fact, BMW caters to the bulk buying market and custom order types, including an active European delivery business. In addition, you can actually finance and lease strange configurations with little or no penalty. As long as you are willing to pay $5,000 for it, you can even get a BMW in almost any color you want.

I just thought of something. How does the European delivery and/or BMW personal plan work with the X5 manufactured in South Carolina? I think all customized BMW Individual work is done in Germany.

You obviously cannot make European deliveries, but you can make SC factory deliveries (they also provide driving courses there, etc. I think this is called Performance Center delivery). In fact, you can even redeliver your European delivery BMW in the Performance Center, so you don't even have to get involved in the dealership that actually sold you the car.

Individuals can also be obtained from the SC factory.

It doesn't. Euro delivery does not include these cars.

This works well for BMW, because their cars are expensive. Yes, you can get what you want, but you will pay the price. Mainstream brands cannot charge enough fees to do this.

In fact, given the current structural approach, it is not suitable for mass market brands. I think BMW knows this is part of their value proposition, just like a sports rear-wheel drive. I mean, they will sell/rent all the X4 that people want to buy, but they will still provide manuals for products like M235i and 3 (and M cars) for their core fans, which is a small but useful A prestigious and influential supporter.

BMW also offers you various options. The withholding option is not exactly a blessing.

Honda's method of combining several basic trim levels with bundling functions is better for production efficiency, reliability and customer choice. You can get more things instead of deciding what not to get.

Very real. Of course, in the case of BMW, nickel = $500...

A few years ago, BMW actively promoted this with a slogan that I don't remember, but it amounts to "whatever you want." Out of curiosity, I asked a representative at the Los Angeles Auto Show if this means they will actually make one for you, or it just means they will search for one in their inventory. She said they will actually build one and deliver it in 5-6 weeks.

I think this is a refreshing answer to car reviews of high-end models that mention a particularly optional version—usually a basic model with only a few options—and then add "if you can find one". If I want to buy a car worth $45,000, why should I "find one"? Shouldn't this be part of the better dealer experience they want you to believe you will have when you buy a premium brand?

I agree. I think BMW and Porsche are the best brands to handle custom orders. Although I find most products are currently quite boring, this is a compelling reason to look at BMW.

I just ordered a new Mustang and it has been a pleasant experience so far. I got the exact vehicle I wanted and ordered, assembled and delivered in a reasonable time.

The order was placed on March 17, and the vehicle arrived at the dealership on April 20.

Ford has a very neat website to track orders. You can search for the vehicle by order number and more detailed information or by VIN. The website will generate a rough picture of the vehicle and the status of each stage from order to delivery. You can generate window stickers.

To be honest, unless they have what I want, I really don't think I will return to just content with the plot.

I did the same thing. GT Premium Convertible was ordered on January 28. I got a good price from the dealer and I ordered it exactly the way I wanted it. The Mustang was delivered on March 18. They told me that it would take 6-8 weeks for delivery, and they encountered it easily. It's fun to get it from the dealer. Small Ford/Lincoln dealership. All the older sales representatives commented on the color combination-they like ruby ​​red with ceramic interiors. Very few dealers have a convertible. Go to figure it out.

When you specifically order a car like you mentioned, is there any leeway in the price, or are you forced to pay msrp every time?

I do want to special order Challenger and Jaguar at some point, but if the price stays at msrp

I specially ordered a Focus not long ago and was able to negotiate a good deal. The only benefit is that I will get any rewards available at the time of delivery. As far as I am concerned, it is good for me.

Isn't it faster and possibly cheaper to search for the car you want in a wider area instead of a special order?

Simply trade with dealers anywhere via the Internet, fly one-way, and drive your new car home.

You get exactly the car you want, you don't need to wait a month to get it, and you don't need to pay a special order price.

Faster, yes, cheaper, no. What I want is a hatchback with a five-speed and sunroof, which is not available in the area. Adding the air ticket will make the price exceed the price I finally paid.

@ arun I used my SVTOA membership to lower the price, and my salesperson checked any offers, so I saved about 3k stickers, so there is not much bargaining.

I went to Ford's configurator and specified the car I wanted (loaded with Metallic Guard GT M6 PP), and brought a printout to the salesperson. The printout was generated through Ford’s specials website, I provided my SVTOA membership details, and started from there.

I bought an 88 Thunderbird Supercoupe, which I found at a local dealer, near the end of the model year.

It is titanium silver metal, dark blue leather, skylights, but no aluminum blank wheels.

This is an eye-catching place in the capital/university city, so it will be sold sooner or later, but it may be later.

They don't want to compromise on wheels or prices, but I can't find the same combination anywhere. But after listening to all the nonsense about NHTSA not letting them change wheels or FoMoCo not letting them change wheels within a week, I finally told them that this was the last time I entered the dealership. If they didn't install the wheels and sign the paper with me that afternoon, I'm done.

There is no problem with changing wheels suddenly, except for the service department to put everything down and change wheels.

I just want this car to look exactly what I want, they know I'm not playing. The PS transaction was completed on the last day of the sales month, which undoubtedly gave me considerable influence.

If I pay your price, you will give me what I want. It's that simple.

Domino's has a preparation phase on their website, which I also like.

I want a similar Ford tracker.

"Bill is installing the engine in your Mustang"

"Your Mustang is roasting in the paint oven"

"It's a Friday afternoon, and you have a Job 1 vehicle, so Ken and Tim don't want to align your body panels correctly. Good luck for a dollar!"

There is no cool Kens.

Ken is the name of the person you borrowed the ladder.

Or a person who has been mercilessly bullied since he was a child is at high risk of shooting.

However, he may have a ladder I need to borrow. Hope this is not the cause of letting Ken down. I used beer to repay the money I borrowed from the ladder.

The three of you are teasing me.

Since the joining of Matthew Stafford and Megatron, the grief of the Lions seems to have recovered. Edit: wrong thread.

If Ken only had a little flat plastic downstairs, then I would understand his motivation for shooting.

"Today is Monday, your car just fell off Haulaway, don't worry, we will fix it and hand it to you soon".

"Friday afternoon, let's finish the last Verano... Do you think this transmission is interesting?"

As a resident of Oakland County, Michigan, I apologize for the GM Orion Township worker who decided to put potatoes in your gearbox. I think this is also Russelsheim's fault.

In what month was your car produced?

It might be my evil twin, that's what he has to do in order to be a bastard.

As a resident of Calgary, I was shocked by my neighbors who seemed unable to provide any services for this car without requiring 3 visits to close an invoice.

The fact is that the local dealer/service experience greatly exacerbated the build quality problem. (Hint, terrible)

Does the 5-second rule apply to cars and food?

Lol poor Dave and his first-hand experience :(.

Live and study, trying to figure out the best way to get rid of the car.

Then they have no excuse for "I'm drunk". There is no summer shutdown, no Jobbie Nooner (Michigan Carnival with boats in summer), no sadness of the Detroit Lions, no opening day. Terrible.

Isn’t Leo’s sadness... an eternal thing? I didn't realize it ever stopped.

Since the joining of Matthew Stafford and Megatron, the grief of the Lions seems to have recovered.

Leo's sorrow is eternal. But March is not the peak of sadness. Everyone wants to participate in the NFL draft again. We should be clearer now.

Thank you very much for writing this article. It is very annoying to hear people yelling about the death of a fanatic, and this is obviously not true. On the contrary, we are dispersed to the point where it becomes financially difficult to provide services to us.

I think it’s interesting that as the manufacturing costs of small operators drop, you may see a real resurgence in the local manufacturer movement in the automotive sector.

Fanatics may be on the brink of an era, and you can order a dream car with a modern interior from a local manufacturer, not just a mass market car.

Of course, this will take a few years, but I can see this becoming a profitable niche market for talented designers/builders.

I think you underestimated the effort required to develop and manufacture cars. I didn't foresee this happening, I hope there will be more integration, not less.

As long as they can get rid of the crash test requirement in some way, otherwise it will be very cruel.

Yes, for the small operator model to be feasible, the current system requires major changes.

This did not happen, because there are too many other factors preventing small car manufacturers from happening, and everything else is meaningless.

However, the cost of manufacturing small batches will drop. A one-person store can make more complex things cheaper than ever.

New materials, 3D printing, modular electric drive system, damn modular ICE drive system. If big companies suddenly make money by providing a platform to boutique manufacturers, they will be happy to provide a common platform for small manufacturers.

I'm not talking about a $30,000 family car. I'm talking about the original Pontiac Grand Am in 1974 (I have strange fetishes) built last week for $80,000 to $100,000.

Great article, Jack! Thanks!

Thank you for reminding me why I packed up and moved to Europe as soon as I won the prize.

Looking for disposable models with the required "non-mainstream" equipment and acceptable colors has always been my pursuit when buying a new car. In the past few years, I have discovered and purchased a new Astro Van, a basic model but with mid-level interior, cruising but no tilt, towing package, and also purchased a 4.3-liter w/ 5-spd manual and a Chevrolet summer A similar upgraded interior, 5-spd 4.3 liters and cruise/tilt. It's not a brown manual diesel truck, but it suits me perfectly, not something other people are guided to buy. Due to the reasons of Jack mentioned above, it is difficult to do it now, but there is a workaround. One of my daughters and I both bought a new car last year. The basic requirement is a manual gearbox. Of course, my Outback and her carnival are both low-end models, white in color, but equipped with a manual transmission. We found that we had "blank boards" to upgrade the options we wanted to add; we were not forced to buy things with extra junk in the "packages" that we didn't need/want-most of the wiring/connection points/brackets are used For upgrading using OEM products. Rather than going back to the lot in the old days to find different things to meet the needs, instead of following the sheep when stealing and ultimately satisfying, this requires more work.

Jack, a great work that echoes the days after I graduated from university. At that time, I was working at a dealership. At that time, we tried our best to get the silver new Beetle (the new Beetle was indeed "new" at the time) and EmKayFour Jetta sold it to Sorority girl. Silver is the preferred color. If we don't charge a premium for them, it's silver or nothing, damn it.

This piece is just right and worth repeating: in the US, the distributor is the customer. It enables automakers to unload inventory from the books of accounts very quickly and pass this burden on to others.

By the way, this is by no means an endorsement of the current dealership model: the next time you beg a large car manufacturer for direct sales from the manufacturer, remember this little nugget, and remember that canceling the dealership will likely cause everyone to pay for them. Car payment *more*. Use Apple mode: It is extremely rare for Apple to carry out any kind of discounts or promotions in its retail stores (no back-to-school offers, such as iTunes gift cards), but third-party Apple resellers usually offer discounts or you will never see Bundle. Prepare to have a similar experience in the world of direct sales that B&B often hopes for.

On the other hand, only a few floor models and most of the cars are factory direct distributors with factory orders, eliminating the terrible huge expenses and inventory funds.

As Jack pointed out, customers don't want to wait. They want to walk in, sign, and drive. Distributors do not have large stocks for no reason. This is how the customer's demand is caused.

The Maybach in the United States was shocked to discover that even people who invested more than $250,000 in a car were not interested in special orders and wanted to grab something from the floor as if it were a magazine.

The American business model can be traced back to Henry Ford. Ford's strategy is to let the factory run at full capacity, and then force dealers to eat the excess inventory (at the time he could do it at the dealer's expense).

It is a by-product of mass production. In any case, the key to profitability is to continuously increase unit output. This is where the five-dollar day comes-it is better to have a stable labor force at a higher cost than a lower output and cheap labor. The dealer model also comes from this-dealers are dumping inventory, and how to unload is up to the dealer to decide.

American customers have become accustomed to inventory that is ready for purchase. High taxes in Europe have promoted the development of the company's car/rental market, allowing more bookings (although customers pay higher prices for this.)

Sirwired: Yes, this is useful for dealers, but not for factories. General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler used channels to fill inventory to keep factories running and avoid death many times. As danio3834 pointed out, this is a deeply ingrained legacy system, and it is hard to imagine that the factory can change it.

This desire boils down to the fact that these people don't actually want a better deal, they just want everyone to get the same bad deal as them.

Similar to the brown manual straddle car brigade, after explaining why things are the way to them and why it works, they are still in disharmony.

"This desire comes down to the fact that those people don't actually want a better deal, they just want everyone to get the same bad deal as they do."

Exactly. Everyone (I mean "everyone, not necessarily our people in B&B") like to make up about how they get very favorable deals, beat the dealers and bring $50,000 with them for $30,000 The story of the car going out. It is almost always complete and complete horse manure.

As I have said many times before-there is no reason for anyone to bargain or negotiate a new car deal. The price of the vehicle is on the factory sticker. The automotive industry is just one of the industries where everyone thinks they should pay less than sticker fees.

Why people don’t believe in negotiating other projects with far higher profits than cars is beyond my understanding: a bottle of wine at dinner (usually an increase of 100-300%), jewelry (an increase of 150-200%), clothes (usually an increase of 300%) ) ), glasses (1000% increase).

"There is no reason for anyone to bargain or negotiate a new car deal."

This is not entirely correct. If you don't hesitate to offer to pay the suggested retail price, the dealer will most likely try to make you pay a higher price. Stickers are things on the windows-dealers will buy more if possible.

I am an old car salesman, and I am also a bargainer. I will try to bargain for furniture, electrical appliances, etc., even in hypermarkets. For example, did you know that every employee at Home Depot (even part-time employees) is authorized to "bargain" up to $50. The department head (DH) has more, and the manager has more. They often bargain and offer discounts to contractors. After retiring, I worked part-time in the hardware and tools department of the local HD, and regularly gave discounts to the good people I met (even on discounted items)... dick-heads... no discounts.

"Remember that canceling the dealership may cause everyone to pay *more* for their car."

beautiful. I will pay a premium to avoid the dealer’s experience. Just give me the direct price of the car I configure, no need to bargain in order to get a reasonable transaction, and don't let me spend several days looking for the car I want and the salesperson I can trust.

People say this abstractly. But I doubt if they really want to pay thousands of dollars for each car for a slightly easier shopping experience.

The resulting price difference will force most buyers to lower their trim levels. Due to falling prices, many people who buy Camry and Accord will eventually choose Civic and Corolla.

I don't think there will be a few thousand dollars. I think it will be less than 1,000. I will pay. The dealer’s experience is absolutely tragic, unless you are lucky to find an excellent salesperson and management team.

Check European prices (excluding VAT). They are much higher than the prices in the United States, and this inventory system is one of the reasons.

The dealer system is a direct product of the inherent production system and scale of the American market. If we have a small population, a marginal economy or very high taxes, the situation will be different.

The dealer system is so because it provides services to original equipment manufacturers. This helps consumers at a lower price, but you must also know how to play the game so as not to be burned. Given the situation in the United States, the best remedy is to reform the disclosure law to allow customers to learn more about the fees they pay and the goods they buy before the transaction becomes difficult.

Imagine you are an executive of a car manufacturer. You can choose to build a car, sell it to a dealer, and receive the cash within 15-30 days; or, you can build the car yourself and lay out the floor plan. You are taking working capital and tying it up in (very expensive) inventory, 72 days on average.

If automakers go this way, you will see *fewer* options, because automakers only want to make high-margin cars and cars that can turn over inventory very quickly.

If you plan to lay out these cars yourself, you need to add extra margin to the layout. You also need to add additional expenses to the showroom and showroom staff owned by the manufacturer. You also need to increase service department, parts, service equipment, training and staff management expenses, which will now appear on your balance sheet, rather than on the balance sheets of hundreds or even thousands of independent stores.

Listen, I'm not saying that the model doesn't work, nor that the integrated approach is good. What I want to argue is that many people ignore the huge overhead that OEMs can avoid by outsourcing the entire distribution, sales, and after-sales business. Putting all these aspects under the umbrella of OEMs will require huge amounts of cash, and apart from major turbulence in the industry or economy, it will not happen on a large scale in the short term. It can be seen that GM went bankrupt in the worst financial crisis in 80 years, and it has achieved the gradual change and integration that GM has wanted for decades.

There are many burdens to overcome.

I discussed this with Pch101: everyone said this abstractly, but in fact most people want this deal. You already have a direct price for the car: it is called the list price. Outside of unicorns or high-demand combinations, there is no need to negotiate. Walk in, put a sticker on the car in stock, write a check, and go home. It is guaranteed that it can be used at 99% of dealers.

The reality is painful, and people generally don’t do this, especially when your friends/neighbors tell you (usually beautified) that they just bought the exquisite BMW 3 series for 39,000 USD for 39,000 USD and you just Launched your no-bargain top Camcord at a price of $29,500.

Aside from some bargaining, walking in and offering a payment sticker did not save me from any part of the dealership process. I want distributor GONE. I just had too many bad dealer experiences and they lost my trust and my desire to become a customer.

I still need to find the car I want. It may be anywhere in the United States, and in my experience, it must not be at any dealer near me. I still have to sit back and watch the dealer endlessly trying to sell me everything from the etching of the glass to the frequent cleaning program of his brother's car wash. I still need to check the paperwork with a delicate comb and find all the places where he charges fees and confuses the numbers, so I actually pay more than just stickers. The boss of the salesperson took my car for 184 miles before delivery. This is still a fact I tried to deal with (yes, this did happen on my G8, I just negotiated under unpleasant circumstances Further discount confrontation). I still have to deal with the fact that when I want something that is not Jack's Green Explorer XLT, the entire staff treats me as if there is shit on my shoes.

I don't understand why the European system adds so much cost to the manufacturer. When almost all cars are manufactured on time, manufacturers do not have to deal with all inventory. The cost will come from more build portfolios.

I am willing to pay the manufacturer’s suggested retail price for the Mustang GT350, but I doubt the dealer will let me do this.

Distributors in the United States compete with each other and drive down prices. All of the company's stores will not compete with themselves, have less incentive to bargain, and they are more motivated to avoid discounts that may be at the expense of the brand.

An inventory-driven system (US) always leads to overproduction, which leads to discounts (incentives). The pull system found in Europe is unlikely to produce this result, so the price remains high.

As mentioned earlier, the tax system also encourages different results in Europe, which are conducive to a lease-oriented pull system. The United States does not, and almost certainly will not have these factors.

Dal, you are right, the build-to-order model can work because it works in Europe. The problem is that the current status quo is considered sufficient. According to existing models, when consumers have become accustomed to expecting limited choices and fast delivery, there is little willingness to make such changes.

Dealers and manufacturers must have a lot of requirements for custom/quirky vehicles, which is unlikely-so unfortunately, JB and DK are right.

1) Distributors are required by law to become customers in every state in the United States. Manufacturers’ direct sales showrooms do not exist because they are illegal. Chrysler Fiat discovered this when trying to open a boutique in downtown Los Angeles a few years ago, and Tesla has recently been challenging the laws of Texas and New Jersey.

2) European automakers not only make it easier for customers to order, they also have more available build combinations, especially engine/gearbox combinations. If they can handle all these build tables there, they can do it here. The difference is that the U.S. government requires that each combination of body and drivetrain be individually crash tested, regardless of whether there are real structural differences. You have to make up for this by gaining unit profits from a large number of sales.

California allows factory-owned stores. But they must be at least ten miles away from the franchise with the same brand: http://www.autonews.com/article/20110921/RETAIL07/110929967/chrysler-to-sell-factory-owned-la-store-New Century Motors

I explained above why the European system leads to higher prices-diversity is not free. Taxes in the United States are also too low to encourage the establishment of a corporate automobile market that is common in Europe.

Another reason we can have this diversity in Europe is that most people don't want to take new cars (or even used cars) home after visiting a dealer. We like to find, test drive, test drive, and then go home to consider how to sell that old car first. The wait for more than a month is not long at all. Most people don't even mind waiting for a week for the dealer to specify and replace the tires of their newly bought used car, because it has obviously been tested and so on.

I am impressed that there are still Accord coupes. It has reached the point where there are only two doors left for sports and luxury cars.

It reminds me of the 525iT in 2001. I bought back a 5-speed manual and sports suspension in 2004. The first owner specifically ordered this car and paid the full sticker (by the way, the shortcomings of the order are unlikely to put you in a good negotiating position with the dealer). I bought this car from his Craigslist. A few years later, I reselled it on eBay and received many calls from all over the country. I sold it in only 2 days, which was a bit higher than the price I paid. The new buyer appeared in my house in a 1991 Volkswagen Jetta GLI 16V, almost exactly the same as the one I drove 10 years ago... I guess it’s a great mind.

When I first searched for this car, the dealer told me that a) they never stock manual transmission 5 series, especially station wagons, because they do not sell b) I may be the fourth person looking for a manual transmission that week Box 5 series.

Similarly, every time I sell my "strange" manual transmission car (later I have a manual transmission Mazda5 Touring from the first and only year, and they provide a stick and some options) my door is People called who thought these were unicorns.

Not every dealer needs to hoard these, but if dealers in a particular market have tried it, I think they can cultivate successful and loyal businesses. It's just that no one is willing to stretch their necks to try. And since most customers just buy different cars anyway, there is almost no need for them to try.

The dealer is another reason for the parasitic middleman.

I want to see that Tesla’s manufacturer direct sales are legal for every brand in every state.

Well, I have bought my new strange thing from the dealer. I later discovered that the M6T Sonata had been placed on someone's lot for at least 6 months. Prior to this, there were caravans with manual windows and door locks but with electric side mirrors and built-in baby seats. There is also a Honda Civic Wagovan equipped with a real-time 4WD and a 6-speed manual transmission (air conditioning installed by the dealer).

As others have pointed out, if it is in many places and you find it sitting, then you have a very strong bargaining position.

However, if you "special order" it, the dealer will affix it to you in a very special way.

In fact, the North American car sales process is designed to protect manufacturers and actually force dealers to use dishonest sales techniques.

"However, if you'special order' it, the dealer will stick it to you in a very special way."

Can this explain the Greek pillars in the new Lincoln showroom?

Maybe to make you feel happy...

Bend down right here and sign on the dotted line, sir.

I sell Audi and I 100% agree with Jack's opinion. Q5 is our most popular model, if you visit our dealer, you will find 20 of them. In descending order, they will be black, gray, white, and silver. Most will have technology and sports packages, one or two are rental specials, no volcanic red or teak brown. We stock and sell quickly. It takes 8-12 weeks to order from the factory, and 6 weeks to customize exterior wall paint.

We have a black black A4 cane with sports plus packaging. It has accumulated dust for 8 months. Why doesn't my manager order this configuration in 2016? What will happen to it? One of the sales staff may rent it.

Great article. It is interesting that you should mention the V6 manual sedan. This is exactly what I was looking for in a few cars. There are exactly three options, two and a half... Mazda 6, Nissan Altima and Volkswagen. The latter is half the choice, because the Jetta is too small, and the Passat is not on the list because it is too expensive. I chose Mazda, Blue, V6 manual, GS instead of GT, because I don’t want stupid ground effects packages. Unfortunately, this is where I fell from this article because they managed to find one on the other side of the province. I’m sure that other dealers are happy to take it from them, but they are not happy that they didn’t try to squeeze a few dollars from me because they had to send their transport truck to take it...until I threatened to go. Find that dealer and buy a car directly from them.

This is the problem with domestic cars... they are shipped in batches. Unless you happen to receive an order at the beginning of the model year, there is actually no custom order. If the last batch has come, it is it. You take what they have.

That's it! So now I own a modern Genesis 2.0T coupe. There are tens of thousands of people around. With instructions. There are still thousands of people. Copper in Catalonia. in Canada. I know one of about four colors in the country because this color is "not available here." My dealer must work for this sale. Come on Canada-stop limiting yourself to black, white, silver and gray! I just checked and the United States no longer even offers the best colors. *sigh*. Ma Linlan is also so good-looking, why do you have to go?

(I *like* the actual color of the car.

But I am very realistic-they are actually not popular.

[The person who bought the metal bronze Volvo said brown leather. ])

I have an Estoril Blue II 3 series and I cannot order it anymore as far as I know. You already have to get the M Sport Line to get it, and the only new BMW you can get in EBII is the 4 Series Gran Coupe.

You can get the 2 series in EBII, M-sport 228i or M235i. I ordered mine at EB on Oyster. Although the EB on the coral has a certain attraction to me. "Superman Group".

EB looks spectacular in bright sunlight-so beautiful!

Of course, I also ordered a gearshift rear drive, which is almost a unicorn in the Northeast.

"What can you do during this period? It's very simple. Buy strange things. Order things that the dealer doesn't have. A different color. A strange combination of options."

This is exactly what I did when I bought the 2006 Honda Accord. That is a V6 sedan EXL Navi equipped with 6MT. It is even brown (carbon bronze pearl). I got it in December 2005, and I finally got to the dealer in March 2006. The dealer said that if I wanted 5AT, I could have something that day; when I deposited the deposit, there were three Carbon Bronze Pearl EXL Navi V6 Accords in the car.

Jack's article can be summed up in two words. opportunity cost. From Wiki...In microeconomic theory, the opportunity cost of choice is the value of the best choice to give up. In this case, it is necessary to choose between several mutually exclusive choices with limited resources. Assuming that the best choice is made, it is the "cost" incurred by not enjoying the benefits of choosing the second best choice.

I saw this thing when I sold Mitsubishi 20 years ago. The second generation of Eclipse is out. We have a green GSX AWD model, which has been on the floor of the showroom for five months, while the basic model and intermediate GS left in less than a week. A special person ordered a GS turbocharger with five-speed silver, and we had to wait to build one.

How about 3000GT? forget it. We rent a Galant sedan for $149 a month. There are 150 small cars, and we almost park new cars on the street.

I am impressed with the number of MT Accords Honda runs, including 4-pot cars. Autotrader said that there are nearly 15,000 Accord cars for sale, of which 689 are manuals within a 500-mile radius of ours (at least 60 million people), and the mixing ratio is about 4.6%. Although roughly estimated, this will bring the number of MT cars to approximately 16,000 per year-far from common but not in the unicorn field.

There is a dealer in the town who has enough working capital to avoid loans. They always have interesting inventory.

Both Volkswagen and Honda offer a variety of MT sedans.

Reminds me of my recent experience at a Subaru dealership. My father is looking for manual gearbox Crostrek.

Salesperson: Hi, welcome bla bla bla bla. My dad: Hello, I am looking for Crostrek with manual gearbox. Saleswoman: Oh, let me confirm with the manager...

The saleswoman walked away, and we heard from some cubicle behind, "What's the matter with all these fucking people coming in and asking for the fucking manual!" I have to say, they didn't.

It proved that Jacks pointed out that Americans would not wait. My father walked on the street and bought the Focus ST with the largest load. It was only placed in the lot for 3 days. Salesmen said they knew that ST would either sell it right away or struggle for a year in some old land until Ford discounted it enough to make it worth the money.

They sound very professional at the Subaru dealership.

To a car dealer, vulgarity is like abusing a minority to the municipal police. You should not be surprised.

That Subaru dealer must hate the person who bought the WRX!

I heard that they are usually fans who are fanatical in pursuit of discounts and waste time on test drives instead of buying.

(Check the inventory of your local Subaru dealer.

Here, Carr Subaru has 13 WRX-one is Premium with CVT.

They have 54 Outbacks and *113 Foresters*, and Impreza, Legacy and XV each have 23.

Think they really care about WRX?

(I just spot-checked Wentworth Subaru.

They have *5* WRX [one of which is Premium with CVT], 101 Foresters, 44 Inland and 39 XV.

I'm pretty sure this model is typical. )

However, I bet that both distributors will sell all of their WRX.

WRX may be sold to a limited market, but the limited market is a loyal market. According to my experience, people who buy WRX tend to continue buying WRX.

The nearest Subaru dealer, A&T Subaru, has six new WRXs (5 with manuals), and I believe they will sell all six.

Good article Jack. This is almost a mirror of our fast food culture-I will bring an Accord I4 with a car and some French fries, now! ...But it's great to sit down and really enjoy professionally prepared meals in a better restaurant.

I am very happy to be a freak with a 5-speed Mazda 6 Wagon driving a V6.

This is not surprising at least.

The strange thing is if it doesn't rust!

The last quarter rust is not a special order... :(

Ah, how do I like strange units. I really like them on the second-hand market, because if you have patience, you can usually get a good price. CL & autotrader etal provides a good resource. CL especially because the original listing date already exists. When it is at the dealer, you must call and ask how long the device has been in stock. As mentioned earlier, once the weird work reaches the six-month mark, used car managers are usually willing to make any deal they can to open up the space.

In the past, my father was the king of the Dodge Special Order Unit, and they were happy to comply. Four-speed MT full-size van, no problem, wait here for 60 days. Dodge Dakota CC, MT, with roll-up windows and radio. no problem. Fortunately, he kept his cars until they expired or the last time, he did. Either way, he always has what he wants and doesn't want to care if others don't want it in the future.

Sid note that the full-size van with clutch is very interesting in HS. It will be exhausted for several days... When I got the DL, it took a while for the old man to notice that tire wear had increased.

The Carfax on the new car will show the time when the dealer received the goods.

To find out when the dealer will receive the new car, just open the glove box and read the date on the emission file.

This reminds me of the old saying about "consumers get what they deserve".

Now tell me why we should like dealers again and how can they really be the best way to sell cars?

You have now summoned Ruggles. He will soon emerge from his lair and go deep into the NADA headquarters. I like to think of him as the NADA version of Mothra.

Will this make PrincipalDan one of the peanuts?

Are the peanuts the little girl who sings this song to summon Mothra?

Yes, at least in very old movies. They are twins, Emi and Yumi Ito. In the context of the movie, they are not called Peanuts, this is just the name of their popular duo.

"Ruggles oh Ruggles If we are to ask for help over time, on the sea, like a wave, you will come to our guardian angel"

But is Ruggles also a brave friend of all children?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamera

When I was a kid, I might have watched too many Toho monster movies.

Obviously there is not enough MST3K.

I saw it when I was a kid. My dad really likes it. I think I am too young to remember all the comments. I think this is a series I should watch again. Is it on Netflix?

Those lyrics, haha. I made a lot of noise in the office.

You remind me of when a very senior regional special education administrator came out to meet an incompetent special education teacher, I unfortunately had it among my staff.

After she made the law, she turned to me and said (in her soft West Texas drag): "Am I being too harsh on him?"

I said; "Madam, you could have made a siren rise from the tiled floor, it wouldn't be too difficult for him."

They distributed some of them on DVD through a company called Rhino, but they were unable to distribute all of them due to copyright issues. A few years ago, an organization called the MST3K Digital Archive Project (DAP) started to convert episodes from my hypothetical VHS to mpeg and put them on the Internet. Almost the entire series is now on youtube. What is not on youtube I am at home because I have a DAP copy of the entire series (no, I am not part of the project, but I downloaded a monster torrent in 2005)

MST3K; Not available on Netflix, but available on Amazon Prime.

Thank you for being fashionable. I also already have Amazon Prime.

The last time I was looking for a car, I wandered around a rural Ford dealership on a slow day and talked with the saleswoman and the general manager. We started to discuss inventory and model availability. It turns out that they know they will receive a new batch of vehicles every two weeks or so. They really don't know what will be on that shipment. The best guess is the truck! All kinds of trucks, because they sold them last month. truck. truck. truck. o Model cars with strippers. Because—you guessed it—this is what they sold last month. They have a Hi-Po Mustang on the floor because that is their assignment as a franchise dealer. Other dealers have asked when they will switch to trucks.

The general manager is frustrated. He can make other requests, but the dealer is very small and he has no influence unless it is a special order.

I don’t care about manual gearboxes, but I did buy the last naturally aspirated pushrod V8 sedan.

However, I don't think my purchase will prevent the advancement of turbocharging.

Dodge Charger, Chrysler 300 or Chevrolet SS?

charger. I really want an SS, but I also decided to continue to eat and use electricity after I bought the car.

Fascinated by articles about customer/distributor/manufacturer relationships. Thank you for reading.

In North America, is there a space suitable for small dealers who order vehicles that meet the specifications? Because it occupies a much smaller space, the overhead is small. Much like the European model. Anyone can come in and order any vehicle, but must wait. The ordering and searching process will be shorter—and this requires a lot of consideration—maybe as much as searching, finding, and arranging purchases across the city or county.

Established dealers may like this because they can own more cars that sell quickly, and customers may like it because it can easily find and get what they really want. Manufacturers will reduce complaints from large distributors, but still have the opportunity to satisfy their "special" customers.

The service department may or may not be needed. Imagine one or two areas; a small building with only one or two sales staff, one of which also serves as the general manager.

Yes, we can buy you that car with a stick and diesel. You know that you can get any color you want at a slight increase in cost. In fact, this month we are dealing with special order colors, let me show you the tray... "The sale may be worthwhile.

Not a dealer staff, but I think: 1) The dealer gets more profit from parts and services. 2) I guess buyers with special orders are more likely to pay cash or bring their own financing (more profits will not flow to the dealer). I just don't think they can compete. In addition, what is the manufacturer’s motivation for franchising ultra-low-volume distributors?

I specially ordered three cars. Call the dealer and let them know that you want to order something. Ready to deposit a deposit. I provide funds to dealers every time. Not because I had to do it, but because they exceeded the interest rate of my Bank of America or credit union.

The Ford dealer I worked with never asked me to pay a deposit, order a vehicle, and then I picked it up when I received it. They even add all the discounts. It was a pleasant experience, if I buy a new car again, I will use them.

There is no doubt that they get more benefits from parts and services. When they don’t, such as the indestructible (in most cases) Panther platform vehicles, they will cut off the production line because dealers don’t like to sell them because they can sell rusty barrels with service issues and make more money. Stop selling as time goes by. Once RWD BOF Impala disappeared, Ford has no reason to continue manufacturing them. And don’t quote low sales...In the past few years, dealers have only ordered them specifically and tried to steer customers away from them like a plague, especially Mercury.

The Predator, this is a step towards modernity, but because it is too little and too late... it should be increased by at least 100 horsepower, perhaps supercharged.

But dealers want service and obsolescence, not durability and ease of maintenance.

I bet that when most LEOs in the US are using Ecoboost (or Dodge), LEOs will still use Crown Vic Police Interceptors because they have gone through two to three generations of newer cars. The same goes for Chevrolet's new police car.

According to Michigan State Police's test, my (stock) 97 Grand Marquis is almost as fast as everything the police do now, except for Chargers, which has zero staying power, except in repair shops.

Short life and high maintenance and repair costs are future trends for dealers and manufacturers.

This is also my idea. At least in major metropolitan areas, there may be enough niche markets to support dealers who welcome special orders and have strange configurations and manuals.

We have all heard the story of a manual car parked in a dealership for 6 months, but I have sold 3 manual cars in the past 6 years, and each one was sold out within a few days. Two of the three were sold to immigrants who were used to manual transmissions.

This is a great article, and I don’t think many people outside of the dealer have considered or read it. I welcome more articles like this-things in the industry are always interesting.

This is why we like Steve Lang's article. Or let Ruggles write something, and Steve Lynch can join.

I agree! Regarding this area of ​​the automotive industry, I have many lingering questions, and you have solved these problems in your JB article.

I also welcome more dealers and industry insider works that really inspire the audience. These are articles/OpEds that conform to the TTAC name and also provide advantages that other automotive sites simply cannot provide.

Great article, one of the reasons I keep coming back to TTAC is the opinions of insiders.

Especially on the Internet, I can look around and find something close enough. I would rather buy our blue Odyssey, but this is not to ruin the deal. With our Mazda 5, it was difficult to find a Grand Touring, so we went to New York to buy it and drove home. This transaction is sufficient to offset the cost (plus risk factors).

My 01 Focus ZX3 has everything I want, a fully loaded 5 spd manual car, but it is white, which is good. I am close enough to what I want and a 0% financing agreement. I'm just not picky about colors, inside and out.

If I want or I am buying something truly special, I might order it specially. I want to make Euro delivery someday. But as far as home mover leasing is concerned, whatever it is applies to me, at least if it is a Honda product. Our Odyssey EX-L has everything I want, not what I don't want.

I am also very lucky to be able to enjoy air travel benefits. If it is really what I want and it is 300 miles away, I will fly to get it. If I can do it in a few days' drive, this is a reasonable trade-off for me. This will also be true if I get an interesting car or make a Euro delivery.

I can wait, but if it is not necessary, I would rather not wait. Nothing I have bought is guaranteed to wait for the exact vehicle.

Almost every car I find interesting now will have a unicorn configuration that I have to order. The Chevrolet SS manual is an order-only product at 99% of dealers. The Audi S4 either does not have a sports option, or there are many other options, and their prices are as high as 60,000 US dollars. We all know BMW’s rear-wheel drive manual configuration. It is almost impossible to find RWD Lexus GS in the north. Even the low-end Honda Accord Hybrid seems to only have black and silver, of which blue or red is my preferred color. Ford Flex is not often equipped with a rear captain chair and all the other good things I want.

Except for two things, the special order is no problem for me.

First, dealers generally hate special orders. When you tell them you don't want what they have, any willingness to trade will disappear. This is especially true for dealers of non-German cars, but even for German dealers.

Secondly, manufacturers also hate special orders unless they are German. American manufacturers provide you with narrow order windows, Byzantine time rules that can lead to months of waiting, and opaque, constantly changing order procedures. Asian manufacturers rarely buy special; your dealer only needs to select a usable car from the next batch of configurations you want, which may be built in the next few months.

In other words, manufacturers (except Germans) and distributors are firmly revolving around the "heap, sell fast" model, and strongly discourage you from trying to do anything different, so that it is a lack of experience , So that I buy far fewer cars than other times.

I want to know if this is true if you walk in with a purchase service certificate (such as Truecar or USAA). If it is basically a fixed price, do they care if they have to order.

I'm considering this route because I can't find a model with the colors, engine, and options I want anywhere.

My last new car is the 2011 Accord Coupe V6 Manual, white. I have no problems with the special order process. Maybe this is just a class dealer.

Are you in the Detroit area? The feeling I got from the conversations with many members here is that the dealer experience is better in areas with high concentration of auto industry personnel such as Detroit.

I have only bought cars on the coast (both coasts), and my dealer experience led me to post the rant I posted in this thread.

I think that one of the smooth car purchase transactions in my life was one time when I bought a very common model (my Forester XT) from the dealer's inventory. This is no coincidence.

I don't know if he is, but it makes sense. You and I have discussed this issue before. I think it's different here. I know many people who specially order cars. Some Ford dealers here order vehicles like A-Plan customers. The price, I think it is a commission, has been determined, and the car will not be parked in the parking lot.

Yes. The post here makes me think it's worth buying a car in Michigan and taking it home on a 1,500-mile road trip home, rather than dealing with dealers here.

I think the situation in PNW is actually worse than other places, because Seattle and Portland have a limited number of dealers, and they are too far away from other cities, and people are unwilling to set their sights on buying further.

I should add one thing: When I bought Forester, I had better experience with some (but not all) Subaru dealers of PNW. PNW's Subaru is a special case.

I almost did this with GTI. I had to go through 5 Volkswagen dealers in Arizona to find a dealer who sold me MKV GTI at the suggested retail price. My father taught me that someone wants to sell a car, you just need to find that person.

The C-Max I bought is just the opposite. As soon as the package was announced, my salesperson asked me to come in and select the options I wanted from the order guide. Then I signed on a piece of paper, saying that my $0 deposit was non-refundable and my car was ordered. After six weeks, it succeeded, they made preparations, we figured out the financing, I came in and signed the document in less than 20 minutes, and then it was done.

No, it is Mechanicsville Honda (VA). They gave me the same deal as CarMax, and they gave me an Accord sticker for $4,600. And 0.9% interest. This is the best car deal I have ever made. At some point in my life, buying that car was a stupid move, which is why I sold it 16 months later.

Interestingly, I tried to specially order a blue I4 manual Accord coupe during the same period and was politely told by every Honda dealer in the greater Denver area to get lost, even after paying the list price.

I have no problem with ordering Focus specifically. The dealer looked for some and came to the conclusion that what I wanted was not there, so we clarified what I wanted and agreed on the price. I gave them a deposit of $1,000, and I took mine six weeks later. vehicle.

I think the dealers in Detroit III will be very used to this process because many of their heavy trucks are special orders.

There should be a QOTD about "Which dealers would you recommend in your area". That would be useful.

I would not recommend anyone on Hampton Road. The huge military presence has made "signing and driving" so commonplace that dealers are very resistant to real negotiations. If you drive for an hour or three, you can almost always buy the same car at a better price.

Four of our last five used cars were purchased in the Washington, DC/Baltimore area. The one we got locally was stolen because, well, it was a gear lever Juke. Naf said. ;)

There is a lot of truth here. Again, if they turn 7 cities into one huge military base, and use trucks to transport civilians to fill jobs, and then use trucks to transport them out, then everyone might have a better life. Interestingly, when you are away from the Hampton Road area, the cost of living decreases.

Answer from the Detroit area:

Large domestic distributors who conduct employee transactions. They will deal with it.

Very interesting article Jack, thank you for your new perspective, I haven't considered it before. I would love to be able to purchase the Accord Sport with the maroon exterior/beige interior combination that my Civic has. Damn it, I am willing to pay quite a lot of extra money to get this combination. On the contrary, the 6spd Accord sedan is only available in black and slate gray. Even if it is equipped with a CVT, the Sport is only equipped with a black interior. I don't care.

"Honda didn't want to sell 2,000 specially ordered manual V6 sedans every year. It created a complete additional model for EPA certification and put it in the manual and observe the recall. It's too much trouble."

Once again, the government is an important part of the problem.

Can they sell 2000 RLX a year? I bet that every hood they sell has more than $5,000 on it. However, they still spend millions of dollars to sustain the failure of life support, which also requires the EPA to approve the 2 exclusive engines provided by it.

http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2013/03/acura-rlx-sales-figures-usa-canada.html

In 2014, they sold 3,413 vehicles in the United States.

I'm sure that once the freshness disappears, it will drop to the RL number (<100 per month).

The explorer’s story brought me back to when I was 10 years old, my mother would drive a demo car ordered directly from the factory, and then drive for a year. My father is the general manager of a large car rental company, so he demonstrates the car.

As a car fan at home, he will take home Ford/Mercury/Lincoln books. I can explain the car in detail in the book. This is the dream of a car kid.

Explorer was very hot and caught my attention. I wanted the best, so I tried to get my mom into the Limited model, but she didn't care about any colors. So we agreed with the red and tan interior '96 Eddie Bauer 4.0 V6 4WD model with all options. Except for the color, it looks the same as the Explorer in this story.

Waiting for the vehicle to arrive after a few months, I like it as a passenger. Unfortunately, my parents hate it, a large part of which is because the bold 4.0 engine is dragging on the load model with 4WD.

In retrospect, I should have ordered it with V8 because we used 4WD before when we lived in San Diego. I have a vision of off-road trekking and sacrificed the V8 option for a true 4WD. I don’t know what I’m thinking.

Another weird demo we ordered in 1998 is Windstar Limited with rare gold/tan paint, this is our second demo because we have the 1995 GL green release model, which is useful for families , But even when I was a kid, I found out how terrible it is and the gearboxes of these vehicles are bulky and low-speed coarse adjustment is common.

Other memorable demo cars when I was young were the 2-door Blazer with digital dashboard in 1989 (or about 3 years old), the Oldsmobile 88 in 1993, the Oldsmobile silhouette and electric sliding door in 1994, 1996 Mustang Saleen S281 and 1997 Land Rover Discovery and so on.

PS As I mentioned here before I went out to order a new car on my way to the United States, because I want a manual M3, and all dealers have M3/M4 with DCT, and there are very few M3s on that note .

I would never say that the 4.0 SOHC engine has no guts. In fact, people generally think that it is underestimated at 205hp and will not step on the toes of the 225hp V8. A few summers, I drove a basic XLT truck with 4.0 6 on the hills of central New York, carrying 5 people to and from the cornfields. I think this is a rude but torquey beast, the 5spd car did a good job (until it didn't: it started to explode during the 58k mile upshift).

In 1996, it was the 160-horsepower OHV 4.0 with 4 gears, which has a much smaller impact than the SOHC models with 5 gears.

Ah, that makes sense. Well, at least the old OHV main force will never eat the timing chain!

I can’t say it’s new, but a friend played Exploder Sport with six people. It has been several years old, and it does not have the guts. In an unforgettable situation, I asked her to speed up and she told me that the truck had knocked down at about 70 mph.

There are two problems with this article: 1) I have seen the customized BMW X3 delivered within three weeks.

2) Many German metal dealers sell many customized cars. This is not a problem-I used my S4 to do this to get a manual. What I didn't get and couldn't find the answer is how much this elusive EPA certification cost. I see why I can’t walk into an Audi dealer where I can buy A4 avant (allroad), I can buy S4 with a stick (or dsg, if it’s an idiot), I can use a stick, but I can’t buy a strap S4 avant for instructions. Everything is there, they work in the United States, and they are all made on exactly the same production lines in Europe, but I can’t get what I want.

I don’t necessarily like Baruth’s $0.50 mosaic style, but I’d love to read an article that will clarify how high this elusive EPA certification is for a combination of feature options already sold in the United States and why The manufacturer chose not to provide them.

I have a cash_in_hand of a hand-cranked four-wheel drive performance station wagon. I still. If I have a wrench, an allraod, and a poorly serviced S4, I can make one by myself. But Audi will not spend money to do this for me, I want to know why.

Don't put Frankenstein together Allroad S4. That is a rabbit hole you can never get out of.

You just finished VAG-COM

However, God knows that I will enjoy reading it.

Yes. I changed my mind. do it. Do it and write it down!

"I fully understand why I can't walk into an Audi dealership, where I can buy an A4 avant (allroad), I can buy an S4 with a stick (or dsg, if it’s an idiot), I can buy an A4 with a stick, but I buy No S4 avant with instructions."

Because the S4 Avant manual is a unique combination of crash test and EPA certification (remember, Avants is Allroad, but it's not actually the same car; it's wider and taller than Avant), and *no one will buy*.

I suspect the EPA certificate is the cheaper part.

Crash testing is expensive because it destroys the vehicle-for a *small batch* car, it is easy to guarantee a net loss, unless you can get people to pay the Ferrari price.

(I can’t find numbers on how many models were broken to meet NHTSA requirements—not to mention the optional IIHS test—but Autoblog [http://www.autoblog.com/2007/10/19/how -crash -tests-work/] indicates that the total cost may exceed $100,000 *only for testing procedures and dummy wear*, not including the car itself.

But if you want to make a frontal, rollover, side, partial impact, then... you need to destroy a *new* car for everyone. )

After throwing away at least $150,000, how much do they need to sell S4 manual Avant to make a net income of $1?

What is more than what they will always sell.

(Don't get me wrong; when I bought a car recently, I was fascinated by the *ideas* of the Allroad with an S4 engine—though not a manual.

But I am very realistic. No one will buy that.

So I got XC70-T6; anyway, I need extra cargo space. )

Cadillac claims that they only need to sell 30 CTS-V station wagons to achieve breakeven on this model.

They left some zeros.

Regarding the last paragraph, does buying Tesla have similar help?

A better question is why you only used three paint colors on a V6 Accord Coupe equipped with a manual transmission.

I am not a full supporter of manual transmissions, but I think, yes, if I want to buy Accord Coupe V6, I will continue to buy manuals. But I want my tiger's eye, and you can't get it through the manual (and you can't get it in the car at all).

If I'm in a high position in the Honda system somewhere and I know that my manual is as good as the previous Honda manual, I will continue to intimidate those who buy Honda cars, just like Honda has (and of course) done in the past Like that...

That is the thorn in Jack's eye. Visit Honda's Canadian website. They made these cars in Ohio, but shipped them to the north and refused to sell them in the United States.

"In the United States, distributors are customers." Just like the medical industry, insurance companies are customers. We are the product.

Inventory and special order are the wrong dichotomy. Why not sell cars through large, well-capitalized, multi-line retail chains that operate hundreds or thousands of small showrooms supported by regional distribution centers? Do you know how all other consumer products are sold today? A large DC with thousands of cars can serve the long tail more effectively than a group of independent dealers with hundreds of cars, but delivery can take up to a week. Warehousing in a safe and cheap central location, rather than in a huge open space in a Class A, high-traffic retail space, is an additional bonus for cost savings.

The franchise dealer model is stupid and outdated. It persists only because of legislation, and it cannot disappear anytime soon.

I will drink it.

I suspect that you underestimate how many car purchases are impulsive, emotional decisions.

Once they pull the trigger and make a decision, people don't want to "come back in a few hours/tomorrow" to their car.

In addition, dealer batches do provide some shopping benefits that are not available in showrooms-even if the variety is limited, there are more than what you see in most showrooms.

Although I would love to see Madroc's plan implemented, I have to agree with you. When I last bought a Honda, we were sitting next to a "sales cubicle" next to a couple who didn't even know they would buy a car that day. They have no idea how they will pay for a new car, let alone how much their old car is worth. Something sad.

Are there other auto writers who can or will write this? Are there other websites or magazines that can publish it?

Wouldn’t it be great to work with someone you respect?

If you can paint the automatic transmission CX-5 blue, you can also paint the manual transmission CX-5 blue. However, somehow, you refused to do so.

I want a Stickshift CX-5, but since you limit my (non)color choices to black, gray, and another gray, I won't buy it. I like the actual color of my car.

Like it is enough to pay thousands of dollars more for it?

Please paint professionally after purchase.

Damn, your logic makes me angry. Technically speaking, CX-5 will be my "perfect" replacement for Tribute.

I did this two years ago: I ordered the Grand Caravan SE Plus, red, rear heater and controls as options. The dealer had to place a factory order for me. I waited for about 10 weeks before the van arrived. I am not in a hurry to buy a new truck, so it works very well for me.

I can see that the car I ordered and waited for (except Mustang, Corvette, etc.) is a truck. 5.2 billion equipment combinations will never be loaded on the right truck. I like Dodge (Ram) EcoDiesel, but there is no configuration around me (I mean 300 miles around me). They are 44k strippers Tradesman 4×4 or Laramie 4×4.

I agree. I like F150, but I am very specific about what I want. I know that the dealer does not stock what I want. I hope I can install the MFT head unit in XL. Fortunately, I can install vinyl flooring and MFT on XLT.

I was at a Ford dealership (probably after I won the lottery or embezzled public funds): "Hi, I want to buy a new F-150!"

Honest Dick: "Well, boy, this is a nice King Ranch—"

"No, thank you; I have a custom order. XLT SuperCab is equipped with an 8-foot bed, 5.0, FX4 kit, heavy payload and towing kit, heated towing mirror, medium light camel interior, heated leather front row made of lasso Seat, back cloth XLT seat, vinyl floor, sunroof and power sliding rear window, with built-in sheets, in blue jeans, but with Caribou two colors from King Ranch. I have cash. I will pay anything For additional cost, I will be happy to wait 6 weeks from the factory. Do we sell it?"

This sounds very close to my truck order.

OMG I love these two tones. I saw one the other day. Guard and reindeer. beautiful.

The dealer who said "Ya betcha!" Regarding this problem, instead of making 10 attempts to get me to buy King Ranch and then adopting a passive aggressive attitude in the rest of the transaction, it is better to say that it is the person I want to do business with.

The F-150 configurator is indeed a good time-wasting tool. I will treat mine as Lariat Sport SuperCrew, low box, 3.5TT, 4×4, trailer bag, 3.55 locker, 6-spoke 20-inch wheels, 502A, sunroof and navigation. When I have this dream, I will also buy a new garage that it actually fits.

I never thought about buying a full-size truck, but I totally agree that if I did, I would skip to the special order. so. many. put up. combination. Just like winning the lottery, find a right combination with cab/bed/engine/drive wheel/axle ratio/traction hardware/wheel/color/decoration level/options/etc/etc...

The F150 Configurator is one of the most time-consuming tools on the Internet.

Second only to Reddit and TTAC :)

My goodness... Given that there are four different F150 engines, the number of combinations must be staggering even before you consider the interior level, cab length, bed length and options.

However, I would rather buy a Ram! I'm not sure if Ford will sell you a half-ton truck with a V8 and a sporty rear differential ratio, but you can get a Ram 1500 with Hemi and 3.92 rear gear.

3.73 is still good, as long as you can use V8.

Tremor gets 4.10, but not even V8? Ford is some serious nonsense.

The tremor disappeared. You can get 3.73 in any 4×2 or 4×4. I want to know if the Raptor will retain 4.10. There is an aftermarket 4.56, which is a bit crazy.

Tremor *has* (past tense) 4.10 rear wheels, because mechanically, it is just an ordinary cab FX2/4, all with 4.10.

@bball: 4.56? ! This is definitely half a ton of madness. We have a 4.30 F-350, and its pulling force is like a mother...but it will never exceed 12 MPG, and you can reach interstate speeds, even at OD, the engine will have difficulty breathing.

I think 4.56 is suitable for Raptor with larger aftermarket tires and some other modifications. I can't imagine anything other 1/2 ton.

Raptor's 4.56 is the nearest resistance band, preferably eight miles. Or draw pile competition.

"Hey, Bubba, I bet my truck can be covered with longer rubber blocks than yours!"

"Well, the offline is a bit slow, but as soon as I get the tax refund, I get a new 5.27 backend."

Possibly use Nitos to run on a set of 15-inch rear wheels.

And only applies to 80 gallon fuel tanks and heavy-duty rear suspension.

But it must be "Katie, close the door."

"Lack of choice" is definitely a product of American retail thinking. As mentioned earlier, this is not how it works in Europe (or Asia, AFAIK; historically in Japan, salesmen came to your home to accept your orders). Most importantly, even people who say they want a brown MT RWD diesel station wagon will not actually buy one, let alone wait 2 months, which will further reduce the potential sales figures.

I think I’m trying to swim against the current; 14 years ago, I ordered a RWD MT station wagon with manual cloth seats (white, just because the specially ordered orange was recalled at the time), all brown MT RWD diesel station wagons The people have been in ooohd and aaahd the entire time I have it, and I recently sold it to one of them. It is now replaced by a green and brown FWD (boo) MT hatchback, with the micro-turbine engine and driver assistance devices removed, so we will see what happens.

I would not say that American consumers lack choice. If you are looking for a crossover with AT, you have many options. What Jack is looking for is an affordable high-performance family car. Considering that the performance of the four-cylinder Accord is better than most of us can use, and only a small number of family car buyers want manual transmissions, it is not surprising that they are not available. He can get that car, but at a price.

I disagree that most people cannot use higher performance than the four-cylinder Accord. This has nothing to do with drag racing, top speed, or track time; it is power transmission. More powerful engines can also cruise more easily. Anyone who spends a lot of time on the highway and two lanes with overtaking zones will benefit from more power.

Usually people want more power, because almost no one wants to push the car hard to make full use of all its power. So, if you use 100% of the 4-cylinder Accord power, it is basically enough for anyone, of course. But at least in the United States, people basically never and will not step on the gas pedal. If you drive like this, you need a V6 model to experience the power of the 4-cylinder in daily driving. I suspect that in other parts of the world, especially Europe, taxes have made people accustomed to driving smaller 4-cylinder and 3-cylinder models, so these drivers are actually accustomed to pushing their cars to the ability to be incorporated into highways and so on. American drivers do not do this at all, and they will not do it regardless of the size or power of their engines.

I'm doing my best not to joke about the use of manual seats. But I guess it might be the back seat?

But white may be a better color choice.

Thanks, Jack, cut into BS as you always do. Good luck to Krindler and good luck to you, but I will not miss his satirical remarks. I actually did want a brown diesel truck, but other than that, I was tired of his lazy, reflexive habit of blaming consumers. According to Derek's logic, we have observed that the former Soviet Union car manufacturers sold every Lada and Trabant they produced... So this must prove that these are exactly what their consumers want! If someone wants something else you can’t find in the market, it’s the mistake that you didn’t buy!

Today's automakers shape and shape their consumers, just as politicians choose their voters through strategic propaganda and constituency elections. Otherwise, the marketing budget is wasted. The sales inventory practice described by Baruth here is another hidden tool that I haven't considered...

About ten years ago, when I was at the BMWNA headquarters, people asked me to buy a car without sunroof. Obviously, tall people do not like to impose headroom height. The big guy gave some answers about special orders that always make mistakes and customers refuse to deliver. I'm not sure if this is an escape, or if they really have problems building according to the spec sheet.

Jack, I just want to say that this is the best car-based article I've read. I really like your eye-opening clips...and they are very well written. As a writer, you have real talent. The way you enter the story makes me very engaged. Thank you for your article. Keep

Every word you write is so true. I wonder if the obsession with Tesla is an opportunity for people who can afford Tesla to bypass the traditional car delivery system?

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