AngelPhoenix

Yuck. Yeah I'm in no rush either, I am planning to wait for however long it takes to get the truck I want but…"never" is not an acceptable timeframe lol I don't understand why they bother offering certain options when they're not at all prepared to provide trucks built with those options to more than like five people.

Wait, you've been waiting for a Z71 Sport Package HD truck for a year and a half?

Yeah, the Cummins is rock solid for sure. And I love my 5.7! But they're putting said 5.7 in trucks where unless it's like a 2WD Tradesman the payload stops you from getting anywhere near your max tow for most applications. True about the optioning too but I actually like that GM is sort of forcibly simplified, it kind of streamlines the process for me and I was still able to put together 3 different builds that I really liked. Trying to build a half-ton or HD Ram Bighorn is exasperating, there's so many options that it's tough to tell whether you're actually getting what you want, and if it's a good value or not.

Right, yeah depending on how things shake out, I will probably just pay cash for the difference in my trade-in, but would also be fine to put less down, finance the rest, and then just pay that off in 6 months or a year. I'm pretty well settled on a gas engine but haven't totally given up on the idea of diesel yet. Just don't think it's worth it with all the emissions crap and extra maintenance (DEF, regen, block heating before cold starts, frequent fuel filter changes, etc.). That doubled torque number is hard to ignore though. But if I did end up deciding on the diesel, that would make things a bit more complicated for me financially. Still doable, but more touch and go.

They're not innovating with their powertrain though, that's for sure. Essentially the exact same setup on both the gas and the diesel side for years and years now. I get the idea of don't fix what ain't broke and back when they were Dodge they got hammered on reliability issues but have been doing much better on that front since they broke off into just "Ram". So I get why they don't want to mess with that but especially in the gas side of things (in the HDs) they are falling behind. And the payloads on their half-tons are terrible. I might still be looking at them despite the price if I was in the market for a diesel. But even then, the Duramax just got a power bump and from my research is considered to be the most reliable and lowest maintenance cost out of the big three, and the Powerstroke has the beefcake numbers, so I still feel like they have some catching up to do.

Yeah, probably people getting lots of decently equipped Bighorn 1500's (which are still a pretty good value overall) and lower trim 2500/3500 Cummins. But for the demographic/market I'm in (high-mid trim do it all daily driver and tow vehicle/general hauler), Ram comes in too pricey with not enough features and Ford (Superduty's) are too hard to get (and also pricer). And the dealers blow you off cause they know they have plenty of people willing to pay MSRP+ for the their HD's.

Cool, that makes sense. I actually really like the sound of the stock exhaust, I just have a thing for dual tips

They may be the discount leader, the place I bought my current truck from is essentially giving me almost $6,000 of MSRP (vs this offer from Chevy which is less than $3.000 off MSRP), but the bottom line is STILL higher than the MSRP of the Chevy I built (and therefore still about $3,000 higher than this offer from Chevy), and the Chevy has more tech and standard features.

Wow dude, thanks for this! I am aware of and practicing most of this already, but not all of it. I especially don't tell them how I'm paying until I have the paperwork to sign in front of me. Didn't know about the holdover pricing, or the end of the month thing. You should make a new post out of this and get it stickied though, really great stuff. I have 4 different dealers on the hook trying to get the best price out of them. The GM dealers have been the most responsive by far.

Well, Ford lots may be filling back up, but it's with F150's and other stuff. Superduty's are still a hot item. And Ram is filling back up because they're essentially in last place as far as powertrain options and interior and exterior updates, and yet they're charging the most So I figured I had myself down to Chevy/GMC, and the only GMC HD's I like are the AT4 (except brown interior highlight color, ew) and the Denali Ultimate, which is out of my price range. So Chevy it is. That is, if I can actually get the truck I want (with the currently restricted Z71 Sport Package) at a price that seems fair to me. Starting to think I should have waited a year but GM finally mating the 10-Speed to the 6.6 gas got me all excited lol

Just annoying that it seemed to come out of nowhere. Guy tells me "invoice +$750", that's what I expected it to be. The amount is less the issue than the principal. If he had told me about it when he first presented the offer I'd probably feel at least somewhat differently about it. Now I can only wonder what else he isn't telling me. All that being said, Ford dealers are in outer space, I could only get a decent back-and-forth going with two and then couldn't get some key items ordered that I wanted. And then Ram's invoice prices are higher than Chevy/GMC and Ford MSPRs so they're out. I'm not brand-loyal at all, I just want the best truck I can get for the best price I can get it at and this market and these dealers SUCK right now.

Bought my Ram 1500 at invoice, no advertising adjustment attached. I'd much rather just add a few more options to the truck to make the base invoice price higher. Or hell, I'd even be fine with the salesman I've been working with (who's been great) get that money. GM sure as hell doesn't need it, they make $10K+ per truck as it is…record profits overall past couple of years, unless I am missing something.

Anyone know if these will fit a 2024? I imagine yes, I doubt anything has changed with that part of the truck, but most websites say no, though that's probably only because they haven't actually physically tested them on a '24.

Apparently, this is a thing that most dealers are charged by GM in order to have their dealerships advertised through various means. The dealership is apparently passing along this cost to the customer. I've been able to get a few local dealers down to an offer of invoice +$750 (probably the best I'm gonna do in this market), but the first one to give me a hard OTD price had a $1500 "Dealer Advertising Adjustment" tacked onto the base invoice. Sound like a bunch of crap to you? Even if it's "legit" why the hell do I need to indirectly hand GM $1500 for their car commercials?

Thanks for the info, much appreciated. Yeah, no rush at all. My current vehicle will of course lose some value while I'm waiting, but that also gives me more time to save up and (probably more than) offset that loss.

Yeah I mean, I'm not in any particular rush and don't mind waiting. The issue is more that I get different info from nearly every dealer I talk to. That and the fact that only some of them are willing to actually make a deal with me (i.e come down a little from these ridiculous MSRPs) and some aren't (and even act surprised when I propose such a thing) is making this whole process exasperating.

Well, that may be a Z71 but it can't be the "Sport Package" as those have the body colored bumpers and door handles and such. Yeah, they told me they didn't know when they'd be able to place an order for one with that package, but I'm thinking…my truck's not gonna be ready for 4-6 months anyway, what if it's off restriction by the time mine's scheduled? And I really don't care about animated headlamps, I would have them drop them in an instant if they could get me the package without them. There's an option of the Chevy website to remove the signature TAIL lamps, wonder if that would change things if I gave them a build with that selected…

Hi all. Trying to order a 3500 long bed with the Z71 Sport Package and one of the dealers I've been working with is telling me that Chevy is no longer building trucks with that, or with the Midnight Edition package. Can anyone else confirm? I was pretty dead set on that. I made a more chrome-heavy version of my build but I don't like it quite as much and it's more expensive for basically the same truck (with slightly fancier wheels).

@453030 yeah, that's exactly the thing, now that I've gotten a deal at well below MSRP, there's no way I'm going back to sticker prices ever again. It just blows me away that enough people are paying these insane amounts that dealers don't have much incentive to take the time to special order me something and make a deal. They have people forking over MSRP and then some for whatever they end up with on their lots. Though, I am getting wind from Youtubers and people I know in the business that lots are starting to fill up again so hopefully things are on their way to being slightly less insane.

Seems like dealerships are getting in the way more and more as time goes on. If I could just order direct from Chevy I would probably do that, even if I had to pay MSRP and wait 6+ months.

Thanks guys. Checking out Laura Chevy. And you're exactly right, it was Mark Dodge I was thinking of. But even at like 5% under MSRP or whatever they were doing a couple of years ago, Ram just went insane with their pricing. I mean, all the manufacturers did, but at least with Chevy it seems like I'm spending a lot but also getting a lot.

Hi everyone! New to the forum, and new to HD truck shopping. I'm in the market and in no particular rush (and hoping prices will normalize at least a little bit over the next year or two) but it seems it may be quite difficult for me to get the truck that I want. Like, ever. I currently own a 2022 Ram 1500 Limited Night Edition. Almost fully loaded and I absolutely love it. Except the payload is just not there for the size trailers my wife and I would like to have. I thought I had done enough research to have a solid idea of what my payload would be. I knew it would be low, but it came out even lower than expected based on the options I selected. We are thinking that, if we can find the right truck at the right price, we'd like to upgrade to a heavy duty now so that we can get a bigger trailer, and also future proof ourselves for even bigger trailers down the line. After many build & price sessions, Chevy is the best value by far. Ram has lots of nice comfort features but they are way overpriced. So is GMC. Ford is a little better, but I'm a bit wary of the issues they've been having with their 7.3, and they are the least likely to make a deal. The number of standard features offered by Chevy is really something, and I'm very excited about the 6.6 gas getting the 10-Speed Allison transmission. I test drove a 2024 2500 Custom the other day and was pleasantly surprised at how well it handled and accelerated considering how big and heavy it is. Anyway, the issue is that the dealer is telling me that they only get a handful of allocations per month, and that each allocation is fairly specific, and it may be months or more than a year before the configuration I want is even possible for them to order. They also straight up told me that selling under MSRP is not a thing, but I paid $500 under invoice for my RAM at the height of the chip shortage, so I'd be surprised if there's isn't a Chevy dealer out there willing to make, well, a deal. What are my options? When I was on the Ram forums doing research, people were ordering from a particular high volume dealer down in I believe Georgia that was getting them the exact config they wanted at around invoice prices, and shipping the vehicle to them within 4-8 months. Anything like that for Chevy?