2018 3500HD Order Cancelled - Maybe?

Tommyz66 · April 25, 2018

This is as much a venting as a request for information. I sat down with my Chevy salesman several times in March to order a 2018 Silverado 3500HD. We settled on our final configuration on or before 3/20/2018 and left the office thinking an order was entered. Over the next several days the salesman had a family emergency and when he returned the sales manager wanted him to sell us an existing vehicle. They provided four trucks not on their lot with options that did not match what we wanted. We declined them all and the order was then entered on 3/24/2018. The order was accepted in the GM system (code 1100) and we were told that we were waiting for a production week to be scheduled.

Today (4/25/2018) we got the call but the info was extremely disappointing on many levels. We have been informed that the final day to order a 2018 HD was 3/23/2018. While the GM chat indicates that the order is still in the accepted/not scheduled mode, our dealer says it is in the not accepted mode. GM chat says the dealers have better tools to find order status than they do.

I cannot decide what is more upsetting.

· Order not entered when I requested

· Sales manager trying to pull a bait and switch stunt

· Official order 1 day past unknown to all due date especially with the above circumstance

· Official order sitting for 1 month when it is known that it will not get built

· $1000 down in the dealer’s pocket while this whole fiasco unfolds

· Likely spending more for my truck if I decide to stick with GM and order a 2019

So, has anybody out there ordered a 2018 HD after 3/24 and had it built? Is there any recourse with the dealership, GM regional rep or anyone else out there?

Dare I say I must take a new look at the other two brands to satisfy my need for a new truck to tow my camper for my June 2018 family vacation.

Thanks for letting me vent.

newdude · April 25, 2018

Couple options.

Get your down payment back, and find another dealer and try to locate a truck that has the options you desire.

If you can find a truck with the options you desire, deal with that dealer direct.

If you order a 2019, building starts June 9th for HD crew cab. That would be no good for your camping timing.

Got any specs on what your ordered truck was going to be?

Tommyz66 · April 25, 2018

I am picking up the deposit on my way home from work.

The tough part is I want a gas engine, Blue, LTZ with bench seat for the power passenger seat, Fifth wheel prep. These are the must haves....actually the fifth wheel prep is optional.

Don't want black interior (coco dune preferred), snow plow prep (dealers order 90% with prep package around here), bucket seats, diesel.

This combination is hard to find. I know of one on a lot about 1000 miles away that is a close match.

I have never been so set on features/colors/options as I am with this one. We have five drivers/vehicles, three are red because they were purchased at the end of the model year and heavily discounted. We usually go in an buy on price, this time was going to be different.

Edited April 25, 2018 by Tommyz66

aseibel · April 25, 2018

Why so against the plow prep? Do you just not want to pay for an option you don't want?

If they could give you a truck with that option for the price of one without it, I wouldn't complain about that.

Unfortunately its hard to deal at the very end of the model year, your choices come down to what currently exists.

Hopefully you find a dealer who will work with you. When we bought a 1 year old GMC Terrain, we found exactly what we wanted and my dealer had it shipped over from lower Michigan for us and we got it below KBB. They are able to work for you if they want your business.

duquephart · April 25, 2018

I've always thought there should be a "Dealers to Avoid" thread.

Edited April 25, 2018 by duquephart

newdude · April 25, 2018

Slim pickings for ones on the lot wowee lol, atleast via a cars.com searching in the nation. I see why you tried to order one.

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/722287221/overview/

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/726219846/overview/

And there was only 24 that showed up as 1 ton gas LTZ https://www.cars.com/for-sale/searchresults.action/?fuelTypeId=31765&mdId=22070&mkId=20053&page=1&perPage=20&rd=99999&searchSource=GN_REFINEMENT&showMore=false&sort=relevance&stkTypId=28880&trId=24364&yrId=35797618&yrId=30031936&zc=54449

Edited April 25, 2018 by newdude

Tommyz66 · April 25, 2018

14 minutes ago, aseibel said:

Why so against the plow prep? Do you just not want to pay for an option you don't want?

If they could give you a truck with that option for the price of one without it, I wouldn't complain about that.

Unfortunately its hard to deal at the very end of the model year, your choices come down to what currently exists.

Hopefully you find a dealer who will work with you. When we bought a 1 year old GMC Terrain, we found exactly what we wanted and my dealer had it shipped over from lower Michigan for us and we got it below KBB. They are able to work for you if they want your business.

Don't want the plow prep because it takes away the home link. I like the feature and have it on 5 cars now dating back to 1999 model year, may have even had it on my 1990 Regal.

It is a stupid hang up but when you are going north of $50k you want what you want.

The bigger problem is blue and gas. Not many gas 3500s out there, let alone blue. Then narrow to LTZ and I have a problem.

The vacation issue is solved, flying on points and staying with relatives. Just have to rent a car now.

newdude · April 25, 2018

1 minute ago, Tommyz66 said:

Don't want the plow prep because it takes away the home link. I like the feature and have it on 5 cars now dating back to 1999 model year, may have even had it on my 1990 Regal.

The vacation issue is solved, flying on points and staying with relatives. Just have to rent a car now.

It might be worth ordering at that point if you are fine not having it built until sometime in June/July. Now that I look again as well, 2019 order entry starts tomorrow for 2019MY. It is possible that the order your dealer placed gets pooled into the 2019 model year, unless the dealer canceled it out from the system.

aseibel · April 25, 2018

3 minutes ago, Tommyz66 said:

Don't want the plow prep because it takes away the home link. I like the feature and have it on 5 cars now dating back to 1999 model year, may have even had it on my 1990 Regal.

It is a stupid hang up but when you are going north of $50k you want what you want.

I see. I've never had homelink. I'm used to the clickers hanging on the visor. I wouldn't care if I had it or not.

But you are right, you are the one spending money, you should be able to get what you want.

Keep in mind that some options may be able to be installed by the dealer or upfitter. Maybe you can find the truck with everything else you need besides the homelink, then have them put that in for you at the dealership.

Tommyz66 · April 25, 2018

1 minute ago, newdude said:

It might be worth ordering at that point if you are fine not having it built until sometime in June/July. Now that I look again as well, 2019 order entry starts tomorrow for 2019MY. It is possible that the order your dealer placed gets pooled into the 2019 model year, unless the dealer canceled it out from the system.

That will be part of the discussion tonight.

I had already prepared myself for the possibility that we wouldn't get it on time, but didn't realize how upset I would get when it became reality. It will be interesting if they are willing to commit on a 2018 price or not.

They already said they will not help with the truck 1000 miles away. I am thinking about making an offer sight unseen on that one.

Tommyz66 · April 25, 2018

17 minutes ago, newdude said:

Slim pickings for ones on the lot wowee lol, atleast via a cars.com searching in the nation. I see why you tried to order one.

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/722287221/overview/

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/726219846/overview/

And there was only 24 that showed up as 1 ton gas LTZ https://www.cars.com/for-sale/searchresults.action/?fuelTypeId=31765&mdId=22070&mkId=20053&page=1&perPage=20&rd=99999&searchSource=GN_REFINEMENT&showMore=false&sort=relevance&stkTypId=28880&trId=24364&yrId=35797618&yrId=30031936&zc=54449

I tried cars.com and cargurus.com with similar results. I also spent a few hours hunting dealerships online with little luck.

Your results do show the one in Pennsylvania that I am aware of.

Colossus · April 26, 2018

Do you believe this was an honest mistake on the dealers part? Just a simple lack of communication between the sales guy and the sales manager? or do you think they had something else in mind? What is your gut feeling?

Tommyz66 · April 26, 2018

7 hours ago, Colossus said:

Do you believe this was an honest mistake on the dealers part? Just a simple lack of communication between the sales guy and the sales manager? or do you think they had something else in mind? What is your gut feeling?

Good questions. There is some history here. The sales manager also happens to be a former neighbor and I would consider him a friend.

The 2004 Suburban that we are replacing has a story. I get supplier discount pricing so we were only negotiating trade at that time and a vehicle swap from another dealer. They low-balled my trade by $2500 and wasted an entire evening of my time going back and forth. I walked out. My wife went the next morning to the other dealer 30 miles away and they gave her the extra $2500 trade value I was negotiating in 15 minutes.

However, there are no hard feelings we have since purchased a 2012 Enclave and my son purchased a 2017 Cruze, and now this order from the dealer that messed with us on the 2004. All good experiences at this point.

My gut says it was an honest mistake due to laziness. While my salesman was busy with his family emergency for several weeks on and off, nobody at the dealership made any effort to provide follow through for the salesman and support our pending purchase. That is a long story I will leave at that for now.

i82much · April 26, 2018

hey we all make mistakes, just count your blessings you weren't the one with the family emergency. get a leftover red one and don't sweat the small stuff. have fun on vacation, and one day your kids can tell their kids about how grandpa always drove red cars because he wanted to save a few bucks.

fwiw, i have had a few red base models myself for the exact same reason!

Tommyz66 · April 26, 2018

.......i82much

Yesterday was the day to be upset, today is the day to move on. Thanks for the reminder.

A guy at work asked me if we were getting the Tommyz66 fleet red. That might give you an idea of how many red vehicles I have had.

The plan is coming together, we will most likely wait. The dealer is thinking about ordering a 2019 with my configuration without deposit. If we don't have one by then we will buy it, if not they think they can sell it..............I don't know if they plan to tell me if they decide to order though.

Edited April 26, 2018 by Tommyz66