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At certain times they open up building to actually order it and sent to a dealer for you to purchase. Most of the year it seems they do not accept orders. Sim

At certain times they open up building to actually order it and sent to a dealer for you to purchase. Most of the year it seems they do not accept orders. Similar experience on Ford.com for most vehicles. I would agree though, it's very frustrating. It's even more fun when you realize the dealer price they show for the ones they match is MSRP and the dealer is actually selling it for thousands more, plus the dealer adds accessories so you get to overpay for things like cargo nets and floor mats.

bnt 4y ago
Meanwhile in EU, I can configure any Volkswagen-group car down to the finest detail and have it delivered to a dealer of my choice, and the price will be the same across all dealers.
- frumper 4y ago
  Current VW's website in the US is doing the same thing. Click Build leads you to find inventory. The German VW website car configurator crashes for me, but it is prompting me to look at what is already available.
- MomoXenosaga 4y ago
  Yes but in America people go to a dealer and drive a car off the lot after the sale. The US way has its convenience of not having to wait 6 months for the car to be built and shipped.
  - NickRandom 4y ago
    Europe has both so it isn't a binary thing. There are 'main dealers' that have ready built stock / floor models or you can hunt around within that chains' group for stock that meets your spec or you can have built to order.
  - xipho 4y ago
    You are not driving a completely custom car off the lot right after you buy it in the US. So this is not a convenience relative to the OP. Furthermore, in the present market you may indeed buy a car, but it is highly unlikely to be what you really want.
    - xattt 4y ago
      If you go for a Volvo, you have the option of taking delivery in Europe, do a driving tour and have it shipped back to NA: https://www.volvocars.com/us/shopping-tools/shop/overseas-delivery https://www.volvocars.com/us/shopping-tools/shop/overseas-de...
pbourke 4y ago
> Similar experience on Ford.com for most vehicles At least for Ford F-series trucks, you must place the order through a dealer. You can build the truck online and take the build to the dealer for the order. In my experience the online build tool is sophisticated enough that it properly reflects the real order entry system. Not sure if it’s the same for the rest of the models.
- frumper 4y ago
  There are times throughout the year you can place the build order online. You still need to choose which dealer to have it go through. Last time I saw Ford.com available to build and order non-ev's was last December. I think the window that feature was available was about a month.
71a54xd 4y ago
I've had a great time getting car salesmen to include floor mats for free. One guy literally tried to tell me he couldn't do that - and I had to spell it out for him. Step one, agree to give me floor mats. Step two, you walk over to the service dept, buy floor mats, and put them in my car. Step three, congratulations you made a sale and commission - but you had to buy floor mats for my car. I dislike boomer tactics as much as anyone (especially the bizarre trope of yelling at people to sound more right) but car salesmen are nearly as degenerate as realtors so I do take pleasure in this kind of a transaction where I'm the boot of the joke.

bnt 4y ago

Meanwhile in EU, I can configure any Volkswagen-group car down to the finest detail and have it delivered to a dealer of my choice, and the price will be the same across all dealers.

frumper 4y ago
Current VW's website in the US is doing the same thing. Click Build leads you to find inventory. The German VW website car configurator crashes for me, but it is prompting me to look at what is already available.
MomoXenosaga 4y ago
Yes but in America people go to a dealer and drive a car off the lot after the sale. The US way has its convenience of not having to wait 6 months for the car to be built and shipped.
- NickRandom 4y ago
  Europe has both so it isn't a binary thing. There are 'main dealers' that have ready built stock / floor models or you can hunt around within that chains' group for stock that meets your spec or you can have built to order.
- xipho 4y ago
  You are not driving a completely custom car off the lot right after you buy it in the US. So this is not a convenience relative to the OP. Furthermore, in the present market you may indeed buy a car, but it is highly unlikely to be what you really want.
  - xattt 4y ago
    If you go for a Volvo, you have the option of taking delivery in Europe, do a driving tour and have it shipped back to NA: https://www.volvocars.com/us/shopping-tools/shop/overseas-delivery https://www.volvocars.com/us/shopping-tools/shop/overseas-de...

pbourke 4y ago

> Similar experience on Ford.com for most vehicles At least for Ford F-series trucks, you must place the order through a dealer. You can build the truck online and take the build to the dealer for the order. In my experience the online build tool is sophisticated enough that it properly reflects the real order entry system. Not sure if it’s the same for the rest of the models.

frumper 4y ago
There are times throughout the year you can place the build order online. You still need to choose which dealer to have it go through. Last time I saw Ford.com available to build and order non-ev's was last December. I think the window that feature was available was about a month.

71a54xd 4y ago

I've had a great time getting car salesmen to include floor mats for free. One guy literally tried to tell me he couldn't do that - and I had to spell it out for him. Step one, agree to give me floor mats. Step two, you walk over to the service dept, buy floor mats, and put them in my car. Step three, congratulations you made a sale and commission - but you had to buy floor mats for my car. I dislike boomer tactics as much as anyone (especially the bizarre trope of yelling at people to sound more right) but car salesmen are nearly as degenerate as realtors so I do take pleasure in this kind of a transaction where I'm the boot of the joke.