I went to the local Chevy dealer and made a deal a few days ago on ordering a Stingray. I dealt with them instead of a high volume, more distant dealer for the ability of trading my C6. They gave me supplier pricing and enough for my C6 trade that I thought it wasn't worth the hassle of trying to sell it outright and have another car to jockey around in the driveway until I could sell my C6. I've since decided to go ahead and get the Z51 option rather than ZF1 and NPP. I don't care if I don't get it until mid-April or thereabouts but I don't want to be left hanging by a dealer that doesn't have allocation. What should I be asking them to know that won't be a problem? I know this sounds crazy but I believe they will tell me the truth if I ask the right questions.

 

OK, let's see if I can tackle this question without getting too badly pummeled. I did exactly the same thing: ordered my Z51 from a local dealer.

First of all, NOBODY but the dealer can tell you what his allocations (per week, per month, per year) will be - and a lot of that is based on his sales record is and what it will be. That said, if he is honest with you, he can give you a pretty good forecast (like the weather) of what he will get. The other thing he doesn't know for sure is how many of the allocations he'll get will be for Z51s. That option package is constrained at the 50% level (the 50% constraint means that on a nationwide basis, only 50% of the allocations given to dealers will include the Z51 package).

The other question to ask is what Priority Code he will put on your car's order. If there are only a couple buyers ahead of you, your code should be 1 or 2, But if there are lots of buyers ahead of you, or if he is trying to build up his inventory by putting his orders ahead of you (unlikely he would be that much of a jerk), then you could be 10, 20 or even 99 (which means almost the same thing as "order on hold").

There is no way you can know for certain if the dealer you choose is being completely honest with you, but you can do a little investigating by checking on his reputation with other buyers and the general community. Most lower-volume dealers are generally honest, but there are a few out there who will misrepresent themselves just to get your order.

Finally, by making this post, you will undoubtedly get replies from other forum members who will insist that you are foolish not to place your order with one of the high-volume (usually mid-west or east-coast) dealers who can give you an allocation immediately. But if you read enough of the forum posts you will discover that some of the big dealers occasionally misrepresent themselves as well.

Bottom line, I guess is do your homework: educate yourself and find out as much as you can about any prospective dealer BEFORE you order from him.

Good luck!

 

good post above, he nailed it...now for my standard answer to this question:

think of it like sending a UPS package - at code 1100, it’s like the dealer wrapped the package, called UPS and sent it on his doorstep but no telling when the truck is coming to pick it up...He's called UPS, but they have not said when they would come by........it could sit on the doorstep forever...depending on his allocations. This site is littered with people who went to a small dealer, he told them he would get them a car, took their money, and he has no idea when he's getting a car for them. He just tried to "lock you up" in the process. Some poor souls even give up their trade early. YOUR'S MAY BE HONEST, but many have not been. In the words of Ronald Reagan about the Russians: “trust……but verify"

just remember an order # does not mean much - you are looking for code 2000 on this workbench order....he can pull the report below for you 10 times a day if you want...until it says 2000 in the red circle, you really have nothing, a car is not being built for you. And notice how my name is on it, not the dealer name:




DONT DEPEND ON FORUMS OR THE CHEVY SITE TO UPDATE YOU, MAKE YOUR DEALER WORK FOR THE THOUSANDS HE IS MAKING OFF YOU. After you deliver, you will get a survey, if you burn him, it costs him huge money. Tell the sales manager - not the sales guy - that you would love to give him good marks, but if you can't get info on where your car is in the process, you’ll have to give him less than perfect. It works more often than not to slap him into line. They think you don’t know about the survey at this point in ordering….

Now once you get to 2000, then you can start to follow the codes:

Order Status Tracking Codes: GM Order Status
1000 Order On Hold at Dealership
1100 Order Placed at Dealership; Preliminarily Accepted by GM Computer.
NOTE: Does NOT mean that GM is guaranteeing that the car will be produced -- as that only occurs at status code 2000!
1101 Order Entered into System
1102 Order Entered via Web

From here on down, you are on your way!!!!
2000 Order Accepted by Chevrolet, "has passed approval and will be produced"
2001 Order Generated to Dealer
2005 Order Replaced with GM Prospec Order
2030 Order Edited by Chevrolet
2050 Order Changed
2500 Order Preferenced (or "Picked Up" or "Imaged"), Sent to Production
3000 Order Accepted by Production Control
3100 Order Available to Sequence (now becomes more stable)
3300 Order Selected and Scheduled for Production by Assembly Plant (Target Production Week usually available now)
3400 Order Broadcasted for Production (Internal Plant Order Produced)
3800 Vehicle Produced
4000 Vehicle Available to Ship
4104 Bailment Invoice Created
4B00 Bayed ("B", not 8: Your car is waiting for transportation by Truck, Rail or transfer to vendor)
4D00 12/2/13 On hold (Quality Control Checks)
4106 Bailment Released (vehicle has left plant property).
4150 Vehicle Invoiced (Dealer Billed/Order is invoiced to the dealer)
4200 Vehicle Shipped (Vehicle is shipped to the dealer or point of delivery)
4300 Intermediate Delivery (Interim transfer; processing transfer to QC or vendor)
4V03 Estimated Delivery Date
4800 Rail Ramp Unload
5000 Vehicle Delivered to Dealer
6000 Vehicle Delivered to Customer
9000 Order Cancelled