Can really order?

cj42

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 15, 2007
Location
East CT
TDI
80 Rabbit,84 jetta,85 Jetta,03 Cummins, 2012 Passat SE 6MT Tdi
Can you really order exactly what you want or does the dealership just wait until one is made and then claim it? I have always ordered every car I have purchased but I stopped by the dealership today. They told me they can get what I want but they don't really put in a order for your car. They can see what's coming off the line and claim it.
First is this true or does someone have a better explanation? I looking to get a silver or tungsten a SE 6MT with monster mats & trunk liner.
 

BlackLab

Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2012
Location
Draper Utah
TDI
2012 Passat if it ever gets here.
That is not how it was explained to me. And given that people ask the guy at askavwsalesguy.com to track orders based on commission number I would say the dealership is feeding you a line. BTW I ordered mine almost 4 months ago and still no car.
 

cookeze

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2012
Location
Sacramento, CA
TDI
2012 Passat
The best way to find the car you want is to go to www.cars.com. I live in Sacramento and I found 36 TDI Passats within 150 mile radius. Good resource when you're ready to buy.
 

NateM

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 20, 2011
Location
NW Conn.
TDI
2012 Passat TDI Manual
The best way to find the car you want is to go to www.cars.com. I live in Sacramento and I found 36 TDI Passats within 150 mile radius. Good resource when you're ready to buy.
I tried that. Unfortunately all the cars that fit the description of what I wanted were ordered cars for customers on the dealers lots. So I ended up negotiating a great price and ordered what I wanted back in December. It has already been built and I have the VIN number (in under 2 months). Just waiting on transportation now. If I could drive to TN and pick it up I would!!!
 
Joined
Mar 12, 2010
Location
mb
TDI
01 jetta tdi, 12 passat tdi
We ordered our in november and just picked it up a few days ago. exactly as we wanted it but of course how many options do they have now.
 

Niner

duplicate account, banned
Joined
Jun 3, 2011
I tried that. Unfortunately all the cars that fit the description of what I wanted were ordered cars for customers on the dealers lots. So I ended up negotiating a great price and ordered what I wanted back in December. It has already been built and I have the VIN number (in under 2 months). Just waiting on transportation now. If I could drive to TN and pick it up I would!!!
I found what I wanted, color wasn't first choice, but my dealership gave me some BS story about not being able to order it, certainly not at the price I was willing to pay for one in stock 150 miles away. I believe my dealer was hell bent on selling me what they had in stock, not what I wanted. I've lost faith in them altogether at this point.
 

TomB

Veteran Member
Joined
May 1, 2003
Location
Cle Elum, Washington/Las Vegas, Nevada
TDI
2015 Audi TDI Prestige Sport
You can order EXACTLY what you want. They are just being lazy. There are NONE to pull from the list. They are BACKLOGGED SOLD orders and they are NOT going to be available.

Find another dealer if you can. They obviously do not want to do the WORK of entering it. They are afraid they will be left high and dry if you cancel that is why they are fighting you.
 

cj42

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 15, 2007
Location
East CT
TDI
80 Rabbit,84 jetta,85 Jetta,03 Cummins, 2012 Passat SE 6MT Tdi
Sorry guys I think there is a little miss understanding here. This it just me trying to get more info in how VW takes orders. The dealership said they can get me the car a I want and would "order it" but VW process of ordering is different then say Dodge. VW does more of an allotment of cars. I have called 3 dealers and the all basically said the same thing. Yes we can order you a car but its not the same process as ordering from a domestic car Manufacturer. I'm just trying to figure out how this allotment process works.
 

Niner

duplicate account, banned
Joined
Jun 3, 2011
Sorry guys I think there is a little miss understanding here. This it just me trying to get more info in how VW takes orders. The dealership said they can get me the car a I want and would "order it" but VW process of ordering is different then say Dodge. VW does more of an allotment of cars. I have called 3 dealers and the all basically said the same thing. Yes we can order you a car but its not the same process as ordering from a domestic car Manufacturer. I'm just trying to figure out how this allotment process works.
Take your money and have all your financing lined up, figure out what you want, and go find the dealer that either has what you want, or very close to what you want, and make a deal. You'll end up frustrated waiting after ordering a car through VW with the length of the wait. Find what you want already in inventory, and be done with it.
 

TomB

Veteran Member
Joined
May 1, 2003
Location
Cle Elum, Washington/Las Vegas, Nevada
TDI
2015 Audi TDI Prestige Sport
Take your money and have all your financing lined up, figure out what you want, and go find the dealer that either has what you want, or very close to what you want, and make a deal. You'll end up frustrated waiting after ordering a car through VW with the length of the wait. Find what you want already in inventory, and be done with it.
I can attest to the frustration, but it is WORTH it to get EXACTLY what you want. At this price do not let their excuses deter you.

Tell them you want to order what you want and to stop giving excuses.

To add some information, I believe VW does give allotments to each dealer based on total sales. It sounds like you are talking to low volume dealers so they may not be able to order anymore (they already shot their allocation). I guess there is an advantage to using the largest dealer in Washington State or region since they can more or less get what they want for their customers.

Then again, your dealer may have used all their allocations on pre-orders of what their person doing the ordering THOUGHT would be wanted. They may have wasted them on their selections instead of what the customers really want and they could be trying to get rid of those first.
 
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Knarrly Viking

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2012
Location
Washington
TDI
2015 Passat SE 6MT, 2 of them!
Dealers are not all alike. You have to shop around. When I was shopping for my Passat, I used USAA's car buying service, which put me into contact with 3 DC-area dealers. One of the dealers didn't bother to call me, only sent generic emails back. They didn't get any of my time. The second one, sent a generic email, followed up with a real email, and then left a voice message. I called this dealer, nice guy, looked in his database and found the car I wanted, just not in the color we wanted. He said he could order one for the USAA price. 3rd dealer did the same as the 2nd, but their voice mail wasn't understandable, and when I called the guy, I still couldn't understand him. That friday night, I called a dealer not on the USAA list, that was closest to my house. If I'm going to have to order the car, might as well be close to me. They offered me $200 over invoice, which beat the USAA price, and they could get the car and color I wanted, but would have to pay shipping cost from NH to MD. The 3rd USAA certified dealer called be back that night(8pm) and offered invoice. I ended up ordering the car and color I wanted from the closest dealer at invoice.

Pit the dealers against each other, get what you want, you just might have to wait 4-6 months if you order a car. In my case, that's just fine. I don't have to make a car payment for another 4-6 months.
 

tdiatlast

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 21, 2009
Location
Fort Worth, Texas
TDI
2009 Sportwagen (boughtback); 2014 Passat TDI SEL (boughtback)
Of course, you have to have access to multiple dealerships to use these "competitive" methods...
 

JARED_LA

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2011
Location
Baton Rouge
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SEL
Dealers are not all alike. You have to shop around. When I was shopping for my Passat, I used USAA's car buying service, which put me into contact with 3 DC-area dealers. One of the dealers didn't bother to call me, only sent generic emails back. They didn't get any of my time. The second one, sent a generic email, followed up with a real email, and then left a voice message. I called this dealer, nice guy, looked in his database and found the car I wanted, just not in the color we wanted. He said he could order one for the USAA price. 3rd dealer did the same as the 2nd, but their voice mail wasn't understandable, and when I called the guy, I still couldn't understand him. That friday night, I called a dealer not on the USAA list, that was closest to my house. If I'm going to have to order the car, might as well be close to me. They offered me $200 over invoice, which beat the USAA price, and they could get the car and color I wanted, but would have to pay shipping cost from NH to MD. The 3rd USAA certified dealer called be back that night(8pm) and offered invoice. I ended up ordering the car and color I wanted from the closest dealer at invoice.

Pit the dealers against each other, get what you want, you just might have to wait 4-6 months if you order a car. In my case, that's just fine. I don't have to make a car payment for another 4-6 months.

Knarrly Viking:
Did basically the same as you. What quotes did you get on shipping and how far is the drive? Just trying to compare my shipping costs....
 

Knarrly Viking

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2012
Location
Washington
TDI
2015 Passat SE 6MT, 2 of them!
Knarrly Viking:
Did basically the same as you. What quotes did you get on shipping and how far is the drive? Just trying to compare my shipping costs....
I decided against paying anything to have a car shipped from dealer to dealer on my dime before I got the quote. I'm a cheapskate and I have time to wait for the order. Dealer said she was shipping a similar car for another guy from brooklyn to MD that couldn't wait.
 

cj42

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 15, 2007
Location
East CT
TDI
80 Rabbit,84 jetta,85 Jetta,03 Cummins, 2012 Passat SE 6MT Tdi
I'm happy with the dealer I am using. They have given me a good price that is not higher then invoice so I can't complain. It just a question of finding me my car I have speced out.
 

TomB

Veteran Member
Joined
May 1, 2003
Location
Cle Elum, Washington/Las Vegas, Nevada
TDI
2015 Audi TDI Prestige Sport
I'm happy with the dealer I am using. They have given me a good price that is not higher then invoice so I can't complain. It just a question of finding me my car I have speced out.
Huh? A price on a hypothetical car that they will not order and cannot get for you. How does that get you in the car?
 

cj42

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 15, 2007
Location
East CT
TDI
80 Rabbit,84 jetta,85 Jetta,03 Cummins, 2012 Passat SE 6MT Tdi
They never said they would not order a car. They just said that its not the same as ordering domestic. VW works a little different and I started this thread trying to get more information on there process. I am in no hurry to get a car. If it take 6 months to get the car I want and they will give me invoice price or a little better how does that not get me a car? It may be 2013 model but I don't care. Not in a hurry.
 

Rico567

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 13, 2003
Location
Central IL
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SEL Premium (Turned in 7/7/18)
They never said they would not order a car. They just said that its not the same as ordering domestic. VW works a little different and I started this thread trying to get more information on there process. I am in no hurry to get a car. If it take 6 months to get the car I want and they will give me invoice price or a little better how does that not get me a car? It may be 2013 model but I don't care. Not in a hurry.
Same here; this will be our buying plan. We have an operating car, and plan to order well in advance.
 

TomB

Veteran Member
Joined
May 1, 2003
Location
Cle Elum, Washington/Las Vegas, Nevada
TDI
2015 Audi TDI Prestige Sport
That makes sense now.

So when are you ordering it? If you wait for it to come available based on current inventories and backlog you probably will never see one show up as available on the list.

Ordering really was the only way, especially if they hit their production limits and don't make anymore for some reason. I know you would think they would make them as long as they can sell, but VW has been known to stick to production numbers of say 15,000 vehicles.
 

cj42

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 15, 2007
Location
East CT
TDI
80 Rabbit,84 jetta,85 Jetta,03 Cummins, 2012 Passat SE 6MT Tdi
Just talked to my sales person. Looks like a 6 month wait for an VW order but he found the exact car I wanted so it looks like I will be driving a new passat soon. Can't wait. Definately a step up from my commuter car now.....94 corolla with 267,000 on it but nothing beats my true love my cummins diesel:)
 

Niner

duplicate account, banned
Joined
Jun 3, 2011
Just talked to my sales person. Looks like a 6 month wait for an VW order but he found the exact car I wanted so it looks like I will be driving a new passat soon. Can't wait. Definately a step up from my commuter car now.....94 corolla with 267,000 on it but nothing beats my true love my cummins diesel:)
What combo did you get? Congrats on the find! Oh, you were looking for what i was looking for. tungsten silver SE TDI 6MT. One in Denver, one in Florida, another one in Fairfield, CA, all at MSRP, no one willing to budge, and all still for sale 4 weeks later.
 

TomB

Veteran Member
Joined
May 1, 2003
Location
Cle Elum, Washington/Las Vegas, Nevada
TDI
2015 Audi TDI Prestige Sport
Just talked to my sales person. Looks like a 6 month wait for an VW order but he found the exact car I wanted so it looks like I will be driving a new passat soon. Can't wait. Definately a step up from my commuter car now.....94 corolla with 267,000 on it but nothing beats my true love my cummins diesel:)

Great News!!!! Let us know.
 

cj42

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 15, 2007
Location
East CT
TDI
80 Rabbit,84 jetta,85 Jetta,03 Cummins, 2012 Passat SE 6MT Tdi
I hope I don't jinx myself but I should be test driving my tungsten silver SE 6mt next Saturday. Can't beleive he found one. Just debating now if I want to try to find Nav system/ Stereo to replace stock unit.
 

cj42

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 15, 2007
Location
East CT
TDI
80 Rabbit,84 jetta,85 Jetta,03 Cummins, 2012 Passat SE 6MT Tdi
Finally signed the papers for my new pasaat SE tungsten Silver. Pick it up early this week just couldn't buy it until they agreed to swap out the tires from Hankook to the Continental's. Now just waiting on weathertec to make floormats and window guards for the 2012's. I call them they in the tool build stage so they said about 3 month wait.
 

1stVW

New member
Joined
May 29, 2012
Location
Strongsville
TDI
2012 Passat TDI
I saw their ordering system

I was looking for a Passat TDI with Navigation in 3 colors none of which any of the 3 dealers around me could find, I got the best deal on my trade from one of them and put a deposit down of they found one in any of the colors I wanted. They let me know after a week of not being able to locate it that they have one coming in in 6 weeks. They listed it as sold and even showed me all the others in those specs that were being made and about half were already sold before delivery. They do things differently then most car manufacturers since I had usually ordered or negotiated on a car on their lot. I am looking forward to receiving mine and will update the post.
 
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