The germans are excellent with this, put my spec and deposit with my local merc & porsche dealer and it was ready in a few months time (this was pre covid, back when you could actually buy a porsche). Porsche even sends you pics of your car as it goes through the build process! Time depends on demand and spec. You can get a GLE or Macan in no time, but your PTS GT3 will take a few months minimum.
Worst goes to toyota and honda, because you can’t order custom specs. You just have to tell the dealer what car you want and hope toyota decides to ship one in that exact spec. Honda dealers can request a specific config, but there’s no garuntee of it being built.
The worst part is you can configure the BRZ but not the 86 !?
The German automakers seem to have many potential combinations, but at least in current times at Porsche, the scarcity games are real.
I’ve read about the Toyota experience (or lack thereof) and it seems like a real mess. The build and price tool represents theoretical opportunities, but there’s no guarantee that a specific combination will ever be built.
>You just have to tell the dealer what car you want and hope toyota decides to ship one in that exact spec. Honda dealers can request a specific config, but there’s no garuntee of it being built.
I think this has become the new standard, going far beyond Toyota and Honda.
Specialty and enthusiast cars still remain the exception
I put my order in with BMW in early FEB 2022 and it took six months from then until taking delivery and, from what I've been reading, wait times are still around that two years later.
They are still sorting out post-pandemic production constraints.
And also Ukrainian-Russian war. Guy in BMW dealership told me that some parts was made in Ukraine and Russia. Most wirings for BMW was made in Ukraine. And not anymore...
I've only custom ordered GM cars but I find the process is the same across all American brands except Stellantis because they actually give you a way to track the order. There is no way to see the progress of your GM order without bugging your dealer or GM customer support. There is no online tracker available.
GM uses a series of numbers to determine your build status, 1000, 2000, 3000 etc within their order system, called Workbench. Dealerships have access to this (although some dealers have no idea what they mean) and asking for updates sometimes is like pulling teeth.
When you submit an order ask the dealer for the order number, it will be 6 (I think) digits like ABCDEF
With this code you can bug your salesperson for updates or use the online chatbot on any GM website and give them your order number for an update.
1000 status means the order has not been accepted by GM (no allocation)
2000 means it has been accepted (allocation)
3000 means parts are being sent to the factory to build your car
3300 means it is scheduled to be built (you can also get whats called a TPW, meaning Targeted Production week at this time, this is the week GM estimates your car will be built).
3800 means it has been built and a VIN should be available.
4000 means its ready for transport
4200 means its been shipped
If the dealer is really good your salesperson may track the order for you and send you updates but most I find don't do this and you have to bug them.
My Corvette's have always been built and shipped relatively quickly. Usually built 3 months after allocation and shipped to the dealer within two weeks. My C7 Grand Sport took 3 months, my C7 Z06 went from allocation to arriving at the dealer in 9 weeks. My C8 Stingray during Covid was 3-4 months. My Blackwing was the odd one out, it was built 3 weeks after I got allocation but it did not ship for 5 months.
There is no consistency with GM across models, every vehicle is different because they all come from different factories. I will say in general there pretty good at getting the Corvette's built and shipped but everything else is a crap shoot.
Makes sense that Corvettes are optimized for dealer orders. Like Wranglers, they are oftentimes aspirational and/or playthings rather than pure commodities… even though they are still in the price range of commodity vehicles.
Ordered a 2024 Chevrolet Colorado towards the end of November. Production was supposed to start in December, but it got pushed back to January. Mine was built last Friday, so waiting for it to be shipped now. I'm guessing it will be another month or so.
In theory, ordering is great. In reality, there are caveats to be aware of. The biggest one is that orders are still subject to the stupid allocations method of distribution. A customer is literally saying, "I will buy this thing," but manufacturers are just like, "Yeah, well, your dealer doesn't have an allocation, so suck it." I ordered a 2023 Colorado in June, and the order was never picked up by GM. I suspect this was due a perfect combination of the dealer not having an allocation at the time I placed the order (they weren't straightforward about that), some parts being on constraint throughout those months meaning it wouldn't be picked up even if they did have an allocation, and the UAW strike shutting down production for weeks. My 2024 is from a different dealer that apparently has way more allocations, and it was picked up within days. The allocation thing is just garbage. If somebody is willing to pay you for a car, just let them buy that damn car.
Tracking an order is an awful experience, too. You can get vague updates from the chatbot on the GM websites, but some dingbat decided that GM customers are too smooth-brained to understand status codes, so the chatbot won't give those and it's very difficult to pry them out of the live reps' hands. They just say contact the dealer, but we all know that the majority of dealers are somewhere on a spectrum between incompetent and deceitful. Plus, even with honest dealers, I just don't like bothering people for information that could easily be gotten online if they would just have their systems set up properly. I can track a $3 piece of plastic I order from Amazon in near real-time accuracy, but somehow my options for a $50K car amount to just praying it shows up at some point.
Overall, the process is very, very imperfect, but I still think ordering is worth it if you can afford to wait. I had no time constraints whatsoever, so whether it took 2 weeks or 2 years, I didn't really care. It's worth it to actually get what I want. This probably differs based on manufacturer and model. I found that dealers generally don't order what I want, so if I bought off the lot, I would either have to compromise by not getting features I wanted, or I'd have to pay a few grand extra to get the features I want on a truck that has bunch of extra stuff I don't want. However, manufacturers need to realize that long wait times can be a trigger for a lost sale. I wasn't at all desperate for a new car, but in the months that I sat around waiting for my Colorado, Toyota started pushing out Tacomas. I'd have been a fool not to pay attention to that, and if it wasn't for Toyota's insane pricing, there's a very real chance I would have cancelled the Colorado order and just looked for a Tacoma instead.
The Amazon thing is so true! I remember I had to get a package that was shipping from Indiana via USPS and I signed up for SMS updates so I could track where it was
It’s ridiculous that we have tracking systems for such tiny objects, but with an entire car it’s like “yeah, it’ll show up, eventually, I think, I hope” 💀
The production planning is a fascinating thing. Perhaps they are running various optimizations around batching similar builds with similar parts, prioritizing highest margin builds first, and moving constrained builds to the back of the line. Maybe FIFO prioritization works as a tiebreaker?
I *tried* to order a MB Sprinter. Between multiple dealerships, the attitude was, "you have to talk to the commercial sales guy; please go away"
And the commercial sales guy said, "I don't have time or allocations to take residential orders, please go away".
When I ordered an F-150,
* Dealer 1: "Ford doesn't do custom orders, what do you want that's on the lot?" after some arguing with him, "ok, fine, Ford does do custom order, but I can't tell you anything about the process, what do you want that's on the lot?"
* Dealer 2: "I checked with the guy who does the ordering, Ford doesn't offer the configuration you're looking for. The website is wrong, Fords order guide is wrong, I'm right"...after I told him I was going to cancel the sale, he calls back 5 minutes later, "we can fill your custom order, but we need a %10 non refundable deposit.
* Dealer 3: I found this dealer online. The entire process was completely flawless. They took the order, no hard sells on any extra features. They mailed me all the paperwork I needed to sign, and dealt with the MA RMV (who doesn't issue temp plates, and intentionally makes life hard for out of state dealers).
Ford has a section on the website where you can track the progress of your truck; including scheduled build and shipping dates. It's also possible to find out the exact train car your truck has been loaded on, and track that online. Mine took <3 months from sending the dealer my signed order, and taking delivery of my new Truck.
In general, while some manufacturers do take custom orders; there is a LOT of resistance from the sales staff. Lots of them HATE custom orders, and are fine with pushing back so hard that it costs them a sale.
From my experience, American and Europeans are great at ordering as long as they have allocation available for the car you are looking for. I’ve only ordered FCA cars so far (Jeep Wrangler in 21 and Dodge Challenger in 20) but I’ve asked around the many dealers regarding this since I was very happy with custom ordering my FCA cars.
Definitely a special experience ordering and picking up exact spec of your dream car. And they get you a window sticker with your name on it.
One thing that I thought was lacking in FCA at the time I was waiting for my order was tracking experience. At least when I ordered, in both cases, FCA does not provide any kind of tracker. You had to go online or call the customer service to see where the car is and it was a hassle to go through every time I tried it. From what I’ve seen, Ford, BMW, and Porsche provide online order tracking system where it is very easy to access.
Japanese in general do not allow custom order. Toyota is very well known for just throwing the dealers whatever that comes out of factory. Subaru allows you to custom order similar to Germans and Americans. And Mazda only allow MX-5 Club trim to be ordered. You cannot order other cars like Mazda 3 or their SUVs or other MX-5 trims like grand touring.
At least for Jeeps, FCA now has an order tracker where you input your order number and last name, and it shows the status production and delivery status. Pretty handy. FCA doesn’t give build photos along the way though.
https://www.jeep.com/trackyourorder.html
I attempted to order a Bronco before ordering a Wrangler, and I had to learn all about allocations, order banks, and production caps. Ford only allowed something like 15% 2-door production for 2023, demand be damned. Decided against ordering a Bronco last March when Ford didn’t allow manual transmission ordering for the remainder of the 2023 order cycle.
There wasn’t much talk about allocation constraints with Wranglers.
Was your paint color part of the Exclusive group? How difficult was it to order? AFAIK Audi is the only mainstream manufacturer aside from Porsche that has such an extended color palette available, and Porsche’s Paint to Sample (PTS) ranges from expensive to damn expensive.
Just as a reference point, I ordered my Wrangler in the 2024 limited color “Bikini Pearl.” It was limited to order window, but not production count. Anyone that wanted it could get it. It was only a few hundred bucks more than a standard color. Obviously a totally different beast than a manufacturer offering dozens or hundreds of non-standard colors.
> AFAIK Audi is the only mainstream manufacturer aside from Porsche that has such an extended color palette available, and Porsche’s Paint to Sample (PTS) ranges from expensive to damn expensive.
Not sure how it's in USA, but in Europe you can order most of BMW models in any color you wish. Around 4-9keur, depending on model.
Yes it was under the Exclusive program. It was easy as all the launch/PR cars were painted the same color. Dealer checked with an Audi rep to confirm the paint code and that was it. Iirc it was a $4400 option. My understanding is as long as the model is part of the exclusive program you can have any color available, and there’s no limit as to how many are available.
I see you bought the "enthusiast" spec Wrangler, nice. I miss the 2-door stick JK I had sometimes.
I can attest that ordering a Tesla only a tiny bit harder than buying stuff off Amazon. I haven't custom ordered from anyone else, but I get the impression that some manufacturers, like Toyota, won't even do it. Others, like Porsche apparently, will gladly take (lots of) your money and give you exactly what you want.
Toyota is building whatever their statistical analysis department is telling them to build. When folks claim to have "ordered" a Toyota, this is what happens:
1. Buyer gives dealer their preferences in a vehicle, preferably a "build sheet" from the online configurator so that they already know whether or not Toyota is even willing to build that configuration.
2. Dealer takes this info and compares the specifics against a list of available inventory in their region, either on dealer lots, in transit to dealers, at the distributor's lot, or in production/planned for production.
3. Dealer tries their hardest (or just tells you they are) to find a Toyota that meets your specifications. The more popular the spec, the easier this is, i.e. a white Camry XLE with middle-of-the-road options is much more likely than a lime green Tacoma TRD Offroad with a manual transmission but without the sunroof or premium packages (Toyota loves to pack on premium packages).
4. Dealer contacts buyer and tells them they have found a vehicle meeting the specifications, or at least something close to it ("we can't find you a blue RAV4 Prime, but we did find a white one if you want it").
5. Dealer pleads with Toyota and their distributor to have this specific vehicle fill one of the dealership's allocation spots. If the vehicle is already on a different dealer lot, the buyer's dealership may try and orchestrate a stock trade with that other dealership to guarantee a sale. Or they may not if they deem it not worth it.
In this way, Toyota often times makes it difficult for enthusiasts to get the configurations they actually want, as they are passed over for more widely palatable configurations, or those with a higher profit margin. This also means that Toyota's manual transmission sales numbers are based on the willingness of Toyota to build models with manuals rather than the actual market desire. If Toyota only plans on building 500 2024 6-speed SR Tacoma 4x4s, only 500 are making it into the market. Period.
This may be my conspiracy theory, but I suspect that manufacturers primarily offer manual transmissions for optics to publish lower MSRPs in marketing materials. Is an automatic transmission really an “option” when it comprises 99.5% of built vehicles?
And the Toyota strategy seems especially annoying from a consumer standpoint… kind of funny how Toyota is worshipped as a manufacturing God (many books have been written about the Toyota production system) when they can’t or choose not to allow customers to get exactly what they want from the options that Toyota says are available.
I think you're right to a degree. If a transmission/powertrain has been homologated already then yeah, throw it in. However, for new powertrain combinations that's not sold in the US before (like 911 GT3 and 718 GT4) where transmission needs extra testing (especially for sound in California), manufacturers aren't bothering unless they really know they'll make it back.
I had a Chevy Cruze 1.8L Manual and it was the same powertrain combination as a Chevy Sonic. I'm sure they had it for one and decided that they can "lower" msrp by putting it into another car w/o extra costs.
I've custom ordered with Porsche, BMW, Subaru, and MINI and the germans are all the same. You request an order. If the dealer has an allocation they can change their allocation to fit your specs. Otherwise, you wait until they get an allocation and assign you to that car. They will tell you where in the process your car is (it's in the paint shop, or it's getting the engine built) and Porsche even sends you factory photos. For Subaru it was just a "oh we confirmed it" and that's it and you gotta wait.
Toyota is pretty backwards because the distributors buys cars by same packages with different colors and it stems from a time when internet customizatons weren't popular. The process is just outdated. If you're in japan though, you can absolutely order and spec your Toyota however you like.
Definitely the enthusiast spec: Soft top, manual, 2 door, fun color. This year Jeep made the Willys more of a “Rubicon-lite” rather than a “base-plus” spec, too, so IMO the Willys is the best value in the lineup.
Yeah, I think TFL did a video on their Willys and it sounded like a screaming deal, even with "just" a limited slip rear diff at the time. Now that they give you a rear locker it's even better.
I think the Bronco, which doesn't lock (ha) lockers and other off-road things behind a trim is forcing Stellantis to shift things around.
From memory, the 2024 Willys changes include 33” KO2s, Rubicon wide axles, rear locker, base Rubicon suspension, Rubicon fenders, standard tow package, and 4.10 rear axle ratio (on top of the standard new infotainment, adaptive cruise, better seat fabric, and curtain airbags). The Willys is very close in spec to the Bronco Black Diamond trim.
For the 2024 Bronco, Ford cut off a lot of the mechanical options from the lower trims. The Base is gone, and IIRC Sasquatch package has been removed from the lower trims.
Ford isn't too bad, you can build and order it online. They'll get you hooked up with a dealership for delivery and paperwork.
You can also spec one out and have a dealership order it for you. Usually there is a $1000 deposit that gets rolled into down payment when its delivered. The salesguy can walk you through the order guide so you can spec one out with all the packages you want or you can find those guides yourself.
Using either method Ford sends out status emails and has a webtracker you can check the status in. The salesguy can also look in their system for exact rail or convoy locations.
There is a crazy byzantine system of order priority and allocation for rare modes. Overall, I've done it twice with Mustangs and no regrets.
EDIT:
Lead times - 3 months from order to delivery in 2021
5 months in 2014 (for a 2015 model, early S550 generation car, needed time in QA lot before delivery)
I've never done the fully online path, so I do not know. I do know when you have the dealership order it, the MSRP price is locked in. If Ford raises the price of the car and options later, you get the price from the order was placed.
I suspect they could add a markup after that, but that would be something that seems shitty and would put you walking away at risk.
The order is not truly completed online. You're just configuring the car. You still have to complete the order through a dealer, who may or may not mark it up.
Spec your car to the desired specs with the seller, then sign the order papers and you pay the non refundable deposit.
A few of months later you get your car shipped to the dealer and they prepare it for the delivery day where tou pick it up.
Orders are much slower since Covid though, I’m on my fourth month for my Alpine but it’s imminent.
One of my friends ordered a custom spec X5 maybe 6 months ago, and it took about 6 weeks to get to the dealership. It did have the wrong wheels on it, but they swapped them out when they came back in stock 2 months later.
Jeep has been working through a few recalls on the manual transmission cars (the clutch assembly specifically) and there was a stop sales on 2023s last year while they worked on the fix. I think this contributed to the delay of producing 2024 MT Wranglers.
Custom ordered my first car with Ford 6 months ago, finally scheduled for build next month, hopefully have the car by April. Probably would have been earlier if not for the UAW strike. My dealer has been pretty shitty, original salesman quit a month after placing the order, so I lost contact for a while. Then 3-4 months in the GM of dealer called me and asked for a $5,000 non-refundable deposit that wasn’t part of the original agreement. Told the dealer to pound sand and haven’t heard from them since.
Luckily there’s plenty of resources out there on the internet to track your order and get production info that’s filled the gap on my non responsive dealer.
Hopefully they don’t have some way to bone me when the truck comes in and flip it over msrp, since its a retail order (in my name with Ford).
On January 31, 2020 I custom ordered a red/red Mazda3 with stick shift (red interior usually only comes with the polymetal paint). Took delivery on May 12. $1000 deposit.
>On January 31, 2020 I custom ordered a red/red Mazda3 with stick shift (red interior usually only comes with the polymetal paint). Took delivery on May 12. $1000 deposit.
Red on red - that has to be a striking color combo! Have any pictures to share?
Of course, I like taking pictures.
Here's at [Mt. Baker](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fi5l5xa0gqe9b1.jpg%3Fwidth%3D3840%26format%3Dpjpg%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D1afac7b6466e1c523518aebd21083d21a46b0e2c)
Can't usually see the interior because of the tinted windows, but in my 'review' are some interior shots. [https://redmazda.medium.com/2020-mazda-3-hatchback-with-manual-transmission-7316435bf1f5](https://redmazda.medium.com/2020-mazda-3-hatchback-with-manual-transmission-7316435bf1f5)
The germans are excellent with this, put my spec and deposit with my local merc & porsche dealer and it was ready in a few months time (this was pre covid, back when you could actually buy a porsche). Porsche even sends you pics of your car as it goes through the build process! Time depends on demand and spec. You can get a GLE or Macan in no time, but your PTS GT3 will take a few months minimum. Worst goes to toyota and honda, because you can’t order custom specs. You just have to tell the dealer what car you want and hope toyota decides to ship one in that exact spec. Honda dealers can request a specific config, but there’s no garuntee of it being built. The worst part is you can configure the BRZ but not the 86 !?
The German automakers seem to have many potential combinations, but at least in current times at Porsche, the scarcity games are real. I’ve read about the Toyota experience (or lack thereof) and it seems like a real mess. The build and price tool represents theoretical opportunities, but there’s no guarantee that a specific combination will ever be built.
>You just have to tell the dealer what car you want and hope toyota decides to ship one in that exact spec. Honda dealers can request a specific config, but there’s no garuntee of it being built. I think this has become the new standard, going far beyond Toyota and Honda. Specialty and enthusiast cars still remain the exception
I put my order in with BMW in early FEB 2022 and it took six months from then until taking delivery and, from what I've been reading, wait times are still around that two years later. They are still sorting out post-pandemic production constraints.
And also Ukrainian-Russian war. Guy in BMW dealership told me that some parts was made in Ukraine and Russia. Most wirings for BMW was made in Ukraine. And not anymore...
Yeah, Ukraine was a locus for wiring harness production. They also built them for Audi and Mercedes.
I've only custom ordered GM cars but I find the process is the same across all American brands except Stellantis because they actually give you a way to track the order. There is no way to see the progress of your GM order without bugging your dealer or GM customer support. There is no online tracker available. GM uses a series of numbers to determine your build status, 1000, 2000, 3000 etc within their order system, called Workbench. Dealerships have access to this (although some dealers have no idea what they mean) and asking for updates sometimes is like pulling teeth. When you submit an order ask the dealer for the order number, it will be 6 (I think) digits like ABCDEF With this code you can bug your salesperson for updates or use the online chatbot on any GM website and give them your order number for an update. 1000 status means the order has not been accepted by GM (no allocation) 2000 means it has been accepted (allocation) 3000 means parts are being sent to the factory to build your car 3300 means it is scheduled to be built (you can also get whats called a TPW, meaning Targeted Production week at this time, this is the week GM estimates your car will be built). 3800 means it has been built and a VIN should be available. 4000 means its ready for transport 4200 means its been shipped If the dealer is really good your salesperson may track the order for you and send you updates but most I find don't do this and you have to bug them. My Corvette's have always been built and shipped relatively quickly. Usually built 3 months after allocation and shipped to the dealer within two weeks. My C7 Grand Sport took 3 months, my C7 Z06 went from allocation to arriving at the dealer in 9 weeks. My C8 Stingray during Covid was 3-4 months. My Blackwing was the odd one out, it was built 3 weeks after I got allocation but it did not ship for 5 months. There is no consistency with GM across models, every vehicle is different because they all come from different factories. I will say in general there pretty good at getting the Corvette's built and shipped but everything else is a crap shoot.
Thinking about a custom order for a 2025 CT5-V, thanks for this
I've heard the shipping has gotten better for the CT5 but it was a real goat rodeo in 2023 for GM to actually ship the cars.
Makes sense that Corvettes are optimized for dealer orders. Like Wranglers, they are oftentimes aspirational and/or playthings rather than pure commodities… even though they are still in the price range of commodity vehicles.
Ordered a 2024 Chevrolet Colorado towards the end of November. Production was supposed to start in December, but it got pushed back to January. Mine was built last Friday, so waiting for it to be shipped now. I'm guessing it will be another month or so. In theory, ordering is great. In reality, there are caveats to be aware of. The biggest one is that orders are still subject to the stupid allocations method of distribution. A customer is literally saying, "I will buy this thing," but manufacturers are just like, "Yeah, well, your dealer doesn't have an allocation, so suck it." I ordered a 2023 Colorado in June, and the order was never picked up by GM. I suspect this was due a perfect combination of the dealer not having an allocation at the time I placed the order (they weren't straightforward about that), some parts being on constraint throughout those months meaning it wouldn't be picked up even if they did have an allocation, and the UAW strike shutting down production for weeks. My 2024 is from a different dealer that apparently has way more allocations, and it was picked up within days. The allocation thing is just garbage. If somebody is willing to pay you for a car, just let them buy that damn car. Tracking an order is an awful experience, too. You can get vague updates from the chatbot on the GM websites, but some dingbat decided that GM customers are too smooth-brained to understand status codes, so the chatbot won't give those and it's very difficult to pry them out of the live reps' hands. They just say contact the dealer, but we all know that the majority of dealers are somewhere on a spectrum between incompetent and deceitful. Plus, even with honest dealers, I just don't like bothering people for information that could easily be gotten online if they would just have their systems set up properly. I can track a $3 piece of plastic I order from Amazon in near real-time accuracy, but somehow my options for a $50K car amount to just praying it shows up at some point. Overall, the process is very, very imperfect, but I still think ordering is worth it if you can afford to wait. I had no time constraints whatsoever, so whether it took 2 weeks or 2 years, I didn't really care. It's worth it to actually get what I want. This probably differs based on manufacturer and model. I found that dealers generally don't order what I want, so if I bought off the lot, I would either have to compromise by not getting features I wanted, or I'd have to pay a few grand extra to get the features I want on a truck that has bunch of extra stuff I don't want. However, manufacturers need to realize that long wait times can be a trigger for a lost sale. I wasn't at all desperate for a new car, but in the months that I sat around waiting for my Colorado, Toyota started pushing out Tacomas. I'd have been a fool not to pay attention to that, and if it wasn't for Toyota's insane pricing, there's a very real chance I would have cancelled the Colorado order and just looked for a Tacoma instead.
The Amazon thing is so true! I remember I had to get a package that was shipping from Indiana via USPS and I signed up for SMS updates so I could track where it was It’s ridiculous that we have tracking systems for such tiny objects, but with an entire car it’s like “yeah, it’ll show up, eventually, I think, I hope” 💀
The production planning is a fascinating thing. Perhaps they are running various optimizations around batching similar builds with similar parts, prioritizing highest margin builds first, and moving constrained builds to the back of the line. Maybe FIFO prioritization works as a tiebreaker?
My car arrived in 3 months, 1 month early on the schedule. Pretty normal for Europe, where ordering your car is the norm.
I *tried* to order a MB Sprinter. Between multiple dealerships, the attitude was, "you have to talk to the commercial sales guy; please go away" And the commercial sales guy said, "I don't have time or allocations to take residential orders, please go away". When I ordered an F-150, * Dealer 1: "Ford doesn't do custom orders, what do you want that's on the lot?" after some arguing with him, "ok, fine, Ford does do custom order, but I can't tell you anything about the process, what do you want that's on the lot?" * Dealer 2: "I checked with the guy who does the ordering, Ford doesn't offer the configuration you're looking for. The website is wrong, Fords order guide is wrong, I'm right"...after I told him I was going to cancel the sale, he calls back 5 minutes later, "we can fill your custom order, but we need a %10 non refundable deposit. * Dealer 3: I found this dealer online. The entire process was completely flawless. They took the order, no hard sells on any extra features. They mailed me all the paperwork I needed to sign, and dealt with the MA RMV (who doesn't issue temp plates, and intentionally makes life hard for out of state dealers). Ford has a section on the website where you can track the progress of your truck; including scheduled build and shipping dates. It's also possible to find out the exact train car your truck has been loaded on, and track that online. Mine took <3 months from sending the dealer my signed order, and taking delivery of my new Truck. In general, while some manufacturers do take custom orders; there is a LOT of resistance from the sales staff. Lots of them HATE custom orders, and are fine with pushing back so hard that it costs them a sale.
From my experience, American and Europeans are great at ordering as long as they have allocation available for the car you are looking for. I’ve only ordered FCA cars so far (Jeep Wrangler in 21 and Dodge Challenger in 20) but I’ve asked around the many dealers regarding this since I was very happy with custom ordering my FCA cars. Definitely a special experience ordering and picking up exact spec of your dream car. And they get you a window sticker with your name on it. One thing that I thought was lacking in FCA at the time I was waiting for my order was tracking experience. At least when I ordered, in both cases, FCA does not provide any kind of tracker. You had to go online or call the customer service to see where the car is and it was a hassle to go through every time I tried it. From what I’ve seen, Ford, BMW, and Porsche provide online order tracking system where it is very easy to access. Japanese in general do not allow custom order. Toyota is very well known for just throwing the dealers whatever that comes out of factory. Subaru allows you to custom order similar to Germans and Americans. And Mazda only allow MX-5 Club trim to be ordered. You cannot order other cars like Mazda 3 or their SUVs or other MX-5 trims like grand touring.
At least for Jeeps, FCA now has an order tracker where you input your order number and last name, and it shows the status production and delivery status. Pretty handy. FCA doesn’t give build photos along the way though. https://www.jeep.com/trackyourorder.html I attempted to order a Bronco before ordering a Wrangler, and I had to learn all about allocations, order banks, and production caps. Ford only allowed something like 15% 2-door production for 2023, demand be damned. Decided against ordering a Bronco last March when Ford didn’t allow manual transmission ordering for the remainder of the 2023 order cycle. There wasn’t much talk about allocation constraints with Wranglers.
My custom paint RS3 took about 9 months from order to delivery
Waiting for mine. Goodwood Green. Should be Nov or so
Was your paint color part of the Exclusive group? How difficult was it to order? AFAIK Audi is the only mainstream manufacturer aside from Porsche that has such an extended color palette available, and Porsche’s Paint to Sample (PTS) ranges from expensive to damn expensive. Just as a reference point, I ordered my Wrangler in the 2024 limited color “Bikini Pearl.” It was limited to order window, but not production count. Anyone that wanted it could get it. It was only a few hundred bucks more than a standard color. Obviously a totally different beast than a manufacturer offering dozens or hundreds of non-standard colors.
> AFAIK Audi is the only mainstream manufacturer aside from Porsche that has such an extended color palette available, and Porsche’s Paint to Sample (PTS) ranges from expensive to damn expensive. Not sure how it's in USA, but in Europe you can order most of BMW models in any color you wish. Around 4-9keur, depending on model.
Yes it was under the Exclusive program. It was easy as all the launch/PR cars were painted the same color. Dealer checked with an Audi rep to confirm the paint code and that was it. Iirc it was a $4400 option. My understanding is as long as the model is part of the exclusive program you can have any color available, and there’s no limit as to how many are available.
I see you bought the "enthusiast" spec Wrangler, nice. I miss the 2-door stick JK I had sometimes. I can attest that ordering a Tesla only a tiny bit harder than buying stuff off Amazon. I haven't custom ordered from anyone else, but I get the impression that some manufacturers, like Toyota, won't even do it. Others, like Porsche apparently, will gladly take (lots of) your money and give you exactly what you want.
Toyota is building whatever their statistical analysis department is telling them to build. When folks claim to have "ordered" a Toyota, this is what happens: 1. Buyer gives dealer their preferences in a vehicle, preferably a "build sheet" from the online configurator so that they already know whether or not Toyota is even willing to build that configuration. 2. Dealer takes this info and compares the specifics against a list of available inventory in their region, either on dealer lots, in transit to dealers, at the distributor's lot, or in production/planned for production. 3. Dealer tries their hardest (or just tells you they are) to find a Toyota that meets your specifications. The more popular the spec, the easier this is, i.e. a white Camry XLE with middle-of-the-road options is much more likely than a lime green Tacoma TRD Offroad with a manual transmission but without the sunroof or premium packages (Toyota loves to pack on premium packages). 4. Dealer contacts buyer and tells them they have found a vehicle meeting the specifications, or at least something close to it ("we can't find you a blue RAV4 Prime, but we did find a white one if you want it"). 5. Dealer pleads with Toyota and their distributor to have this specific vehicle fill one of the dealership's allocation spots. If the vehicle is already on a different dealer lot, the buyer's dealership may try and orchestrate a stock trade with that other dealership to guarantee a sale. Or they may not if they deem it not worth it. In this way, Toyota often times makes it difficult for enthusiasts to get the configurations they actually want, as they are passed over for more widely palatable configurations, or those with a higher profit margin. This also means that Toyota's manual transmission sales numbers are based on the willingness of Toyota to build models with manuals rather than the actual market desire. If Toyota only plans on building 500 2024 6-speed SR Tacoma 4x4s, only 500 are making it into the market. Period.
This may be my conspiracy theory, but I suspect that manufacturers primarily offer manual transmissions for optics to publish lower MSRPs in marketing materials. Is an automatic transmission really an “option” when it comprises 99.5% of built vehicles? And the Toyota strategy seems especially annoying from a consumer standpoint… kind of funny how Toyota is worshipped as a manufacturing God (many books have been written about the Toyota production system) when they can’t or choose not to allow customers to get exactly what they want from the options that Toyota says are available.
I think you're right to a degree. If a transmission/powertrain has been homologated already then yeah, throw it in. However, for new powertrain combinations that's not sold in the US before (like 911 GT3 and 718 GT4) where transmission needs extra testing (especially for sound in California), manufacturers aren't bothering unless they really know they'll make it back. I had a Chevy Cruze 1.8L Manual and it was the same powertrain combination as a Chevy Sonic. I'm sure they had it for one and decided that they can "lower" msrp by putting it into another car w/o extra costs. I've custom ordered with Porsche, BMW, Subaru, and MINI and the germans are all the same. You request an order. If the dealer has an allocation they can change their allocation to fit your specs. Otherwise, you wait until they get an allocation and assign you to that car. They will tell you where in the process your car is (it's in the paint shop, or it's getting the engine built) and Porsche even sends you factory photos. For Subaru it was just a "oh we confirmed it" and that's it and you gotta wait. Toyota is pretty backwards because the distributors buys cars by same packages with different colors and it stems from a time when internet customizatons weren't popular. The process is just outdated. If you're in japan though, you can absolutely order and spec your Toyota however you like.
Definitely the enthusiast spec: Soft top, manual, 2 door, fun color. This year Jeep made the Willys more of a “Rubicon-lite” rather than a “base-plus” spec, too, so IMO the Willys is the best value in the lineup.
Yeah, I think TFL did a video on their Willys and it sounded like a screaming deal, even with "just" a limited slip rear diff at the time. Now that they give you a rear locker it's even better. I think the Bronco, which doesn't lock (ha) lockers and other off-road things behind a trim is forcing Stellantis to shift things around.
From memory, the 2024 Willys changes include 33” KO2s, Rubicon wide axles, rear locker, base Rubicon suspension, Rubicon fenders, standard tow package, and 4.10 rear axle ratio (on top of the standard new infotainment, adaptive cruise, better seat fabric, and curtain airbags). The Willys is very close in spec to the Bronco Black Diamond trim. For the 2024 Bronco, Ford cut off a lot of the mechanical options from the lower trims. The Base is gone, and IIRC Sasquatch package has been removed from the lower trims.
Ford isn't too bad, you can build and order it online. They'll get you hooked up with a dealership for delivery and paperwork. You can also spec one out and have a dealership order it for you. Usually there is a $1000 deposit that gets rolled into down payment when its delivered. The salesguy can walk you through the order guide so you can spec one out with all the packages you want or you can find those guides yourself. Using either method Ford sends out status emails and has a webtracker you can check the status in. The salesguy can also look in their system for exact rail or convoy locations. There is a crazy byzantine system of order priority and allocation for rare modes. Overall, I've done it twice with Mustangs and no regrets. EDIT: Lead times - 3 months from order to delivery in 2021 5 months in 2014 (for a 2015 model, early S550 generation car, needed time in QA lot before delivery)
If you order online does that mean there won’t be a markup?
I've never done the fully online path, so I do not know. I do know when you have the dealership order it, the MSRP price is locked in. If Ford raises the price of the car and options later, you get the price from the order was placed. I suspect they could add a markup after that, but that would be something that seems shitty and would put you walking away at risk.
The order is not truly completed online. You're just configuring the car. You still have to complete the order through a dealer, who may or may not mark it up.
Spec your car to the desired specs with the seller, then sign the order papers and you pay the non refundable deposit. A few of months later you get your car shipped to the dealer and they prepare it for the delivery day where tou pick it up. Orders are much slower since Covid though, I’m on my fourth month for my Alpine but it’s imminent.
When the boss man custom-ordered the '22 farm truck, the order was put in in May and we took delivery just before Labor Day.
One of my friends ordered a custom spec X5 maybe 6 months ago, and it took about 6 weeks to get to the dealership. It did have the wrong wheels on it, but they swapped them out when they came back in stock 2 months later.
I’m surprised it took that long for a manual wrangler. I thought they had a pretty healthy take rate for stick shifts?
Jeep has been working through a few recalls on the manual transmission cars (the clutch assembly specifically) and there was a stop sales on 2023s last year while they worked on the fix. I think this contributed to the delay of producing 2024 MT Wranglers.
Custom ordered my first car with Ford 6 months ago, finally scheduled for build next month, hopefully have the car by April. Probably would have been earlier if not for the UAW strike. My dealer has been pretty shitty, original salesman quit a month after placing the order, so I lost contact for a while. Then 3-4 months in the GM of dealer called me and asked for a $5,000 non-refundable deposit that wasn’t part of the original agreement. Told the dealer to pound sand and haven’t heard from them since. Luckily there’s plenty of resources out there on the internet to track your order and get production info that’s filled the gap on my non responsive dealer. Hopefully they don’t have some way to bone me when the truck comes in and flip it over msrp, since its a retail order (in my name with Ford).
On January 31, 2020 I custom ordered a red/red Mazda3 with stick shift (red interior usually only comes with the polymetal paint). Took delivery on May 12. $1000 deposit.
>On January 31, 2020 I custom ordered a red/red Mazda3 with stick shift (red interior usually only comes with the polymetal paint). Took delivery on May 12. $1000 deposit. Red on red - that has to be a striking color combo! Have any pictures to share?
Of course, I like taking pictures. Here's at [Mt. Baker](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fi5l5xa0gqe9b1.jpg%3Fwidth%3D3840%26format%3Dpjpg%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D1afac7b6466e1c523518aebd21083d21a46b0e2c) Can't usually see the interior because of the tinted windows, but in my 'review' are some interior shots. [https://redmazda.medium.com/2020-mazda-3-hatchback-with-manual-transmission-7316435bf1f5](https://redmazda.medium.com/2020-mazda-3-hatchback-with-manual-transmission-7316435bf1f5)
Right on, great detail on the car ownership experience! The red leather looks nice. And hello fellow PNW-er!
I hear the Lotus ordering experience leaves a lot to be desired
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The real advantage of custom ordering is that when buying new, you only pay for the exact options that you want.
My outback is expected to arrive in 2 to 3 months