Let me start by saying that I just ordered a 2022 Jeep Gladiator in December and had a fantastic experience with the two dealers I worked with. Both were helpful, responsive, and understood what I wanted.
My wife recently decided she would like to upgrade her Sorento to a Telluride so I am helping her find what she wants. We agreed that an S has everything we need at a great price point and she gave me the color options she likes. When I started looking around and contacting dealers regarding current/inbound inventory, and ordering I have had nothing but bad experiences that fall into the current dealership stigmas. Every time I find a model that fits our criteria it takes several back and forth conversations with sales people to "determine if they still have it". This has twice resulted in a yes only to find out that it was actually a no but they were now discussing another model without being upfront and wasting my time. Then the next step is always "what about this SXP that is we have for $20K over S you asked about....The worst experience yet was a sales guy telling me that they wouldn't give me a final price until the day of sale "because of market inflation" but I should go ahead and put a $1,000 deposit down. After telling him that I would be happy to make a deposit when we agreed on sale price he said "I understand that some people do not have the money to pay for high inflation prices, let me see what my manager can do". No thanks. I am also just not getting called back from several dealerships.
On the ordering front most dealers seem to push back to current inventory or are vague about their process. I did have positive traction with one dealer who will order with a $500 deposit but does not guarantee markup due to the 4-6 month lead time.
Are all dealers acting like this now or am I just finding the bad ones? I have only been looking in Ohio but at this point and ready to look out of state.
The dealership we bought the Sorento from was bought and merged into another large chain which seems to be commonplace now.
My wife recently decided she would like to upgrade her Sorento to a Telluride so I am helping her find what she wants. We agreed that an S has everything we need at a great price point and she gave me the color options she likes. When I started looking around and contacting dealers regarding current/inbound inventory, and ordering I have had nothing but bad experiences that fall into the current dealership stigmas. Every time I find a model that fits our criteria it takes several back and forth conversations with sales people to "determine if they still have it". This has twice resulted in a yes only to find out that it was actually a no but they were now discussing another model without being upfront and wasting my time. Then the next step is always "what about this SXP that is we have for $20K over S you asked about....The worst experience yet was a sales guy telling me that they wouldn't give me a final price until the day of sale "because of market inflation" but I should go ahead and put a $1,000 deposit down. After telling him that I would be happy to make a deposit when we agreed on sale price he said "I understand that some people do not have the money to pay for high inflation prices, let me see what my manager can do". No thanks. I am also just not getting called back from several dealerships.
On the ordering front most dealers seem to push back to current inventory or are vague about their process. I did have positive traction with one dealer who will order with a $500 deposit but does not guarantee markup due to the 4-6 month lead time.
Are all dealers acting like this now or am I just finding the bad ones? I have only been looking in Ohio but at this point and ready to look out of state.
The dealership we bought the Sorento from was bought and merged into another large chain which seems to be commonplace now.
