With most products, special ordering means that you are going to get exactly what you want. However, special ordering a new car isn’t always that simple. Once upon a time, car manufacturers would be happy to build you what you wanted. Today? Not so much. Here are a few things to consider before you special order a new car, truck, or SUV.
Usually automakers will not accept new vehicle orders during the last two or three months of the production year. Production years usually end in the last few months of summer, depending on the model and manufacturer. This means that they won’t take orders between April and August, the last few months of the production year. Prime car selling season, the time of year when the deals are best, happens to coincide with most order blackout periods. So, you often can’t special order when the deals are best.
Many auto manufacturers produce their vehicles overseas. Since the vehicles must be shipped across the ocean after production, the standard two-month shipping time must be added to the two months it takes to special order (4 months total). Overseas auto manufactures prefer not to accept special orders on cars due to the length of time it takes to reach the consumer. In fact, these manufacturers may not accept special orders at all. If they do accept them, they’re often strongly discouraged.
There are some auto manufacturers that only offer certain features (like a sunroof for instance) as part of a “package.” This package may include some features you don’t want, and you may want to special order your car so you can buy the feature without having to buy the whole package. Unfortunately, a lot of auto manufacturers are unwilling to accomodate this request (Honda and Toyota are famous for offering certain options only as part of a larger package). Make sure you find out first, but sometimes you can’t really order what you want.
It doesn’t always make financial sense to special order a vehicle either. You should special order if there is a certain feature that you just have to have, but if you order something out of the ordinary it may negatively affect your resale value. When you want to resell your car, it may be difficult to find a buyer if your car is too unique. Most people buy vehicles similar all the other cars out there, so it might be difficult to find a buyer who wants one that is very different.
You should always consider buying a car off the lot before you special order one. If you can compromise on color or specific features, you will save quite a bit of money buying off a dealer’s lot. Buying a car off the lot usually gives you the best deal because dealers are paying interest on their inventory (the cars on the lot) every day. Because they’re paying daily interest, dealers try to sell those cars as quickly as they can to avoid huge finance charges. That usually means you get a big discount.
In other words, new car dealers are more interested in selling the inventory they have on the lot right now than the inventory they’re going to get in two months. Auto maufacturers don’t want to honor any special requests – they’re too hard to produce and they take too much time. So, if you’re thinking about a special order, remember that ordering a car isn’t what it used to be.