[vertigto]

Curious...so Tundras are crap now? The dealer who sold me my Camry has been bugging me to trade.

What about hemi Rams??

[OG68]

I read somewhere several weeks ago the GM is considering reducing dealer inventory even after some sort of normalcy returns. Customer orders will be encouraged. Dealers will maintain a few vehicles of each model for test drives. Good and bad for the dealers. Reduced inventory means less financial outlay by the dealers but less vehicles also means loss of sales from those who want or need a car now. Regardless, I don't see big inventories on the lots returning

[68ragtop]

Originally Posted by OG68

I read somewhere several weeks ago the GM is considering reducing dealer inventory even after some sort of normalcy returns. Customer orders will be encouraged. Dealers will maintain a few vehicles of each model for test drives. Good and bad for the dealers. Reduced inventory means less financial outlay by the dealers but less vehicles also means loss of sales from those who want or need a car now. Regardless, I don't see big inventories on the lots returning

GM would love to be selling direct & turn the dealer locations into GM owned service & new car pick up centers. No doubt about that......
Maybe this is one of their steps towards that goal?

[68ragtop]

Originally Posted by vertigto

Curious...so Tundras are crap now? The dealer who sold me my Camry has been bugging me to trade.

What about hemi Rams??

I don't think they are crap. Don't Get me wrong, I love my GM's & hopefully always will, but we have owned several Toyotas & a good friend has a Tundra. I think its a great truck & they make very reliable cars imo. If they made a competitive priced 2500 I would take a look, but they don't seem to want to touch that market yet. Not sure why?

[72projectbird]

Originally Posted by 68ragtop

I don't think they are crap. Don't Get me wrong, I love my GM's & hopefully always will, but we have owned several Toyotas & a good friend has a Tundra. I think its a great truck & they make very reliable cars imo. If they made a competitive priced 2500 I would take a look, but they don't seem to want to touch that market yet. Not sure why?

It's a lot easier to sell a foreign truck to someone who only needs a half ton. The people who make up the majority of buyers in the 2500+ trucks are a whole different breed.

[padgett]

No interest in nanny cars so 2014 is The End. OTOH do like ABS.

[Ben M.]

Originally Posted by 68ragtop

GM would love to be selling direct & turn the dealer locations into GM owned service & new car pick up centers. No doubt about that......
Maybe this is one of their steps towards that goal?

There were laws against this going way way back, but Tesla has been challenging them in court to get them overturned so it would not surprise me if GM was taking a page out of that book for themselves.

[68ragtop]

Originally Posted by 72projectbird

It's a lot easier to sell a foreign truck to someone who only needs a half ton. The people who make up the majority of buyers in the 2500+ trucks are a whole different breed.

I resemble that remark

I have to plow a parking lot in winter and tow trailers 7000lbs & up Best thing I ever did was go to a 2500 & I can't imagine ever going back. No more weight distributing hitch either.
They ride so much better than the old straight axle HD trucks. I know there are a lot of guys buying 2500's & diesels that don't need them, but I would be lost without it

[Formulabruce]

Originally Posted by 68ragtop

GM would love to be selling direct & turn the dealer locations into GM owned service & new car pick up centers. No doubt about that......
Maybe this is one of their steps towards that goal?

GM " company " does Not want to own service centers. Imagine getting your GM vehicle fixed while you wait for a
DELPHI starter, and Napa, next door has a rebuilt one. Company center can't use the Napa unit.
Dealers have options, Company stores do not.
Sure they would sell direct, but don't. If you order a brand new Corvette, and go to the Factory, pick it up down the street at the museum, you may not know it, but the Corvette museum is A Dealer. You bought it from a Dealer.
Not having dealerships would crush GMAC which makes money on "Floor plans" from dealers, AND from customers financing cars. A ton at stake here.

[1965gp]

I think the reason for smaller inventory would be less negotiating and impulse buys. People are willing to pay more for exactly what they want and people that need a car within a week or two have less options so they will pay more.

As I mentioned in the other thread- when buying my daughters car not one dealer was willing to negotiate. Basically you want it or not….

[TAKerry]

Originally Posted by bird72

I see high end "Platinum" and such 4WD crew cab being used as construction trucks and wonder how a business affords the 30-50K price jump from single cab 'Work Truck" to whazzoo high end, endless options, pearl paint wonders. I remember when the work rig was called "The Crummy".

I own a small contracting company and we do ok but theres no way I can afford or justify 80k for a work truck! On the other hand, finding a stripped down model is hard. Most trucks are luxo machines now. In my area another part of that equation is the 'work' truck also doubles as the family car, hence why these guys go hog wild. When I was in business with my brothers we had a decent size company with a couple dozen employees. The company trucks we bought were stripped down, bare models. No frills. I am a 2 truck company now, and although I like to have a bit of lux to ride around in, I certainly dont need it, besides I have a couple of 'family' cars to use. It would be nice to at least have A/C!

Yes, there are tax right offs, but nothing that justify's spending a premium.

[ta6point6]

Just to be clear I am not saying Toyota is a bad truck/vehicle. I am saying a Toyota vehicles will cost nearly 10-20k more then a comparable domestic vehicle simply because of the Toyota name. Toyota earned the dependability nod early in the 70-80 but I am not so sure the newer vehicles deserve that same amount of praise. I think all manufactures have their faults with rushing newer vehicles out the door before they have a had a good shakedown period. When vehicles can possibly burn down or just stop working that is more then an oversight.
I personally have always liked GM for their looks and ease of working on vehicles. The 79 Chevy Truck my dad gave me has over 200,000 and is still running, I wont say strong because that is the height of the smog era in 79. It is still running though and does fine to the many trips to the junkyard.

[dataway]

I've ordered my last four new GMCs, about a six week wait ... get exactly what I want. And usually cheaper because the dealer has nothing invested in it, no lot costs, no interest, no advertising.

Would be nice if they went back to the more flexible options they had 20 years ago, now there is a TON of stuff you can and can't get depending on the "package" you order.

In 2001 I ordered a half ton with a big V8, five speed manual, 3:90 ish locking rear, HD suspension, tow package, HD cooling, no radio, no power windows, no carpet, regular cab 2WD, and no AC. Was really affordable, dealership guys always got a kick out of it when I brought it in, had to watch them so they wouldn't do burnouts.

[66sprint6]

My contractor buddies all have top of the line trucks. They don't throw 20 sheets of drywall in them, though. Just the family's stuff heading up to the cottage.

[66sprint6]

And they are coming out with a new Tundra, by the way. So an updated comparison will have to wait. It's supposed to have trailing arms and coil springs.

[Ozzmann]

We have a 2013 Holden VF SSV V8 on our lot with a sticker price of $46,990, this is the third time it has been for sale at the dealership I work for. We last sold it in 2019 for $30,000, so in the last 2 years it has risen in value by $17,000, don't forget this is a 2013 build!

[1965gp]

Was that the top of the line Holden?

[Ozzmann]

Nope, top of the line ute, would have been a HSV Model, would have sold for around $80,000

[Chris65LeMans]

As I always remind people, tax write offs are spending a dollar to save 30 or 40 cents (depending on your tax bracket) so buying more truck to “save” is the wrong path.

[455Grandville]

Originally Posted by vertigto

Curious...so Tundras are crap now? The dealer who sold me my Camry has been bugging me to trade.

What about hemi Rams??

Many of my motocross/off road buddies own Toyota’s including new Tundras and they’ve had good luck with them. Many have surpassed 200,000 miles and not needing any repairs.
The TRD pros are very capable off road machines and I’ve seen them go in some pretty rough spots to retrieve some broken side by sides.
They’re not the greatest for heavier towing or loads though, that’s why I don’t own one.

Not a fan on the new Hemis, they’re bad about cam and roller lifter failures. Seen quite a few earlier ones have lower end failures as well.