Assuming all goes well, some time in the next few months, I will be the (hopefully) happy owner of a 2013 6MT drop-top. Unfortunately, as I learned today at the dealer, the color combination I wanted simply doesn't exist - AT ALL - anywhere in the country, so we had to agree to order it. As a result, I came away from the dealer without some deposit money, but with a lick and a promise and a handful of questions. I hope I could get a little feedback from folks that have maybe been there before.

The dealer was pretty firm about the negotiation. I wanted a concrete price, but the ONLY one they were willing to give me on a factory order was invoice + 1000 and nothing less. I know I should be able to do better than that. If there was something I wanted in stock somewhere, there's a $2500 incentive currently in effect, and I could have hit around 48,5-49 with minimal push. In the end I had to agree to invoice + 1000 - any incentives in effect at time of sale. When I pressed them over what was in it for me taking such a gamble, they agreed to make my deposit fully refundable, so if I don't like the price when it arrives, I can at least walk away and all I've lost is some of my time.

- Should I have been able to get a better deal than this? Are factory orders really that hard to get a concrete price commitment on?
- The dealer says it could take 4 months from the time the order is placed until it arrives. Really? Certain "German luxury cars" can fulfill a US order in 90 days - or less.
- When does the factory take orders from the dealers? Is it going to be close to a month before the order even goes in or will it be next week?
- The dealer said the invoice cost would be set at that time (the time of the order). Should I worry about them playing any games with that number? Will it be comparable to vehicles currently in stock? (they showed me invoices that were right about 50,5 for cars similar to what I wanted)
- What are the chances there will still be a reasonable/significant incentive in effect 3 or 4 months from now when the thing gets unloaded? Losing the 2500 that's in effect now could be a deal-breaker for me at pickup time.

I'm really crossing my fingers. The dealer more or less has the upper hand at this point, with the possible exception of ending up with a car in their inventory that might take a little longer to sell than their typical stock (they have *zero* stickshifts in their inventory - not ONE). I just don't want to feel like I've been taken advantage of or end up with some other kind of buyer's remorse. Make me feel better, fellow G37 lovers!

 

Retro. That's BS. When I ordered mine, we had an agreed price and a signed contract deal. In addition, wording was added that any rebates/incentives available at the time of delivery would be applied [to further reduce the price]. Whether or not they have the car shouldn't make much difference. They should already know what it's going to cost them.

I had my car within 2 months of time of contract signing. What I think they did was modify an existing order to the specs I wanted. Not sure how long a completely new order takes.

If you can wait, at some point in the next 6 months, someone will have the car you want. Another option is to get order pricing from multiple dealers, then have them compete against one another. This worked for me and saved about $500 . Granted in the end they still made more because I agreed on the extended warranty.