Patience is hard!

[Dave e Victoria]

we are still waiting for our new truck. We placed the order in early october. The truck was built by mid November and has been sitting in the rail yard at the plant ever since. I thnk I am beginning to see why GM is having problems. Finished inventory is about the most expensive capital there is in any manufacturing operation. The fact that they are struggling with one of the easiest distribution problems in industry says a lot about management skills

From all the reports I read, the new LBZ /Allison combination is the best yet and I am anxious to drive mine. In the mean time, it just sits there and our small contribution to their mounting debt sits in our personal savings account.

[Wordsmith]

You know, Dave, one of my personal beliefs goes something like this: “God and the devil are in the details.” The situation with your new truck is definitely one of the latter. You would think large companies could follow through better than they do, but perhaps their size is the reason for the problem!

Hope you take delivery of your new truck soon; I am sure you will enjoy it when you do, and, hopefully, the wait will make it that much sweeter!

[Parrothead]

Dave
Ed would be figuring out how he could go get it. One nice thing to think about, you are going to love it when it finally gets here. We love ours and I'm getting better at driving it.
Happy trails....................

[Dave e Victoria]

Sue, I'm getting to that point. Unfortunately, Flint MI is a long way from AZ and Southwest doesn't fly there. But then.................

[Montana Sky]

Dave,
Sorry to hear your having to wait for the new truck. I guess the only way to look at it is, look at how much money your saving by not having to pay for it yet. =) I hope you have it soon, I am awaiting your review on how it tows your Cambridge.

[richfaa]

Dave you are the second person who told me almost the same story this week.One of our camping club members ordered a TV similar to yours the the last week of November and they can't seem to find out where it is??? They may have lost a entire truck.. I ordered my 05 Ford the last week of Jan and had it in the driveway the 11th of March. I got a build date and like a tracking number and could track it on line.We knew it was in the local rail yard before the dealer did. Hope they did not misplace yours???

[rickety]

I went to see my Truck Guy, was all fired up to order a new 06, with the variable vane turbo etc etc etc.

Joel told me flat out to forget it until sometime in March or April. He can't even get an oprder in.
Since that time I have gone through counseling and now am willing to wait for a while and see what the 07is like (The DW said NO!)

[Sweetfire]

Southwest flys to Chicago and sometimes just a little bit further.

[Bob Pasternak]

It works that way with the Dodge too. We ordered ours like on the 15th of March. The next day the dealer called and gave me a tracking number. I was able to follow it from start to finish. They're built in Mexico and I followed it to a rail yard out side of East St. Louis, IL where it sat for two weeks. We finally took delivery the 28th of April.

[drhowell]

I take a little different approach when buying new. I can't stand waiting for something once I make the decision to buy it. I figure out what I want and how I want it equipped. Usually on the internet. Then I start looking at inventory online. It may be a dealership miles away but if they have what I want I contact them and make arrangements to go see it. I have also had some success with local dealerships that have cooperative agreements with other dealers that might have the one I want. Before I buy, I put my hands on it, check it out to make sure it is what I want and then start the best deal game. I hate that part. Make an offer, get counter offer, make another offer etc etc. I went to one dealer once and told him straight up I wouldn't play his game. I wanted his best price up front period. If he started the game I was walking out. He followed me to my car and was still talking when I drove off. Once I see the vehicle and make the deal I usually drive the vehicle home that day. I couldn't wait a couple days let alone a couple months. Trust me there are vehicles out there already that meet all your specifications right down to the color. You just have to search them out and don't take any crap off your dealership.

[Dave e Victoria]

Don,
I actually considered the search approach, but decided to order for two reasons.

1) when I ordered and until just recently, the new LBZ was a "restricted commodity" to the dealers. There was not much inventory in the field. Right now there are only 1317 LBZ Duramax Trucks at the 4000 GMC & Chevy dealers in the US. That includes on the lot, and in transit from the factory.

2) I was not pressed to get the truck as our next scheduled outing is in February. So I thought it would be good to get a few more weeks of production on the new LBZ before they built mine

So, my current condition is more of an opportunity to whine a bit rather than any real pain (as well as complain about GM Management)

Dave

[Glenn and Lorraine]

Dave, You have a lot more patience than me. Even if I didn't need it, it would drive me nuts waiting.

[deerrahn]

Hope you get it soon. I understand, I love to whine at imcompetence and the "I don't care attitude". Seems like there are getting to be more and more of these people. Whatever happened to, "I am there 8 hours and give them 8 hours of work". I guess this just teaches us to have more patience. Have A Good One.

[Dave e Victoria]

Glenn, I am already "Nuts" so this can only make me a little more so.
Dave

[CountryGuy]

Golly Dave, Can hardly believe what I am reading. I know you are not telling fibs, I just had NO idea! OUTRAGEOUS! Should be no excuse for this silliness. Hope you get it soon, seems it might be a nice Xmas gift to tuck under the tree (or do you tuck Under the cactus out there in Arizona??)

Hope you get it soon!

[sreigle]

Dave, any idea why it is just sitting there? Are they in contract negotiations with delivery firms?

[Dave e Victoria]

Steve,
My suspicion is bad management.. That is hard to say as I am a GMI(62) grad. However, there is a memo from GM to dealers that says the problem started with a shortage of Rail cars due to the hurricanes. In the meantime, I have been on other forums and have found folks who have connections into GM distribution. So far even that has not helped. What is really discouraging is i found a guy who ordered his after mine was built and already has his in Rhoade Island. Go figure.

Of course, this would all be easy if I had not jumped the gun and sold my 2003. In the mean time I am learning to share the Honda Hybrid with Victoria. Of course, now she expects it is my duty to keep it fueled. So far, she has dibs in the morning and I get it after Oprah comes on. Life is good.
Dave

[dsprik]

quote:Originally posted by Dave e Victoria

So far, she has dibs in the morning and I get it after Oprah comes on. Life is good.
Dave

Yeah... for an hour, Dave. Can't you get her interested in any soap operas? I think they start at 11:00 AM. Just trying to be helpful...

[sreigle]

Dave, well, you can like the product without equally liking the management. All three of the mfrs have gone through periods of poor management, from what I've seen.

Since the Ford guys are reporting getting theirs delivered I'd have to guess it's as you suspect and not a real transportation problem other than what mgt might have created.

I hope they get it for you soon. I'm watching for a magazine test or two, also. The numbers hold a lot of promise. It will be interesting to see who fires the next volley and by how much. We all seem to be the winners.