[Canuck]

Since they have started making the Enclave any idea or word from dealers when they will show up in showrooms and on the road. Want some feedback from users.

In the US or Canada either comment is welcome

 

[zman]

Rumor has it that it will probably be mid May before most areas start to see some roll in.

I am planning on ordering an Enclave today. In fact, there is a chance that the order went in on Saturday. The dealership told me that they are being quoted longer delivery times on the Enclave, 10-12 weeks for custom orders. We'll see if that ends up being true.

 

[coopermine]

Zman... would you mind sharing the specs and price, Thanks.

 

[GoTerps]

Zman,

Please let us know if you/dealer has a problem placing the order. Earlier discussion about Buick changing the options sounded like dealers couldn't place orders until a glitch is resolved. I'm on the verge of placing my order. I've driven the Acadia 3 times, and all were great exeriences.

 

[zman]

I'll let you all know more when I know more.

We are waiting for resolution on the 19" chrome wheel availability issue. My salesman made it sound like placing the order was a done deal once that is resolved. He did tell me to expect a longer delivery time on the Enclave, 10-12 weeks rather than the 6-8 on the Acadia. Maybe this is a sign that the order won't be entered for awhile. I never thought of that possibility.

I am ordering a Cocoa/Cashmere CXL AWD. I am getting every option except DVD, navigation, and rear cargo net/shade. Sticker is something like $41615 and I am getting it for invoice due to the fact that it is a factory order. They would not have cut me the same deal on one from inventory. The invoice matched up quite well with Edmunds, but all dealers in the Minneapolis area do have the regional advertising fee shown on the invoice. This amounts to a little over $700, so the net effect is Edmunds+$700.

 

[Canuck]

Z

I was pondering the Cocca/Cash but have not seen the interior. Have you seen the interior? What is the order vs inventory. I always thought inventory was less than ordering? Get it off the lot approach.

 

[zman]

I saw the interior at the auto show. I really like it. I am not a fan of the Ebony and the Titanium I have seen on the Acadia seemed too light to me. I am hoping that the Cashmere is a good compromise. We have something comparable on our Eddie Bauer Expedition and we really like it.

If my salesman was straight up with me, here is my understanding - it seems like factory orders (custom ordered and built for me) are simply additional vehicles that they would otherwise not get for dealer inventory. They are basically additional vehicles that they can move without effecting their other allocations from the factory.

 

[linuxtwit]

My salesman made it sound like placing the order was a done deal once that is resolved. He did tell me to expect a longer delivery time on the Enclave, 10-12 weeks rather than the 6-8 on the Acadia. Maybe this is a sign that the order won't be entered for awhile. I never thought of that possibility.

Since the Enclave is 2008 MY, they maybe prioritizing 2007 MY Acadia/Outlook orders before entering Enclave orders.
This is just a guess though. Enclave8j would probably be the one to ask though.

 

[Canuck]

Thanks for the explanation of order vs inventory. I got a carbon bike using the same concept. The more the dealer ordered(custom) over his quota the more bikes he could order. They gave nearly a 25% reduction before the normal cycling season opened.

Is the Cocca in any other vehicle in the Buick lineup?

 

[Gmoney_2010]

I guess i am not understanding from what you guys are saying. Is it cheaper to order or buy off the lot??

 

[zman]

For my particular case for the Enclave, it is cheaper for me to custom order from the factory. My dealership is giving better discounts for ordering vs taking out of dealer inventory. Of course they have no inventory yet....

 

[barryo]

The 12 weeks is because of the Enclave Backlog. There are 6K outstanding orders, which must be filled to get cars out to dealers. Custom orders will be fit in as time permits, but no longer than 12 weeks. This allows the factory to manage production.

You get a better deal now, on custom orders, because your order does not stand against the dealer allocation. The dealers will be holding thier allocated vehicles for full MSRP, as they get a limited number until production ramps up, and the pipe fills. Custom orders stand against the dealer volume for the sales kickback, but do not affect thier delivery of allocated vehicles, so they will take these orders at any price above invoice (to make free money). They know there is no guarantee you will come back to thier dealership and buy an allocated vehicle. The dealer vehicles are usually fully loaded, as they make the most off these.

 

[coopermine]

Called a dealership close to my work and the salesman said it will be available in 3 weeks. I will call a couple of other dealships in the area to find out their ETA.

 

[raftdoc]

Placed an order for ours today - Gold Mist, Cashmere, CLX, AWD, 7 passenger, Navigation, Driver Confidence pkg, Luxury pkg, Sunroof, 7 spokers, Towing pkg. Price was "invoice"(includes $424 "Advert/Adjustments" charge and $735 destination charge) plus $500 plus $20 "Customer Dialogue Network" charge. I showed the salesman(from whom we had previously bought 2 new vehicles and knew socially before that) the comments in this thread about custom orders and their effect on dealer allocation, etc. - it didn't seem to make much of an impression on him. He said that invoice plus $500 was the price they gave their best customers, and he could give us that.

We're in north Idaho, and the apparent glitch in the dealer ordering program regarding the "Chrome Package"(consists of the 7 spoke chrome wheels and sunroof) hung us up as well - since we ordered the components of the package but weren't in the targeted states of CA, FL, or TX, the program didn't seem to know what to do with us. All of the apparent logical manipulations we could think of to get around it didn't work, so we had to leave the order incomplete until the salesman could talk to somebody on Monday.

We struggled with the color choice. We live on a gravel road, so our cars seem to be perpetually dirty. Hence we have chosen Pewter and Silver Birch on the two previous vehicles as they hide dirt better. The either very dark or very light colors show the dirt more. The two tone paint pattern on the Enclave creates some difficulty in this regard. We're not especially crazy about the more contrasty combinations, but those that aren't this way are either the darker or lighter colors or were of delayed availability( my wife will have to rent a car by the month until the Enclave arrives). We settled on the Gold Mist, even though it uses the dark accent on the lower body, and will likely get the integrated assist steps as they will keep some of the dirt off of this area. Our color choice was also influenced by our strong preference of the Cashmere interior over the other choices. My prediction is that solid color paint choices will become available on future model years, as I don't think we're alone on our ambivalence about the two tone treatment.

Sorry for the length - thought I'd share our purchase/order experience.

 

[zman]

We struggled with the color choice. We live on a gravel road, so our cars seem to be perpetually dirty. Hence we have chosen Pewter and Silver Birch on the two previous vehicles as they hide dirt better. The either very dark or very light colors show the dirt more. The two tone paint pattern on the Enclave creates some difficulty in this regard. We're not especially crazy about the more contrasty combinations, but those that aren't this way are either the darker or lighter colors or were of delayed availability( my wife will have to rent a car by the month until the Enclave arrives). We settled on the Gold Mist, even though it uses the dark accent on the lower body, and will likely get the integrated assist steps as they will keep some of the dirt off of this area. Our color choice was also influenced by our strong preference of the Cashmere interior over the other choices. My prediction is that solid color paint choices will become available on future model years, as I don't think we're alone on our ambivalence about the two tone treatment.

Wow. I agree 100%, I could have written that statement. We actually chose the Cocoa due to the lower body being a fairly close match to the main color, plus we do not live on a dirt road. We also based our choice on the availability of the Cashmere interior. We know we like the Cocoa/Cashmere combination due to the vehicle at our autoshow. I wasn't sure I would like the Cashmere with some of the other color choices.

The chrome wheel situation for those of us that are not part of the "package" states has been a bit of a nightmare.

Did your dealer mention a delivery timeframe?

 

[jcflorida]

Did your dealer mention a delivery timeframe?

I stopped by the local dealer yesterday to pick up a brochure and check colors. The salesman said that they did not expect their order to arive until August.

 

[Canuck]

AUGUST?

Somebody/Someplace is going to get them soon. I read somewhere that they were starting to ship from the factory.

Do they ship somewhere to get staged for a few weeks and then released?

 

[Gmoney_2010]

So are the chrome wheels the only option that they are having trouble with??

 

[raftdoc]

As far as I could tell, it's not that the chrome wheels are unavailable, but that the dealer ordering program has a glitch. The components of the "Chrome Package"(intended for CA, TX, and FL) are the sunroof and the 7 spoke chrome wheels. For those of us who want those two options but don't live in the aforementioned states, the program can't seem to accept the order for the wheels. It seemed to accept the order for the sunroof though.

 

[RichardJMartin]

I have talked to a few dealers in the DC area that expect to have them within the next 2 weeks....one said they have confirmed one is on the way and will be at their location by May 1. The other said they would have at least 1 within 2 weeks. Sounds to me like they are going to start showing up sooner than many think.

Rich