I was reading an article about how there is a surplus of unsold vehicles, not only in the United States, but around the globe. My question in mind, why don't we order our vehicles and buy them the way we want them rather than purchasing from the lots? Has this ever been tried? Wouldn't this solve the surplus of vehicles that are abandoned and just left to die because they do not sell? I was just wondering. What's your take on this?

I'm no expert but ....you have to keep the assembly line going, supply chain etc.

if every car was custom they would be crazy expensive and take forever to produce.

You can order custom cars but you better have a faaaat wallet.

Ordering was "normal" in the golden age of automobile sales. As options became complex, and manufacturing quality became an area of competition between Japan and USA marques, the available choices were reduced to packages for consumer choice. Watch the auction shows and you'll see in vehicles from the 1960's and before much commentary on the rarity of option X and option Y on car Z. Nowadays, with Just In Time inventory delivery from suppliers all over the globe to a vehicle manufacturing plant, it is very challenging to to allow random ordering from the average consumer. I miss the golden age, by the way. I agree that we could reduce the waste identified in your post if we practiced a more Toyota-like "pull" system, when owner orders triggered the production planning for your personally-configured vehicle.

Ordering a car used to take about eight weeks for delivery. Most people don't want to wait that long. I ordered my 1978 IH Scout. It wasn't anything special, but I got what I wanted and not what the dealer thought I would want.

Factories cost money to build.

If a car costs $5000 in factory and employee costs, and $5000 in parts to build, then selling the car for $8000 might cause the company to lose $2000 per car.

Not building the car might cost the company a loss of $4000 per car, as the factory is already built and you can't just fire employees on the days you don't have cars to build.

The effect also trickles down to suppliers. Suppliers have their own factories and equipment that they have paid for.

In the end, if there are surplus cars this year, then car production will slow down a little next year. New plants won't come online down the road, old plants will get retired and consolidated, and the supply and demand will sort itself out over a longer timeline.

You can order a number of different cars on the market. Means a few month wait though.

Too costly to do on mass consumer vehicles. Imagine if tv's, computers, etc, were made to order. Everything would be very expensive.

Some are:
https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...530090914#6530090914

I have had a car built to order twice. Both were high end vehicles and I figured if I was goin to spend that kind of money I'm going to get exactly what I wanted.
The worst part is the wait but it was worth it!

No one would want to pay for it.

That's why there has been a big move to packages. Offer only a few different sets of options and you and crank out more cars per hour at the facility.

More cars = more efficiency = lower costs.

quote:

My question in mind, why don't we order our vehicles and buy them the way we want them rather than purchasing from the lots? Has this ever been tried?

It's how I ordered my Truck.
Who says you can't order your vehicle?

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

quote:

My question in mind, why don't we order our vehicles and buy them the way we want them rather than purchasing from the lots? Has this ever been tried?

It's how I ordered my Truck.
Who says you can't order your vehicle?

To an extent. I am guessing your had to choose from option packages.
We did the same with our old Escape in 2013. We ordered it but had to choose option packages.
I would much prefer to choose each and every option that I wanted and nothing more. I had to get a sunroof if I wanted the navigation. I had no desire for the sunroof but it was part of the package.

Though as others have pointed out it would not be cost effective.

But pretty much every new car you can order. Most folks just don't want to wait. I think we had to wait almost 3 months.

Last work van I ordered it with just what I wanted, color, posi, access doors on both sides,accessories. etc. Took 8 weeks to get it. Well worth it!!

Ordered my 1985 Jeep CJ7 and 2007 Ford Explorer because I didn't want what was on the lot.

Took 8 weeks in both cases to get the exact vehicle I wanted.

Would do it again in a heartbeat.

I ordered my 1997 GMC Sierra and got just what I wanted in color, engine, transmission, seats, posi, battery, cab, stereo equipment and every other option. It has 68,000 no hit miles on it and I still own it. It gets 22 miles per gallon on extended highway trips with a 350c.i. V-8 and does everything I want it to do.

I'm pretty sure you can special order Hondas. I got a new CRV last fall off the lot, I'm not hard to please.

My dad ordered a lovely Volaré wagon back in the day. Beige/ tan, faux woodgrain stickers on the outside, hubcaps, slant-6 with


A four-on-the-floor. A three-pedal station wagon

I still remember how screwed up the carpet was around the shifter.

In 2002 I had a Diesel Silverado built with what I wanted in it. It took 10 weeks and when I picked it up they had a rebate going on so I actually paid $3,000 less that the quote price.

When I bought my 1978 Full size Bronco I ordered just what I wanted, 400 cubic inch engine, quad shocks, carpet delete, am/fm radio (standard was am only) navy blue with black top. Without carpet when my bird dogs got it dirty inside I could just hose it out. Loved that truck! Finally sold it in 2002 when I bought my F250 crew cab diesel. But I had a 1990 full size Bronco to fall back on.

I Germany when I lived there 1999/2000 you could only order your car. The only cars you could buy right away was a smart car. Everything else was built to order. Had to wait about 3 months to get my BMW.

I think the biggest issue is most people do not want to wait for their car. Manufacturing cost are also reduced by only having so many options as well, so the car manufacturers can mass produce them in a few different option packages.

We order all our cars. They cost no more than if you bought it off the lot. I mean for the same options. But it is right that they try to keep the assy line going. When they lay off employees, they have to pay to unemployment compensation.
Cars sell more at certain times of the year.
Now they have changed the way the dealers order them too. Each dealer gets a monthly or 3 month allowance. They can order that number or not, it is their choice. They can trade those allotments also.
You can go into a dealer go thru the options and price them up and make a deal and then he orders it. That vehicle would pretty much cost the same if it was sitting on the lot. I ordered my first new one in 1970.