Infiniti Ordering Process

[nova996]

Hi, I'm new to the board here. I'm not an Infiniti owner, but I'm helping a friend buy an FX45. Or at least I'm trying to help her.

These are some serious newbie questions I have because I've never bought a Japanese car before. I've ordered half a dozen German cars (Mercedes, BMW, Porsche) and I would have thought the process with Infiniti would be the same. But she's having a hard time. She's been trying for 2 weeks to get this order in. So your help on these questions would really be appreciated!

1.) The car she wants is not available on the east coast. So she needs to order one but the dealer says you can't really special order a car like you can with BMW, etc.? Is that true? He says Infiniti (Nissan?) won't assign a particular production week to a customer's car.

2.) The dealer is also claiming that VIN numbers are assigned at the port of entry in the US. That seems very strange. Other companies assign the VIN before production starts. And in all my cars, the VIN is etched into every body panel. Is that not true with Infiniti? I doubt that the port facility takes the car apart to etch the VIN into every panel??? This is an issue because the dealer first supposedly found the car and took her deposit, and then 2 weeks later the car apparently turned out to be a FX35 (so they say, she never actually saw it). So she asked if they find another car in the pipeline (since we apparently can't order one), we want the VIN (so we can decode it ourselves). He said no, they don't have VINs until they get to port.

Thanks, guys!

[carlos_knology]

2.) The dealer is also claiming that VIN numbers are assigned at the port of entry in the US. That seems very strange. Other companies assign the VIN before production starts. And in all my cars, the VIN is etched into every body panel. Is that not true with Infiniti?

You're right, the VIN is assigned at the time of manufacture. That is ridiculous to say they're done at the port of entry. I'm assuming you were told this by the salesman who is either knowingly telling you a lie OR is VERY misinformed.

You may want to speak to the manager of the dealership. I'm willing to bet that THIS GUY doesn't know the VIN #s of car's that are coming to THEIR dealership or may be available to them and rather than finding out, he's feeding you this line. I wouldn't deal with this clown if I were you.

However, we have a couple members here that work at Infiniti dealerships so they'll likely be able to provide you with the scoop on the ordering process.

I can't help you on the ordering thing. I've also never placed a special order for a Nissan/Infiniti.

Carlos

[Jeff Williams]

I don't know if NISSAN or Infiniti will "special order" a car for a customer, or not.

I did place an order for my 2000 I30t with the dealership. I did not request the VIN#, but went through the process, of picking the exact color and options. (Black on Black), which were not common - usually the Black car had tan or sage leather).

I was not told that it was impossible, but that they would have to search the Infiniti inventory, and if there was not one, the dealership would order it for me, from Japan. It took 2 months, to get the car. I just went in, gave the woman exactly what I wanted, and told her to call me, when she found it - no exceptions.

She found several that were "close", but realized, when I said "No", that I meant business.

She then found one that fit my description, exactly, that a Dealership owner special ordered for his wife, but she couldn't wait, and he gave her a Q.

I don't think it is like the old days, when the car has your name on it, on the build sheet.

I say, call AZhitman, and let him get you one delivered.

[nova996]

You're right, the VIN is assigned at the time of manufacture. That is ridiculous to say they're done at the port of entry. I'm assuming you were told this by the salesman who is either knowingly telling you a lie OR is VERY misinformed.

You may want to speak to the manager of the dealership. I'm willing to bet that THIS GUY doesn't know the VIN #s of car's that are coming to THEIR dealership or may be available to them and rather than finding out, he's feeding you this line. I wouldn't deal with this clown if I were you.

However, we have a couple members here that work at Infiniti dealerships so they'll likely be able to provide you with the scoop on the ordering process.

I can't help you on the ordering thing. I've also never placed a special order for a Nissan/Infiniti.

Carlos

Well, this is the sales manager who is telling her this!

[nova996]

I don't think it is like the old days, when the car has your name on it, on the build sheet.

Thanks. That's too bad. With the German cars, you can still order it, you get a production number, your VIN is assigned, and your name is on the vehicle tracking report all the way through production, shipping, VPC, etc.

[Jeff Williams]

One of our forum moderators, AZhitman, is a salesman at the Scottsdale Infiniti dealership. He will shoot straight with you.

Look trhough the other posts, you will find him, and then shoot him an email, or call Scottsdale Infiniti, and ask for Greg Childs.

He migh just get you a better deal, even with the extra shipping.

[PalmerWMD]

Nova:

We have the 3 largest Infinti dealers in the country sponsoring us.They each have huuuge inventories.

I bet at least one of them will have in stock exactly what your friend is looking for.The following are links to their parts departments but I am sure they can punch your call thru to sales.Tell 'em your from NICO, many of their salesguys know who we are and that the quality of her buying experience is likely to be posted here.

-Pinnacle Infiniti:http://www.nissanparts.org/-Scottsdale Infinitihttp://www.infinitipartsusa.com/Default2.asp-Grubbs Infiniti homepage ( sales)http://www.grubbsinfiniti.com/en_US/

Fred...

[Rex]

Well, this is the sales manager who is telling her this!

No offense to any "salesmen" on here, but I could tell he's lying because the above statement includes the following words:

sales managerher

It's still a sad reality that they lie and they really lie to women .

What exactly is she looking for?

[PalmerWMD]

He is more lazy and/or confused.

I like to think that Infiniti dealers are above intentional lying.Our marque has traditionally maintained higher standards than many other brands, even though I am sure black sheep do exist.

Fred..

[90Q45blue]

I mean we are the number-one-rated car company in customer service (J.D. Power & Assoc.)

Nick

[Jeff Williams]

He is more lazy and/or confused.

I like to think that Infiniti dealers are above intentional lying.Our marque has traditionally maintained higher standards than many other brands, even though I am sure black sheep do exist.

Fred..

Go in his office, get on his PC, and call up the NICO site. Show him this thread. See what he has to say, then.

I would like to think NICO has some clout, when it comes to dealerships.

I know, if I was a sales manager, and I had a customer shoping for a car, and he mentioned the NICO site, I would invest some time researching the site.

I do with my business. The internet is a powerful persuasive tool, in sales.

[90Q45blue]

Yes and with over 12,000 members I would like to think I'd listen to us too if I was a salesman for a Nissan or an Infiniti dealership.

Nick

p.s. and we're only gonna get bigger!

[Q45Viper]

Unfortunately dealerships don't provide PCs for anybody to get online. Scottsdale and Grubbs are really pioneering a way to sell. Actually GREG is pioneering the internet way to sell at Scottsdale. Even though they have figured out the parts thing online, it is Greg doing his own thing here at the expense of his personal time to build some sales, and I get the impression it's HIS idea and a good one that is yet to be recognized there. I STRONGLY suggest calling Greg, he will absolutely give you the right story on what is going on. You don't mention where you are, but if you are near the Baltimore Washington area I can give you a heads up on who you're dealing with and who you SHOULD deal with in the Baltimore/DC/Nothern Virginia area. There are two really good dealers here and the rest suck.

[nova996]

Q45Viper: yes we are in Northern Virginia. Please PM me.

So my friend called Infiniti and confirmed that the VIN number is not assigned at the port as this manager said. Anyway, this confirmed at least one direct lie told to her of 2-3 major lies. So she cancelled her deposit at Rosenthal.

BTW, I went there last year to test drive a G35, and I ended up leaving and wanting to take a shower. That place is selling a high end car but their salespeople are trained to behave like they're selling cheap used cars. They aren't close to the professionalism of other premium brand dealers in that area. It's a real shame.

She (and I) are still a little confused about ordering an Infiniti. Any time you go to a BMW, Mercedes, VW or Porsche dealership the standard line is "we'll try to find the car you want in the pipeline, or through a dealer exchange. If we cant' do that, we will order the car and you'll have it in 8-10 weeks depending on production schedules." It's pretty straightforward and my family and I have ordered lots of cars this way, including two this year. But one Infiniti dealership said that practice of ordering a car went out 10 years ago! Maybe so for Infiniti, but definitely not for their competitors!

That seems strange to me. If you're going to spend $50k+ on a car, you sure as hell better be getting exactly the color and options you want, not what the dealership thought would be a nice combination!

Well, the Infiniti rep my friend spoke with said that Infiniti does accept orders, but that some dealers won't place them. So my friend found two dealers who seem to be willing to place an order with everything she wants.

So hopefully she'll be getting that FX in late March. It's too bad that those stealers at Rosenthal wasted so much of her time that now she will miss using the AWD this winter.

[90Q45blue]

I am sorry your friend was treated so badly. I'm thankful that this didn't deter her from buying an FX...a fine automobile. Please get her on this site asap so she can learn all about us and her new car. She can also see what service truly is. What some dealers lack in professionalm, we make up for in enthusiasm.

Nick

[Q45Viper]

Nova996 Private messaging is not working and your email is not listed, so all I can do is post here.....I suggest you call Paul Henderson at Nationwide Infiniti in Timonium Maryland 410.561.1000 I have known Paul since 1991 when I bought my 92Q. He is now the GENERAL MANAGER there and he is a real straight shooter. Tell him Lee Stubberfield referred you to him. The Vin at the port is obvious nonsense, but you will find that most Japanese importers like to sell out of the pipeline, they can use current deals and money available from the manufacturer that way cutting the customer a better deal, but I would be real surprised if a good dealer would not order a car. The thing is a better deal could probably be made on one in the pipeline and an even better deal can be made on one in stock on the dealer lot that he does not have to swap. If you were dealing with Rosenthal I'm not surprised you had a problem, I priced a car there and walked away disgusted.....They used old school techniques to qualify and box me in, the sales manager would not even give me a serious price unless I was ready to commit to buying that day, old school volume dealer hard closing tactics. I currently negotiate for a living all day in my own business and train others to do so and I have been a national sales trainer for a fortune 50 company, I listened to the whole spiel, politely requested a serious price and leasing payment schedule, they would not give it so I then walked after telling them nicely how badly they sucked as far as technique. The sales guy followed up by calling me a few weeks later to ask if I was "serious about buying yet." I took great pleasure in forming him that I was real "serious" the day he saw me and that I was so "serious" that I drove over and bought from Nationwide the next weekend.

[nova996]

Q45, Thanks.

That's interesting information about the pricing incentives on Japanese cars. As far as I know, the incentive structure is very different on European cars. With the exception of end of model year incentives, which obviously apply only to the pipeline, the European dealers don't make any more money on in stock cars versus ordered cars.

[Q45Viper]

It's not that there is any more factory money on a car in stock, it is that the car in stock is already sitting there eating up floorplanned finance money thereby costing them interest on the money borrowed on their credit line. It also costs money to swap a car with another dealer, probably in the area of at least $500 or so. More for every mile driven, time for the guys doing the swap, etc. And it's also a time frame issue with factory money, it starts and ends on a certain date and is available on cars already in the pipeline. So a ordered car might automatiaclly be out of the "good deal" status either becuse Infiniti does not want dealers to order cars, it wants them to clear the pipeline or the dealer will be unsure month to month how long the factory incentives may last so they will be afraid to quote you that way on an ordered car. Deals may have expired by the time it is built. Your best deal on a Japanese car is always going to be one that is at the dealer already or that he can dealer trade for on a local basis. You can probably order anything if you press hard enough but you are then negotiating with a weak hand when it comes to price. There are always two sides to any negotiation, and if you can get close to what you want while buying the car the dealer WANTS to sell, you will always come out better.

[nova996]

It's not that there is any more factory money on a car in stock, it is that the car in stock is already sitting there eating up floorplanned finance money thereby costing them interest on the money borrowed on their credit line. It also costs money to swap a car with another dealer, probably in the area of at least $500 or so. More for every mile driven, time for the guys doing the swap, etc. And it's also a time frame issue with factory money, it starts and ends on a certain date and is available on cars already in the pipeline. So a ordered car might automatiaclly be out of the "good deal" status either becuse Infiniti does not want dealers to order cars, it wants them to clear the pipeline or the dealer will be unsure month to month how long the factory incentives may last so they will be afraid to quote you that way on an ordered car. Deals may have expired by the time it is built. Your best deal on a Japanese car is always going to be one that is at the dealer already or that he can dealer trade for on a local basis. You can probably order anything if you press hard enough but you are then negotiating with a weak hand when it comes to price. There are always two sides to any negotiation, and if you can get close to what you want while buying the car the dealer WANTS to sell, you will always come out better.

Interesting. And on the other hand, with European cars you generally get as good a deal on orders as in stock cars. And you don't have to push at all to get them to order you what you want. I think a fairly large percentage of BMWs and Porsches are special orders.

Thanks for the education.

[PalmerWMD]

Any good dealer will order you your exact car.It'll take a bit until you get it but its somehting you can do.

In practical terms you will generally be bale to find the excat car already in country.

Or be able to take delivery of a in-stock car quicker.

Fred..

[nova996]

Any good dealer will order you your exact car.It'll take a bit until you get it but its somehting you can do.

In practical terms you will generally be bale to find the excat car already in country.

Or be able to take delivery of a in-stock car quicker.

Fred..

That's what you would think. But then a good, respected dealer told me that ordering cars was something done "10 years ago" and not any more. And the Infiniti rep did say that some dealers do not take orders, some do.

And no luck finding this combination, unfortunately.

[PalmerWMD]

Nova have you checked those 3 large dealers I linked for you?They send cars across country and undertsand they ahve to make the car cheap enough to be able to add shipping and still be competitive with your local dealer.

Fred...

[nova996]

Nova have you checked those 3 large dealers I linked for you?They send cars across country and undertsand they ahve to make the car cheap enough to be able to add shipping and still be competitive with your local dealer.

Fred...

Yes, we called two of them. Thanks for the links.

[Q45Viper]

Nova, now I'm curious...Have you found a dealer to place an order with? And what EXACTLY are you looking for....FX 45?Premium?Tech?Color?Interior?What exactly was the so hard to find Combination?If there are two things left over at this point, they are probably Q45, and FX45, the latter because so many opted for the least expensive FX35. I drove by both JBA and Nationwide a few days back and there were tons of FX45's around.

[nova996]

Nova, now I'm curious...Have you found a dealer to place an order with? And what EXACTLY are you looking for....FX 45?Premium?Tech?Color?Interior?What exactly was the so hard to find Combination?If there are two things left over at this point, they are probably Q45, and FX45, the latter because so many opted for the least expensive FX35. I drove by both JBA and Nationwide a few days back and there were tons of FX45's around.

Well, she found another VA dealership who is offering a nice price and apparently will take the order. But based on her experience so far, I think we'll have to just see what happens. I hope this dealership is legit.

This is not an unusual combo, IMO. She's looking for Black/Brick with Premium but no Tech. Nothing crazy.

It's not like their ordering option let you do anything crazy anyway. You know how the order sheets are for German cars. I've seen guys get BMWs with 15k in options including custom paint, but not want the sunroof. Dealers don't have that one in stock too often!

[Q45Viper]

I do know where there is a black/black Premium only 2003 new? Probably gotta be brick, right? I found that one with just one call and they said they would be happy to order a black/brick 2004.