The sorento is an awesome 4 seat suv
Sorry but I am a chauvinist and sexist person, and I recommend a Sienna Hybrid minivan - decent mpg, and your depreciation (it’s a Toyota).
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But its such a miserable van. You listed the only two good features.
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TBF many “7 seat SUVs” are best as 5-seaters.
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My dealer says 12 months wait on a sienna right now. Same on a rav prime altho it’s only a five seater.
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I have some general questions re optimizing (if not “hacking”) a custom order for a MY23 vehicle in a competitive market. For example, a 2023 plug-in-hybrid in SoCal. Some great discussion in the X5 45e thread BMW X5 45e Plug-In Hybrid deals
I’m actually more interested in the 2023 XC90 Recharge, but hopefully my questions are of general interest and apply to any relatively in-demand new vehicle in a competitive market (like PHEVs in SoCal).
1 - Is it advisable or ethical to place custom orders with several local dealers, assuming they have non-refundable deposits. And then go with the one that gets the vehicle first. Any downsides to this approach. Obviously, one shouldn’t go crazy, and I would think two (or maybe three) orders would be max.
2 - Relatedly, esp. if only one order is placed, and pricing is the same, how does one select and evaluate the dealer with best timing? Can ask about expected timeline and delivery, but can we believe it. Does it depend on volume of allocations and waitlist size.
3 - Seems that pricing should be capped at MSRP minus any rebates/incentives. Maybe a little more discount depending on the vehicle or market (e.g., no discount for PHEV in SoCal). But for custom orders, I assume that you can demand to exclude all dealer / port installed accessories. This seems significant because most luxury cars in stock on lots have $3-5k of expensive and unnecessary add-on accessories.
4 - Is it possible or reasonable to do a custom order at MSRP now and then try to negotiate a discount when the car arrives depending on market conditions. This seems fine since the dealer can say a quick no and sell it to someone else at MSRP or higher (if the market is still there).
1 - Is if an effective method, sure. Ethical, no. It would be the same if a dealer said we ordered this car for you but someone else offered us more money while it was being built. Also don’t be surprised to be put on a few internal do not sell lists and some dealers will try to fight you on the deposit even if they said it was refundable. This will just cause more stress than necessary.
2 - Ask for the production week or build month. BMW assigns cars production weeks and obviously the earlier the week in the year, the sooner it should be there assuming all the dealers are in the same general location.
3 - Work your dealer how you see fit. Easier to negotiate no add-ons on an order than something already on the lot.
4 - Only if you want to piss off your sales person and then start the whole process over again at another dealer. There is nothing saying you can’t try but no reason to make it more stressful than it needs to be. Just agree to pricing when you order it and enjoy the car.
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/thread
202020
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Agree with everything @wam22 said above
Is the goal here to just obtain a 2023 XC90 T8 as quickly as possible? If so, look at the top 5 Volvo volume dealers in SoCal, look at their Dealer Rater scores, eliminate the assholes, contact the top 2-3 and ask about 2023 orders: are they at MSRP? Do they have a wait list? When does the order bank open (you should get the same answer). Pick one and place your deposit: chances are that the first wave for all those dealers will arrive from Gothenburg on the same ship.
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What do you use to find this info.
Depends on where you are, and how far you are willing to go. From there you can look at their inventory levels and turn-over, but also search for press releases, awards, etc.
I’d recommend at least considering: City of Industry (Penske), Santa Ana, Rusnak (they aren’t that big but seem to get a lot of XC90s), and Culver City. Possibly Mission Viejo. But you are going to have to do your own legwork, spreading deposits at multiple dealers is probably not the best strategy.
If the vehicle were popular and hard to get (such as the 45e), wouldn’t the dealer be more than happy to have the customer cancel the order, knowing that they could sell it on the lot quickly and likely over sticker?
Thx for the specific leads, wasn’t trying to offload any legwork on you. Rather, you seemed to be referring to readily available volume stats for Volvo by location (or state). So was asking about that and could then further filter based on proximity.
- It is kinda like dating women. If you have to be secretive about what you are doing, its probably wrong. If you feel like you can’t be upfront with telling dealers “hey I am placing 2 or 3 orders with plans on refunding 2 of them based on who gets here 1st” then you shouldn’t do it.
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Highlander is not eligible for the carpool decal.
Curious if OP finally got a XC90 Recharge 2022, or 2023, or something else?
As mentioned in the other thread, bought a 2023 XC90 Recharge last week. Among the first batches in SoCal. Love it so far, the AAOS with Google maps and and Google voice assistant built-in is wonderful, huge improvement over Sensus (or so I’ve heard). And the powertrain and range is improvement over 2022 non-extended range and earlier models.
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Nice car! Big congrats!
Given that this is the 1st batch of delivery, I assume the price is just MSRP, with at most $500 A-plan discount? This is what our local dealer told me.
Do you buy extended warranty? One thing concerning me is that Consumer Report gaves XC90 very low reliability ratings: 1/5 or 2/5 over the past couple of years:
Quote:
The 2021, 2019, 2017, and 2016 all have reliability ratings of 1/5. The 2020 and 2018 Volco XC90 models have reliability ratings of 2/5. Looking at the models that Consumer Reports used to predict how the 2022 would hold up – the 2018, 2019, and 2020 Volvo XC90 – turns up some serious reliability concerns. These include the electric system, climate system, and brakes, which all get a 1/5 for reliability. Body integrity and body hardware also get a 1/5.
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Yep, pricing around there, also got the $750 CA fuel credit right before it expired on 9/1.
Re reliability, I’m sure the concerns re Volvo are legit. But then this is the last year of the design that started in 2016, so you would think that they’ve worked out the issues. Even Consumer Reports says that the last year(s) of a design are the most reliable, but the first year is to be avoided. But even for the 23 XC90, the extended range drive train is fairly new, and so is the Google infotainment to the XC90.
Didn’t get an extended warranty. Thought about it and even started some threads on here and SwedeSpeed. I’m comfortable with the risk and didn’t feel like paying an extra $4k on top of an already expensive car for something would only benefit me in 5 years. If I had gotten air suspension, likely would’ve gotten extended warranty.
You may find my experience amusing. Within the first week, I suffered a debilitating problem with the TCAM module, so both fobs and the Volvo app won’t work. I can only start the car manually and it’s going into service first thing in the morning. On the other hand, I still love the car and no regrets in getting it. So maybe you’ll take that as a compliment.
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