Buying a New Caravan--NOT!

Time to look at a new van since the old Plymouth is from 1996 and
110,00+ miles. So, I visited a local Dodge dealer earlier in the week.
Nice non-pushy sales guy. Looked at the Caravan's and all the features
I'd like and there was the one thing I wanted, the E85 option but that's
as far as it went before things really got wierd.

First, I think Chrysler used a color-blind graphic designer. No one puts
10pt white type on a yellor and orange background making things about as
unreadable as they could possibly be.

Then on to the pages with the engines, options and various packages
available. Two models the SE and SXT and only the SE has the E85 option
and the biggest part is they now call that a "base vehicle" and
virtually none of what today are normal requested options are available.
You have no choice but to upgrade( or is it being upcharged????) to a
bigger engine(less fuel efficient) with no E85 in order to get the
options you would want, which in my case are pretty normal, remote
start, individual AC controls, stow-and-go(no captains chairs and table
etc.), upgraded sound system with no DVD, mag wheels, and so on. Can't
get it even as a custom order.

Just yesterday on a radio show when they were talking about the auto
industry and sales they were pondering Chrysler and the opinion was the
soon, in the next few years there might only be 2 US OEM's, with
Chrysler out of the picture. So, you'd think Chrysler would be paying
more attention in this day of alternative, renewable fuel, and not act
as if the E85 thing is only offered for them to "appear" to plug into
the "Green movement" when they are in no way encouraging folks to
purchase an E85 vechile, but instead upcharging folks to a non0-green
solution and in a more than transparent way.

It's indicative of the problems at Chrysler LLC and if it doesn't
change, they will be left behind in today's marketplace.


Damn.

 

I guess it costs money to make an engine E85 compliant, so automakers
don't do it for many. In Chrysler's case, it's the 3.3 L V6. I don't
think any other maker does it for many engines either.

You can get stow-n-go and remote start on the SE. (See
http://www-5.dodge.com/vehsuite/ModelSelector.jsp
where you can build your vehicle.)

They're in Package H. With Package G or H, you can get as an option
MyGIG, with a hard drive, upgraded speakers, and a back-up camera; and
a special appearance package, with alloy wheels.

It looks like the main thing from your list you can't get on an SE is
the separate driver and pass AC controls.

 

The dealer didn't offer any bto options so...maybe I should try another
dealer.

 

GO WITH THE TOYOTA OR HONDA you will not regret it.

 

I won't purchase a foreign vehicle. Been in them and I don't like them.

 

Definitely do. I am waiting on delivery of a special order SXT as I
write this. I dealt with (as recommended by my Credit Union) the
Fleet Mgr and got an outstanding price, no hassles, no going back and
forth with the sales/finance/floor manager. I did my research, did a
test drive, then talked to the fleet mgr. Ordered from the most
convenient location after I compared similar offers from the
competitions fleet depts..
I got exactly what I wanted. The models the factory is sending to the
dealers stock in my area seem to be either totally stripped, or loaded
with the rear DVDs, NAV, etc. Perhaps the salesman you dealt withr
was more interested in selling off the lot than selling you a car.
In addition to credit unions, AAA has arrangements with the fleet
depts at select dealerships. Check the websites of local credit unions
and auto club.Not sure if it's true, but I have been told that you
need to be a member of the referring organization to get the fleet
prices.

 

The problem the auto companies have is customers are quite different.

For example I wouldn't want:
-E85
-upgraded sound system
-Captains chairs

Nice to have for me, in my priority, but not a deal breaker:
-mag wheels
-individual AC controls.
-remote start

What I definitely need and which will break the deal is:
-A full sized matching spare.
It's sad how many vehicles no longer can stow the mounted tire size.
Not only do I need a matching spare, because of my long drives with no
service available, but I and many others need a place to stow the flat.

 

Second that about fleet sales.
Bought my first GC through fleet sales. To find what I wanted they traded
with another dealer 400 miles away. For the second one I had a better
fleet sales director; we sat together at the computer and he built my GC
option by option.

It was even possible to get a ES model without a roof rack, though I
opted [thankfully] for it anyway. Took about 3 weeks for delivery - plus
I already had the "dealer" costs, so there was very little price
haggling, since I didn't expect them to sell below cost.

Virtually same experiece for my Saturn, custom ordered - and cheaper than
what we could have picked off the lot. for example, we like the manual
shift and with the savings added in the leather seat option with heaters.
That particular combination wasn't available. Or you could go with a
automatic tranny and the V6 engine.

I doubt I will buy a new car off the lot ever again.

 

If I had the money for a new van what I'd want is a manual transmission
stick shift, coupled to a turbo diesel. Unfortunately, it's not available
in
the US.

A full size spare is nice, but in some vehicles the space that the donut
spare
is located in is large enough for a full size, and if failing that, any
competent
metal worker with a welder could custom-build a rear rack that you could
bolt on to the tailgate that would carry a full size spare. I wouldn't
consider
that a deal-killer.

Ted

 

I'm self-employed with none of my associations, etc., having fleet
deals. Oh well....

 

My credit union only requires five dollars to join (plus a five dollar
membership fee). It may be worth it to invest a few bucks to save in
the long run. Check the websites of the local CU"s for membership
details & benefits. Many CU's have "Open Community Charters" that no
longer require that you be part of a "select" group to qualify for
membership. My CU only requires that you live in the same county the
CU is based in.

 

So where do you put the full size flat???
BTW carrying an ugly spare on the rear is not in my plan. I did that
with a full sized van I converted into a motor home, but not again.

If you want to see a (compact) spare bad joke, look for it in the
Chrysler seat stowing van. Well at least it has a spare of sorts,
something the Saturn VUE hybrid doesn't have at all.