All This Man Wanted Was a Grey Malibu
Driving off the dealer lot in a longed-for new vehicle is one of life’s richest pleasures, but there’s no joy if a buyer can’t find the chariot of their dreams.
Now, imagine that your dream ride is a gray Chevrolet Malibu — a 1LT model with two common options. Doesn’t that seem like an attainable goal? Shouldn’t be too hard to find, you’d think, right? Well, one would-be buyer says otherwise.
A poster on the GMInsideNews forum (GMI is a VerticalScope property, as is TTAC) related his aggravating quest to find his chosen version of Chevy’s well-regarded sedan. The quest continues, but it might leave Chevy without a sale, because they left him without a car.
Forum user Malibuman2010a (guess what he drives) wants to add another vehicle to his household. He knows what he wants: a 2016 Malibu 1LT, Nightfall Gray, with the optional Convenience and Technology Package and Driver Confidence Package. So, he takes a trip to his local GM dealer (where he bought his 2010 ‘Bu) and talks to the veteran salesman. When told what Malibuman2010a wants to purchase, the salesman talks to his manager. Eight days later, an email arrives.
The salesman has been on vacation, but assures the Malibu-seeking buyer that he’s been in touch with the manager about the request. Also: no dice on that gray Malibu. What are your second and third color choices?
“Why, no, I don’t have a second and third color choice,” says the poster. “I want a gray Malibu.”
The search for Malibu bliss takes our shopper online to the Chevrolet website. Hoping to locate his dream vehicle through the magic of the internet, the would-be buyer hits another brick wall. The website can’t pull up his local dealer’s information. “Please contact your dealership to locate and purchase your vehicle,” the website tells him. Sorry, try again.
Determined to get what he wants, the shopper then uses the website’s “search inventory” function. Another brick wall — the search tool doesn’t allow him to filter results using the option packages he wants. Only “popular options” are searchable, and even after selecting several “close enough” options, the search comes up empty.
“What is offered are Malibus without the options I want and with a bunch of crap I don’t, like splashguards and fabric protection,” Malibuman2010a writes.
“There is no way (on the web site) to order what I want, and I cannot see a way to expand my search to nationwide. All I can think is that this is the most ridiculous way to buy a car. I hope Tesla breaks the entire dealer franchise system. It is idiotic. Period. It’s like: give us $30,000, and we will sell you whatever we have. We don’t care what you want. Imagine going into a McDonald’s, ordering a Big Mac, and having the employee tell you ‘we can’t locate a Big Mac, here is an Egg McMuffin.'”
The unlucky Malibu fan in understandably pissed, and TTAC’s Jack Baruth no doubt understands his pain.
What’s Malibuman2010a‘s proposed solution? Ditch all trim levels, and have buyers chose their color and drivetrain choices. Option packages would be installed at the dealer.
Another forum poster found the right model through Cars.com, but the Malibu buyer didn’t like the idea of having 2,354 miles on a “new” vehicle. The search continues, though our Chevy loyalist is now looking at the 2017 Ford Fusion.
It’s no secret that dealers stock models with trim levels and options designed to satisfy the largest crop of buyers, but making it impossible to configure a domestic midsize sedan to one’s tastes will only lead to lost customers. GM extensively revamped the new Malibu to boost flagging sales, but their dealer practices and website just sent this customer into the arms of their rival.
More by Steph Willems
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I hate car dealers as much as anyone, but I can't disparage them too much on this one (although it is unusual if it's actually true they won't order the guy exactly what he wants). Money talks, and I'd be willing to bet that they 'did' tell him they'd get him exactly what he wanted, but it would take time and money (including a non-refundable deposit), so he went online to bitch about it. And the alternative of the dealership salesman wasting a bunch of his time hunting all over for his particular car and options on another dealer's lot (and the accompanying hassle of doing some kind of dealer trade, then the process of having the cars moved) is something I can see a bottom-feeder Chevy dealer being loath to do. I'd say that's a typical response from about half of the Chevy dealers out there, and people buying fleet-level Chevys, well, I'd guess most of them just aren't that picky. Comments have been posted saying that you can get anything you want from a BMW dealer. Well, when you don't want or have the money for a BMW, you get what you pay for.
OK, here's a different possible scenario for this man. He goes back to the Chevy dealer, talks to his salesman and goes: Remember me? I wanted you to get me a gray 2016 Malibu with only certain options? Well, a co-worker buddy talked me into going to the CDJR store to check out the Chrysler 200. That's a really nice car. And, they gave me a really good deal on a car that I now like much better than your Malibu. So thank you for not selling me what I thought I wanted, cause I found something I like much better.