Advantages of pre-ordering?

[SRGilbert]

Hello all, first post!

Question is, what are the advantages or preordering now vs waiting for the Sonic to come out?

I'm assuming that you might get it quicker, or have a better chance anyway.

Would there be any advantage or disadvantage in pricing?

What happens if you decide you don't like it once you see it/ drive it in person?

Thanks!

 

[TravsSonic]

if YOU order it, then you get to pick exactly what YOU want, not what the dealer wants to sell you, thats the biggest positive I see to pre ordering.

and if i don't like it.. they said i'd get my $500 back. /shrug

 

[Memphis]

What Trav said.

 

[RichieRocket]

I pre-oredered because my civic is on the verge of failing, clutch, head gasket, etc

Others have asked me about how I could pre-order without test driving. This car is a sub-compact, <$20K economy car, not a $50K highly refined European sports coupe! Sure it's gonna have 'quirks' and will not be top rated on all features, but I'll just adapt to it...

Being American made and 148 ft-lbs of turbo torque make up for a lot of other stuff!

 

[mysterygtx]

I got a couple of questions if anyone could help me out

I am looking to pre-order a Sonic and contacted the local dealership who had no information whatsoever.

In another thread, someone posted the available colors. There was no mention of a gray color, so I am curious if the Dark Gray color shown in a lot of the pictures on the sedan is considered black or gray?

Two, it looks like the Hatch is going to be 800 dollars more, and I was wondering if we know of any reason for this yet? Does the hatch have more standard features than the equivalent sedan or is this just a premium for sportier looks as mentioned in the article? I want the hatch, but would reconsider if it was 800 dollars more for simply the form factor and nothing of substance.

Thank you!

 

[mysterygtx]

Oh two more questions. Anyone know (from their Cruze knowledge) if the 1.4T uses regular oil or synthetic oil? Also, I havent seen anyone list the order total for any of their pre-orders, is there any semi-accurate pricing on each trim level and the option/option packages yet? Im curious to see what the price difference between the LT and the LTZ is.

 

[Memphis]

Pricing wasn't available on the preorder.

 

[RichieRocket]

Oh two more questions. Anyone know (from their Cruze knowledge) if the 1.4T uses regular oil or synthetic oil? Also, I havent seen anyone list the order total for any of their pre-orders, is there any semi-accurate pricing on each trim level and the option/option packages yet? Im curious to see what the price difference between the LT and the LTZ is.

mysterygtx, check out this previous thread for pricing:

http://www.sonicownersforum.com/forum/t160/

 

[RichieRocket]

I got a couple of questions if anyone could help me out

I am looking to pre-order a Sonic and contacted the local dealership who had no information whatsoever.

In another thread, someone posted the available colors. There was no mention of a gray color, so I am curious if the Dark Gray color shown in a lot of the pictures on the sedan is considered black or gray?

Two, it looks like the Hatch is going to be 800 dollars more, and I was wondering if we know of any reason for this yet? Does the hatch have more standard features than the equivalent sedan or is this just a premium for sportier looks as mentioned in the article? I want the hatch, but would reconsider if it was 800 dollars more for simply the form factor and nothing of substance.

Thank you!

mysterygtx, to answer your questions:

1) As of 3 weeks ago, my local dealer in CT was putting in the order for their first batch of Sonics. They inserted mine into their first batch. As Memphis said, final pricing wasn't final, but they do have base prices on the chevy website and the edmunds.com info on the other post.

2) For available colors look at the Sonic order info:
Model Information - Online Ordering Guide

3) Yes, hatch cost more than sedans. It's more expensive to build the hatch back and stiffen the structure to retain the handling. Other cars have similar price differences. Look up the Mazda 3, Ford Fiesta & Focus, hatch vs. sedan to compare.

 

[TravsSonic]

There was no mention of a gray color, so I am curious if the Dark Gray color shown in a lot of the pictures on the sedan is considered black or gray?

i personally think that cars actual color is the "cyber grey metallic" thats found on the camaro and corvette. But we're not getting that color as a option.

 

[TravsSonic]

Oh two more questions. Anyone know (from their Cruze knowledge) if the 1.4T uses regular oil or synthetic oil?

I cut these two little snippets out of the cruze's owner manual. There is no mention of synthetics or non-synthetics.

"Use and ask for engine oils with the dexos™ certification mark."
"SAE 5W-30 is the best viscosity grade for the vehicle. Do not use other viscosity oils such as SAE 10W‐30, 10W‐40, or 20W-50."

and here's a link to GM's site that shows all the oil that won't void your warranty.

GM dexos Licensed Products

 

[mysterygtx]

Thanks for all the responses guys!

As far as the pricing info went, it seemed like the Edmunds site was higher than I was expecting when fully decking out the car. I had heard people mention a fully equipped LTZ hitting 18k, but it seems like you can equip it out quite a bit more than that.

The other thing that confused me and I didn't realize right away was that there is a completely different landing page between the sedan and the hatch from the Edmunds site. With the link that was given it takes you to the sedan version and the little dropdown menu shows all the different trims for sedan form only. I figured it was because they only had pricing on the sedan so far. It wasn't until later that I found out you needed to go to the hatchback version separately and they aren't really linked. Kinda dumb.

I gotta say, I am more than a little disappointed by the color options. We have two attention attracting color options that are a little too much for me and are both pretty similar on the color spectrum already (the red tintcoat and the orange) plus another red, and then black, white, and silver.

No gray? No blue that they are showcasing on the regular models all over the trade shows (and I am not talking about the RS version either, just a regular ol LTZ) No pearl white or bronze/gold options? Are we going to see what the black looks like? Helpful to know before pre-ordering one.

The other things that kind irritate me - Ok, so you offer leatherette seats and heated seats in a subcompact. You even have ceiling handles all around (driver included) which is awesome and something that I value, and not always found on econo-cars... yet there is no center armrest and there is zero padding on the door arm rests? I'm glad at least the driver will get an arm-rest on his seat.. but as a front seat passenger, it sucks to not have a center arm-rest which makes a long drive much more comfortable. Also, the hard plastic on the door arm-rests really starts to make your elbow hurt after a while. Why reach for upper echelon amenities but skimp on important stuff day to day stuff? How much can a padded door arm rest add to overall vehicle cost?

The center arm-rest thing is such a big deal to me, that between that and zero rear seat leg room, they were the determining factors in me not buying a Ford Fiesta when they launched.

 

[RichieRocket]

With the link that was given it takes you to the sedan version

mysterygtx, I think you are mistaken, the link given was to the top level New Cars, Used Cars, Car Reviews and Pricing - Edmunds.com, not to any specific model or options. It was up to you to navigatate to the Sonic sedan or hatch.

 

[mysterygtx]

Yeah you are totally right. I was confused about how I got to that page originally and could have sworn it took me right to the sedan. I did a little digging to prove to myself my own sanity and in the Pricing thread one of the members (stic5) posted the link to the pricing for the sedan.

 

[mysterygtx]

What I do like is that they gave the steering wheel the telescoping ability. That is a feature that is missing from it's competitors and also very important to me for creating a comfortable driving position. (I am going to be commuting in whatever I buy so comfort + MPG are priority #1. The performance and buying U.S. are what will likely push the Sonic to the sole position at the top for me)

It's just frustrating that no manufacturer can put it all together. So there's a secondary glove compartment. Cool bro, but where's my elbow padding!

 

[TravsSonic]

so there's a secondary glove compartment. Cool bro, but where's my elbow padding!

agreed!!

 

[SRGilbert]

Wow, this thread got a little off the rails. Thanks for all the replies, but from what I can see, there isn't really much reason to preorder, but not much of a reason not to either! Maybe I'll have to head over to my dealership and see what they have to say.

Thanks again!

 

[Stic5]

Wow, this thread got a little off the rails. Thanks for all the replies, but from what I can see, there isn't really much reason to preorder, but not much of a reason not to either! Maybe I'll have to head over to my dealership and see what they have to say.

Thanks again!

Just my personal opinion, but I think there is a big reason not to pre-order. You are basically going to the dealer and saying "hey, I really want this car before everyone else, and I will pay full price for it." I'm sure it's possible to work out a decent deal on a pre-ordered car, but you are really giving the dealer all of the power. They always want to sell their first batch of any given model at full price, and they have no incentive to negotiate when they don't even have the car on their lot.

On the other hand, if you have the patience to wait another couple of months, you can negotiate on a level playing field for a car that is sitting on the lot. The dealer will be much more motivated to sell real current inventory, and you can even cross shop competing Chevy dealers.

 

[TravsSonic]

i got to see the dealers mark up on my car today and it really wasn't that much, $300 or something silly like that, which really isn't any negotiating room imho.

 

[RichieRocket]

Just my personal opinion, but I think there is a big reason not to pre-order. You are basically going to the dealer and saying "hey, I really want this car before everyone else, and I will pay full price for it." I'm sure it's possible to work out a decent deal on a pre-ordered car, but you are really giving the dealer all of the power. They always want to sell their first batch of any given model at full price, and they have no incentive to negotiate when they don't even have the car on their lot.

Het stic5, I agree with you for a normal situation, luckily for me I can get the GM supplier discount thru the company I work for. My dealer already agreed they would honor that discount...