Ordering a 2020 Corvette? Here’s What You Need to Know

[CorvetteBlogger]

Written by Kerbeck Corvette's Dave Salvatore for CorvetteBlogger.com


You are custom ordering a 2020 C8 Corvette and you think you’re ready to go. You’ve given your deposit to the dealer, you have selected all of your colors and options, and your dealer has entered the order and given you an order number. Now you just have to sit back and wait for the car to show up. Not quite…

Let’s talk about the entire order process and we’ll figure out if you’ve really got a car on the way.

Order Numbers

“The dealer gave me an order number and told me the order was accepted by GM so I must have a car on the way”. I’m afraid this isn’t true. Any Chevy dealer in the country has the ability to enter an order into the system. As the order moves through the build process, it goes through a series of “event codes” letting you know what is going on with your car. Those codes range from 1100 (Order Accepted by GM) to 6000 (Vehicle Delivered to Customer). Your order could currently be at 1100 and stay there until your dealer has an available allocation, if ever.

Consensus

Before we talk about allocation, let’s talk about consensus. Twice a month, usually on a Thursday, GM sends out to each dealer his 2-week consensus. This consensus shows every vehicle that GM makes, how many that dealer has in stock or inbound for each vehicle and how many GM thinks the dealer needs of each vehicle.

The dealer has a few days (till the following Monday) to study this and decide what he thinks he needs. The dealer has three choices for each vehicle. He can agree with GM and take what they suggested, he can decide he doesn’t need that many and take less (all the way down to zero) or he can decide he needs more and request a number higher than GM suggested.

Requesting more is not a guarantee of getting more. Also, when a car is new and/or hot (like the new Corvette) GM works with what is called a controlled allocation. That is a set number you will get during a designated period and you can not request more or less.

Allocation

Once the dealer and GM hash out how many cars they are going to get, the dealer then gets that amount over the next two weeks with his allocation. Allocations come out on Thursday, must be filled by Saturday and can be edited on Tuesday.

The weekly allocation tells the dealer how many cars he has to order that week and what (if any) constraints the dealer must work with.

So, if a dealer is allocated 5 cars that week and your order is somewhere in that 5 and you meet the constraints, your order is pulled and moved on to the next step (Event Code 2000) and NOW you’ve got a car on order!

Once your dealer is out of allocation, no more orders will be picked up even if you already have an order number. This is why it’s important to understand your dealer’s allocation situation before giving him your deposit.

Constraints

So, your dealer called. Your number is up, he has allocation and he’s ready to place your order. But you can’t get exactly what you want. Maybe the color you want has limited availability, or they are only building 15% of the cars with Z51 or any one of dozens of issues, but you can’t get the car the way you want.

This is called a constraint and it’s when GM is limiting the availability of a certain option. There are a number of reasons this could be happening but usually, it’s a supplier issue. But regardless of the reason, you can’t get the car the way you want. So, what do you do?

At this point, you really only have 3 options. First, change your order to match the constraints. Second, if the dealer is willing, ask the dealer to push your order back to the next allocation period and wait to see if the constraint is lifted. Last, you can cancel your order and try again somewhere else.

This is where it pays to deal with dealers who have a large allocation. Let’s say that Rapid Blue is on a 15% constraint. If your dealer is getting 1 or 2 cars allocated to him that week, there is a very little chance of getting one in the Rapid Blue. If the dealer has an allocation of 50 that week, he’ll probably be getting 7 or 8 blue cars. This becomes even more difficult when dealing with multiple constraints.

Also, if your dealer has limited allocation and you asked to be pushed back, you run the risk of never getting a car.




Order Tracking

Once your car makes it through the allocation and constraints, you hit event code 3000 and it begins its move through the system. From this time till the time your car is actually built is about 4 to 6 weeks depending on any production delays. However, the good news is that once your car gets to that event code 3000, you have a car on the way! You’ll soon have a TPW (target production week) although you may see that change until you hit event code 3400 where the TPW becomes pretty stable.

When the car comes off the line, it’s event code 3800. When it’s bayed and awaiting transportation, it’s at 4B00. When it’s actually in motion and on its way to you, that is event code 4200. Event code 5000 means the car is at the dealer’s lot and event code 6000 means the car is in your driveway!

Every two weeks, we’ll be posting all of the allocation and constraint reports so you will know what is on constraint and at what percentage so that you can have an intelligent conversation about your order with your dealer. In the meantime, if you have any questions on how the order process works, feel free to email Dave Salvatore at [email protected]and he’ll be happy to answer your questions.

Kerbeck Corvette is currently accepting deposits for the 2020 Corvette Stingray. Visit kerbeck.com/reserve/ for more information.

[WillRockwell]

Thank you for the breakdown. I niw have questions for my dealer through the process.

[Richrat]

Thanks for posting, Dave I can’t wait to order my car!

super excited!

[John]

Outstanding order issues and factors thread Dave Salvatore ([email protected]). This is an extremely helpful thread to all who are not Corvette ordering experienced and knowledgeable — and why I made it a stickied thread and to insure its high visibility during this C8 learning process, also a “featured slider.”

[[email protected]]

My pleasure! Feel free to post questions about the order process and I'll do my best to answer them.

Dave

[Heidi]

Outstanding Post. This is a reminder to all potential buyers NOT to deal with any dealership that is not willing to disclose their allocations and/or constraint reports. Unfortunately we learned this lesson the hard way in 2013 when ordering a C7. In the meantime we got a lot smarter LOL.
Heidi
Save the Wave

[rsinor]

Dave, thank you so much for your concise and thoughtful post, we all get hung up in this acquisition and it so easy to get confused by wording that could be misleading. the key is obviously dealer allocation.

which leads me to my question for one of the experts.

since the 2020 year is going to be a short production run, or I assume it is if it starts in December/January and typical model year cycle is through what late June/ with plant shut down for new model year in July? I have opted for the HT Convertible, its supposedly fall reveal, that means its Feb/March? a potential three month model year window. What are the chances of all allocations being committed before the convertible release? Will the convertible have its own allocation numbers in addition to the initial release or will it be combined in the total number?

[AbqVic]

Thank you Dave. Your post is a big stress reducer for a lot of people.

[John]

Dave, thank you so much for your concise and thoughtful post, we all get hung up in this acquisition and it so easy to get confused by wording that could be misleading. the key is obviously dealer allocation.

which leads me to my question for one of the experts.

since the 2020 year is going to be a short production run, or I assume it is if it starts in December/January and typical model year cycle is through what late June/ with plant shut down for new model year in July? I have opted for the HT Convertible, its supposedly fall reveal, that means its Feb/March? a potential three month model year window. What are the chances of all allocations being committed before the convertible release? Will the convertible have its own allocation numbers in addition to the initial release or will it be combined in the total number?

In the past, and that is all we have to go on, when GM accepted an order, and they were unable to complete making 100% that year (only happened at the end of the 2014 model year), they made the infilled orders the first ones to be built for 2015.

Also, I am also seeing but not yet believing the 2020 will be a short model year. Reason: The amount of allocations dealers are getting are very generous, a full year’s worth IMO.

Though as we know, GM does change up the game from time to time. Maybe they would instead say to each dealer, “the remaining XY allocations we promised you but are not filling as 2020’s, will all become 2021 model year starting on “X” date.

[ZORA 69]

Thanks . The smaller dealers are certainly handling the process differently and most likely incorrectly from the larger dealers.And when I say incorrectly I mean they may be acting with good intent but they will add confusion to the process and some will mislead due to their lower allocations. This article is great advice and it is the Bible on ordering. Bottom line read this and do not let Skippy, the Car salesman who has never written an order on a Corvette let alone in the frenzy getting a newly released Corvette

[Frenzy36]

I have a question. If I or anyone has their heart set on a certain configuration and there may be a question if my particular vehicle may not be built, would it be wise to pursue another manufacturers vehicle? From all of the speculation and confusion on this issue it is somewhat depressing and swaying my decision on even wasting my time. I'm not looking for a 1LT or 2 LT which has only a few options. I would like mine built specifically the way I would like it. I have read every post from everyone on this many times and it seems like we may not be able to get what we would like, or discouraging for many. This is not something I'm comfortable with. Does anyone have any type of clarification on the percentage of people who will be able to get exactly what they may wish? I really have concerns as well as many others.

[Frenzy36]

Thank you Dave. Your post is a big stress reducer for a lot of people.

You must not be reading this the same way I am.

[xzotklr]

I have a question. If I or anyone has their heart set on a certain configuration and there may be a question if my particular vehicle may not be built, would it be wise to pursue another manufacturers vehicle? From all of the speculation and confusion on this issue it is somewhat depressing and swaying my decision on even wasting my time. I'm not looking for a 1LT or 2 LT which has only a few options. I would like mine built specifically the way I would like it. I have read every post from everyone on this many times and it seems like we may not be able to get what we would like, or discouraging for many. This is not something I'm comfortable with. Does anyone have any type of clarification on the percentage of people who will be able to get exactly what they may wish? I really have concerns as well as many others.

I
There are two deciding factors in getting your new C8.
1- Dealer allocation: each dealer gets a certain number of cars. Lists don't really matter once they pass the number of cars that dealership received from GM.
You get a car from that dealership if your place in line puts you within that allocation number.

2- G.M. Contraints: Any limitation from G.M. could affect your ability to order the car your way . If that happens then you need to either accept what is available, drop down on the list or go somewhere else.I

Getting cars in the first production run may be tricky but patience will.win the day.

[John]

I have a question. If I or anyone has their heart set on a certain configuration and there may be a question if my particular vehicle may not be built, would it be wise to pursue another manufacturers vehicle? From all of the speculation and confusion on this issue it is somewhat depressing and swaying my decision on even wasting my time. I'm not looking for a 1LT or 2 LT which has only a few options. I would like mine built specifically the way I would like it. I have read every post from everyone on this many times and it seems like we may not be able to get what we would like, or discouraging for many. This is not something I'm comfortable with. Does anyone have any type of clarification on the percentage of people who will be able to get exactly what they may wish? I really have concerns as well as many others.

You have been on the fence since day one. You have the resources to pursue other cars. Ask yourself one question please before making your jump to something else.

How will I feel when I hear even more staggering upcoming performance numbers, if I jumped yesterday, and then I saw a C8 driving by me — knowing it was my impatience that I did not wait longer?

However, if you have resources to take depreciation on what you interim bought, buy something else now and then buy exactly the C8 you want
when you want it a year from now.

[Phil1098]

I wouldn't get too spooked about constraints, are they real, absolutely, but at the same time it is usually a supplier vendor issue that resolves pretty quickly. Think about it, you're an approved supplier to Chevrolet for the hottest new product possibly ever introduced, how hard are you going to try to keep your position as a supplier? Chevy doesn't offer things that will never be available so they can have a huge following of disappointed customers. They want everyone to get what they want and spread the good word, not disappointment. I would stay with a dealer with reasonable allocation and go for it. If your order gets held up by two weeks, is it really going to matter?