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forgotten_ariaA friend let me drive the Bolt EV and it was a decent car. I'm not a fan of the idiotic brake placement trying to comply to the rule of "brake lights can't be on a movable panel," but that's about the only draw back and because of all the tax credits, it's 19k less than a LEAF with the same range (the next alternative.)
So I decided to try to order one. Luckily I learned enough about "allocations" to understand some of the dealers responses.
Apparently GM dealers get sent a list of cars they are allowed to order on Thursday (it's unclear if it's ever Thursday, or every second Thursday.) This list is different for every dealers. So there are some that might get 3 Bolt allocations, and some that might get 0 for months. Right now the lowest trim, the 1LT, is also on "constraint," meaning the factory isn't taking orders for them even if the the dealer has a bolt allocation.
Production of the bolt shuts down in November and there is a large back log of orders, so there is a chance that if I order now, I might not even get a car. The chances of getting a 1lt are unknown.
The dealers have no idea what allocations they will get in the future and there is not a lot of information on how the system works. Right now I've contacted a few dealers and have the following responses (none of the dealers bothered to try to explain allocations or constraint.)
"I was just informed by my management team that at this time we do not have a Bolt allocation."
"We have stopped taking any orders because we have reached our allocation limit."
"The 1 LT is on constraint!"
One of the dealers who clearly didn't realize how in demand the Bolt was went from "sure we can order you one at MSRP" to "we have no allocations and it's a $3000 mark up over MSRP."
So we have to decide if we want to try to order a 2LT, or find someone willing to try to order a 1LT and take our chances or something else.
Luckily this isn't dire. The plan was to replace the c-max with an EV before the battery warranty ran out. But if nothing else we can keep the c-max and spend the $6-8k to have the battery replaced plus whatever other repairs it needs.
EDIT: I've already told two dealers that 6-8 months > November. E.i. They were more than happy to place and order that likely would never be filled.
So I decided to try to order one. Luckily I learned enough about "allocations" to understand some of the dealers responses.
Apparently GM dealers get sent a list of cars they are allowed to order on Thursday (it's unclear if it's ever Thursday, or every second Thursday.) This list is different for every dealers. So there are some that might get 3 Bolt allocations, and some that might get 0 for months. Right now the lowest trim, the 1LT, is also on "constraint," meaning the factory isn't taking orders for them even if the the dealer has a bolt allocation.
Production of the bolt shuts down in November and there is a large back log of orders, so there is a chance that if I order now, I might not even get a car. The chances of getting a 1lt are unknown.
The dealers have no idea what allocations they will get in the future and there is not a lot of information on how the system works. Right now I've contacted a few dealers and have the following responses (none of the dealers bothered to try to explain allocations or constraint.)
"I was just informed by my management team that at this time we do not have a Bolt allocation."
"We have stopped taking any orders because we have reached our allocation limit."
"The 1 LT is on constraint!"
One of the dealers who clearly didn't realize how in demand the Bolt was went from "sure we can order you one at MSRP" to "we have no allocations and it's a $3000 mark up over MSRP."
So we have to decide if we want to try to order a 2LT, or find someone willing to try to order a 1LT and take our chances or something else.
Luckily this isn't dire. The plan was to replace the c-max with an EV before the battery warranty ran out. But if nothing else we can keep the c-max and spend the $6-8k to have the battery replaced plus whatever other repairs it needs.
EDIT: I've already told two dealers that 6-8 months > November. E.i. They were more than happy to place and order that likely would never be filled.
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