Working for a brand like MINI, where there literally are over 10 million possible combinations when it comes to customizing a MINI down to the bodystyle, trim level, body color, roof color, interior upholstery, lower dash color, upper dash trim, etc., it’s needless to say that we do a lot of special orders for clients. I’d say roughly 1 out of every 5 cars I sell is a special order. As a matter of fact, our own CC commentator, Read Fleming, special ordered his new MINI Cooper S 2-door hardtop through me and took delivery this August.
There’s no extra charge, it only takes between 6-8 weeks for it to arrive, and we’re always willing to do it. I know next door at BMW it’s the same way (BMW SAVs take even shorter time to arrive, as they are assembled in Spartanburg, SC). However, I’ve heard stories of dealers of other makes refuse to special order a car for a customer, even if it means losing out on a sale.
In fact, that very situation came up in a recent QOTD post regarding a Honda Odyssey, if I recall. This seems very odd to me, but maybe other brands have different policies, or maybe it really is just that unusual for people to special order from other brands.
At least from personal experience, I will say that clients who order cars generally are the most excited customers when they take delivery of their new car, because after all, why wouldn’t anyone be excited about a new car that was tailored to exactly what he or she wanted?
Personally, I’ve only ever special ordered one vehicle in my lifetime, and it was only last week that I placed the order, which I’m very excited about. I’m sure plenty of our CC faithful have done this before, so for my question: Have you ever special ordered a new car? If so, what were the primary reasons for it and what was your experience with it like?
My relatives ordered every car, being a Mopar family the 1957 orders gave the local dealers the most problems. My aunt Louise traded every 6-7 years (always Chrysler New Yorkers) She had a ’51 NY 2 dr ht to trade on a ’57 NY 4 dr ht, problem was she had vacationed in New Orleans, and saw the deep blue metallic and white combo she wanted. We thought the car companies had regional colors not available everywhere, she also wanted leather interior, full power, A/C, HD suspension, and 2x4bbl 392 Hemi, basically everything she could get. Our family and the dealer had been friends for years, but Chrysler said no at first on the color, after some “discussion” back and forth, where the dealer threatened to fly to New Orleans and buy one, she got her car. I saw why she wanted the color it was deeper and richer looking than all the ones in blue I saw in California. She was charged extra for the color because it turned out it was actually a special order blue a customer in NOLA wanted, still it was worth it (I think the code was 999 for custom colors). The New Yorker came in as ordered except the dealer had to put the 2x4bbls on. She only drove it a few weeks before she realized she loved it, she went back and ordered a matching New Yorker convertible with the same accessories. she was only 4′ 8″ tall and about 90 pounds, but like all family members she knew how to drive and loved doing it at high speed. Both of those came in fairly rapidly (she also paid cash) when she decided to trade in 1965 she was told New Yorker convertibles were no longer available, she bought a New Yorker 4 dr ht and told the dealer “You have 2 door New Yorkers, Ill buy a 300L convertible, get the New Yorker parts and change it.” She let them leave the dark blue leather 300L interior, engine and trunk alone, the grille, side trim and Tail lights were changed to the early “frost” look NY units. Instead of trading in, I bought both of her ’57’s. Plymouths were another matter. My aunt and Uncle, Emma and Jim ordered a Belvedere 2 door SportsCoupe in turquoise with white roof and trim, fully loaded with A/C and the wing tip bumpers, problem was Plymouth had so many orders they were behind schedule. The dealers demonstrator was a gold and white 4 dr sedan, fully loaded with A/C and wing tip bumpers. After 8 months of waiting he offered his demo at a discount price with 3000 miles on it (and every defect and problem fixed by his shop) so they had a near perfect ’57 Plymouth kept in the family until 1999. In 1959 the same aunt Emma ordered a Dodge Custom Sierra Super D-500 in deep blue and light blue with every accessory including dual A/C, and 6way power swivel seats, I loved that wagon. One cousin and his wife ordered a ’58 Imperial Crown in white with a mint green chiffon cloth interior and all accessories. In a surprise move in 1960 he sold the ’58 Imp and bought her an exceptional ’57 Cadillac 60 Special in white with mint green interior. It was years before she confessed why they changed. She told me the Imperial was so fast so easy she had her license lifted, twice, the Cadillac was easier to drive slower. In 1957 a dozen other Chrysler products were purchased by relatives, all ordered.
In 1962 family friends ordered a ’62 Olds “98” holiday coupe, fully loaded and with A/C, they flew back to Lansing and walked the line to watch the car being built and drove it back to California. It was sea foam green inside and out. Two problems, the A/C didn’t work, and it had hubcaps instead of wheel covers. Back in California the A/C was fixed, and they found out the wheel covers had a strange attachment
and had to be pulled out to check air. They asked if I had any that would work. I had a stock set of ’59 Bonneville hubcaps from one of my cars, they went on the Olds and worked well. Some cars just come together right. That Olds was the fastest Olds I EVER encountered and lasted several hundred thousand miles.
Personally I haven’t ordered a car for myself but have helped others order, and in 1966 a best friend ordered and gave me a new ’66 Cadillac deVille convertible equipped exactly as I would have done. But that’s another story.
My second story, while I didn’t order it, I bought it from the first owner who did.
It was a ’76 Olds Omega Coupe (non-Hatchback). He wanted an SX, but hated the lower body graphics. The Olds system didn’t allow him to delete the graphic, but he WAS able to order every SX item ala carte, including the FE2 suspension, buckets, rally wheels and so on. He also got the 260 V8 with the B&W T50 5-Speed ( a disaster BTW), and AC & light package. Picture this car in solid black with white guts. It was very unique, and I’ve never seen another like it since.
Even then, I had to go out and find an AM-FM radio to put into it.
The thing I remember most about it was it had a strange steering column, with a lever sticking out the the right side of it that had to be pushed down to get the key out.
FWIW the owner was a school teacher, and had bought a ’79 White-Gold Hurst Olds Cutlass W30 to replace the Omega.
The 82 Granada I special ordered (mentioned above) had a button on the steering column that you had to push to remove the ignition key – I forgot all about it until I read your post. The second owner called me when she got it home because she could not understand why the key could not be removed and thought something was broken! BTW, the new December issue of Collectible Automobile has a piece on the Omega.
I’ve only bought one brand new car ever, and it was by no means anything I would have ordered. I generally buy off-lease or certified pre-owned, being of thrifty Irish Catholic stock. This is a buying habit that was adapted from my father’s methodology. He was very briefly in auto sales prior to settling on insurance as his primary career, so he was hip to the ways of the industry (one of his best friends also owned a dealership, so he had somewhat of an inside track). He’d always buy off the lot, very often something that had been there for a little while. He was also leasing back in the early 70’s, long before most people did so, as he’d write off the associated costs as a business expense. It wasn’t until the late 90’s, when he returned to leasing (as did many others at the time) that he began actually specifying things like color and trim, as there was no longer any incentive to pick from dealer stock under those circumstances. We never had a car in our family fleet that was more than 4 years old, and for the most part everything in the driveway was up-to-the-minute in vogue for the time, but we did occasionally have either an oddball mix of options or sometimes very highly optioned cars bought with a few thousand miles on them as former dealer demonstrators.
My grandfather, on the other hand, always ordered his cars according to my grandmother’s specifications, usually paying close to sticker, minus any rebates or incentives that were advertised at the time. That practice also led to some oddly equipped cars, as he apparently ordered to a price point but was influenced by Granny’s particular must-haves. This meant that occasionally an otherwise highly optioned car might be missing a few otherwise expected options like a rear defroster or delay wipers. As previously mentioned, I still have the window sticker for the last car he ordered, which I’m now driving. The sticker proclaims across the top, “Built Especially for” my grandmother. As the car was a first year model, and happened to be Motor Trend’s “Car of the Year” that year, coupled by the fact that he ordered it with optional Special Order paint color, I suspect he paid pretty darn close to the price on the sticker.
This dichotomy in buying practices between the two generations of my family resulted in more than one spirited discussion over holiday dinners, incidentally.
Coincidentally, the only vehicle I ever special ordered was a green MINI Cooper S! But that was back in ’03 when they were a hot commodity, didn’t get much if anything off sticker IIRC, but it had exactly what I wanted!
Felt like it. When I bought the ONION, I wanted the base model four door with automatic and air. I chose the color and went with one that had floor mats for a splurge.
I didn’t have to special order to avoid things I didn’t want. If the dealer hadn’t had it, it would have been swapped with another dealer. No remote locking, power windows or special packages.
Hated the operation of the manual I drove. Had it been as slick as the one in my 95 SL1, I could have saved the money I spent for the automatic.
As it was, mine was apparently a dealer trade from Saturn of Santa Clarita, which explained most of the 23 miles on it when I made the purchase.
A very honest car. Functionality. Simplicity. No nonsense.
If I could feature delete, console delete and connectedness delete, I would special order my next car. I just don’t need all that “stuff”.
But then, there’s not much of a market for customers like me.
I currently have a Miata mx5 on special order. I’ve asked if they have an estimated delivery time. They don’t return my calls!
I just ordered my 2019 Dacia Sandero in left-hand drive.
My Chiron will be having custom nutria-scrotum seats, with alcantara accents and aluminium badging. It’ll match my Veyron and beach-front Jersey condo.
Back around circa 1965-66 when we were living in Panama, my father’s friend special ordered a pale yellow Dodge W200 4WD 3/4-ton pickup, flew to Michigan to pick up the truck at the factory and drove it all the way to Panama where he lived. I imagine it was good shakedown cruise.
I wonder if you can still do that? Order the car and pick it up at the final factory assembly point (assuming in USA).
Like JP, I ordered my 2007 Fit Sport, as they were in demand. I specifically wanted a manual, and I wanted it in blue. Since this was my first NEW car, I was NOT going to settle for anything less than what I wanted. It took about 3 months to arrive. I got notifications as to when a VIN was assigned, when it was shipped, and finally, when it arrived. I had it until December of 2011, when I was T-boned in a hit & run accident. Once again, I ordered a 2012/manual/blue, and had to wait about the same length of time; however, this time, I got a dealer swap, which arrived w/ 183 miles and a full tank of fuel! 🙂
I haven’t, but my dad did once…early 90s Saturn SL1, moonroof and 5 speed, power locks but no power windows (he forgot to check that box). It was his “oops” so he just lived with manual windows for 150k miles.
My parents were buying a 76 Cutlass S, the dealer had window stickers on the wall of the showroom for incoming cars that they had ordered, and my parents settled on that one. When it came in, it had Super Stock wheels, which they didn’t want, so the dealer switched them out for steel wheels and wheelcovers, it had body color sport mirrors which they didn’t particularly like, no tilt, Omega steering wheel, and a rear defroster that never really worked from day one. Why bother ordering a car if they just improvise at the factory?!? GM at its finest.
I special ordered my 2011 Mustang. I ordered it in mid August 2010, and it arrived at the dealer on September 22. First year for the new 5.0 V8, which I was pretty excited about. It was the first brand new car I’ve bought, after owning many used ones in the previous 23 years of car ownership. Ordering was the only way I was interested in buying one. If you are going to spend the money, why not wait a little while and get a car made especially for you? It maximizes the new car experience! I still have the car and it has been a really good car.
I got a GT, manual tranny, base 3.23 rear end in Kona (dark metallic) Blue with Saddle (dark tan) leather interior. Unfortunately modern cars don’t allow you to make very many equipment choices. I basically got the Premium package (leather, nicer interior trim, nicer stereo) with no other options except the security package (alarm, wheel locks). You could also get an even fancier stereo with in dash screen and navigation, the Brembo Brake Package (better brakes, larger wheels), a glass roof and a couple of other larger wheel options. I wanted the 18 inch wheels, which were only available with the base wheels.
The first one was not really a factory build order, but the blue ’84 Toyota base model 4×4 pickup was on the boat. The dealer reserved it somehow. A/C was a fully integrated kit installed at the dealer.
The only true factory build order was essentially a “fleet” of one white C1500 Work Truck in 1993. A Chevy pickup probably had as many individual options as a MINI, just fewer appearance and more things like axle ratios. After not finding what I wanted in stock anywhere in California, salesman suggested a factory order. We sat down and equipped the truck. Even a spare wheel and tire were optional. It wasnt an oddball, so no deposit was required. The only problem was the 13 weeks to get it instead of the promised 6-8. There was no strike at the factory and I was not told that any of the options delayed the build.
I have ordered the last 7 new vehicles I have owned. I prefer black vehicles with manual transmissions, among other things like wheel choices, etc. To get what I want I always have to order. I like V6 engines, too. It looks like I won’t be ordering a new Mustang since Ford thinks I don’t need a V6 any more. I know a lot of people like four cylinder cars and that’s OK with me. I have owned a couple myself, but no thanks.
The first car I ordered was the ’79 Malibu coupe that I still have. Then as now I knew exactly what I wanted: V8, four speed, bucket seats, rally wheels, gauges, sunroof, AC, AM/FM, power steering and brakes and the F41 handling suspension. Oh, yeah, black paint, too. I knew I would never find that one on a lot, so I ordered it. When shopping dealers I had to educate a few salesmen as to what was actually available on that car. The dealer it was ordered from wanted a $500.00 deposit because he didn’t want to get stuck with one with a four speed. That car and I have been through a lot together and I still drive it . Maybe I should do a COAL on it.
I’d love to see that COAL. It’d be a nice counterpoint to the one I wrote about my ’79 sedan with rather fewer options (267 V8, A/C, AM/FM, automatic).
Come to think of it I didn’t even know you could get a factory sunroof on those cars!
Yes, I should get around to writing that one up. I have had a lot of great times with that car and still do. It also saw me through the most Hellish part of my life and back into the good times.
I have only seen one other with a sunroof and two with four speeds. I have had lots of offers to sell it over the years, but it’s not going anywhere.
You have probably guessed that is the black car in my avatar
Although the 267 has served me well, I now wish I had opted for the larger V8. When I ordered it I was trading in a 4 cylinder Mustang II and was afraid of the difference in gas mileage.
My first new car was from dealer stock; a 1973 MGB Blaze (red-org)/Navy Tourer. The only other MGB in stock had a light tan interior, and since I’d be using the car driving back and forth from work, a dark interior was a must. Color and option choices were pretty limited anyway, to overdrive/non-overdrive xmsn, and disc or wire wheels.
But because the Canadian railways were on strike, the cars were stockpiled at their port of entry and nothing was being transported to the five (5) Detroit area BL dealers.
I was eighteen (18) years old when taking delivery of that MGB on the Friday of Labor Day weekend, 1973. It would be twenty-eight (28) more years before I bought another new car…
Sometime in late October, early November 2000, I had my mind made up that I had to have a new BMW M Roadsters, presumably, with the just released for 2000 S-54 M3 engine. Nobody was sure they’d be produced, but I was hopeful, and gave the local BMW dealer’s salesman my “verbal order” for one. As my wife & I had just gotten a CPO (Certified Pre Owned) ’99 M Rdstr (1-1/2 yrs old w/5400 miles) my intention was taken seriously.
When the Detroit Auto Show rolled around in January 2001, and BMW had a new M Rdstr on display, I knew we were in business!
It wouldn’t be until July of that year before we’d get an “allocation” but upon finding out that the car would be built in August (in Spartanburg, South Carolina) and that we were already planning to attend BMW’s Roadster Homecoming there, we elected to do a “factory” delivery at their Performance Delivery Center, the day before the HC01 event.
Our 2001 M Roadster was “special ordered” with about the only factory options available for it; metallic Steel Gray paint, 2-tone gray & black interior, and the factory-fitted removable hardtop. At delivery, there were six (6.0) miles on the car__the delivery center was across the street from the manufacturing plant).
We took delivery on the Thursday before Labor Day weekend, one day before the Roadster Homecoming party, in what I can only describe as the ultimate event souvenir!
Sixteen (16) years later, we still have both of those M Rdstrs (currently at 96k & 48k miles respectively) and a few years ago (02/14) I added a ’99 M Coupe to the mix.
In the meantime, my wife has special ordered and taken delivery of four (4) other new BMWs; three (3) were X5s (’02 4.4 iS, ’05 4.4iS & ’11 35iS) and a single 5-Series sedan (’08 535xiS) and though they were all delivered at our then local dealership’s showroom, they were each memorable in their own way.
For a car-guy (and his accepting wife) the whole car buying/decision making process; deciding which model__based in part on budget constraints__mandatory and desirable options (also budget-driven) making “the deal” with some haggling thrown in and locking the sale, the anticipation, following the manufacturing process, waiting upon arrival__giving the “just received” vehicle a cursory inspection (pre-delivery prep and taking tons of pictures, of course) and then going in for the delivery process. It’s all kind of a big deal for us, with a celebratory dinner out afterwards. Coming out of the restaurant and forgetting__or pretending__which car you’re looking for; it’s all part of the fun!
I can’t wait until the next time!
As a customer, I have ordered 4 vehicles—2004 Dakota CC Sport, 1998 Dakota CC Sport, 1993 Intrepid ES, and a 1991 Dodge Monaco LE. When I worked in car sales during 1993-95, I ordered quite a number of vehicles, especially Jeep Cherokees, to meet budget constraints of my customers. The dealer I worked for (Dodge, Jeep/Eagle) usually ordered loaded-up vehicles which were not within reach of the younger folks. The ordered cars were never sold at a premium vs. the in stock vehicles—though I understand some stores did try to use that tactic.
Told this before, of Grandparents ordering a ’69 Electra 225 Custom, 4 door post sedan, with no A/C, manual windows, but cruise and towing package.
When it was time to trade in by ’72, A/C was standard on ‘Deuce 1/4’. Appraiser was amazed to see a ‘stripped’ Electra.