First off I'm sorry for asking a maybe ridiculous question for most. But I have never looked into ordering a vehicle before now. I have read that an order takes anywhere from four weeks or so at the earliest to two or three months (depending on where you live and such), is that correct ? Also I'm almost too embarrased to ask. But if I ordered a truck today what is the process. I would imagine I would negotiate the price, rate, payment, etc. Put it all in a conctract then sign it, but would I need to put down a percentage or a down payment ? Or any money at all? I would think I would just sign a contract saying I agree to pay when it comes in and I actually have it in my possession. I just feel a little better getting advise from experienced consumers than a, for lack of better words, untrustworthy dealers that I have had some experience with. They have proven to be almost unhelpful at best. I prefer to go through an online dealer or the "fleet" service person I have read about in one of these forums. Thank you for taking time to help a wanabee Duramax owner.

The first step is to walk over to gmbuypower.com and build you truck. It will give you a pretty good estimated price of what the MSRP is going to be

The second is to search several dealerships and talk to several salesmen until you find one that you can trust and is in the business to help people into new cars instead of selling cars inbetween jobs and not caring about the customer.

Print out your document from gmbuypower and take it to your newly found salesman. He will be able to write up the order from the paper you have printed off. I had to put a deposit down and the salesman didn't care on the amount. I put $500 down. This money holds the truck for me. It does NOT force me to buy the truck if/when it comes in, the money would just be lost if I chose not to accept the truck. You can talk to howard_m18 on this site and see if he can help you with a supplier discount code which is very helpful in the negotiating price. It is a percentage above invoice costs and you also get rebates and discounts on top of that.

Your job is pretty much done from here. If your dealer has an allocation for a diesel HD, then the order will be processed fairly quickly. The salesman takes the order form to his "boss" and they check it over for any errors and make suggestions on items they recommend. If it is error free and completed, they submit it.

Then you have to wait for GM to accept it and give you a SON (Sales Order Number). After a couple weeks later, they should give you a TPW (Target Production Week). You should get your SON and TPW together and give howard_m18 a hollar. He likes to help us who ordered our trucks and you will be glad you did.

howard will keep in touch (as should your salesman if you got a good one) with you after the truck is built and shipped.

Delivery depends upon your location. If you are close to the plant, it may take a truck. If you are farther away, it could take the train, then get on the truck. Either or, it takes a week or so to get it from the shipping yard to your dealer. Mine took 7-8 weeks from start to finish. It is a real easy process and you will enjoy having a truck built just for you.

If you have any further questions, don't be afraid to ask, there are a bunch of real nice people on here who love to be able to help.

It is the way i do, i ask price via email to 3 dealers , this give me good idea of what price i can have, then negociate with my regular salesperson,
no deposit, the truck came 6 and half week later, it was painless for me (got my new truck 2 weeks ago)

evan613

First of all, welcome to the forum. I ordered my Sierra Dmax on Feb. 25 and drove it off on April 11. A little over 6 weeks. From what I have read on this forum, 2006 production starts on June 27. Don't know when the cut off date for ordering a 2005 is. If you go with a 2005, there are plenty of good incentives and cheep financing at this time. Also you can do a search on GM's web site. You may find something you like and not have to go through the pure agony of waiting for your new baby to be made. After you have built your truck on the GM site, on the last page it will give you an option to find your truck, type in your zip or nearest city and it will show you several dealers inventories from the surrounding area.
Good Luck and keep us posted. Like Reineke said, don't be afraid to ask questions. There are a great bunch of people on this site. Later, Ringer

HI EVAN613 & I"m here to help, IF YOU WANT SOME HELP?! My e-mail is = howard_m18@yahoo.com Howard

HI EVAN613 & I"m here to help, IF YOU WANT SOME HELP?! My e-mail is = howard_m18@yahoo.com Howard

Howard, isn't it PAST your bedtime ):h

Ooooops forgot u DON'T have to get up at 4am.

Die work for the new trucks is starting to ramp up.

TIM, I get to stay up longer than you!! HEE! HEE!