Noting that there are lots of buying experiences on the forum for last year, but far few from this year, I thought I would share our process so far.
Chapter 1- The Decision
My wife’s Land Rover Discover was due to come off lease soon so we started the research and test drive process. Initially, the Telluride wasn’t a front runner, as she was looking for something a bit smaller, but preferably still with three rows. So we initially were looking at the new Sorrento, the Genesis GV80, Volvo, Mazda, etc. We did a Telluride test drive “just to be sure”. And it kind of stuck with her and as we worked through the process, she kept bringing the Telluride back up. By the time she had taken her third Telluride test drive she was sold (and so was I). After that we fairly quickly settled on an SX Prem w/ Nightfall and towing with a Dune interior and a Moss exterior (which in hindsight we realized was speced very similarly to her disco).
Chapter 2- The Hunt Begins…and Fails
We live in the DC area. Which turned out to be both a blessing and a curse. On the plus side being in the mid-Atlantic area means there are a LOT of Kia dealerships within a 5 to 6 hr drive (I can say this with confidence as I am pretty sure I have talked to every single one of them). But it is also one of the markets with highest markups/demand. When were are looking locally there were only two within an hour of us with our desired specs; one at 11k over sticker and the other at 6k (another at 10k over had sold the week before). Which we weren’t willing to pay. We talked to several dealerships about ordering one and they all wanted over msrp even for an order. Little by little we widen our search using the Kia website and started looking for dealers in nearby markets (Baltimore, PA, southern VA, NJ, NY, NC, etc) with little luck.
Chapter 3- Forums Found
At this point we were several weeks into our Telluride search and debating whether we should re-open our search to other vehicles when I came across tellurideforum.org and started reading about other’s experiences. One of the huge revelations of the forums for us was to learn that the dune interior was actually classified as black on the Kia website and that you had to go into the window sticker to determine whether or not it had the dune seats (with the black interior). If the dealers we worked with knew this, none of them shared it.
Chapter 4- SuccessCat
The forum led us to the failcat tool. Once I had a bit of a chance to play with the tool we decided that we would look at every matching spec produced this year within a 5 hr drive of us. This got us about a 15 to 20 leads. As we worked our way through these, we found lots of dealership that appeared to be selling cars at msrp based on their website. But once you called or email, you got a pretty consistent story about high demand, or that their website didn’t support listing prices higher than msrp, or blah, blah, blah…and that the actual price was significantly higher (typically around 10% over msrp). The other thing we regularly found was cars that had already been sold, but were still listed on in their inventory. In several cases more than a week after a dealer told us a car had been sold it still appeared in their inventory (presumably so that unsuspecting people could be reeled in and directed to other vehicles).
We eventually determined there we no matching specs within a 5 hr drive of us for less 4k over msrp. After expanding our search we did find a car at Ricart near Columbus and another at Halleen near Cleveland at or near msrp, but we decided these were a bit further (6 hrs+ each way) then we wanted to drive with other consideration like kids and covid.
Chapter 5- Dealer Stalking
Our next step was to check failcat multiple times a day and email every matching spec that was within a 5 hr radius. We gave ourselves a week for this before we place an order (in the meantime we had found a dealer within an hour of us that would order at msrp). As cars would appear on failcat, I would email them to ask if it had been a customer order or if they were going to be available for sale. In most cases the dealers had no idea what I was talking and there would be a couple of emails explain to the sales people how their systems worked and that a VIN had been created at the factory and was destined for their dealership. For several days all we got were customer pre-orders and one or two that were not interested in pre-selling at or near msrp. I am pretty sure I made more than one salesperson's day by letting them know they had high spec Telluride inbound that they could gouge another customer with.
Chapter 6- Winner Winner Chicken Dinner
On day 5 we hit paydirt. After emailing Williamsburg Kia (3 hrs-ish from us) about an inbound Telluride, they came back and said yes it was going to be available for sale and that they would sell it at msrp. A couple of phone calls and emails later we got an official quote from them (so there wouldn’t be any last minute fees added) and gave them a credit card to place a deposit on the vehicle. Assuming everything goes to plan, we should driving down to pick up our car in approximately two weeks.
Our total hunt took about two months, 1 figuring out what we wanted and 1 finding it. I share this so that others might benefit from our process. I have no idea how common (or uncommon) our experience was. Did we hit a million to one shot on day 5??? Could others expect to be able to duplicate this in their market sooner??? Who knows, but I can tell you for at least one person this process seems to have worked.
As a side note, I would like to give Thomas Green a public shout out for creating failcat. I cannot imagine this process playing out so positively for us without it (even before we got our winning lotto ticket, I him a thank you beer via paypal, and plan to send him a six pack or two after we get our vehicle).
I wish my fellow Telluride hunters the best of luck…hang in there it can be done (I hope
).
Chapter 1- The Decision
My wife’s Land Rover Discover was due to come off lease soon so we started the research and test drive process. Initially, the Telluride wasn’t a front runner, as she was looking for something a bit smaller, but preferably still with three rows. So we initially were looking at the new Sorrento, the Genesis GV80, Volvo, Mazda, etc. We did a Telluride test drive “just to be sure”. And it kind of stuck with her and as we worked through the process, she kept bringing the Telluride back up. By the time she had taken her third Telluride test drive she was sold (and so was I). After that we fairly quickly settled on an SX Prem w/ Nightfall and towing with a Dune interior and a Moss exterior (which in hindsight we realized was speced very similarly to her disco).
Chapter 2- The Hunt Begins…and Fails
We live in the DC area. Which turned out to be both a blessing and a curse. On the plus side being in the mid-Atlantic area means there are a LOT of Kia dealerships within a 5 to 6 hr drive (I can say this with confidence as I am pretty sure I have talked to every single one of them). But it is also one of the markets with highest markups/demand. When were are looking locally there were only two within an hour of us with our desired specs; one at 11k over sticker and the other at 6k (another at 10k over had sold the week before). Which we weren’t willing to pay. We talked to several dealerships about ordering one and they all wanted over msrp even for an order. Little by little we widen our search using the Kia website and started looking for dealers in nearby markets (Baltimore, PA, southern VA, NJ, NY, NC, etc) with little luck.
Chapter 3- Forums Found
At this point we were several weeks into our Telluride search and debating whether we should re-open our search to other vehicles when I came across tellurideforum.org and started reading about other’s experiences. One of the huge revelations of the forums for us was to learn that the dune interior was actually classified as black on the Kia website and that you had to go into the window sticker to determine whether or not it had the dune seats (with the black interior). If the dealers we worked with knew this, none of them shared it.
Chapter 4- SuccessCat
The forum led us to the failcat tool. Once I had a bit of a chance to play with the tool we decided that we would look at every matching spec produced this year within a 5 hr drive of us. This got us about a 15 to 20 leads. As we worked our way through these, we found lots of dealership that appeared to be selling cars at msrp based on their website. But once you called or email, you got a pretty consistent story about high demand, or that their website didn’t support listing prices higher than msrp, or blah, blah, blah…and that the actual price was significantly higher (typically around 10% over msrp). The other thing we regularly found was cars that had already been sold, but were still listed on in their inventory. In several cases more than a week after a dealer told us a car had been sold it still appeared in their inventory (presumably so that unsuspecting people could be reeled in and directed to other vehicles).
We eventually determined there we no matching specs within a 5 hr drive of us for less 4k over msrp. After expanding our search we did find a car at Ricart near Columbus and another at Halleen near Cleveland at or near msrp, but we decided these were a bit further (6 hrs+ each way) then we wanted to drive with other consideration like kids and covid.
Chapter 5- Dealer Stalking
Our next step was to check failcat multiple times a day and email every matching spec that was within a 5 hr radius. We gave ourselves a week for this before we place an order (in the meantime we had found a dealer within an hour of us that would order at msrp). As cars would appear on failcat, I would email them to ask if it had been a customer order or if they were going to be available for sale. In most cases the dealers had no idea what I was talking and there would be a couple of emails explain to the sales people how their systems worked and that a VIN had been created at the factory and was destined for their dealership. For several days all we got were customer pre-orders and one or two that were not interested in pre-selling at or near msrp. I am pretty sure I made more than one salesperson's day by letting them know they had high spec Telluride inbound that they could gouge another customer with.
Chapter 6- Winner Winner Chicken Dinner
On day 5 we hit paydirt. After emailing Williamsburg Kia (3 hrs-ish from us) about an inbound Telluride, they came back and said yes it was going to be available for sale and that they would sell it at msrp. A couple of phone calls and emails later we got an official quote from them (so there wouldn’t be any last minute fees added) and gave them a credit card to place a deposit on the vehicle. Assuming everything goes to plan, we should driving down to pick up our car in approximately two weeks.
Our total hunt took about two months, 1 figuring out what we wanted and 1 finding it. I share this so that others might benefit from our process. I have no idea how common (or uncommon) our experience was. Did we hit a million to one shot on day 5??? Could others expect to be able to duplicate this in their market sooner??? Who knows, but I can tell you for at least one person this process seems to have worked.
As a side note, I would like to give Thomas Green a public shout out for creating failcat. I cannot imagine this process playing out so positively for us without it (even before we got our winning lotto ticket, I him a thank you beer via paypal, and plan to send him a six pack or two after we get our vehicle).
I wish my fellow Telluride hunters the best of luck…hang in there it can be done (I hope
).
Great write up.
