My dealer dosen't seem to have a good estimate.

If you have your order number you can go here:
http://www.chevroletconnects.com/home/

and Track your car. There is also lots of info on this site to help get an estimation.

Good Luck,

P

I guess that is my problem, Jay Chevrolet took a $500.00 deposit from me for a order but can't give me an order number yet because now they tell me that they have to wait until they can order more. So they just have to sit on the orders they have until they are told they can order more.

Why wouldent GM want to know how many actual orders have been placed with dealers?

what equipment did you order ?

This is strange. In late November my dealer took a deposit and entered the order into GM's system even though he had used all his initial allocation. In January the order was picked up by GM and it's scheduled for production the week of 1/24. There should be no reason your dealer cannot enter the order.

See the FAQ's about tracking on this forum - its very extensive.,...as well as the long thread that shows people tracking their orders:

Here is the link to the tracking thread:
http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?5110-Tracking-Your-Volt-Order

Here is a link to ChrisC excellent FAQ on tracking:

http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?5110-Tracking-Your-Volt-Order&p=45524#post45524

I guess that is my problem, Jay Chevrolet took a $500.00 deposit from me for a order but can't give me an order number yet because now they tell me that they have to wait until they can order more.

Ummm... That's a concern. Your dealer can enter your order before they have an allocation and will get an order number (in fact, that's the way it works). Your order status will be 1000 (ish). When GM grants them an allocation and the dealer gives it to your car, your status will change to 2000 and it'll officially be in GM's production system.

But if your dealer won't even tell GM about your order, you should insist on it. While I'm not saying it's the case here (because it may well not be), some dealers have taken orders and deposits while knowing they had no allocation to cover it.

You should insist of getting an order number so that you know the dealer has at least told GM about it.

Yes, it is always better to have them get it in the system ASAP. Then you avoid others getting in line ahead of you as well.

Thanks HPNpilot for the post.

Indeed, read the FAQ and the "track your order" post, linked below. You will be happily wallowing in a surplus of information.

The above posters are correct -- you should receive a 6-character order code immediately. If they saw they can't yet they are lying. Ask them to give you an order code or your money back immediately.

Thank you all very much, I just asked them again and they are checking on it, I will press them harder tomorrow.

HPN pilot...Can I assume you are a corporate pilot flying from White Plains Airport? I retired as a Corporate pilot from an energy company and operated out of DET for 35 years.

HPN pilot...Can I assume you are a corporate pilot flying from White Plains Airport? I retired as a Corporate pilot from an energy company and operated out of DET for 35 years.

No, just an instrument rated private pilot. I trained and fly out of white plains. I'm an electrical engineer.
Glad to meet another pilot on here :)

I guess that is my problem, Jay Chevrolet took a $500.00 deposit from me for a order but can't give me an order number yet because now they tell me that they have to wait until they can order more. So they just have to sit on the orders they have until they are told they can order more.

Why wouldent GM want to know how many actual orders have been placed with dealers?

It doesn't quite work that way. Any dealer can go to GM's Workbench site and submit dozens of preliminary orders. When you went to the dealer, picked out options, and gave your deposit, that should be plugged in to the system and called a "Configuration". This is GM's word for a specific car, color, and options. The system ensures that the configuration is valid, for example you can't order Viridian Joule and Crystal Red paint on the same car. Once the configuration is valid, the Workbench system will assign it an order number and a status code of 1100.

This does NOT start getting a car built. It just assigns a number to a combination of configuration, dealer, customer, and date. Dealers can submit many more of these than they have allocations of cars. There's no reason for them not to do this before you leave the dealership.

Once you have this number (Six characters, alphanumeric, typically mostly letters), you can go to the Chevroletconnects.com site and track it. The process for doing so and the meaning of all the codes are well explained in the FAQ and discussions here.

But, tracking it will be really boring until the dealer both has an allocation and uses it for your order. You will basically sit there at 1100 until GM allocates a car build slot to the dealer AND the dealer chooses to use that slot for YOUR car. Then you'll see the number change to 2000 and you can track its actual progress.

Go back to the dealer and ask them for the order number for your configuration as entered into GM Workbench. Using the correct terms with them will give them a hint that you are serious and know what you're doing. If they claim that they can't enter it until they have allocation they are either incompetent or BS-ing you or both.

for example you can't order Viridan Joule and Crystal Red paint on the same car.

But I *wanted* a Christmas color red with green interior Volt (NOT! :-)


If they claim that they can't enter it until they have allocation they are either incompetent or BS-ing you or both.

And you should seriously reconsider doing business with them. Experience has shown us there are a LOT of really good dealers out there, and a few slimeballs. Them saying they can't give you an order number is one of the slimeball signs... (not to say a slimeball can't give you an order number too).

Marlow,
When I ordered mine the sales manager entered my order into the “North American Workbench” program on his desktop PC while I waited. He then gave me a “Quick Order Summary” print-out with my six digit order number (actually all letters). It also has the options ordered, and pricing including MSRP, Invoice, and GMS prices. It was on a Saturday so he told me he could not enter the allocation until approved by his general manager the following week. I responded OK, but let me know as soon as they entered it because I did not want my deposit sitting at a dealership with no allocation. I checked GMConnects.com, now ChevroletConnects.com when I got home and my order was at code 1102.
A week went by and I was still at 1102 so I emailed the sales manager and let him know I was tracking the order and did not yet see status code 2000 indicating they had used an allocation for the order. I politely asked he confirm they had an allocation for me which he did that day, and my order went to 2000 a couple of days later. Keep in mind I ordered the weekend before Christmas so the extra few days was likely due to the Holidays.

Bottom line...
Ask your salesman for the “Quick Order Summary” print-out and talk to a high level manager at the dealership to confirm they have an allocation for your order. If they won't give you the order number information and a firm allocation date take you business elsewhere.

No, just an instrument rated private pilot. Glad to meet another pilot on here :)
Me too, although I have not flown for a few years. Wife did not like me flying. 'Course maybe that is why I can afford a Volt now, hmm.

What a difference a day makes, I am wondering if someone higher up in GM saw this because today the sales Manager tells me that certianly, he can give me a order number on Monday.

I also recieved confirmation today that I am on the Detroits Edisons list for the discount charger program.

Thank you to who ever my angel is out there.

well to contiue my story, the dealer returned to the policy of not starting a volt order number with ou a allocation, but also proposed to refund my deposit until an allocation was recieved.

I accepted the return of my deposit and after sending messages to over 40 dealers looking for a allocation, I did find one and had the order placed with that dealer and I finnaly recieved an order number, all in about 24 hours.

I also found that there are a few delalers expecting Volts to be delivered soon that have not yet been sold. and there are three volts on dealer lots on the east coast waiting to be sold.

If any one is interested I can supply information.

Well it turns out that my new dealer has not been stright with me. while he impathicly insists that i have his last allocation, it turns out to only be a promis of allocation to be delivered on some time this calendar year. He did give me a order number (that was more that the last dealer gave me), checking on this order number provided the 1100 code order recieved, dealer has no allocation to order. The dealer still insists that the allocation is there, but it just hasent been "pulled" yet. after I pointed out the obvious discrepency to him he has offered to return my deposit and cancle the order. I replied that I would think about it.

Well a half of an order is still better than no order, so until I get a better offer I will keep this order but I am still looking maby Ill have better luck tomorrow.

The dealer still insists that the allocation is there, but it just hasent been "pulled" yet. after I pointed out the obvious discrepency to him he has offered to return my deposit and cancle the order. I replied that I would think about it.

Don't be so sure your dealer isn't being straight with you. This is perfectly normal. I sat at 1100 for a month and a half before the dealer was allowed to pull the allocation and I went to 2000. The things to know from your dealer are A) How many allocations have they been promised, and B) Where on their ordered list of allocations are you?

My dealer had 18 allocations, and I was #4. But I still had myself on two other dealer's lists (no deposit) until I went to 2000. If your dealer won't answer those questions, you have good reason to be concerned. If they answer those questions to your satisfaction, and you really really want a Volt, feel free to check with other dealers to see what they can do for you too.

Hi Rusty,

I placed an order for what I thought his having an allocation that can be ordered on in January would assure that I would recieve a 2011 model. I am concerened about the changes GM will make in the 2012 model year to make the Volt profitable and what the quality will be from the new parts suppliers. All reports now indicate very fiew problems (a few minor glitches).

Honda messed with the origional insight to produce a lot of them, and managed to reduce the MPG from 70 MPG to less than 50 MPG and mass produce a car that hardly anyone is interested in now.

I placed an order for what I thought his having an allocation that can be ordered on in January would assure that I would recieve a 2011 model. I am concerened about the changes GM will make in the 2012 model year to make the Volt profitable and what the quality will be from the new parts suppliers.

I completely understand your concern, and that's why I'm very happy to have my (probably over engineered) Volt sitting in my driveway right now. But you should know that even for dealers with allocations of MY '11 Volts, those allocations are scheduled. Your dealer may have allocations for MY '11 still available to them, but they have not been allowed to pull them yet. And your Volt may very well be one of those.

Ask your dealer how many allocations they have left to pull, and where you stand in their stack.

Rusty I think I am finialy geyying the hang of this volt ordering process I think I will start a new thread labled "How to order a Volt" (from lessons learned the hard way).

I am now on my third dealer and finally think I found one that can get my Volt when I want it. I will have to drive a ways to pick it up, but it will be worth it. And not across state lines as some have.

The order I have placed with this dealer is his first on his first allocation with a expected delivery date before June. I now know that every allocation has a expected delivery before date, that the dealer gets with each allocation. Thats not to say that production delays could not cause it to be later, but productioon increases will have to come fast for them to come close to there recently announced production targets.