Ram SRT-10 Allocation *****!

[Sam Goldfarb]

I am pretty upset about the whole situation regarding the Ram SRT-10 trucks. I ordered a red one from a local Spitzer Dodge store last October, didn't even enter the VCA raffle, since I thought I had a commitment to Spitzer, only to find out 4 months later that they were not even allowed to get one. I bought two VCA raffle tickets for a blue one and left all the chances for the other 49 to everyone else. Quite frankly, had I won either the VCA raffle or a chance to buy a blue one, I would have sold one of the two ( Blue or the promised Red one). The Dodge dealer also decided that since there was a lot of profit to be made that the "deal" I thought I was getting was off and if by chance they could get their hands on one, they wanted several thousand over MSRP. I have been a VCA member since 98 and the club secretary for the last 4 years. I "donate" 200+ hours a year, haul my motorhome to club functions, as a home base, and spend a lot of cash to participate in all the "fun"!

It was nice of Dodge to do the VCA Ram-SRT-10 thing, but never forget, Dodge and especially it's dealers are here to make money!! I think anyone that buys anything has the right to do what they want with it. The ******* by Spitzer and the way that Dodge "allocates" their products *****! If Dodge wanted to do the right thing, they should have offered all VCA members a program to get a truck similar to the way the SRT-10 was offered. I ordered an SRT-10 Viper and also had another Ohio club member run his through my "loyal" Spitzer Dodge dealer, not to mention the other many vehicles I have purchased through them.

Spitzer's new attitude is now, "Why should we sell you a truck for less than we can sell it to someone else?" My thoughts at this time are " Why should I donate so much time and money to VCA, when I am really just supporting Dodge's efforts to support their chosen dealers!" You also need to check and see if any Dodge dealer you are working with has the juice to get anything from Dodge before you order!! At the very least someone in VCA or Dodge should publish a list of dealers where we can get some SERVICE! I have read many horror stories about the botched recalls and it is obvious that many of these Dodge dealers shouldn't be selling/servicing Vipers.

If this is too negative of a comment for the VCA and Dodge to read I am sorry to burst your bubbles. If I owned a company that had a lot of orders, I would hire more people to make what the customer wanted or stop building a bunch of vehicles that I had to discount and offer thousands of dollars off in rebates to give the market what it wanted. But what would I know. I have 17 vehicles already and those new Corvettes ( I already have a silver one and a blue one, red would look good between them!) are about the same price as a Ram SRT-10!

Sam Goldfarb
Ohio VCA Secretary

 

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

Hi Sam,

I am surprised that you as a VCA officer would get upset at Dodge because you chose a poor dealer? It would be nice if all dealers were the same but that is not the case.

There seem to be only a few ethical Dodge Viper dealers, and they support this site. Woodhouse nor Tater would have mislead you then change the deal.

If you had a valid sales contract and they get a truck it is your our your option is to sue. Basic rule "Buyer Beware" applies to all purchases.

Dealers are independent contractors and Dodge has not done a good job of managing them in my opinion. But that has been good for the few who are GREAT. Tater and Woodhouse benefit from their outstanding values.

I was interested in the Dodge SRT10 Truck and had a verbal agreement with a dealership owner. I trusted the owner but at the time orders were not open. This deal was made when I (and 12 other SRT10s were ordered with the same terms to VCA members) ordered my SRT10 but due to many circumstances I do not have one. First the dealership was sold to a large chain who is not service oriented. The new owner was informed by the seller of his agreement with me. The new owner told one of our Club officers(when he picked up his SRT10) that he would not honor the verbal truck contract made by the previous owner. With a poor economy, no garage space etc, I did not contact the dealer regarding the verbal contract which he said he would not honor. And I will not buy a bolt from this dealership. I am waiting for the new HEMI powered 05 Jeep on sale this Oct. If necessary I will use a broker and have one shipped from the East Coast to California.

Contact Tater or Woodhouse and see what delivery they can offer or do a dealership search for the color you want and start making offers.

My 03 Viper SRT10 had the unfinished valves. I had to take care of this problem(shipping 800 miles round trip, etc) myself. Result my now snake kicks butt! The VCA tried but was of no use in this case. We have to take responsibility for what we want including service.

Simply put Screw the typical dealership and work only with the ones known to be good or search out an acceptable deal.

 

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

Did a quick search and found the following comapny that will find and ship cars nation wide. FYI Mercedes are not discounted, per the party line. Not ture! Contact the following and see what he can do for you! I do not know him. His name came up while doing a car search, remember buyer beware!

Ken Woodcock - Sales Manager
Sales & Leasing Division.
www.pricedealers.com
800.707.4470 - direct to me
360.343.0232 - fax
541.521.2774 - cell
[email protected]

 

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

The following site also looks like a good place to start looking for your RAM SRT10:
http://www.car-buying-strategies.com/

 

[Sam Goldfarb]

Fred,
Thanks for the response. I have purchased 20+ vehicles from Spitzer in the past and you are right my problem is mostly with the dealer. Unfortuneatly my deal was a handshake deal, as nearly all that I have done with them have been. When I tried to put it on paper they just kept telling me it wasn't needed!

If you want to read a little more about the situation, check my post in the VCA Only section under "Ever wonder what a dealers word/reputation is worth?" It is a copy of most of the letter I sent, certified, to Alan Spitzer, the owner of the Spitzer Group of car dealerships.

I did email Chuck Tator a couple days ago to get some insight into the Dodge allocation program. I havn't heard back from him yet.

As a VCA officer I am not asking for any special treatment. I hope I am also not giving up my rights to complain? The real purpose of my post was to express my disatisfaction with my treatment and the way that Dodge allocates the vehicles. I believe that one of the main purposes of any forum is to pass on all information. Not just the good but to also warn others of any problems encountered.

DC has a system in place for rating their dealers, the 5 Star program. Maybe Dodge needs to rate the dealers and have Viper Certified Dealers, not just techs? Let VCA members rate the dealers. The way they rate them now is by who sells the most vehicles. In the case of the Ram SRT-10 it seems that the more trucks they sold the more likely they could get a Ram SRT-10. In an ideal situation, the market would then control itself. Where you live should not influence what you can buy. Texas got a lot of Ram SRT-10s because people buy a lot of trucks in Texas!! Big Surprise? Again, why Dodge can't get the number of each vehicle they are going to produce right is beyond me. I have watched huge discount/rebate programs for years at DC and still can't figure it out! Oops we made too many mini-vans again, Duh!

Maybe someone already has a list of Viper Friendly Dealers? I hate to go hundreds of miles when I have 4 Dodge dealers within 30 miles of my house. I have dealt with three of the four and generally got my best deals from Spitzer. Their service and parts people always treat me well.

Again, when those of us VCA members become VCA officers I don't think we become brainwashed DC company men. If so it didn't take on me and I still haven't received my first paycheck!

Best Regards!
Sam

 

[Fred(DrivingSchool)Kinder]

Hi Sam,

Agree with you 100% I also have not received my check from Dodge for being a VCA officer. They must be in the same lost mail bag.

I think the Five Star program is a hoax! It can be purchased!

Now go find your RAM SRT10! Call Woodhouse for a start! Bob is a great guy! And Bill P. will be happy to help you if possible.

 

[ABADASP]

I think the allocation program ***** also. The dealer we purchased 4 srt10`s thru can not get us any ram srt`s. The dealer here wants $20,000 over sticker for the ones he has on his lot. That looks real good for DC, way to go. Mike Oklahoma Vca V.P.

 

[Sam Goldfarb]

I would like to thank Bill Pemberton from Woodhouse for calling me and the offer he made to me for a Silver SRT-10 Ram. I really appreciate his time. He seems like a really class act and I have never purchased anything from them! The thoughtfulness he showed me would definitely make me consider their dealership if I purchase another Viper.
Thanks Again Bill!

 

[Fiorano]

I bought my GTS from Bill, sight unseen and couldn't be happier. If I do buy another viper, he will likely get my business again.

 

[jimandela]

Woodhouse and Bill P are the only way to go

 

[Speedstyle]

Black Ram SRT-10 located in Troy, Michigan looking for a home. Poor little fella is sitting out front of dealership all alone and needs a home. He needs to be woken up out of his sleep and laying down some rubber on Woodward.

 

[Sam Goldfarb]

Thanks for the heads up, I wanted a red one.

I really want to thank Chuck Tator for his personal phone call to me today. He gave me some insights into what is going on with the Dodge allocation scheme. Seems that the trucks are all going to the dealers who sold the most 1/2 ton pickups! He and I both agree that the SRT-10 Ram are Vipers with a different body. Those of you that think you are getting one from your local dealer are probably going to be upset! Seems there are about 5 times as many pending orders than Dodge plans on building!

I don't think that many farmers and construction workers are going to spend $50K for a 1/2 ton truck with no hauling or towing capacity. Face it Dodge, the market is Viper owners and there seem to be more upset people than happy ones, including those dealers with orders for vehicles that they will never get, while you are cranking out more minivans that will be deep discounted and also have $3000 rebates next July!! Get A Clue! Econ 101, first chapter, Supply and Demand. Creating an "Artificial Rare Vehicle Market" never works, except for those rare lucky few that get their hands on them first. I am sure that this allocation was offered up to the dealers after they were "screwed" out of the enormous profits they wanted on the Viper SRT-10 program. Look how many of those are around now!

It's nice to know there are still a few trustworthy Dodge dealers out there. Just a shame that I have to go 500+ miles to get to one!

 

[Steve Ferguson]

Sam and Fred, this is a very hot topic right now and with a little luck there will be some answers after April First. There is one point eveyone needs to keep in mind: The SRT RAM is not a Viper, thus the VCA is powerless at this point.

The hope would be that working with VCA Friendly Dealers would get you the other SRT products, but so far that is not the case, and even dealers are a little confused as to why?

As for having to go 500 miles to find good dealers, that is the case for most of us. It is a shame, but at least they make it worth while.

 

[9 seconds]

I agree the allocation *****. I had to wait until Jan. 7 to get mine. Oh, wait. Another reason it's good to live in Texas.

Some may not know but the SRT-4 allocation was even worse. California and Florida had them way before other states. Houston dealers had none while Florida dealers had 20 on the lot.

BTW there is a thread in the VOI8 section with a few people that disagree with your comparing the truck to a Viper.

 

[Sam Goldfarb]

Steve,
Thanks for reading the post and your comments! If the answers are just lame explanations as to why they are doing what they are doing, I couldn't care less! My greatest problem is with the local Spitzer dealership and the way I was strung out! If I was one of the lucky few that had a truck right now I would be happy. As it is I guess I am still happy, I saved $50K, still have 17 other vehicles to drive and am still retired at the old age of 47!

I apologize to any that I offended comparing the Ram SRT-10 to a Viper. I guess I meant to say that the potential buyers for the Ram would more likely be Viper owners than pick-up owners. The other issue that should have come into play is the availabilty of certified techs to work on the Viper drive trains in the Ram SRT-10. DC makes dealers that want to sell Vipers, have a Viper Tech and a lot of expensive tools. Wonder if that is the case for the Ram SRT-10? Anyone know?
Sam Goldfarb
Ohio VCA Secretary

 

[9 seconds]

Sam,
They probably call them SRT Techs now. The dealership would have to have one to sell SRT Rams. You weren't the only one strung out as far as SRT-10 Rams goes. Many still have orders in BG status from dealers who might not ever get one.

 

[Ramman]

I have had an SRT-10 Ram order in since the day that they were taking orders. What upsets me is that I have bought 9 Dodge vehicles since 1992 from the same dealer which includes four Vipers. When I call the Dodge status line I have been told all kinds of things that don't make me to happy with the answer. Like its in BX staus and will be built in December. Oh then there was an option issue. Oh they can't tell me so check with the dealer. If that is what they think of a loyal Dodge owner then I guess you could assume that they don't care. Why don't they just say your dealer is not going to get any so your out of luck!!! PERIOD

 

[Sam Goldfarb]

Ramman,

At least you are close to Texas! Seems like most of them ended up down there. You need to read my post under the SRT10 Forum about the "1970 Hemi Challenger, $5000 at your local Dodge dealer!" Also read my other one under VCA Only forum about "Ever Wonder What A Car Dealers Word/Reputation Is Worth? ." I wouldn't be so upset with Spitzer Dodge, if they had told me a couple months ago, that they couldn't get the trucks. I "ordered" mine in October, before the system would even take it! Should have had one of the first few hundred built, in a free market! I would have looked around and also thrown my name in the hat for the "Blue" raffle, if I knew I was a "maybe"! There seems to be only a few "loyal" dealers out there like Tator and Woodhouse. I apologize for any ommissions and invite other Viper owners to recommend dealers in these forums that will help fellow Viper owners, over the long haul, not just to make some quick cash! Remember you could always buy a new Corvette, rather than the Ram. It's cheaper, faster, handles better, stops faster and has the same towing capacity as the Ram-SRT-10, NONE!

 

[AmericanMuscle]

Sam,

How is the Corvette cheaper? I can see that statement being true as of now, because GM is trying to push all remaining C5's out with huge discounts and rebates, but in general, the Corvette is slightly more expensive. Besides, why would one want to pay that much for a truck anyways? To each his own I suppose. Ah the beauty of democracy and freedom of choice!!!

 

[Sam Goldfarb]

AmericanMuscle,
You are correct, if we are speaking about list prices. However, as you point out, the Corvettes are being deeply discounted, while the Ram SRT-10s are being sold over MSRP by many dealers, if you can even find one! Looking at our local newspaper, dealers are offering new Corvettes for $38-$42K. Ram SRT-10 MSRP is about $46K. That leaves you enough left over to buy your kid any number of $8K foreign cars for "free"! I have never paid over MSRP for any vehicle in my life and never will! As you also said, Free Choices! I know how Corvettes have fared over time and I have never owned one that cost me anything to own. Combined the two I have now are conservatively worth about $10,000 more than I have in them. Let's see how the trucks do over time? With cash earning 1-4% it makes sense to invest in something you can also enjoy like cars. The trick is to not pay so much for the vehicle that you have to will it to your grandchildren to ever see any profit from it. When you buy a new vehicle, pay the sales tax and then drive it off the lot, on average you have just "lost" 15-20% of it's value. It is now a used vehicle! Not sure why anyone else wanted a Ram SRT-10, I just wanted one because I liked them and could afford it. Also, I guess the biggest reason I wanted it was owning the "fastest" production truck made! You could buy two Corvettes for the price of one Viper SRT-10, but the Viper is still faster! So, I guess those of us that want the fastest will keep paying for it. I had no belief that a Ram SRT-10 would be worth a lot more than I paid for it. The exception, for a little while, is the VCA Blue Ram SRT-10s, which are being sold at a profit by a lucky few! The second or third owners may never live long enough to see any profit on their "investment"! But, they will enjoy owning the "fastest" production truck made, until Ford, Chevy or more likely Toyota ( Recent Nascar Truck Success) builds one faster!!

 

[AmericanMuscle]

I see!!! I will admit they are some cool looking trucks, I just don't think I would ever part with that much for a truck. I myself am a performance car nut, and at 23 I own my own C5. I have always loved Corvettes, as I grew up around them. They may not be as fast as a Viper, but I find them to be a **** car. I know some on here think there are too many produced, but 30,000 really isn't much considering the number of cars produced in total. There's another side to me as well. I am in love with Vipers. They are a beautiful machine with amazing performance. So I do hope to join the ranks of you guys someday.

 

[01LightningGal]

Just to let someone know.......... if interested. There is a silver Ram SRT-10 on the lot at the Dodge dealer in Globe, AZ.

Now, I would be real surprised if there are 5 people in Globe who could affort that truck, so it may be there for a while.

Sorry that I don't have the dealerships name for you. However, I do know there is only 1 Dodge dealership in Globe, so it shouldn't be that hard to find.

Good luck to everyone.

 

[Sam Goldfarb]

Thanks for the heads up! I really wanted a red one. Seems like there are a lot of silver and black ones out there. Doubt that Dodge paid any attention to the market and simply decided to make all colors equally! New white SRT-10 is OK, but I would have brought back the Viper blue color or yellow!! Bring back some of the muscle car colors from the 60's and early 70's. The people that grew up then are buying the" Muscle" cars now! I have seen a few Dodge pickups with some retro theme colors and decals, NEAT!

 

[AndyR]

Bring back some of the muscle car colors from the 60's and early 70's. The people that grew up then are buying the" Muscle" cars now! I have seen a few Dodge pickups with some retro theme colors and decals, NEAT!

Those are cool, Sam. They are the Ram Hemi GTX. They go for around $36K and are pretty sweet looking. A nice sport truck alternative to the SRT Truck.

You must be registered for see images

 

[Jay Herbert]

I have had an SRT-10 Ram order in since the day that they were taking orders.....

This is one of those things that pretty much is a bummer the way companies "allocate" vehicles. In the case of the Ram-SRT.... Dodge did not have it's head on straight, figured it was a pickup truck and decided to allocate them to ... um dealers that sold lots of pickup trucks

It would have been nice if Dodge did not "accept" a dealer order one unless it was allocated one, but that would have been to easy. If you go to Order Status Codes you'll see the stages an order goes through. If a delaer was not allocated a Ram-SRT my guess is it sits in non-BX forever.... with the dealer not letting the buyer know... Buyer thinks he has a truck on order, but not really because all the trucks are already allocated..

Early Viper dealers were supposed to have a trained tech and tools to be able to get a Viper, but funny how cars landed at dealerships that were friends of marketing VP's and silly things like that.

On a similar but different vein,

Don't be surprised if a lot of Ford GT "buyers" who put money at dealers never see one, Ford is likely to only sell them to dealers in the top of the food chain in terms of Volume, and even these will only get one the first year, I'd bet they do not even take SVT dealership qualifications in mind. I see the ads in the back of AutoWeek where a fellow has one "for sale"... an unhappy buyer could well result...

 

[01LightningGal]

Just as an update. The Globe, AZ Dodge dealer is selling the truck at sticker. There is no market adjustment.

While I was smart enough to find that out for you, I was too distracted by my 2-year old to look at the dealerships name.............. I guess I was having a blonde moment.

As for the allocation.......... it has to be truck volume sales. This is all the Globe dealership sells. There certainly is no other reason for one of these trucks to be in a town that lives or dies by the copper industry (has been dead for the last few years......... and is just starting to come back to life due to high copper prices).

 

[01LightningGal]

Just as an update. The Globe, AZ Dodge dealer is selling the truck at sticker. There is no market adjustment.

While I was smart enough to find that out for you, I was too distracted by my 2-year old to look at the dealerships name.............. I guess I was having a blonde moment.

As for the allocation.......... it has to be truck volume sales. This is all the Globe dealership sells. There certainly is no other reason for one of these trucks to be in a town that lives or dies by the copper industry (has been dead for the last few years......... and is just starting to come back to life due to high copper prices).

 

[GTS Dean]

My dealer here has a silver one due in today or tomorrow. I'm sure they'll deal at sticker. It's all about volume.

Bluebonnet Motor Co. (James)
830-606-3463

 

[Jay Herbert]

Sam, the folks at BlueBonnet are a nice bunch. Met tham a few years back.

Found this dealer that had a red one, not sure if they still do:

2004 Red SRT-10

Contact: Mark Turner
Location: Nashville, TN

Telephone: 615-596-3044
E-Mail: [email protected]

 

[PBJ]

Sam,
We have a red one... I spoke to my Sales manager and he said he would go $2000 over sticker. He has had several offers at sticker this week and turned them all down. I tried the VCA approach and the volume approach,but the truck it too hot right now...you know supply and demand. I don't agree, but I am only there to work on them, not sell them. He did say that he would make a package deal...red'04 SRT-10 Viper for $250 over invoice and the above price for the truck. That way you could put both in your garage side by side. Let me know if I can help out in any way.
Thanks,
Joe