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The present state of selling/buying the SS

24K views 140 replies 66 participants last post by  itslow 
#1 ·
Can I spitball here for a few paragraphs?

A lot of articles either look at the past of the SS (Holden) or the bleak future of the SS car and NA V8 cars alike. These authors yearn for the past NA V8's or desire a future with these cars. But I want to source opinions on what's going on now with the holy grail SS.

There's no more being made, we all know that yet Cars.com and Autotrader shows SS' littered on lots across America. There are 3 (was 4, the manual sold immediately of course) 2017 SS' sitting at the dealership where I bought mine from.

I am seeing a lot of SS' still sitting on lots. Mostly auto's but I think the number of autos on the lots are proportional to the the number of auto's made vs manuals made... I think, I could be wrong, it could be that the manuals are just that sought after. I digress...

So what's the present state of the SS? Why are they sitting on the lots? I remember the agony of waiting for the recall to end and I remember the SS community feeling the same. In 2016 dealerships couldn't' keep these cars on their lots before and after the recall. Now it's 4 months into 2017, the Holden plant is done making them and there are ALOT (relatively speaking) of 2017's just sitting.

Why?... Is it the color choice? A lot of OBM's, PBM's and HW's on lots. Is it the transmission choice? It's hard for me to believe that because I see more 2015 (the first year of the M6) trade ins than the 2014 which we know is only auto. Is it the asking price of 50k and no more 20 percent off?

I might be wrongfully assuming that something is wrong with moving these cars based on anecdotal evidence and what's going on in my area. But I'm curious... What happened from 2016 till now. Why are these cars sitting? What will dealers do to move them if GM isn't offering 20 percent off?

Maybe it's that this car is more desired in dreams than in garages. I'm starting to think so.
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Last July's 20% off incentive for 2016's was a surprise which conditioned 2017 buyers to wait for the next 20% sale which most felt would be mid summer at the earliest. Then the unthinkable happened, 20% off in March. I think this has caused many potential buyers to hold out for the next 20% off sale.

It'll be interesting to see if there is one and when. Will also be interesting to see if there's a significant incentive less than 20% offered around Memorial Day. I don't think manual transmission SS's need 20% off to sell.
 
#3 ·
I do believe if more manuals were on lots, then less cars would be. Other than that, I think there is still plenty of time for them to sell.
 
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#4 ·
I think that you need to consider the marketing, or lack of, in regards to the SS. If you're not part of this forum, not a "car guy" so to speak, you know very little to nothing about the SS. That hasn't changed since the SS hit the streets 3 years ago. Not many car buyers are aware of this car. Heck, even the dealerships and their respective sales people know very little about this car.
This car will be recognized some day by many as it is today by few. When that happens, we'll not worry about sales figures or why nobody noticed. We noticed, and we're lucky we did. :thumbsUp:
 
#7 · (Edited)
I think that you need to consider the marketing, or lack of, in regards to the SS. :thumbsUp:
I agree with this...Have never seen an advertisement for one, but I knew about it and decided to jump back into a car after years of owning trucks.

As far as the lack of Manuals on the lots...it could be clever advertising...since I know Koons of Tyson's Corner has several M6's on the lot...but if you look at their website...all show with Automatics...But if you look closely...the ones that don't say "with Tap Shift" are the manual ones...Maybe an internal code so they can hide the M6's from the rest of the world...who knows. (It's where I bought my current one, and the website showed auto for that as well)
 
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#5 ·
We don't have any on our lot or on the storage lot.


Ship them to So Cal.
 
#6 ·
My dealership ordered a total of 135 2017 SS sedans.

I have 37 available automatics in stock & inbound as of today.
I have 17 available manual cars in stock & inbound.

Interest has remained strong even after the 20% incentive expired. Folks are just more careful to find the exact car they want. Manuals are moving at regular pricing.

My thoughts are that manual SS will be difficult to find if a strong incentive is offered.
 
#8 ·
These cars have been sitting on lots for years. Nothing new. I remember seeing brand new 2014s still out there. Last year's 20% sale was the biggest reason they moved quicker. I have to admit that I've seen more 2017s sold than any other year.
 
#14 ·
Exactly. It's really been the same trends since the car was launched. This car sits on lots, Chevy runs a sale, and people run to purchase them.

When I bought my 15, the dealer wasn't going to let me leave until they sold me that car because they finally had someone interested in it. When I bought my 17 on the first day of the recent sale, the dealer had multiple people calling about the car while I was doing the paperwork. If Chevy runs another sale, the cars will fly off the lots.
 
#9 ·
Why are they sitting on the lots?

IMO people in general don't want to pay $50k for a sedan with a bow tie. Not to mention nobody knows they exist. It takes a 20% incentive to move them in any meaningful quantity.
 
#10 ·
The only advertising this car gets in NA is if you happen to notice NASCAR Chevy's carry the name and "likeness". With the downturn in NASCAR popularity, that's not a very big advertising point. Not a single commercial, that I'm aware of, has been produced for or even featured an SS in it for all of NA.

When I have other car enthusiast that aren't really sure what the car is...that's a bad sign for consumer knowledge. I was at a Corvette gathering this last weekend and while most of them had heard of the SS, I'd say about half of them had some critical incorrect knowledge on the car. Some were surprised it was a V8. Some were surprised it was RWD. No, not all Vette owners are super heavy car guys, but they are car enthusiast. If GM hasn't even gotten their attention, then sales are going to suck.

THAT is why SS's sit on lots.
 
#11 ·
Has anyone read R&T's peice about the SS and why people are surprised when GM makes good performance cars? I read it last night so it got me to look at other, mainly older, GM performance cars. What i found interesting is the asking prices of these cars. I found a lot of CTS V's and even about 20-30 wagons (all automatic) creep into the asking price of a brand new SS. Does that speak to the SS being to expensive because it cost as much as a used supercharged Cadillac station wagon aka the GM unicorn or does it speak to how much of a bargain the SS is because brand new it only cost about 50k which is what a supercharged GM with depreciation costs? What's your opinion?

There's a post above mentioning the amount of leftover 14's on the lot. Can anyone who works for a dealer chime in and speak on how much dealers lose on 3 year old leftover SS' and what is the plan to move them after so long?

As a A6 owner I have noticed that the M6 or nothing crowd is a unique type of buyers. They seem to buy this car at sticker without hesitation and the luckier ones swoop in on the few that are discounted. Now the A6/M6 conversation is something that will always be talked about so I'm not trying to start a debate here. I'm very happy with my transmission choice AND still desire to have a M6. But it does highlight the problem with 50 thousand dollar A6's left on the lot as opposed to the 50k M6's that are gone once they come off the ship. I think most A6 buyers such as myself are different in that with V8 automatic RWD competition from other manufacturers there's a "take it or leave it" mentality without the discount or some type of incentive. Again. My opinion. Maybe I'm imposing my experience and perceptions on different SS buyers.
 
#12 ·
Has anyone read R&T's peice about the SS and why people are surprised when GM makes good performance cars? I read it last night so it got me to look at other, mainly older, GM performance cars. What i found interesting is the asking prices of these cars. I found a lot of CTS V's and even about 20-30 wagons (all automatic) creep into the asking price of a brand new SS. Does that speak to the SS being to expensive because it cost as much as a used supercharged Cadillac station wagon aka the GM unicorn or does it speak to how much of a bargain the SS is because brand new it only cost about 50k which is what a supercharged GM with depreciation costs? What's your opinion?

There's a post above mentioning the amount of leftover 14's on the lot. Can anyone who works for a dealer chime in and speak on how much dealers lose on 3 year old leftover SS' and what is the plan to move them after so long?

As a A6 owner I have noticed that the M6 or nothing crowd is a unique type of buyers. They seem to buy this car at sticker without hesitation and the luckier ones swoop in on the few that are discounted. Now the A6/M6 conversation is something that will always be talked about so I'm not trying to start a debate here. I'm very happy with my transmission choice AND still desire to have a M6. But it does highlight the problem with 50 thousand dollar A6's left on the lot as opposed to the 50k M6's that are gone once they come off the ship. I think most A6 buyers such as myself are different in that with V8 automatic RWD competition from other manufacturers there's a "take it or leave it" mentality without the discount or some type of incentive. Again. My opinion. Maybe I'm imposing my experience and perceptions on different SS buyers.
Why does everyone on this forum keep lamenting about the fact the car has no marketing from GM and no one knows about it. You that bought one know. Who cares if anyone else knows what they are. I don't, I have mine. Be happy.
 
#13 ·
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#15 ·
It's a niche market car that simple. If there were more engines offered that would make the chassis more accessible to the masses, the SS would have probably been a big hit. Think affordable Cadillac CTS with the 6.2L option being like the CTS-V. I love the articles and the exposure of the car, but they often compare it to the M5...which is the top of the line performance version of the 5 series. Our cars were destined to be a small unit seller then die off. Enjoy them while they last, because the car will be a classic in 30 years.
 
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#18 ·
Awe yes. Maybe a Halo model like a LSA supercharged or HSV-ish model bought here to the states would increase the coverage on the SS as a whole because then it would be a line up. Like it is in Australia. They have a V6 model, V8 and a station wagon.
 
#20 ·
I attended a 3 day HPDE course in Northern California back in Sept. The great many cars were Porsches, Audi's, etc. I was quite disappointed with the lack of curiosity or interest in the SS. I don't recall any of the drivers asking about it. The track workers were more so. Oh well, at least we know what a gem of a car it is.
 
#52 ·
Curiously, I had exactly the opposite experience at a Track Night last week - several people asked about the car, including some of the TNIA employees. This was just before the Classic Motorsports Mitty race (restored historic racecars) which was even more surprising that they would be interested in a Chevy :)
 
#21 ·
PRICE.


That's it.


At $50k they sit on the lots for 300 days.

At $39k, they sell every last available one in a month.


They DON'T need another 20% off sale. They need a 10% off sale. They'll sell at a fair price and sell at a decent pace. No clue why they keep doing 20% off. It's much more of a discount than needed. Not that I'm complaining though... no price too low!
 
#27 ·
I'm going to second that. As many nice features as there are on the SS it is still a big ask at $50k. Many customers with that level of budget can't get past the fact that it has a chevy badge on it. The price puts it into a much more competitive segment, for 50k you can get a 1 to 2 year old E63AMG or BMW M5 that is still under warranty. At 39k it is much more of a compelling argument because the 4dr sports car really doesn't exist in that range.
 
#22 ·
No one can be upset about the price when they don't even know the car exist especially when a portion of those that do know it exist still don't know it's a RWD V8. Buyers are being cutoff before price even becomes a factor. Only reason they sell like crazy with the 20% off is because consumers have now picked up the trend and wait for that 20% off. Not because the car isn't worth $50k but because why pay $50k if Chevy is going to give them away at $40k?
 
#23 ·
Myron, what say ye? You may be an anomaly in that the SS appears to be your specialty, but what do you hear/see from other dealers from across the country? Is it truly a 'sitter', if so why?
 
#46 ·
I have always favored "oddball/rare/unique" automobiles. Classic Chevrolet is a truly different dealership as each salesperson essentially runs their own business with limited oversight from management. This environment allowed me to spend time on this forum and meet with like minded folks here in the DFW area and around the country. The resources provided by the dealership allowed me to place as many SS orders as I requested.

My only feedback is from clients that have visited other dealerships. They report less than satisfactory experiences at other locations due to high sales pressure and lack of product knowledge. I really do not communicate with anyone at other dealerships.

This car can be a "sitter" if no one takes the time to learn the product and the culture of the enthusiast that will buy it.
 
#24 ·
Pffffttttt.....

4 door cars are old fashioned.

Everyone wants a crossover because CAFE killed 4 door cars. The SUV's are on truck frames and have the nice engines and amenities these days. Even Jaguar makes a SUV and they own Land Rover! Nowadays, most 4 door cars are crapulent soul crushing commuting bins. They have to be, fleet average for cars is mandated to be half that of truck framed vehicles so everything is light and cheap and inferior. Now, essentially, america drives trucks and suv's. Hooray for the unintended consequences of regulation !


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#26 ·
Entirely intended IMO. The separation between cars and light trucks was to support the US manufacturers. The higher standards for lower "footprint" vehicle is also ridiculous. That's why companies like VW were so against it, rightly so as they didn't make their money selling trucks. This legislation perversely disincentives the most efficient vehicle types and sizes. Oh well, lots of americans seem to want to drive big, tall, ill handling vehicles so it seems to fit the market reality here.
 
#25 ·
Just a data point of one, but on March 8, I had practically zero awareness the SS even existed other than it being mentioned in an article I read weeks prior to the effect Holden was shutting down. I was posed the question that evening of what new car I would buy if I had to replace my current DD (a '15 Honda Fit/Jazz I had modded for autox, and which I was quite happy with). On a whim, I looked up the SS and immediately fell in love. Found an automatic locally and test drove on my lunch break on the 9th. Found ssforums.com that same morning and learned of the 20% sale. Went home that evening, ran the numbers and saw a post here that a dealer in St. Louis had a manual in the color I wanted. Placed a deposit on the 10th and took delivery (finally!) last week.

I've always spreadsheeted to death my car purchases, so this was very out of character for me. No regrets so far!

FWIW, I would *not* have been able to swing the numbers without the sale (or without borrowing another $10K, more than I would have been willing to do), so that was the clincher.

As stated above, this is a niche, halo car, brought here to apparently fulfill contractual agreements with GMH. I have no problem that it hasn't been widely promoted. Those who know, know.

es
 
#28 ·
I'm one of the waiting for incentives buyers. I see a few autos and MTs in the $46.5k range; we'll round up to a near 10% discount off MSRP. That's still a pretty good deal/steal. I'm tempted to move now so I can get an SBM or RPGM. Also, perhaps the dealers may be more willing to work with me on my trade in while the cars are sitting on the lot.
 
#40 ·
Good luck in your search and waiting on a deal, but if RPGM is really one of your desires, when/if you see one, might want to jump on it, as they stopped that color mid year...Kinda why when I saw mine, I made the decision same day.
 
#32 ·
IMO the exchange rates had a lot to do with the sales. Saw something similiar the last couple years with products of all sorts from Japan.

Anyway, if you want a more accurate assessment of why SS's didnt sell or anything of the sort, probably should try asking a less interested group of people. Im sure a random group of soccer moms would give different reasons than we see here.
 
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#33 ·
You're right. I get enough interest in this car. I get at least a few people a week asking me about it so I should ask them if they would ever buy one and if not why.

Quick story about people asking me about it... I drove this car from PA to FL and only 3 people knew what it was... we'll only 3 people that I know of that walked over to ask me how did I get a Commodore into the states. One was actually a Australian father with his son in Georgia. He was so excited when he saw my badges (I did the conversion). On the way down and up alot of the times when someone passed me their passengers faces were glued to the window looking at the car trying to figure out. Lol. It was actually pretty cool, especially when I opened it up and let them hear the LS3.

But back to your point. You're absolutely rigjt. From now on whenever people ask me what it is, or try to strike up a conversation with me. I'll ask them after I tell them about it why they wouldn't buy one, besides the money factor ofcourse.
 
#34 ·
The following is based solely on my own opinion

The SS was created by GM (Chevrolet) with one purpose in life, NASCAR. Chevrolet needed a replacement for the Impala after the 2012 season to stay up with the other manufactures.

The car was debuted in late 2012 as a replacement for the Impala starting with the 2013 race season. NASCAR rules allow for a body to be used by the competitors for 3-5 years post production and recently were amended to allow a body to be run in the season prior to the release of the body for sale to the general public. Hence, why we didn't start seeing them in dealers till early 2014.

The Holden Commodore had already proven itself in racing as a dominant force in the Australian Supercar Series for several years. So GM had already done a lot of the racing R&D.

The marketing for this particular model was never real high from GM, IMO, because they were only selling them to meet the requirements for NASCAR. A comparable version of the Holden Commodore SSV is approximately $59,900 ausd (Approx.45K usd). To this you must add the additional cost to make it US emissions legal, transportation from Australia to US (I don't believe the stated destination charge is gonna cover that bill), dealer training and media materials, etc. Another thing is you have to factor in the cost to retool the plant for a 5 month production run change (R/H drive, Chev badging, etc.). Not to mention the cost for all of the engineering to do this swap. I don't know, but a run of just about 10K units in a 4 year production run doesn't add up in my book. Plus the MSRP has the federal Gas Guzzler tax added. If it were going to be a full fledged GM NA platform, the Ute and wagon would have surely been a part of the campaign. A Ute????? OH YEAH!!!!

This is not the first time in automotive history this has happened. Back in 69 and 70 a couple of well know manufactures did the same thing. Ford with the Torino Talladega and Mopar with those wild winged cars, the Superbird and Daytona. Ford decided to pull back funding for NASCAR, so the Talladega went away after 1970. After the debut, and dominance, of the winged Mopars, they were outlawed by the sanctioning body. There were plenty of these cars on dealers lots (hard to believe today!) because the general public thought they were the ugliest thing on earth. If they only knew then what we know now!
 
#35 · (Edited)
Plenty of reasons the SS has ALWAYS been a slow seller outside of the 20% sales.

The muscle car guys looking for 4 doors buy a Charger, it looks more muscular and its faster in a straight line ! Dodge tends to knock quite a bit more off msrp on the Charger year round.

If 4 doors was not a requirement the SS loses for the same reasons to the Camaro, Challenger, mustang.

The SS is pretty tame in the looks department ( hey, I like your Malibu, Cruze, Impala ) Many people not only want a car that performs but they NEED that " hey look at me factor "

$50,000 is a bit steep for the SS ( relax CB750, take a breath and count to 10 )

BMW, other EU luxury and Japanese brand converts are few and far between. Most people are pretty loyal to those brands. They for the most part have NO interest in a Chevy. A few BMW converts mentioned in this thread that they are being given a hard time by " friends "

We SS owners probably tend to be less concerned with the " look a at me factor " or the " I drive a BMW factor " Appreciate the better handling or better back seat over the Charger or have a serious wanting for a manual trans.

The SS is s a bit of an odd duck. What does it want to be ? Muscle car, luxury performance sedan ? Think about what most people buying a muscle car or luxury performance sedan buy......... now do you think the typical buyer of either of those would be interested in the SS ???

The SS just doesn't pull off the muscle car look or straight line performance and its pretty lacking in the luxury department. The typical BMW, Lexus, Infinity, Honda, Toyota, Mercedes guy wouldn't be caught dead in a Chevy.

So who exactly was this car supposed to apeal to ?

We are the rare few that love this car, its not our fault that most people have horrible taste :)

The SS has never been a brisk seller outside of the 20% sales. Now the small market that is interested in the SS has been conditioned to wait for another 20% sale...... can you blame them ?

I'd bet my left testi that we will see another 20% sale before its all over or at the bare minimum individual dealers throwing bonus tags on the car all over the place.
 
#36 ·
This car appeals to everyone that wanted a G8 GXP. That's the reason I got it. I'm always torn between the aggressive more common, powerful yet cramped V2 V's and the more elusive less powerful, yet more roomy, better suspension SS.
 
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#41 ·
Ok... So this morning I parked on my street and two middle aged women approached me to ask what kind of car I'm driving. They kept saying it's so cute and adorable... I told them that wasn't really what I was going for. Lol. But when I told the ladies that it is rear wheel drive their smiles turned to frowns and they both said "I need my awd"... That's not anything new to us in the know, that most Americans have been conditioned to think they need all wheel or 4 wheel drive. But thought it was coincidental that I started this conversation last night and this morning two people approached me giving me the chance to ask/see why they wouldn't want to own one.

Side note, I have noticed that a lot of middle age women show interest in this car. Lol. Nothing wrong with that, heck it's actually a good thing. I know guys with Lambo's and Porsches and Vette's and Stangs and they all say the same thing... Those cars are good for picking up guys lol cause only guys show interest in those cars. With female customers buying and leasing at a higher rate than male customers (statistically reported in many articles) automakers might wanna take some hints from Holden.
 
#48 ·
Only 590+ units on dealer lots compared to almost 1600 in transit, port of entry or on dealer lots before the 20% March sale (Automotive News - U.S. car and light-truck inventories - March 1st). As stated in this thread, the current industry average for cars and trucks to sit on dealer lots is 70 days. The current SS inventory equates to 77 days which is not out of line with the industry average. The SS inventory on March 1st was 209 days and based on the remaining 2017 production numbers we will not see 200+ day inventory numbers again.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/mone...d-fiat-chrysler-toyota-nissan-honda/98593290/

4/25 Ratio of M6 vs Auto on dealer lots
Regal Peacock Manual - 10 Automatic - 23
Orange Blast Manual - 22 Automatic - 56+
Silver Ice Manual - 12 Automatic - 39
Red Hot 2 Manual - 15 Automatic - 44
Phantom Black Manual - 48 Automatic - 66+
Heron White Manual - 30 Automatic - 63+
Slipstream Blue Manual - 22 Automatic - 58+
Nightfall Gray Manual - 24 Automatic - 62+
 
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#51 ·
Since production is ending this week, I took a slightly different viewpoint. I pulled numbers on dealership lots and in production & transit by color and transmission. This might help those that seek a low volume color / transmission.

Regal Peacock - Manual - 29 Automatic - 46
Orange Blast - Manual - 54+ Automatic - 56+
Silver Ice - Manual - 26 Automatic - 53+
Red Hot 2 - Manual - 42 Automatic - 54+
Phantom Black - Manual - 59+ Automatic - 66+
Heron White - Manual - 55+ Automatic - 63+
Slipstream Blue - Manual - 54+ Automatic - 58+
Nightfall Gray - Manual - 59+ Automatic - 62+


These numbers do include sold orders. Actual available inventory will lower.
 
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#50 ·
I had to drive over 100 miles to find 1. The dealer I bought mine from Valley Chevrolet in PA only had one car to sell! ! It took 4 trips to 3 dealers and i finally got mine and have only seen 1 other on the road and still havent seen a 2017 on a lot. They obviously disproportionately distributed these things ! They are RARE where i come from!
 
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