Top Five Accessories For The New Scout

[Scoutsie]

I am onboard with these thoughts -HOWEVER, as a designer in the building industry -and it relates to vehicles too-people as a whole find it very hard to commit to a purchase when multiple decisions need to be made. Many refer to it as “paralysis by analysis”. People get overwhelmed, then frustrated and then they either A-bale all together or B pick something that’s readily available even if they don’t like it.
We are all enthusiasts here and ironically in the big scheme of things we are the 5-10% that will buy Scouts based on emotion and legacy of the vehicle. The majority of buyers-albeit sadly will buy the black on black dealer showroom model because it’s safe and easy.
The irony of it is sad but this is the Trish of why parts are packaged rather than optioned. Same thing happens with every bulk builder in the US.
It’s also easier to package from a parts on sitePOV. Easier to know you’re going to need 4,000 LED front light sets based on the top selling package vs having to inventory the same number and guess it 10 or 5,000 buyers will select it as an ala cart option.
Wish it wasn’t that way!

It’s nice to have the option, though. I remember going with my parents as a little kid to order a car to spec and then waiting for said car to be built and shipped and what a big deal it was when we got the call that we could go pick it up (this was when our Scout was no longer able to keep its doors closed reliably, engine smoked ominously, etc ). They got exactly what they wanted. When I was trying to buy a car last year, I thought I could order a car with the things I wanted in the color I wanted and got politely chuckled at, like “oh, you silly woman, why did you not bring a man with you? Did you not know we just try to find the closest match in stock or on order?” I did not. Who holds this knowledge?!?!

 

[J Alynn]

I get it. I ordered a 2011 bmw 3-series convertible to spec and waited for it to be built then took performance delivery at their plant in SC. Was an awesome experience and for about a month it was so “one of a kind” where I live then the dealership saw it and ordered 3 just like it. Funny thing is when I built the ordered they commented it was an odd combination and they’d never seen that before. Guess once they saw it they liked it. That said-that ties right back again to people not being able to envision what they are ordering. And dealers don’t care. They can sell black cars all day long with no risk. I think getting the cool colors out to Scout buyers is going to be the tough thing. Lots of advertisements with all kinds of color combos to get people excited and so they can visualize it. Guess we’ll all have some things to see here in the next month or two based on timelines Scout has mentioned

 

[J Alynn]

It’s nice to have the option, though. I remember going with my parents as a little kid to order a car to spec and then waiting for said car to be built and shipped and what a big deal it was when we got the call that we could go pick it up (this was when our Scout was no longer able to keep its doors closed reliably, engine smoked ominously, etc ). They got exactly what they wanted. When I was trying to buy a car last year, I thought I could order a car with the things I wanted in the color I wanted and got politely chuckled at, like “oh, you silly woman, why did you not bring a man with you? Did you not know we just try to find the closest match in stock or on order?” I did not. Who holds this knowledge?!?!

Sorry to hear that stupidity you dealt with. Curious what car company said that. I know certain models/packages limit very specific colors (like performance packages) but in PA most dealers are now ordering and saying it takes weeks to months to get but you can order and you can get what you want. We looked at the new Lexus GX briefly and were told 8 months but they took our top three color choices and put the order in. That way if another buyer walked from a deal and it was the same color/package we wanted they had potential to expedite the sale on our end rather than waiting half a year.
Back to hoping we can purchase directly through SM and not scummy dealerships

 

[JohnnyScout]

It’s nice to have the option, though. I remember going with my parents as a little kid to order a car to spec and then waiting for said car to be built and shipped and what a big deal it was when we got the call that we could go pick it up (this was when our Scout was no longer able to keep its doors closed reliably, engine smoked ominously, etc ). They got exactly what they wanted. When I was trying to buy a car last year, I thought I could order a car with the things I wanted in the color I wanted and got politely chuckled at, like “oh, you silly woman, why did you not bring a man with you? Did you not know we just try to find the closest match in stock or on order?” I did not. Who holds this knowledge?!?!

You were treated with disrespect and sexism straight out of last century. A buyer can indeed order and have built exactly what they want, subject to certain restraints from design and engineering (many of which make no sense). In fact in the last century Ford had a plan to drastically reduce units on lots by going to a kiosk ordering system for almost all new cars. A salesperson would help you place your order but it was to be like self ordering at McDonald's or Crumbl. Place your order and wait for your name to be called.

I have special ordered all but a few since 1979. The longest wait was for my Bronco and the shortest was each of the BMW X4s

 

[JohnnyScout]

Forgot to say ... after you shake hands with a salesperson please count your fingers...

 

[Jamie@ScoutMotors]

Because it bears the name "Scout" I'm going to assume that Adventure/Offroad capability, toughness and fun should always be a top priority design guidelines, possibly at the expense of comfort, luxury, convenience, and technology for the sake of technology. That means that any vehicle bearing the name Scout (at any trim level) should come with high ground clearance, fat tires, ample horsepower, advanced torque vectoring, exceptional visibility, and toughness out-of-the-box. As the owner of very capable on and off-road EV currently (Rivian R1S Quad Motor), I have a pretty good idea of where the industry is currently, but for a re-imagined Scout, I'd like to see the following:

1) Don't make ANY feature decisions for your customers. None.
Make ONE highly modular Scout EV, not a bunch of different trim levels, names, and "editions." Every Scout should start with the exact same drivetrain and frame. The same power and offroad capability. Give us EVERYTHING else a-la-cart and modular from the batteries, to seats, to the electronics....


...Don't try to pre-package and market a lifestyle EV to me. Sell me a platform that I can personalize. Let me build MY Scout, exactly the way I want it.

I can shed some light on modern vehicle manufacturing in hopes that it can help explain why the above situation is difficult. This isn't specific to Scout Motors and it isn't an indication on how we will specifically do things.

In a nut shell it comes down to forecasting. There are numerous suppliers involved in producing parts for a vehicle. Normally a car manufacturer has to negotiate to produce a certain number of parts based on forecasts regarding how many we need. If basic math says a car company will make say, 100,000 vehicles in a year, we will try and figure out what percentage of those will be base trim, medium trim and top trim. That makes it far easier to forecast how many parts we need which is critical in negotiating costs for materials/parts - more volume drives down costs. Even if all options were a la carte, we would still need to forecast how many parts we would need fairly far in advance to lock in pricing.

On top of that, having all the various parts at a factory designed to stock those parts is far easier than spreading them across the country in hopes that a dealer could install them. All processes are linear at the factory, trained and installed/put together with strict quality control. Installing options at a dealer means a wider net of training, quality control and other issues related to installing options in the field.

Our teams would love to be able to offer as many options individually as we can and, generally, we work towards that. But costs, logistics and forecasting all play into the decisions. Let's see what we can accomplish between now and production.

Keep the suggestions coming as always. Our teams read your feedback regularly.

Jamie

 

[Scoutsie]

Sorry to hear that stupidity you dealt with. Curious what car company said that. I know certain models/packages limit very specific colors (like performance packages) but in PA most dealers are now ordering and saying it takes weeks to months to get but you can order and you can get what you want. We looked at the new Lexus GX briefly and were told 8 months but they took our top three color choices and put the order in. That way if another buyer walked from a deal and it was the same color/package we wanted they had potential to expedite the sale on our end rather than waiting half a year.
Back to hoping we can purchase directly through SM and not scummy dealerships

Toyota. I bought 3 Priuses (Prii?) with my ex-husband (2004, 2010, 2015—still driving it). The dealership that I used to go to was great—the place was a dump, no high-pressure sales, free coffee while you wait for service, reasonable costs, etc. They got bought out by a bigger dealership and now they’re like all of the other big Toyota dealerships in the area: vile.

I went to a different dealership and they told me 6 months to a year (which I was fine with) but took my order, said I could “probably” get everything I wanted, but they wanted to know what was and wasn’t a dealbreaker for me. That bothered me because I’d just told them what I was looking for. If they’d said “we’re just wondering if you can live with black seats instead of gray in case that rolls in here early,” that extra bit of verbiage would have been helpful framing. They framed it as “you can’t count on actually getting this.” In the end, I didn’t buy a car at all. It’s a long story, but I had three experiences at three dealerships that were all pretty terrible and decided it was a sign from the universe that this was not the time to buy a new car. I heard that Scouts were getting a revival and got really excited about that. If my car can hold out for two years, great!

 

[J Alynn]

Toyota. I bought 3 Priuses (Prii?) with my ex-husband (2004, 2010, 2015—still driving it). The dealership that I used to go to was great—the place was a dump, no high-pressure sales, free coffee while you wait for service, reasonable costs, etc. They got bought out by a bigger dealership and now they’re like all of the other big Toyota dealerships in the area: vile.

I went to a different dealership and they told me 6 months to a year (which I was fine with) but took my order, said I could “probably” get everything I wanted, but they wanted to know what was and wasn’t a dealbreaker for me. That bothered me because I’d just told them what I was looking for. If they’d said “we’re just wondering if you can live with black seats instead of gray in case that rolls in here early,” that extra bit of verbiage would have been helpful framing. They framed it as “you can’t count on actually getting this.” In the end, I didn’t buy a car at all. It’s a long story, but I had three experiences at three dealerships that were all pretty terrible and decided it was a sign from the universe that this was not the time to buy a new car. I heard that Scouts were getting a revival and got really excited about that. If my car can hold out for two years, great!

That’s sucks! Sorry it went down that way for you.

 

[kb2crk]

Options for a scout, Removable hard top soft top option

Rubber floor for entire interior ( makes it easier to wash the mud out)

water proof seats (see above)

water proof electrics and electronics ( dont need to fry anything while washing it out)

A big enough front bumper winch to pull itself out when the going gets too deep.

 

[TaconicBear]

It’s nice to have the option, though. I remember going with my parents as a little kid to order a car to spec and then waiting for said car to be built and shipped and what a big deal it was when we got the call that we could go pick it up (this was when our Scout was no longer able to keep its doors closed reliably, engine smoked ominously, etc ). They got exactly what they wanted. When I was trying to buy a car last year, I thought I could order a car with the things I wanted in the color I wanted and got politely chuckled at, like “oh, you silly woman, why did you not bring a man with you? Did you not know we just try to find the closest match in stock or on order?” I did not. Who holds this knowledge?!?!

@Scoutsie While it's entirely possible you were dealing with a scummy dealer and sexism, etc. there is a distinct possibility you were dealing with the "allocation" system. I have purchased several Toyotas from what I consider an honest and fair dealership, in fact from the same salesman who has been there like forever (staff stability says a bit about the quality of the dealership). On the last purchase I wrote up my spec and gave it to my salesman and he responded "I'll see what I can find". Then he referred me to a YouTube explanation of how Toyota makes it impossible to order a vehicle to spec. I can't find that exact video any more but here is a link to a briefer one that tells the same story.

I have a friend in a GMC dealership who says that while it is technically true that he can order to spec, the wait times and other obstacles make most of his sales are what the allocation gives him. Given @Jamie@ScoutMotors 's explanation today, it gives plausibility to the idea that the vast majority of any brand's vehicles we buy being one of their "standard trims".

 

[kb2crk]

@Scoutsie While it's entirely possible you were dealing with a scummy dealer and sexism, etc. there is a distinct possibility you were dealing with the "allocation" system. I have purchased several Toyotas from what I consider an honest and fair dealership, in fact from the same salesman who has been there like forever (staff stability says a bit about the quality of the dealership). On the last purchase I wrote up my spec and gave it to my salesman and he responded "I'll see what I can find". Then he referred me to a YouTube explanation of how Toyota makes it impossible to order a vehicle to spec. I can't find that exact video any more but here is a link to a briefer one that tells the same story.

I have a friend in a GMC dealership who says that while it is technically true that he can order to spec, the wait times and other obstacles make most of his sales are what the allocation gives him. Given @Jamie@ScoutMotors 's explanation today, it gives plausibility to the idea that the vast majority of any brand's vehicles we buy being one of their "standard trims".

Believe it or not Toyota has a facility in Georgia where a dealer can send a vehicle that is close to the requested spec and they will add or change the options on that specific car to order. Now it does increase the price so most people will go with the as equipped close enough or go a step higher. I know this from working for a Toyota subsidiary with someone that had a spouse that worked in the Commerce GA. Facility that made the changes. Needless to say his Tundra had multiple options as Toyota sold the removed items at cost to the staff there or scrapped them.

 

[OleScout]

Since SM is marketing towards preserving nature consider a feature or accessory that allows one to prevent waste in the envirnoment by have a panel designated for an overland bag to help keep the trails clean..