Trucks Out The Wazoo

I swear life is either feast or famine. If you’ve been following along, earlier this year I ordered a new Ford F-150 Lariat pickup and was told it would take about six to eight weeks for delivery. But between the worldwide computer chip shortage and COVID and everything else going on, that time got delayed and delayed and delayed some more, and I finally canceled the order.

Then in late May, I ordered a new Ram Laramie pickup and was told that they would start production on the 2022 models in early July, and I could expect it anywhere from six to eight weeks from then. Do those numbers sound familiar? If so, then it shouldn’t be much of a surprise that the same thing happened. I kept getting promises that it would be built soon and nothing more.

Eventually, I gave up and canceled that order, too, and when the 2022 models started hitting the dealerships, I put out an online search for a truck meeting my specifications anywhere in Florida or the neighboring states. There was no response for a while, but then I got news of one that was in transit to a dealer about 90 miles from here that had everything on it I wanted, with one exception. I had ordered a V-6 gas-powered engine, and it had a gas-powered V-8 Hemi. Okay, I can live with that.

But it never came in, and after a lot of messages back and forth between the salesman I was working with and me, we discovered it was sitting in the railyard at the Port Jacksonville with a flat tire. Apparently, there was some kind of pissing match between unions as to who could come in and change the tire. You wouldn’t think that would be a problem, but it was. And, of course, we had the four-day Thanksgiving holiday weekend to complicate things even further.

I never waste much time dealing with underlings, so I called the general manager of the dealership, who called the district manager, who in turn lit a fire under somebody’s rear end.  The end result was that I got a text yesterday saying that it was on a transport truck and would be at the dealership Wednesday or Thursday of this week. Great, something is finally happening.

Then, yesterday morning, I also received an e-mail from the factory saying they had the parts necessary to begin building the Ram I ordered but eventually canceled and would begin the build process soon. Now, how soon is soon to those people? Who knows? For over six months, I have been getting messages saying they would have the parts for the assembly soon, so could the build process take another six months?

And to add to the fun, yesterday afternoon, I got a text from a dealer in the Clermont area saying they just had a truck come in that met all of my specifications. I asked what the price was, and the salesman immediately called me and confirmed that it had the options I wanted, but said I would first have to come in and look at the truck because they never discussed prices over the phone, only in person. That’s a 90-mile drive, and I asked for at least a ballpark figure, but he wouldn’t give me one. I told him thanks but no thanks and ended the call. He called right back and asked what he could do to earn my business, and I told him there was nothing he could do because I don’t do business with people who play games. Anyone who won’t even give me a general idea of how much they want for their product without me committing to driving that far to look at it is not worth my time.

So there you have it; first, no trucks at all, and suddenly trucks out the wazoo. As comedian Yakov Smirnoff always says, what a country!

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us. This one was at a laundromat in Quartzsite, Arizona.

Thought For The Day – I hate double standards. Burn a body at a crematorium and you’re being a respectful friend. Do it at home, and you’re destroying evidence.