Buy from a "gray" dealer, or wait a year at an "official" dealer

Do you agree that it is worth waiting for the start of official sales of a model that has long been available in other markets? For example, the new Nissan Murano has been sold in America since the end of last year, but here it will most likely appear no earlier than next year. By the way, probably until all the old cars are sold out, new ones will not be imported.

I disagree, I think it's complete nonsense. When you buy an expensive car, standing in line is wrong. Last year I took a Nissan Qashqai. When I came to the dealership, they told me with a smirk that I'd have to wait about ten months. I solved the issue through an acquaintance: for 2% of the car's price (about 700 dollars) he helped me skip the line, and within a month I picked up the car. If getting the car without a line hadn't worked out, I would have immediately refused this option and looked at another model.

There is no point in waiting for official sales — in market conditions, "white" dealers lose to "gray" ones in all respects. Firstly, you have to wait, and secondly, the price is not competitive at all. What sane person would agree to overpay and wait a year if you can buy cheaper and faster? Moreover, official dealers, who have popular models on waiting lists, often behave arrogantly and unfriendly towards customers.

Another plus of "gray" dealers is that they often have cars that are not officially supplied for some reason. For example, the Honda Accord Coupe is a great car, but it is only available from unofficial dealers. Not to mention the Toyota FJ Cruiser, hundreds of which drive around Kyiv, and all of them were brought in by "gray" routes.

Strangely, in Kyiv I never came across a gray FJ — mostly blue and yellow ones. Seriously, it's thanks to the "gray" dealers that we got official Lexus and Infiniti. Not to mention individual models like Mazda CX-7, CX-9, Honda Pilot, or Nissan Murano. Official dealers should not criticize the "gray" ones but rather work on their own customer relations and service quality.

I don't understand the logic of the Honda company: why not bring Acura to our market, which is already among the top twenty best-selling brands here?

AutoGraf wrote:
Funny, but in Kyiv I have never come across a gray FJ — mostly blue and yellow ones. But seriously, it is thanks to the "gray" dealers that we now have official Lexus and Infiniti dealerships. Not to mention specific models like the Mazda CX-7, CX-9, Honda Pilot, or Nissan Murano.

Official dealers should not criticize the "gray" ones but rather work on their service and attitude towards customers. As for Lexus — they don't need to improve anything anymore. Maybe just expand the model lineup. Everything else, including prices, is already good.

Lexus, Infiniti and similar brands, whose cars cost from 50 USD and more, are forced to fight for every customer, so their service will certainly be at a high level. The more modest the dealer's sales volumes, the more attentive they are to their customers.

At gray dealers, you can place an order — and in a month or a month and a half, the car will already be in Kyiv. This is especially relevant when it comes to American versions of Infiniti, Acura, as well as certain BMW and Mercedes models.

In a month or a month and a half, the car will end up in Kyiv only if the dealer is lucky enough to immediately find such a model in some American showroom. But if the model or trim is rare, you'll have to wait much longer. Then the client will start being told stories about how the container with the car was allegedly forgotten to be loaded onto the ship, and so on.

Even with all the inconveniences, I would still work with the official dealer