I just spent seeral hours today on the phone wiht a number of different dealerships. rt4 basically has it right, but here's a little more color based on what I was told.
First, for those interested, you need to find and SRT dealer, not just a regular chrysler or dodge dealer. If they're not an SRT dealer they won't have any allocation of srt-8s at all.
Second, even the big dealers are unsure of how many vehicles they will get. They are counting their inventory not just by what they get allocated, however, but as rt4 said, by what they can trade/swap with other dealerships. The numbers I've heard form the big movers are from 10-20 vehicles max at best. Keep in mind though, these are for the largest shops that move plenty of SRT product.
The big guys also said that the real game is not about 05, but about 06 allocation. The more product you move in 05, the more allocation you get in 06. That's whay they are interested in higher volume lower margin transactions today, and don't intend to ask customers for big premiums over MSRP. A number that I talked to basically said that "only the idiot dealers" would try and stick a customer with a 5-10k mark up over MSRP. "It will make buyers unhappy and the car will sit on the lot longer. Again, the longer it sits, the less allocation you get for 06 cause you can't move product out the door.
What was interesting is the uncertainty over 05 volume. The issue I was told relates to two things. One, the shortage of existing 300c product today. Two the fact that the srt-8 will be made on the same production line as the 300c. As it was explained to me, this means the line will have to stop for the changeover to srt-8. So, the more srt-8s made, the less available 300c volume. Given the shortage of 300cs, the 05 run of srt-8s is thus likely to be short. Concensus seems to be around an April run. Switchover back to Cs in May, plants shut for retooling for 06es in July, Another August/September run of Srt-8s. I have no idea if this will be the case, but it seemed to be the current thinking.
So what does that mean for the likelihood of our vehicles actually showing up? My guess is some lucky few might actually see their vehicles in May/June timeframe. The rest of us will have to wait our place in line and hope for a car before the end of the year. General concensus again, was around September for a "sure thing", if you're in the queue now. I've put my deposit down. Will have to just hold on for the ride.
