Light Truck and SUV Blogs

One of the dangerous things about being the Editor in Chief of Light Truck and SUV is that I am exposed to a lot of aftermarket products.

I must confess my family is a truck and SUV family. We have a Ford Ranger, a Ford F-150, a Ford Explorer and as of last week, a new (to us) GMC Yukon Denali.

Living in Wisconsin, I want to protect the Denali’s interior from the salty slush associated with driving in the Midwest in the winter time. Lund’s Nifty Catch-All floor mats seemed to be the perfect solution (I had seen them at SEMA). They are custom-fit to form to the vehicle with a large lip to contain water, snow and maybe the occasional cup of coffee.

So, I started my research on the World Wide Web (Al Gore’s invention, you know). Lund has a good website. Within a minute or two, I found out that the company does manufacture Nifty Catch-All mats for my model year Denali. Its website also has a tool to locate the nearest dealer, so I punched in my zip code and low and behold, up came a list of nearby authorized dealers.

Since retail prices aren’t listed on Lund’s site, I decided to call one of the nearby Lund dealers to get some more information. When the gentleman answered, I said, “I would like to order some Lund Nifty Catch-All floor mats for my GMC Denali.” I then gave him information on my Denali and asked, ”How much would the mats for my vehicle retail for?”

His first response was, “We carry several different floor mats. They fit most trucks and SUV’s. I would suggest coming into the store to look at them and see if they will work for you. They average about $8.00 a piece.”

“No,” I said. “I don’t want generic mats. I am looking for Lund Nifty Catch-All floor mats. The Lund site lists you as an authorized dealer. Can you order some for me?”

“Oh,” he said. “I do have a Lund catalog. Let me go grab it and see what you need.”

To make a long story short, he wasn’t able to help me out. He couldn’t figure out what part number I needed. His final words of advice were, ”Maybe you should come into the store and look through the Lund catalog yourself.”

Oh, and the price? He didn’t have that either. He said he would have to call Michigan to find out (once I knew which mats I needed for my Denali, of course).

I understand it is difficult to keep up with all the parts available for all the vehicles on the road. But even I told this dealer exactly what product I needed for my Denali, I was somewhat surprised that he was not able to help me out.

The gentleman who “helped” me was friendly enough. But if I was anyone else, and I wasn’t determined to order those particular mats, I might have settled for some generic mats. And that would have meant less profit for his company and for Lund.

Instead, I guess I’ll head over to his shop and browse through the Lund catalog to let him know which mats he needs to order for me.

Thanks for reading,

Joe Escobar