Rad22

I have nothing against forum dealers whatsoever. They fill a niche and I am glad that they do. More power to them for their marketing skills, customer savvy and ability to "do business the right way". However, that being said, I personally prefer to support local businesses who give back to the community (either in tax base or charitable form) and provide for jobs and commerce in my local community. I also prefer the face-to-face nature of these transactions and getting to know the person with whom you're dealing. There is also tremendous benefit in building a history with someone such as a car dealership with whom you do business on a continual basis. They know you, they want to be of service to you and you may develop friendships and business relationships.

When I placed my order, I was sitting at the computer with the Workbench specialist and the Corvette specialist at Rick Hendrick City Chevrolet in Charlotte. We sat at his desk and checked off each option...yes or no...double checked that everything was correct and he then gave me a printed copy of my order. I have it in my hands right now. He even showed me on the monitor his list of orders and where my name was in the priority list. BTW...no deposit asked for...none given...I even offered to make a deposit.

Tuffguy610

Not a C7 story but I had a similar situation when shopping for my C5 last year..

I was looking around online for low mileage C5s priced $21k or less in my area. Only a few came up but one was not too far from my house at an independent used car dealership. Yes, that kind. Anyways I thought I'd show up and check out the car and maybe take a test drive to see what the C5's were like on the road, it was a 2003 Medium Spiral Gray Metallic convertible with a 6 speed.

I took a friend with me and we drove my daily driver Scion xA (left the LS1 F-body at home) and parked out front of the dealership. I saw the Vette in the back lot and walked to it when a strange man in a backwards baseball cap approached me and said can I help you? Shocked that he wasn't homeless and worked at the dealership (I thought maybe he washed cars there or something), I asked to look at the Vette. Turns out he was a salesman LOL, got the keys and let me start it up but other cars were blocking it so I couldn't take it out. I told him I wanted to test drive it, but he said they were closing soon and most likely fluffed me off as some punk kid. I didn't really mention anything else to him, I got the jist of the situation and left without any intention of giving those scumbags my business.

Then I went onto CF and found one for sale that was in way better condition, had nice basic mods done, and all for a better price. I sure am glad I waited!!

Oleman

Need to let the Buford GA store know how to sell these. Tried to get info from them 2 weeks ago........ no allocation or did not know???????? Not taking deposits. I have tried to buy from this store twice, WILL NOT RETURN they are lost. Another forum member sending complaint to Rick Hendrick

Sin City

I think this is the reason. Sales people look month to month. Anyone interested in a car 6 to 12 months down the road isn't a very high priority.

I would bet that if there were a C7 convertible on their lot when I asked for information, someone would have gotten right back to me. But wanting to order one months away? Just not worth the time of day.

That to me is a mistake. Every customer should feel they are high on their priority list, not just the guy today walking out with a new Silverado.

ANTIVNOM

I amazes me how some dealers like the OP describes manage to stay in business. I have bought 4 now from the same dealer, but if I get ONE ounce of BS or any attempts at price gouging when I go to order my C7, then to hell with 'em, I'll order from one of the forum dealers that knows how to get it done. My tolerance level for slimy car dealer tactics or incompetence is zero.

woodman300

the problem is that we as corvette owners are often car ENTHUSIASTS who love these cars and the experience of buying them. many of the car dealers are not. they may drive an import or some beater and don't have the first clue about how corvette guys feel about their cars. they just show up to work and sell the customer the car they can make the most money on and that is too bad. i think if i was a car dealer i would have fun telling my customers all about whatever vehicle they wanted and would try to get them to want to come back next time.

HolyRoller

Gosh, sorry I misunderstood. So you have some coupe allocations and lots of convertibles? That's good to know.

catbert

There are idiots and pros in every career field. It pays to go to a pro that makes a (good) living by performing efficient, knowledgable service and at competitive pricing - like Mike at Criswell and a few others. If you go to the average dealership ,you are lucky to get someone that cares, let alone knows about your issues. Think Wally in Dilbert.

63Corvette

Dealers don't sell sportscars.......dealers sell "units" (appliances)

2K3Z06

In 3 months, no one will care about these "problems". The factory will be 25 cars a day, and the lots will be full of C7's.

Gonna be a long summer for the the guys, checking there status 3 times a day.

R&L's C6

I think the bottom line is most dealers don't care if they sell a couple of Corvettes a year. I read somewhere that GM sold 120k pickups in May and June this year alone. That's ten years worth of Corvette sales in two months and that's just pickups. Sales for Corvettes are probably just way to low for most of them to give a crap and they concentrate on their real money makers.

DocHolliday

3 months...lots full of C7s? SMH

R&L's C6

Well, maybe one more good stock market correction away.......

lt4obsesses

Perhaps the dealer would rather sell you a 2013 right now, than maybe sell you a 2014 later?

Bill17601

Your right of course. Chevrolet is selling record amounts. Ford too. It makes sense to me that Corvette would be the exception. When they sell 15 million cars Corvette at 30,000 would be .002 percent of that volume a way to difficult goal. Maybe you should go back to selling hot dogs on the corner and leave economics to the people with educations.

SouthernSon

Most sales forces are clueless. Very few real sales people in this world, mostly just 'order takers'. Good help is so hard to find.

Supersonic 427

Most people who will purchase a Corvette, knows about 10X more about the car than the average salesman. Last year, I pulled in to a dealership with my then '12 GS convertible and the salesman asked me if it was a 2005.

Corvette ED

To be a C7 dealer you had to do the following;

1. Sell four or more Corvettes from Jan 1st 2012 to Dec 31st 2012
2. Buy special tools to service the car
3. Send one or more techs to training to service them.
4. Send one or more sales people to learn how to sell the car and how everything works in the car.

BRCC

I would hope they are at more than 25 cars a day, at that rate it would tale them over 8 weeks to just produce the 1066 in the first round not counting the 500 Special editions, then they would start on the second round of 2000. I was thinking 12 to 20 per hour.

Outlaw7

Since a lot of people have mentioned Hendricks, I'll relate my experience with the Gwinnett Place Store in Atlanta. This was two years ago and I was looking for my first Corvette in forty years. I knew from my research I wanted a late model C6 convertible in either red or yellow. The Hendricks website indicated they had a yellow 09 in stock at their local store. I called and talked to a salesman? and he said it was there and he was looking at it. I drove to the dealership and it took me 1/2 hour to find out the car in question was in St Louis, and if I wanted to see it I would have to pay the transportation. They had one late C6 convertible in stock and it was black, a colour I hate on cars. Then the manager I was talking to tried to switch me to a Camaro, because it was a much better car for less money. [of course they had them for immediate delivery]

I left and drove straight to BUYAVETTE, found a red 08 convertible at the right price, wrote a check, and the car was delivered that afternoon. I still have the car and have bought two more Corvettes from them in the last two years.