Blue666's

As my screen name hints, I was a former C-5 owner, and have been Vette-less for about 5 or 6 years now. But for some reason, the overpowering urge to get another Vette just wasn't burning inside me. That is, until I saw a photo of the Admiral Blue Convertible you see when you google "2017 Grand Sport Convertible". That photo just sort of got into the back of my mind and I kept finding myself going back to see it time and time again.

So I returned to Corvetteforum and started reading comments about the C-7. However I wasn't really willing to pony up such a steep monthly payment to have one. Then I read a thread here about the PenFed payment saver, and suddenly one of you clowns just thrust me back into the game.

So I start by going to the dealer inventory section to see who's offering what on a GS and so on. So once I see where and what the current deals are, I head down to my local dealer, since I like to keep my money local when I can, and I start walking the lot looking at the selection. (They had about 10-12 Stingrays, but only 3 GS's, but they did have 3 Z-06's in the indoor showroom) I wandered in and around for about 10 minutes, through the lobby twice, and no-one approached me. Finally after asking the receptionist to speak to someone in Corvette sales, a salesman finally appeared. I told him about my plans, and asked him to look at the GS's he had in stock.

As we're walking back out to the lot to see the 3 he had, I told him I was doing my due-diligence to shop around, and he confidently stated, "you bring any written offer and we'll beat it, period!" I thought, "cool, this might be working out after all". So I mentioned to him I'd spoken to Mike Furman at Criswell, and another salesperson at MacMulken. His confidence seemed to evaporate at that point. So when we went inside and built the car I'd want, even with the GM Supplier discount (which I get as a benefit for working at Duke University Medical Center) his price was about $4,000 higher than either of the above-two dealerships. So much for tossing out the old "bring us a price and we'll beat it" trick, huh?

Oh, and I showed him the emails I had with the quoted offers from his competition, just to show him I wasn't blowing smoke. They absolutely wouldn't come close to the prices. Now I just worry about taking the Vette I buy somewhere else to them for service. At least they can't say I didn't offer them my business. Hell, they could have sold the car at their genuine invoice and still made $2400 in dealer holdback. Amazing.

mitchydkid

Yes, dealerships can be frustrating.
One of my local dealerships told me the only dealership in the country that could compete with him was Kerbeck as they were the only dealership outselling him. I then asked about MacMulkin, Coughlin, Les Stanford, Classic, Boardwalk, Criswell or the 50 other dealers that sold more than him in 2015. It was clear I could drop names better than he so we just got down to brass tacks and he would not match the prices of actual high volume dealerships. I like the concept of keeping money local, but I feel no need to spend extra of my money to support a dealer that makes millions of dollars while I make pennies in comparison.

Kent1999

LOL... I went through the same dance with another new car.

Dealer wouldn't match the price -- was off by $3000+ compared to an out of state dealer.

He said "But isn't it worth something to keep your dollars local?"

"Worth Something?" Yes. A few hundred dollars more, and I wouldn't have even flinched.

But $3000+ more to "keep my dollars local" ? NO. Are they crazy?

sunsalem

Generally, I don't bother with local dealers and head to the largest city in the state to do my deals.
Like you said, it's usually worth $3K.

Blue666's

Agreed 100%. And I told him, I'd be willing to spend a little more to keep my money home. But I also told him if he thought I wouldn't take a road-trip for $1000 he was out of his mind.

Blue666's

Oh, and in case anyone is wondering who the offending dealer was, it was Rick Hendrick Chevrolet in Durham. I offered them my business, they obviously are targeting customers who have more money, and less motivation, than I. I work hard for my money, and I try to make smart decisions.

AORoads

No, they're not crazy; they just want to try everything they can. Plus, that's their orders either from the management or the owner. Imagine the locally-owned book stores trying to compete on price with Amazon, Walmart, or even Borders and Barnes&Noble. Oh wait, Borders went bye-bye already. What chance does a small book store have against the "bigs?" They better be good at selling on everything else---Malibu's, trucks, vans, suv's, etc.

Blue666's

Well, you can define it however you want, but if a customer came into my dealership, assuming I had one, and wanted to order a car, which means I'll not have to worry about any floor-plan costs, then if it was profitable at all, I'd take the deal. Heck, even dealer holdback on an 80k car is 2400, so even if he matched the prices of one of the heavy-hitters, he'd still be making a profit. I've always been a believer in that old adage, "it's better to have 10% of something, than 100% of nothing"

Juniorss

I went through something similar with a local dealer. Before I even started talking numbers I told them that I bought my last car from kerbeck and didn't mind going back down there to get another. We sit down and built the exact Grand Sport I wanted and the salesman came back with $1,000 off MSRP. I said he wasn't even close to Kerbeck's number and that Kerbeck was taking $5,000 off the last time I checked. So the salesman asked for Kerbecks website and his jaw dropped when they were now up to $9,000+ off on select models. They said the best they could do was $4500 off. Needless to say I walked out and haven't heard from them.

ExRedRacer

I went through some of what you mentioned except my local dealer not only matched the big east coast dealers, he beat them on my new 2016 3LT Z51. Really helps when a customer is somewhat knowledgeable about the prices of cars across the country. Thank you, Internet!

Good times...

lakemg

Just goes to show that you have to shop around.

JK 23112

I can almost guarantee that my "local" Chevy shop is not going to come close to the "big" Corvette dealers. No way their management will let them do it - and they don't likely have the allocation of Kerbeck, Criswell or McMulkin. The local boys don't even specialize in Corvettes and are probably more interested in selling you a Silverado or a Cruz instead. LOL!

nmvettec7

I live in New Mexico, bought my C7 in Missouri and have the C7 serviced locally without any problems what-so-ever.

Any dealer should be willing to service the C7 regardless of where you bought it. The dealership servicing the C7 makes money, and that is what they are in business for.

Go for the best deal, and keep in mind, the local dealership who jacked you around aren't paying any of your monthly household bills and they never will. You owe them nothing.

..

direct007

I'm glad Kerbeck is my local dealer. (Within 40 miles) so I don't have to deal with this BS.

mschuyler

Very true, and it's why WalMart, Amazon, Home Depot, etc. have run off smaller stores. People will gravitate to the cheapest price every time. The fact is that a local dealer cannot compete with a national, large-volume dealer. Why not? Because a national dealer can distribute the 'cost of business' over a larger volume, attributing a smaller amount of this cost to each sale. That a dealer gets a "holdback" doesn't matter when that money is used to keep the lights on. A "holdback" is not 100% profit.

I'm not advocating buying local when the differences are so great. I will buy this next spring most likely from one of the forum dealers here. I can't help it if local dealers have not adjusted to the Internet and understand how profoundly it is affecting sales. I heard that when you count "hosted" sales Amazon is responsible for 30% of the retail sales in the US today. When you see a deserted mall, that's the reason. I think we could show a little more sympathy to local sales. it's not really all about us. It's affecting our communities.

AORoads

^^^ I absolutely can't disagree with your last paragraph.

B&BVettes

See Nate Chandler @Van Bortel Chevrolet! You won't be disappointed!

homepukes

If it makes you feel better get the "Local Chevy Dealer" license plate bezel and put it on the car every time you take the Vette in for service. I really don't think it will matter one way or another. You won't get any extra service or less service buying your car at the dealer you get it serviced.

dmhines

Rick Hendrick is very proud of their cars. There is a local Hendrick Chevy here in Buford, GA with a bunch of Grand Sports ... on their website they are offering about $3K off MSRP ... just about every other dealer here in north GA is giving at least double that off GS stickers ... even the little dealer in my town is advertising a GS 3LT with an $88K sticker for $77K ... which is amazing because they probably sell maybe 5 or 6 Vettes a year ...

Foosh

There is no need to worry about getting a car serviced at a dealership you didn't purchase from. The sales and service departments have no connection, and they each have their own revenue targets.

As a dealer service director recently told me at a Mercedes dealership, "I really don't give a flying [flip] where you bought the car . . . I have my own targets to meet, and I'll do whatever it takes to make you want to come back here for service the next time."

I've more often than not purchased cars where I found the best deal and had them serviced elsewhere. There's more money to be made in service than in sales at good dealerships.