Folks,

Anybody here have experience dealing with Corvette Mike? I know that he, like ProTeam, is AWEFULLY proud of his cars. But when you are looking for a specific car and he happens to have it, then you gotta pay to play.
How far above the market are his cars priced? I am guessing 20-30% based on the cars I have seen on his website (www.corvettemike.com). Are his cars all they are cracked up to be?
I am asking because Corvette Mike has a car that my father-in-law is after. He knows better than to buy without seeing it first hand. The real question is whether Mike is an honest seller or not.

Anybody with first or second hand experience?

 

Well..., when I bought my 1st day production '70 roadster from him, he had sold the hard top to someone else. which I think is pretty chicken sh-- as I would never find another hard top with the right date code on the window let alone in Donneybrook green.

BTW, I paid him $9,200 about 18 years ago (needed total restoration), but he got the car for about $4,200. (I tracked down and asked the original owner). Not bad for him considering he had the car for only a week. Then his shop did much of the restoration, some of which could have/should have been done differently! (Like charging me top dollar to replace the radio, then putting in one with white numerals!)

BTW, when you buy a car from Mike, he makes you promise to give him first crack when you go to sell it. But then you do, he want's to pay bottom dollar (or less)!

 

I have bought from Corvette Mike's in the past and have all good to say about his dealership. He's a business man and is in business to make a profit, both in his shop and his sales department. Like all bussiness he may have some dissatisfied customers, but my guess, very few. When your looking for one of these cars, the most important thing is the car itself. Make sure you know what your buying. Sometimes paying a little extra because you've found the right one for you is better then spending all the time and money to save a few bucks and then never finding a car.

 

I have not had experience purchasing from Corevtte Mike in CA personally, but I know one of the owners of the Corvette Mike's in Chicago. I actually bought my '65 365HP roadster from him before he got into the dealership business. He is a stand-up guy and will help you wherever he can. And he tells it like it is. If you are working with the CA outfit, I can't help, but I can with the Chicago guys. Like was stated before, these guys are businessmen and they are in the business to make a profit. But they do find and purchase some nice cars!

Good luck!

Dave

 

D'oh! I didn't know they're in Chicago. I'll have to check 'em out.

 

Burr Ridge, just off of I-55. You can see it from the highway.

I've met a couple of the guys from ProTeam. They are also stand-up guys. They will find the car for you. They also let you know whether it is capable of being a show car as well. Chad is a stand-up guy as is Terry.

 

I bought mine from Mike in CA. If I knew then what I know now. I am the poster boy for "Idiot Who Bought But Didn't Know Diddly and Didn't Take Anyone Who Did". So how stupid was I? They told me it was a numbers matching car that wasn't and I really had zero idea of what to look for - so some of this I asked for. I went down there four times (about 100 miles one way) to look at cars they told me they had. I was looking for a driver so they were looking to sell me a 66 with a 64 hood and a 350 motor. Stuff like that. Again my fault I guess cause I wasn't specific enough. They finally called and said they had a 65 so I went, drove it, liked it, but found a couple things that they had to fix because it wasn't as they said it was. So they delivered it to me. Sounds good eh? After they took it off the truck and left, I jumped in to drive my new baby and found that the steering wheel was really loose and could be pulled over an inch out of the column. A couple other equally screwed up things. The good news is that friends that I made later who did know about Vettes have told me that while my car isn't numbers matching - it was a solid car. So I was lucky. But I paid about $5K too much. Bottom line is that I was dumb and I think Mike saw me coming.

 

I have never bought or sold anything through Corvette Mike but he did sponser one of our SoCal SACC (C1 only) general meetings at his facility last October....what a blast!

 

I think that we have to remember that he sells used cars and thus he is a used car sales man and a good one...Although he sells specialty cars he still is in business to take as much of your money as he can in each situation, this is his business...
Best of luck and hope you can negotiate a good deal for that special Corvette you pick...

 

Most dealers - whether new car or used will take advantsge of you if they can.

Many years ago when going to lease a car:

I walked into the dealership and negeotiated a price to buy a new car (@$45,000).

I then changed my mind and decided to lease it for 3 years.

The cap cost should then have been the negeotiated purchase price.

The dealer told me that that "wasn't how it worked" and with car leases what they tried to do was to "match up what you wanted to pay per month with the lease."

In other words "see if you are ignorant enough to let us lease you a car at an inflated cap cost such that you'll pay an artificial amount of depreciation over the cost of the lease." In the lease thay suggested, the cap cost for the same car was $52,000. In other words they would sell the car to the leaseing company for $7,000 more than what I could by it for. I would they pay the extra $7,000 over the course of the 3 years through my lease.

To say the least, I promptly walked.

Car dealers are sort of like casinos:

- you get service
- you get losts of fancy buildings and lights
- you pay a premium for this
- they want your money, not your friendship

- you want convenience (which you'll get)
- you want integrity and honesty (not gaureenteed)

 

Used car salesmen are not "honest sellers," period, so get that thought out of your head. They are businessmen at the lower end of the ethical spectrum. In the case of Corvettes, they offer a selection of very desirable cars in one place, and you can save a lot of time...but not money... by shopping there. Any particular Vette they have may or may not be a decent car, but they don't care even a little bit, they are simply there to make money and would as happily sell refrigerators if they could make the same money at it. It's up to you to do the research to determine if a car they offer is as described, and to decide if you want to pay their price or to shop in the private-party market, where you may spend more time but will save money. Your trade-off will be between time and money, but the dealer's "honesty" is a non-factor.

 

Split Window,
Several years ago I made a verbal agreement with Mike for him too sell my '65 Duntov Fuel convert. Mike printed ads for his sales paper and had other expenes. One day after his ads on the car came out I sold the car myself. Corvette Mike did not charge me anything even though he was out some advertizing bucks. Yes, his prices are high but he treated me right. Bill

 

My father-in-law was not going in thinking that he was going to be dealing with a nice guy with a charitable heart and an open wallet. What I mean by "honest seller" is whether he was at least honest about what the car is. I can fully understand maximizing profit. This is especially true because of the "finder's fee" you allude to. What I was looking for was input as to whether Mike was up front about what he was selling at the inflated price. I wanted input from people that have had dealings with Corvette Mike. To blast all car salesmen is too easy and doesn't get to the point of this thread.

Have you dealt with Corvette Mike personally? If so, did you get what you thought you were getting out of the deal. Geek and Toddalin think they got taken. vetzs was happy with his experience. The sample size is small, but 2/3 dissatisfaction is a sure sign that we should check every detail before even thinking of pulling the trigger on a purchase.

 

Years ago I lost a wheelcover for my 63. I visited Mike's shop when he was located in Costa Mesa looking for a replacement. He was busy installing a new windshield into a red BB coupe preparing it for Laguna Seca Concours. He was busy and under a deadline but took the time to walk me upstairs and pull out a few old 63 wheelcovers and ask if I was interested. He then lent me nutdrivers and left me alone so that I could take the best parts of each to make a single good wheelcover from the parts & pieces. I paid a fair price for the wheelcover but cannot remember exactly how much. Straight forward & no BS.

One aspect of the more visible corvette dealers is they have a long history of buying low and selling high. Most can easily fix the minor irregularities that are found in older rebuilt cars: the wrong radiator & tank, ignition shielding, valve covers, and other cosmetic flaws from a novice inspection point of view. They also tend to ignore detail things that an avid NCRS restoration expert would pick up, the wrong alternator or water pump casting, interior trim accessories and ... correct date codes on all the pieces (they sell used cars, not museum pieces). When dealers advertise "original" or "matching numbers" this casual reverence for detail seems to rub some people the wrong way (even when many of those complaining suffer the same with their own projects).

Buyer beware (even if the car comes with a briefcase of documentation and awards) and know the purchase needs to be based on the expected enjoyment (not the expected investment potential).

.

 

This should not happen with Mike! Mike continually has cars both NCRS and Bloomington-certified so that he can sell them for top dollar.

And he damn well knew that the radio that he put in my '70 should have faded green as opposed to white numerals!

 

I am in agreement with Toddalin about the numbers matching thing. Mike knows what "numbers matching" means. So I don't buy in to the "casual reverence" thing. Mike knows the difference. If we were talking about Bubba Bagadonuts Used Cars I could see it. But MIke is a Corvette specialist.

In the same breath, your statement of "buyer beware" is right on. There is no excuse for me walking in there dumber than a rock. I was begging for it. My only excuse is that I found this forum after the fact. Know then what I know now? I would be much better prepared AND take those I know now that know more than me.