Karl Johanson

Forum Members,

Thanks for your time and interest in the current inventories carried by the forum dealers. If you have a few moments ,I would appreciate your review of the current inventory to see if anything that I currently have will meet your present need. If so, please give me a call to discuss delivery time. Remember that the current special financing on the 03 models runs thru October 31st.

GM Employee pricing will be allowed on any in stock units( excluding the 50th Anniversary Models) thru the end of October. Sorry but will not be allowed to do the Supplier pricing. If you are eligible for the GM employee pricing, please review the inventory and call me soon.

http://www.nationalcorvettesales.com/newinventory.html

Have a Great Day

Karl Johanson

Thanks to all tose who have been reviewing my inventory. I really appreciate you and your business.

Hope that everyone has a great week. If you see anything in the new or used that you would be interested in, Please gove me a call.


[Modified by Karl Johanson, 2:03 PM 10/9/2002]

Z06 Quin

Why don't you honor the supplier pricing?

VolFan615

PoBoy, give a call to Bill Heard in Nashville and speak to Mr. Manley. He may honor GM Supplier and has a good inventory.

Z06 Quin

VolFan615, thanks for the tip, but I will never step foot in a Bill Heard dealership, they are nothing but a bunch of crooks.......they could offer me the car at half price and I'd still not buy it from them.....can you tell I had a bad experience there????? (BTW, they didn't get my money.....;))

VolFan615

Believe me I can understand. I also has a bad experience with a new 94 I purchased from them.


[Modified by VolFan615, 2:45 PM 10/10/2002]

Karl Johanson

PoBoy Racer,

Thanks for the question.

In the past I have always been told that we would not do Supplier because we get paid less by General Motors. When we do an employee ,we receive 5% of MSRP less Freight. When we do Supplier we get approximately 2% of Invoice. On the surface, that seemed to be a good enough reason.

However, In researcing how much we receive verses how much the Employee pays verses that which the Supplier pays, I have determined that the Company will get approximately the same amount of Money overall. Needless to say as a Sales Consultant on commission only, I have never really bucked the decision because I get paid $ 100 to sell you the car at that price. We all have taste that would dictate that I would not want to sell all my cars at that price. Since I have personally run the numbers thru the office, and determined in my own mind that there is no reason to exclude the Supplier under the circumstances; I can only promise that I will seek to get the company to alter their decision concerning the exclusion of the supplier for the same period of time that we have decided to allow the employee pricing. While I do not have the final say, I will present it to the powers to be and see what they say. I am confident that we will not allow this program on the corvettes on an ongoing basis due to the limited supply of Corvettes that this company receives and the fact that the Corvettes are sometimes the only reason that the sales department of the company shows a profit. This is a Business and we do need profit to stay in business even if the overall community seems to think that these cars should be sold at invoice. For the life of me I don't understand why. I never see anyone in the department store trying to bargain for their pants,shirts or ties unless they are on sale and then we all just accept the discounted price. At any rate, I have run the numbers and will request a decission concerning our previous position.

I hope when I get through trying to get this approval that you and many others will be interested in relieving me one of one or more of my stock units and that my efforts to please this community will not go unnoticed.

Thanks again for the question.

Karl Johanson

PS .

THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY IS NOT INCLUDED IN THIS DECISSION TO ALLOW THIS TYPE OF PRICING FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER.

HAVE A GREAT DAY

Z06 Quin

Thank you for such a thorough and cordial answer......... :cheers:

Karl Johanson

OK Guys & Gals,

I have spoken with the management and made my case. I have physically shown them the numbers and made them understand that the company will come out pretty close to the same if we allow the Supplier discount as well as the employee discount. They agree that we are not going to make this a habit but I have been authorized to allow both employee and supplier discounts on any Corvettes that I have in stock ( excluding the 50th anniversary models)during the month of October. Two individuals have already called in anticipation of me getting this decision thru. One has confirmed a sale and I am removing the Blue ZO6 from my website before I head home. The other has trades that need to be delt with in the morning to see if we can make the deal work. Speaking of trades, everyone here knows that the market has been a killer lately on trade in values of all cars and not just Corvettes. You may think that you know the value of your trade but I can only offer what my Used managers will offer and the market will allow. If you have a better bid from a legitament Wholesaler that is better than my bid then we can verify the bid and use his price in lieu of mine. I would prefer that we deal without the trades but will do my very best to put the deal together if there is a trade on the condition that you will not get mad when I cannot offer you what you think you should get. I am prepared to do business with professional people in a professional manner. If it works,it works. If it doesn't work due to the value of the trade and the amount you owe,lets at least part friends. Life is too short.

So the decision is that we have 21 days to take advantage of not only GM's generousity in the low finance rate offerings but in our willingness to put an end to everyone being upset with the dealers because we do not always want to honor the GM employee or GM Supplier discounts. You cannot blame a company on a limited availability vehicle from wanting to make a profit. Everyone wants to make a profit. And rightfully so, everyone wants to get the best deal that they possible can. We understand you so please try and understand the decisions that are made by the dealers. We will not get every deal worked out but we will do our best to try and make it work.

So the Challenge has been meet. I will be anxiously awaiting to see how many actually take advantage of the offer.

May you all have a great Day




[Modified by Karl Johanson, 7:55 PM 10/10/2002]

Karl Johanson

TTT :chevy :smash:

M.T. Pockets

OMG..I think i've heard it all...so would you personally go into a dealership and pay what they are asking for a car....I think I know your answer.

Shylor

"This is a Business and we do need profit to stay in business even if the overall community seems to think that these cars should be sold at invoice."


Look we know a dealerships profits aren't from car sales but are from service. Customers get jacked around by dealerships all the time. So yea, we want deals! I hate playing the numbers game with dealerships. I hate it that there are dealer markups on new models. I'm all for a business making a profit but, don't put the customer through the ringer. And don't over charge us on service. Why should it cost someone $83 for an oil change at a dealership? Why can't we get a test drive without a dealership doing a credit check on us on the side? Why does GM give it's employees special pricing that few dealerships will sell to them at? Why do car salesmen never return our calls after they have our money?

Can you tell I'm tired and want a new C5? Please don't take any of this personally.

RossDowningChevrolet

Sorry to post in your thread Karl,

Shylor,

Actually sales is where a dealership makes all its money. In fact most dealers would choose not to have a service/parts department if they could.

I am a little confused though, Karl has offered a tremendous deal one that only a few dealers can offer! In fact one that I cannot! I would think that you would be happy! As for the rest of your post, I do not know Karl personally but have dealt with customers of his. He, as well as alot of the dealers here have a good reputation and treat you guys very fair.

Anyway, I hope some of you choose to take advantage of his great deal!

Just my 2c :D


[Modified by c5discounts, 7:49 AM 10/15/2002]

Karl Johanson

Gentlemen,

Sorry for delay in answering some of the questions, I have been very busy with my previous offer.

I believe in everyone's right to express their opinions even if they are different from my own ( it is called freedom ). I chose my words carefully when I do post ,knowing that I will never please everyone in such a vast community. I am truly sorry if you disagree with my assessment of the situation but that will not alter the business decisions that have been made that try to reflect a Win / Win / Win for my customers, my dealership, and myself. My time an efforts are just as important and worth just as much as you think yours are. If my ways of conducting business are unacceptable to anyone, then I am truly sorry that I will not be able to earn your business but I am also confident that they will find someone else that they equally disagree with and will continue to look for that one person or dealership that will accept that which they offer.

I on the other hand will continue to do my very best in the profession that I have been placed in to work with those individuals that chose to work with me. I am pleased to have been authorized to allow this program for a short period of time. I am equally amazed that only two individuals have chosen to take advantage of the offer.

Hope you all have a Great Day and find the deal that you are looking for.
I am not under an illusion that everyone will buy from me. I will do my best to earn your business if I can.

Shylor

Karl,

My statements weren't meant to be a personal attack, sorry if it came out that way. Guess I'm just frustrated at dealerships in general. I'd love to take advantage of your special pricing, but I'm not a GM employee. Maxie price went as low as $4500 off MSRP. That's the best I've seen. But I'm looking for at least $5000 off MSRP plus curtiousy delivery to my area. If you can do that then we need to talk!

While I don't blame dealerships for the manufacture price increases, I do feel that don't have to hit us with such high prices for options and dealer markups.

Again sorry for talking a different route on your topic, I'm done now.

Karl Johanson

Shylor,

No problem with the comments. I have very thick skin. Some say Old but I try to ignore that comment.

I don't mind and didn't take it personal. I just cannot help you at those figures.

Have a great Day

dexter

Hey, this is a little uncalled for. If you don't like the deal Karl's offering, click the back button on your browser. You're impugning Karl's integrity and, I think, misreading his intentions. As someone who bought his car from Karl nearly two years ago, I can say that Karl gave me a very fair deal at a time when many dealers, especially here in the People's Republik, were gouging the snot out of Corvette customers. Over and above the financial side of the transaction, Karl is a stand up guy who worked hard to keep me informed of the status of my order during the 2 1/2 month wait between when I ordered and when the car finally arrived in California. I'm sure the other Forum supporting vendors similarly do a great job, it's just that Karl's the one I've dealt with, so I can speak from personal experience.

In any case, Karl's point is well taken in that, let's face it, Chev will easily sell every Corvette they make. While there are still plenty of 2002 Tahoes, Cavaliers, Malibus, etc. on the lots, I'm guessing there are very very few 2002 Vettes left. Expecting the starting point of the negotiation on a 2003 Vette to be dealer invoice is simply unrealistic.