Wow, customer loyalty is non existent at that Chevy dealership. They don't want an excellent used Chevy, whats up with that. I would call the owner of the store and send GM said conversation and let them know how Chevy owners are treated when wanting to trade and purchase another Chev product. Most every dealership would love to have a good used Corvette on the lot. I cant believe what I am reading. Almost wants me to sell my Corvette/SSR/Impala/SRX!!! Send them a link to this thread. Rob

PS laughed my pants off...GOOD is the name of the dealership....

 

Must be a new salesman, I looked at there site and they have a 2003 with 16K for $23k , unfortunately they would have to wholesale it probably because of miles and that in reality is about what it would bring this time of year especially up there. That is a nice GS but I like your C5 better.

 

I've never heard a good thing about that dealership. Even Issaquah Chevy is better and that's not saying much...

 

Maybe they should change the name to good enough Chevy.

 

Fixed it for you

 

Agree with most of the posts. However, you should also consider impact of sales tax. As an example in FL. it is 6% so what ever you are being offered on trade will reduce your out the door cost on the new car. This is especially true when you have a car that is valued at $20K trade and that ends up being $1200 less in taxes.

In your case I would agree that you should sell on your own. However, be ready to get the run around with tire kickers and idiots that will be worse than the sales manager.

Good luck.

 

With that many miles, you should have taken the 8K and made your deal. Yes, it's not ideal and yes you can get more if you sell it on your own. But that is about par for what dealers offer. I traded a 2011 Cadillac CTS coupe in on my 2004 Z and I got about 3k under retail. I just did it to be done with it.

The bottom line is you never get over on the dealer, no matter how good the deal may seem.

Shakey

 

I don't know what he is complaining about. Just because KBB says something does not make it true. I would not even give $6500 for it.
Come on...a 13 year old C5 with almost 140000 miles on it. You guys kill me on what you think a Corvette should be worth.
If I were the dealer, I would not want it either.
And we have one member here that wants to sell everything he owns that is GM just because another member got a low trade value from a dealer. Not that GM did anything to el original, just some dealer gave an accurate trade value. You have to love the entertainment value of this site.

 

Without seeing it condition and knowing anything about it....you are incorrect. $6500?

Both guy's were idiots, as a little tact could have met a better outcome for all.
As someone who should be earning a solid customer support base, they did a **** poor job.

I understand they need to make their money, and so should the op.
To me the offer or "nonoffer" could have been handled much more professionally.

All I am saying for anyone here to throw out a comment without actually knowing its condition and maint. history...you're wrong, pure and simple.

Now if is a beat up POS....thats a different story entirely. But you have not seen it or driven it have you....

 

If it's "meant to be" it'll work out. Hopefully the car sits a while and they look to make a sale, in which case they will be calling you. If that happens, use the other guy's suggestion to get the cost of the C6 down to a number you can live with. 3 years ago, I only got 6500 on a nice black Cadillac ETS (Northstar) trade with only 41,000 miles. Traded that for a new 2012 CTS-4 coupe. Dealerships are there to make $$ !! Good luck!

 

Sounds like they use the Car Max system on purchasing or trading in vehicles. When I sold my 97 Eldorado to Car Max the representative I dealt with told me they didn't accept vehicles 10 years old or with more than 100,000 miles on them. They gave me $200 under KBB low trade in value. Car was nice but had 97,000 on it. I am happy.

Even if the dealer you were at uses that trade in policy the person you were dealing with acted like a D!ck when it came to telling you about your car.

 

Don't worry about it. There's plenty of Vettes to look at. I searched for 2yrs & 4 months for the right Vette. I heard every story in the world from both stealers and private parties. 95% of the dealers told me they were losing money. Hahahahahah Ya right. The 84th vehicle I looked at was the one I wanted. I was willing to pay a fair price and did. Best move I made was being patient. Looking now for a second Vette.

Be patient, you will be glad you were.

 

AND, "salesmanship".

 

wanted to trade my 98 Sebring Vert with 80K on it back in the fall. Dealer said he would give me $1500, went to CarMax, they offered $500.

I went back to the original dealer and did the deal. They put it on their lot asking $2990. CarMax

 

First let me say that they didn't treat you in a professional manner, that said the deal has to be good for both parties. If the car you were looking at was a good deal and they didn't give you what you thought was fair it was up to you to deal. Would they come down any? Could the used car salesman work to get you a little more reduce the newer car? The savings on trading a car helps reduce the sales tax add that savings to what they offered you for your car and see if it's close to what you wanted. Most dealerships don't want a high performance car with that many miles, it would go to the auction which costs them transportation and lower sales price. When I traded my 93 on my 2000 I didn't get what I wanted but I settled and it was the best move I made. I had the car for sale for 5 weeks and nothing but tire kickers.... If it's what you want do it don't look back.

 

Her is the deal , these guys or in the biz to make money that's it make money they have no way to finance a Corvette with over 100,000 miles
on it takes up space and they have to sit around on someone to come by and buy it these older Corvettes or worth nothing to these dealers ,they make money on newer rides .. That's the deal been going on for years around $5,000 is the going price on a Corvette with 100,000 on it .. Welcome to the real world..

 

I'd like to add my experience. I got a great price on my GS as well. My C5 was in great condition albeit 165000 1999. The stealership started out at 7500. Came back from test drive and the air conditioner compressor took a dump. It was January so I really had no idea. The price dropped 1000. I should have kept it for 6500. Makes me sick looking back. That car ran like a beast and had great gas mileage. Tires and wheels were fairly new as well. Wait a few more months and save up that 6000 and just go get it. Keep your car and sell it at your price. My advice.

 

Not trying to a bad news guy but if you think the dealers offerings are crap, drive an older Corvette in ditch and see what the Insurance will give you for it will make the dealers offer look good.. Just an FYI been there done that ..But I got 20-$30,000 in it so what .. Here is a check $5,500 and I had to call my boss to get that .. Be careful it happens....

 

Ok, I'll reply to this post because it's the most recent one to make the assertion that I wasn't willing to deal.

NADA values my car at 10-12k (all numbers for 'trade in' value), KBB at just around 10k. I figured I probably wouldn't get 10k for it, but it's what I asked for when he first said 'what do you want for it' and I brought out my printouts showing that's what the 'market authorities' say I should be paid.

He threw out the NADA numbers saying they work with KBB there (which, at this point he had shown me that their price on the C6 was reasonable via KBB so I didn't object to that).

He said he could give me 8, I asked for 9. So far, I think that's pretty reasonable negotiating.

Then he goes to talk to the manager and I get the $6500 number and am told that the manager doesn't want my car on his lot so he won't go higher.

This is where I feel they went away from good faith and moved into insulting. They had already offered me 8; if they came back and told me that 8 was as high as they were willing to go, I would have had to mull it over, but I wouldn't have been pissed or insulted. I might have moved forward, I'm not sure. But that didn't happen.

Keep in mind, this lot they outright refuse to bargain on the car price, they say the only negotiation is on the trade price.

Ok, now the story gets even WEIRDER. Last night I get an automated email which includes 'reply to this with your comments' or whatnot, and I reply saying how I felt insulted and the specific comments they made which did so.

I get a call this morning at 8:58 AM. It's some manager, Jeff, who says he wasn't on site yesterday and he apologized multiple times for how the deal was handled. He says he re-ran the numbers on my car, and unfortunately, yadda markets yadda old car hard to finance yadda yadda but he can go up to $7500. I told him I had my car listed for private sale and already had a couple nibbles, so I'd see how that goes for a little bit and get back to him, and I thanked him for apologizing. He sounded quite sincere.

Then I get a call at 9:02 AM. It's the salesman. He says they found a glitch in how the car's info was entered, and they would be willing to give me $9500 for it. But, the Grand Sport I wanted just sold this morning (and he is aware it's the only one on the lot I wanted). This screamed to me of a sales jerk who sees that the car I want is going away and wants to try and backpedal on the insult to see if they can get me back in at some later date.

So I call Jeff back, and ask him, 'Exactly how much did you say you were willing to pay me for my car after you re-ran the numbers this morning?'
'$7500'
So I told him of the phone call I just got from his salesman and how it reeked of backpedaling. He said he has been in his office in the back and wasn't aware of what's going on in the front and he will go figure out what's up and call me back, but now he sounded angry.

20 minutes later Jeff calls back, says that yes, there's a deal on the Grand Sport right now, but it's not final and if it doesn't go through, he will call me in and they will pay me $9500 for my car.



What a bizarre experience.

 

Well, I know that Vettes are hard to sell this time of the year because of it being winter and all. A lot of dealers have told me that. The best time to sell the Vette is in the spring.

Dealership salesmen don't care about the customer. They only want the deal at their price so they can make money. Their attitude is that new customers will come in at any time and they basically don't need to worry about your feelings.

I've gotten over on dealerships on occasion. They're human and make mistakes just like everyone else. You have to do some planning to get over on the dealer though. Also, they have long memories when it comes to their mistakes.

I don't know much about your car. Personally, I would wait until about Easter to swap your Corvette. There's a deal around every corner.

Good luck with it.