IRS-Cop

IMHO, that argument used to stand and is what seperated folks into either Corvettes or BMW. However, now dollar for dollar the performance is just about equal.

No I'm not talking about the 1LT Guys who's only options are Z51, NPP, and MN6. I'm talking about the relative price AND performance comparison between a BMW M3 sedan, coupe, or convertible to a coupe or convertible Corvette with the 3LT group, chrome wheels, Z51 or NPP, Navigation, etc. The cars are almost the same in price....the Corvette is maybe just a tad lower (although it is true, dealers will give a Vette away....BMW dealers will not) and now the dang performance is just about the same.

So you can get a BMW M3 sedan that has about 95% of the most performance optioned Coupe and still have a back seat, great resell two years down the road, and of course a great dealer network with free scheduled maintance for 4 years or buy the Chevy like I did.

I can definitely see it being a tough decision now. As one pretty much has to say (like I did), that I want a whole lot less practical 2 seater car American Icon over a BMW M3 or Mercedes C63 AMG, or Lexus F whatever. And btw...I'm 29, with no kids. If I was 40 and had a family and limited funds......what do you think I would've bought? A Mercedes C63 AMG of course. ;-0

Rubber Ducky

The point being that customers have the right to see things from the customer's viewpoint - sorry if that lacks empathy for the salesman.

Like I said in the posting's title, the business model sucks. This is a great way to sell socks and toothpaste, but a $60-to-$100K car? Cadillac gets it right, or at least a lot righter. So do Jaguar, Porsche, MB, Audi, Lexus, and Acura. So where does Corvette fit, with the Aeros and Yugos or with the premium cars? And where would premium-car buyers like to shop?

My current BMW would be a Corvette had I been able to find a dealer that wasn't scary (I looked). Hats off to you folks who thought buying your Corvette was a satisfactory experience.

IRS-Cop

CHASLS2

My C6 will never get touched for service at any dealer!

not08crmanymore

Might be true in your line of sales,but the car buisness??I don't think so.There is absolutely no benefit to the sales guy or the buyer who's not buying for a year!!Product will not be the same,the car won't be the same car and the prices/leases won't be the same either!All in all,a person who is a year out (strictly as a car buyer) is doing nothing but wasting time,no matter how one dresses it up!Hell,the person might be dead,the sales guy gone,who knows!!

Rubber Ducky

Some BMW dealerships are great. Not all, but there's a lot of blog info out there to sort this out. The Imported Car Store in Melbourne Florida is wonderful ... and the Fields dealership in Orlando - same owner - gets rapped often.

Keep the money separate from the car. Get lowest sale price and then buy the money (or write the check). "Will you be trading in your car? Financing?" Right answer: "Maybe." If you say you'll be writing a check, the deal will get pressurized to make more in the front.

Rubber Ducky

Or she might say 'great car, great store: I'll start shopping for my next car here.' The nickel/dime crap at a Chevy dealership (and lots others) is just flat unacceptable.

AEA

Unfortunally this is the truth, I had high hopes until I took mine for an oil change..service is below standads.

not08crmanymore

I agree that all customers need to be treated well no matter what and that the chevy boys need some work in that area. However,being a year out is a wasted effort on everybodys part and always will be.Wait till you're a month or two out for a more accurate assessment of the market,and even that will be slightly off since all programs are on a month to month basis out there and car inventories change rapidly...although that might not be the case, inventory wise,with chevy's!

paz

Therein lies the problem with the sales and business model! Do you expect to become informed and buy the model of your choice in a day? Are we expected to decide which car is best for our needs by TV commercials? I can understand the individual sales rep turning off when he hears "I'm just looking", but a sales manager or higher needs to make sure potential clients don't walk away uniformed and unhappy.

greenie99

My two cars? An 07 C6 and an 07 BMW 328XI coupe. I have had a great relationship with a competent, local Chevy dealer for the last 30 years. Their Corvette mechanic is a crackerjack and every dealer should have one. I have no need for Chevy to put me up in a 5-star hotel to take delivery of a car! I searched for an equally-competent BMW dealer in hopes of matching my experience with Chevrolet. I found them and life couldnt be better. These are two entirely different automobiles and its my belief that if GMs model for selling this car didnt work, we`d all be driving something else.

60av8tor

Wife has a Z4 and it's a blast to drive. VERY nimble ! Nice acceleration at highway speeds, too.
......but it's no Vette.

I'm no fan of BMWs:



But I was blown away by their service when I took her Z4 in for a routine checkup.
You are spot on regarding what customers mean to BMW vs. Chevy.
I'm a huge believer in non verbal communication and the message is clear; BMW loves their customers, Chevy tolerates theirs......

maxp

a lot of new corvette owners sound like that until they have to take the car in for service, then the whining to the forum starts

NevadaVette

The BMW business model is really quite ingenious. Try a 7 series. Their cars are too complicated and always broken. So they came up with a plan to give you a loaner and free service (make that constant service) to suck you into one and have some goof ball with an accent grin at you while they fix the stuff.

They then turn around and charge you for that up-front in the price of the car (or the payment on the car, for the wanna-be realtors with Gucci shoes from Orange County, as the case may be). So you pay for it up front. And when the warranty runs out, get ready for the big gouge, since you might as well throw the car away if you ever have to pay for service. Their standard teutonic line will be that it is a great car but you use the wrong brand of gas; that includes things like your paint falling off.

Not that GM is any better. But both are scams. It's just that the BWM model is less likely to alienate their target market, which includes people whose time is valuable to them, and GM is to a large degree limiting their target market to rednecks who think it is OK for a $50,000 "value" car to have a roof that flies off, a battery that can't be relied on, bla-bla, and don't mind fixing it themselves or standing in line repeatedly in a low life service department to never get it fixed.

05C6400

In the DC area you have poor dealerships like BMW of Arlington, VA and Koons Chevrolet in Tysons, VA... Then you have great dealerships like BMW of Sterling, VA and Criswell Chevrolet in Gaithersbug, MD. Funny thing is that BMW of Arlington and BMW of Sterling are owned by the same person, but for some odd reason the folks in Sterling treat you better than Arlington. I would have to agree for the money you can not beat the performance of the Corvette. Again, you would have to hunt for the dealership that will give you the treatment you enjoy.

One thing to note is that I have had issues in the past with GM customer service and I have found them to be worthless. The intent I got from the few reps I talked with is GM will always side with the dealer and not the customer. I think this is an issue that needs to be resolved before we talk about business models. Unlike Honda's customer service that takes the side of the customer! I have been a honda owner for over 17yrs and never had an issue with getting my cars repaired even after the warranty has expired.

redzone

Exactly........

I had an experience on the other end a couple weeks back.....negotiated a heckuva good price on a Z06 and decided to give them a chance to finance this one. The interest rate was gonna be 9.75% (I have a credit score over 800). Their faces dropped when I declined.

calmtgguy

Yes. Don't deal with the salesman that, "ups", you. Let him / her show you cars and after you find the car you want, ask to be brought to the floor manager, get the invoice on the car you want and tell them what you will pay for it. A cash buyer should be able to get in and out of any dealership within an hour or so.

rwittick

I agree that some Chevrolet dealerships provide mediocre salesmanship, at best. But there are also some Chevy dealerships that really go out of their way to provide excellent service during the buying process. For an example, read this earlier post of my 08 buying experience:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1984381

Wayne O

Good post! You make many valid points but I don't totally agree with your assessment of Chevrolet dealerships compared to BMW dealerships.

I drove three different BMWs over about a 20 year period. My experiences are primarily at local dealerships but I've been to a couple out-of-state one's as well. I found the car buying experience (in general); the quality of service; and, the entire 'service experience' were quite similar at both the BMW and Chevrolet dealerships.

While there may be variations on the theme I was subjected to the same 'gamesmanship' when buying a 5 series BMW as when I bought my C6 (I was an all-cash buyer with both). Virtually the same techniques were employed at both dealerships to maximize the dealer’s profit.

I've dealt with a wide variety of dealerships (for my cars, company cars and even for my parent's car's). I find that most all large dealerships suffer from very similar problems. Lack of communication is often paramount...the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing at most dealerships.

As for the quality of service, I don't necessarily find a higher level of quality at BMW versus Chevy. Yes, there have been minor problems at both dealership but I always have a high expectation that both dealerships will muddle-through and get the job done. After my 533i developed spider-web cracks all over the trunk deck it turns out the trunk lid was damaged and re-painted prior to my purchasing this 'new' car and oops....BMW miraculously forgot to mention that when I bought the car.

Back in early 2005 when C6's were still new and somewhat scarce, I had no problem getting a C6 brochure from the Chevy dealership complete with DVD's (actually a rather nice presentation). My biggest gripe was their hesitation to let me test drive the car (they had only 2 at the time). I called a broker and ordered the exact same car the dealership wouldn’t let me test drive.

I have learned to side-step the hassles of the car buying experience by using what is, in effect, a car broker. The man has life-long experience in the business...I tell him what I want and he gets it (most often from a dealership in another city or state). No paperwork...no deposits and no hassles! He once dropped-off a $47K Suburban (with a custom leather interior I wanted) to my office on a Friday...I hadn't signed a thing. He said bring me a check next week. How many dealers would do that? How much I save is dictated by supply and demand of the particular model but I do better price-wise than if I dealt with the dealership (and I don't have to put-up with the dealership games).

There is certainly room for improvement at the Chevrolet dealership on all fronts. I'm sure there are things they could 'learn' from BMW but overall I'm not displeased with their service. I do agree the new car sales business model could use some revisions...I detest the games car dealers play in order to squeeze every dollar possible out of the customer.

A 'high dollar' dealership is no guaranty of a higher level of service. I went into my local Porsche/Audi dealer a couple weeks ago to inquire about the R8. I wasn't exactly 'dressed for success' in jeans, tennis shoes and a t-shirt but I don't need to dress to impress anyone. These guys barely gave me the time of day...it was like I was inconveniencing them. I finally got someone to give me some cursory information on the R8 but I don’t think he even stopped walking when he told me. The Porsche/Audi dealership was arrogant, unhelpful and downright unfriendly. I have two vehicles I need to replace soon. I could have written a check for any car they sell but they had me pegged as a ‘tire-kicker' and ignored me. I don't expect VIP treatment but I expect some level of professionalism and courtesy...they could have offered me a brochure, asked if I wanted to see any other models or even taken my name and number to call me when their next R8 comes-in so I can look at it. Nothing. I will never buy a car through that dealership.

carboman

The price / value argument used to hold true on Corvettes but with loaded rag tops hitting $70K, Z06's over $80K and a ZR1 at $100K+ it's not the case any longer. When you're spending that kind of cash you expect and deserve a proper buying and service experience. That's why some dealers sell lots of Corvettes and others don't.

Corvette customers are a different breed than Malibu customers and expect a different experience. How would it feel to buy a ZR1 off the showroom floor when it's sitting next to a Malibu?

The dealers that support this forum, and we all know who they are, go to great lengths to cater to the Corvette customer. Separate showrooms, service techs that only work on Corvettes, etc. They go well beyond what Chevrolet does for customers and in most cases do a fantastic job. With less and less Chevy dealers around every day maybe GM will at some point change the way they look at Corvette customers and work with the remaining dealers to provide a better experience overall. I doubt it will ever happen but I can dream.

In closing let me say that I love my C6 but...... I love it because it's a Corvette and forgive the issues I've had with it because of that. If I bought a BMW at the same price point that was painted and put together like my Corvette I would be furious. We all overlook the faults for the car we love.