I was going to keep quiet about this thread until I saw the other post he just made. I really don’t want to dirty up his other thread so I will say it here because this thread will probably get locked anyway.

When I read the OP post on the subject I had to just say to myself why? But to their defense I think the more dealer continue to sell cars at wholesale the more they erode the resale value of the cars later on. But that damage has already been done..
with that said, I really think if you want to sell corvettes you really have to some degree follow suit with the other dealers around the country also on this forum.
I think geographical location has some significant merit because living in Colorado it would have cost me a lot more money to transport a car from GA to here so this dealership most likely wouldn’t even be a contender for me.
I spoke with Tim at boardwalk months ago and would have bought from him but the hassle with California tax and transporting the car since you have to pay someone to transport it out of state and cannot pick up yourself without paying tax turned into a real sour apple for me.
I ended up buying from Ken Fichtner. From the very first email sent to him inquiring about my 2012 centennial edition never once did he ever hit of adding in anything extra. His prices were more than fair. I never expected I would get a brand new un built Z06 especially a centennial edition for almost 15,000 off MSRP I have new total vehicle MSRP of $90,265 Fichtner sold to me for price of $80,239 with gm incentives and rebates of $4,500 my purchase price is $75,739
There were NO dealer handling fees, no add no’s no BS no nothing!
If any dealer added these things to the sale of my new car or even mentioned it in any part of the conversation I would have felt lied to.
Now if it was some added window tint that I wanted anyway then fine, no big deal. But nitrogen in the tires? 125 bucks? Are you kidding me?
Wheel locks and edge guards and they also charge a fee?
well if I lived in GA and could go there and pick it up myself without having to pay to buy a plane ticket or the cost to transport it, I guess I could suck it up, maybe about $450 worth, but an additional grand? No thanks!
For that money I could have ordered from Fichtner and had it transported to me for $650.00
Oh and the comment about being the largest of #2 largest corvette dealer in the US well DUHHH! If all you sell is corvettes don’t ya think you might be pretty high up on the bragging sales corvette list?
That would be like my local dealer in Colorado bragging about being the largest dealer for 4x4 pickup trucks!

Bottom line is this, if you’re a dealer on this forum and you want to be the best and sell the most you have to at least have the same price with no games of gimmicks as all your competitors here.
The rest comes down to the buyer’s location to your dealership.

I will say for the record that Ken and Dennis at Fichtner Chevrolet have been very helpful taking quite a few calls from me without 1 hint of frustration with me!
Considering I know he is making next to nothing on the sale of my corvette I honestly don't know how they do it.
I will be posting a full review of my experience with Fichtner hopefully by next weekend assuming the transport company can find the time in their schedule to bring my new car to their dealer for me to pick up.
Be watching for that post. I have a lot of great things to say about Fichtner so far about my experience.

 

In the past 5 months, I have been to numerous
car dealerships in my local area (knoxville,tn)
looking at cars.

I have been to Chevrolet, Toyota, Lexus,
Nissan, Porsche, Infiniti, and Mazda. All of
these dealerships has these type of additional
stickers applied to the window of all their cars.
They don't bother me at all. When I see them,
I don't get mad and run back to my car in disgust.
I don't get on all the car forums and report these
dealerships by name. Most adult and mature people
know that these additional stickers exist. These stickers
don't bother them, because they are intelligent enough
to know that what really matters is the bottom line
(what they pay for the car in the end). These dealerships
are in the business to make money. I don't agree with
this practice (the additional window sticker), but I just
laugh when I see them on the window. Most people need
to be informed, smart and prepared on prices of cars
before they go to the dealership (MSRP, Employee, and
Invoice pricing). Do a little homework before you go.

In the end, .... it could be an enjoyable experience (:

Thanks.
.

 

I can't speak about the Atlanta store, but in June, the store in Monroe, NC wouldn't give me a price over the phone. The guy kept saying, come on in and let's talk about it. I told him I was going to buy in the next two weeks and still no price. I picked up a new 2010 3LT GS coupe from Bill Stasek Chevy on July 5th.(already had a trip planned through the area) I had shopped most of the forum dealers and they didn't have what I wanted or were higher priced. I was very pleased with the transaction.

 

Usually when I see vehicles at dealerships with non factory add ons listed next to the sticker price ( called "bump stickers") I go somewhere else. I have no need for rust proofing, nitrogen, window tint, door edge guards, pin striping and / or paint sealant. I rank the dealers that use the "bump sticker" as just a little more dishonest than the average dealer. "Bump stickers" are bad any way you look at them. The dealership mentioned here should be ashamed of itself.

Bob
IBTL

 

speaking of pin striping, about a year ago there was a very nice Lexus IF-F brand new on the dealers showroom. they let their pin striping guy come work his magic and absolutly ruined the car with this stupid 3 tone blue purple intricate stencil 3 tone pinstripe thing on the back and all down the sides!
i was OMG and they wanted like 800 extra for the stripes. all the sales people in the show room also said it looked terrible!
imagine having to have that removed on your new car, not only not interested in paying for it, but then having to get it removed. i guarentee the dealer really ate any profit on that little number!

 

ALL OF WHICH CAN BE EASILY REMOVED.SO WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?It's not your job to dictate how they sell their cars.They are not 'trying' to stick you with anything,unless you let them.You want that car?Ask them to remove the stuff or give you the equivelant discount that would cover all that so it's 0 dollars to you.Simple process really.

 

I flew up 2 weeks ago to pick up my GS, I got a great deal. I payed 2000 less than my best deal in Florida. They did have a dealer fee but when I mentioned it they removed it, I didn't have threaten to leave or get mad they just took it off the top. George Clark is there to sell corvettes make sure you speak with him if you are unhappy, if he can't do a deal it can't be done.

 

All that stuff is easily removed. Thats not the point. The point of that stuff is thinking that car buyers don't see these items as a 'fleece'

 

Wow. Some of you posting sound like the Occupy crowd. Dealers arent "sticking it" to anyone. They are allowed to make money and will do everything they can to maximize their profit. That is called good business sense. Common sense says that if they were "sticking it" to everyone, they wouldnt stay in business very long. Some buyers are more educated than others, you dont like the add on options, then move on, dont complain about it here. Someone will eventually buy, at least the dealer is hedging a bet on it, and they are allowed to make some money on the deal. Heck there are people paying several hundred dollars for a pair of jeans. I dont shop at those stores and I certainly dont complain about it on the internet. Get over it.

 

 

Btw, those "door edge guards" ruin the car, imho

 

That may be what you call it - I call it 'Let's try to squeeze the customer for every dollar we can get. If they want to pay less, make 'em work for it." I don't do business with places like that. Show me a retailer that starts off with a reasonable price and I'll gladly pay it all day long without trying to whittle it down.

 

I gave a local guy a try last week, he added $1599.12 advertising/adjustment fee. AND he was serious.

 

Smith,

You hit the nail on the head !

I love your post . The best one on this
whole thread. Keep them coming (:

Oh yeah ... Thank you Rick Daniels for
being a sponsor on the Corvette Forum.
Because of these dealers sponsoring
this Forum, we can talk about Corvettes (:
I really do appreciate it ... Thank you !!

.

 

Hey my dealer called me to look at a 2012 GS vert......
I looked , then almost fainted....$74,000
Damn..I could get a Camaro SS and a Mustang GT for that...with some change in my pocket!

 

I didn't know that Camaro SS or Mustang GT was that overpriced! Makes the vette a great value.

 

Owning a dealership is like owning a license to steal. They play games with you like asking for your license for a test drive and then misplacing it so you won't leave. Or going back and forth to their sales manager to review your offer. All tactics designed to keep you on the hook and wear you down. It's all BS and this is why dealerships have a bad reputation.

I have to travel outside the county where I live to get a good deal. I tried all the dealerships in town and as soon as I caught a whiff of the BS I was out the door. A dealer that will not agree on a price via e-mail or over the phone is full of it. They just want to get you in the dealership where they can use their sales tactics to full effect.

Their point of view is that a sucker is born every minute, oh and look, one just walked through the door.

 

Besides being disappointed in a dealer having a “Dealer Option” sticker on a Corvette, it’s the added options that are not practical to remove, that are over priced, is part of the issue. If I wanted to have the windows tinted, or anything else added, it should be MY option to have that done at or after the purchase, not the dealers. DOC fee, I think the above members addressed that very thoroughly.
I never said or implied they were trying to sneak anything by or they were being deceptive.

 

I have two simple rules:

I don't pay the addendum.
I don't pay MSRP.

 

They are a business. They are in business to make money. Every business employs tactics to make money.

Be a smart customer. Do your research. Exercise your choice to buy elsewhere. Quit whining.