This is response to a posting I read on this site around the first of this month. A genleman by the name of Mark Thomas, who is Operations Manager for Tom Jumper Chevrolet in Atlanta, GA posted the site offering anyone the opportunity to place a 100% money back deposit on the 2005 C6 Corvette. Almost everyone who responded to the posting heckled, rediculed and laughed at the posting and gave the man a fit at the absurdity of placing a deposit on a car that no one knew anything about and wasn't even orderable for at least a year. It was so bad that the Man, Mark Thomas said, WHOA, STOP!! enough is enough. I made an offer. If your not interested thats ok. I never thought I would get this type of resistance. forget the whole thing.

Well guys, I think you you're ones who are missing the boat!

I Live in the Tampa, FL area and I called Mark Thomas at Tom Jumper Chevrolet in Atlanta, GA to find out more about his peculiar suggestion of putting a deposit on a car that no other dealership would hardly talk about. Mark assured me that this was all on the up and up and that my money was 100% refundable even if the car came in to the dealership and I changed my mind. He stated this would all be in writing on the deposit contract.

I booked a round trip flight from Tampa, FL to Atlanta, GA and was picked up upon my arrival and drove to Tom Jumper Chevrolet, where I questioned their dealership taking deposits on a car that far in advance.
I was told by a couple of their salesman that due to their extremely high volume of Corvette sales (They sold 600 Corvettes last year) and are ranked 7th.largest in Corvette volume in the world that the owner of the dealership didn't mind them taking deposits on future Corvettes.

They gave me a sales contract showing a $1,000.00 deposit on a 2005 C6 Corvette and written on the contract that at anytime up to me actually taking delivery of said car, that I would receive a 100% cash refund if I changed my mind for any reason. That was good enough for me.

They must have had at least 15 to 20 new Corvettes on the lot I could see before being taken back to the airport.

Anyone who is worried about the dealership collecting the, lets say, $50.00 in interest on the $1,000.00 for the length of time they have my deposit, sure didn't want one of the first Corvettes very bad.

You know skepticism is a good thing. It keeps you from being burnt. However, cynicism can be something worse!

Anyone who really wants to get one of the first Vettes out ( I know the first of a new body change can be bad, but i'm willing to take that risk. It could be good also) should get in touch with Mark Thomas or Mike Ferrari at Tom Jumper Chevrolet.
[IMG][/IMG] :seeya

 

So tell us more about the contract! Does it have a price? Sure, no one
knows C6 pricing at this time, but the contract should state that they will
sell you the car at MSRP, or a discount or add-on from MSRP - whatever.
If there's no pricing algorithm then you didn't get much for their use of your money for the next couple of years.

The fact remains that you have paid to be placed on a waiting list, not
to order a car. Everyone who participates in such a transaction should
understand this and what they are getting into.

If there is no pricing algorithm in the contract then they can charge
you whatever they want. Maybe they'll add five, ten, or twenty thousand to the MSRP, maybe not, but when a new Corvette comes out, dealers will charge what the market will bear, and if the economy is doing well and history is any indicator, dealers will add a lot of markup to MSRP when the C6 becomes available for order or sale. There were documented cases of guys paying $90K for ZR-1s when they came out, and guys were paying $10K over MSRP and more for Z06s, when they first came out - reminds me of an old adage about a fool and his money, but I digress.

Of course, if the price is too high, you can pass and you'll probably get your money back. Most dealers aren't outright criminally dishonest, but there have been cases where people with money down on waiting lists sat by a phone that never rang because the dealers were selling them off the floor for whatever the market would bear.

A contract is an agreement between two parties promising certain performance in return for stated consideration. One who enters into a contract should ensure the performance/consideration of the other party is clear and enforceable.

Duke

 

sounds to me like he may be in financial trouble and needs some working capital, and if he goes belly-up you're the one who would get burnt (I highly doubt that this is secured). Even if he is financially healthy, he could just invest that money for the next year in something safe and still earn 7% or so, and if the C6 hasn't come out by then he'll refund your principle but not the interest he earned on it. If there were a provision for you to earn something on it I might feel differently. Just my 2 cents.

 

Kevin,
Sounds like the operative word is,"may", be in financial trouble. I find it a little hard to believe since Tom Jumper Chevrolet is part of Bill Heard Chevrolet and they are the largest Chevrolet dealership in the world.
But I guess anythings possible. You know were not talking, Yugo or Delorean. We're talking a dealership that is part of one of the BIG three. Ford, Chrysler and GM.
Do all of the readers a favor and research the last time a dealership that is a part of the BIG three, went belly up. I'm not saying it hasn't happened, but I think I'll probably go bankrupt before Tom Jumper Chevrolet does.
Oh, by the way. I sat across the desk from the salesman and he filled out an actual sales contract stating in INK, I will not pay any amount above "MSRP" for the car. And that I deposited $1,000.00 on a 2005 C6 Corvette to be fully refunded if I changed my mind for any reason prior to taking actual delivery of the car.
Oh, lets not forget that Tom Jumper might(almost a certainty) put my money in a money market account or something of the like and earn 7 to 10% Interest. WOW, I'M out $70.00 to $100.00.
Have you ever bought a house or a car in your life where you had to put down a deposit to order something or a downpayment.
If I had to put down a five or ten thousand dollars deposit on something that I wasn't going to get to order for a year or a year and a half I might think a lot more about it.
By the way my wife is an attorney and this contract that I signed is a standard legal contract that all car dealership use. the entire contract was read and approved by her. She doesn't want to lose money either!
Your 2 cents were noted.

 

Ok, You're right. No one know the price of a car that doesen't exist yet and is impossible to order for a year to a year and a half. So you answered your own question.
When I was at the dealership the salesman took a standard legal sales contract and wrote in INK, Price will not be above "MSRP" then he wrote 2005 C6 Corvette High performance Limited edition model(If available).
I signed the contract, he signed the contract and a witness signed the contract.
I have placed a DEPOSIT of $1,000.00 to be notified via e-mail and by phone as soon as Chevrolet releases any information on the vehicle or allows it's dealerships to place orders on the 2005 C6 Corvette. As soon as Tom Jumper is notified of any photos, pricing, options and colors, they advised me that the depositors will be notified to fax them the particular color and options the want on their vehicle.
Since Tom Jumper Chevrolet sell an extremely high volume of Corvettes the factory delivers first to the producing dealerships. Then the smaller ones start getting theirs. so forth and so on.
I was born and raised in Miami, Florida. When I ordered my 1978 Silver Anniversity Covette, it came in and a very short time lated it was announced that a Limited Edition Pace Car was debuting. I never heard a thing about a limited Edition car coming out or I would have ordered it.
Well I'm glad I didn't!!! every Chevrolet dealership in Miami was charging $25,000.00 over "MSRP" and the Damn Fools were buying them as fast as they could. But you have to remember that Miami is one of the drug capitol of the U.S. and this was 1978 and trafficing was really big back then. Well we know it is now, but this was South Florida in the '70s.
So you don't have to tell me about gouging. I saw it first hand.
Oh, we discussed that situation in Miami in the '70s and their reply to me was that some dealers in the Atlanta area had done that type of stuff and nobody bought cars like that from them anymore. The word got around.
They assured me that nothing like that happens at their dealership.
That's when he wrote in INK and underlined twice "MSRP" and wrote customer will not pay any price above "MSRP".

Besides my wife is and attorney and she disected the contract front and back when I got home and said that it was all legal and binding and I had nothing to worry about.

I hope I answered you questions to your satisfaction. :seeya

 

The pricing algorithm looks good, and with money market funds currently paying less than two percent (you guys who were talking seven percent must be living in a cave) you're not out much investment income, but there's still one hitch.

Unless the contact gives some kind of delivery time frame or allocates your deposit against a projected order sequence number (or range of numbers) they have no obigation to let you order a car at no more than MSRP until they feel like it.

This is what I was referring to with the "waiting by the phone that never rang" comment from my previous post. If they can sell C6s to floor traffic for over MSRP, and they have no specific time frame obligation to you and/or you are not "slotted" somewhere into their estimated 600 per year allocation, then the contract might have little value.

Duke

 

Duke,
You have a valid point and I appreciate you point of view.
As previous stated, I am willing to take that risk.
Thanks for you thoughts on the subject. :seeya

 

Starman, sounds like a pretty good deal to me. I'd be willing to take the risk if I was looking into an early C6. Duke has a good point as well, but my dealer didn't want to get me a C5 at the GMO discount price I agreed to. I basicly had to badger them to get the deal through, but it worked out in the end. Remember, if one saleman gives you the run-around, just talk to someone else at the same dealer. They get really nice once they think they'll lose a future commision. Then again, I can't say that'll work for the C6.

One other thing, I like the deal just b/c they said "100% refund on a deposit". I haven't seen many deposits that return your $$ if you back out. :cool:

 

You might suggest they hold the money in escrow.

 

Whoa there! I was just throwing out the possibility to consider, not trying to make a statement. Many GM dealers really are in big trouble these days, as is no surprise if you look at recent sales figures. Also, I was under the impression you were putting much more down. Good luck, and I hope it works out for you.

 

I think SWCDuke has a point about when you'll actually get your car. Tom Jumper is a well known and respected dealership, but it doesn't sound like they are under any obligation to sell you a Corvette unless they want to. Yes, they'll sell it at MSRP, but not on day one... not when they can sell it to someone else for $10,000 over MSRP.

It sounds like being one of the first is important to you. If that's ture, another thing to consider is they are not likely to get 600 2005 Vettes. Yes, they'll get some percentage of that 600, but in the first year, when production numbers are always low, they might only get 100. I'm not saying you won't get one, you may just get tired of waiting.

If you could get them to state in your contract that you get, let's say, one of the first 10 2005 Vette's allocated to their dealership, then you'd really have something.

 

No I was only required to put down a $1,000.00 Deposit to be placed on the waiting list to have my Corvette ordered as one of the first. I'm like #22 on the list.
When the car comes in I will be placing a much larger downpayment or Pay off the balance upon it's arrival.
Starman :)

 

I was told that the people on the deposit list would be forwarded to GM the instant that ordering was available and that priority would be given to those who placed a deposit first before Joe Blow who comes off the street and says I want to buy a Corvette.
Now lets say the sake of argument that Tom Jumper only gets 33 Deposits for Corvettes when ordering days come around. Now 6 weeks later 25 Corvettes come in and mine is on the next car carrier that arrives the next day with 8 ordered Vettes. Lets say that 24 of the original of the first days order was just one that GM painted green with black interior and automatic. And lets assume that since Tom Jumper didn't have a deposit on and order a green Vette with black interior with automatic for anyone, they just sent it to the dealership. Joe Blow comes in on the first day before my car arrives on the second day and says do you have any C6 Corvettes and the salesman says yes we have a green one with black interior and automatic. Joe Blow says, Ok I'll take it. I DON"T CARE. It's when 2 months goes by and they are selling vettes to everyone one block and my Vette hasn't arrived that I will start raising hell!
You've have people a chance to burn you. You have to be careful, but you can't go into the dealership andf be a jerk and threaten people if nothing has happened.
I've owned 6 Corvettes prior to this one and I've been screwed by a couple of car salesman. But I don't get nasty until I've been taken advantage of. I give people the benefit of the doubt before I climb down their throat. Maybe I'm too trusting, but that's the way I was raised.

Yes You're right! Being first is important to me. I've always strived to be firsrt in everything I've done in life and i'ts always worked out well for me.
I haven't always made it. But it wasn't because I did't try.
Starman
:)

 

I think it is a good idea, and in good faith.

In general, unless specifically stated otherwise, people with deposits control the time frame. Doesn't matter if a "newbie" is standing there with more$. From an accounting standpoint deposits are always held in "escrow", and are listed as a liability. As to bankrupsy, if that were a motive, the deposit amount would be much bigger. If there is a bankrupsy, the court trustee comes in and one of the assets he tries to protect is deposits and the property of others (cars and parts in for service, for example, cars there but not yet delivered, for example). The normal motive for such a deposit offer is to test the interest, build a customer list and waiting list, and to make for easier buying decisions (dealer to GM).

 

Am I missing something here? Is it really that important? It just seems to be much ado about nothing... :rolleyes: