1Day

I goto a very big dealer in my area which does Infiniti, BMW, Merc, Cadi, Porsche, Honda, Maybach and Bentley, I always see vettes and mustangs and other nice cars at his workshop cuz i guess rich ppl who have owned other cars from their line up, prefer coming to this service as they get the best treatment money can buy as compared to the ford and chevy dealerships which are right at the bottom of the chain..

John Shiels

Yes your finger

75,000

NocarbutaVetteforme

This is a pretty accurate account of things. Many believe that the Corvette should move over to the Cadillac, me being one of those. By doing such we would be able to take our cars to a more reputable dealership and not be subjected to the BS of being offered a damn Cavalier for a loaner car when we are paying to drive a Vette. Also the value of the Corvette might be higher by elevating the Corvette to a brand associated with quality. The only thing that we need to think about is that with that perceived increase in quality will come an increase in price.
As for those who continue to dispute the upcoming Z's price , maybe a new Z06 isn't for you. Maybe you will have to settle, if you can call driving a C6 settling, with a C6. We go thru one of these Z06 pricing threads every other day and it appears that it is someone trying to pursuade or paint a negative picture about why the Z06 would never sell for such a price. Get over it! Either you can afford it or you can't. Maybe you can't and just don't want to spend that kind of money. Well, get over it. The Z06 might not be for you. People want aluminum frames, a 427, a dry sump oil system , an all around race car but yet they want it for the same price as it's predecessor. Some people want it all but yet don't want to pay for it. You have to pay to play. GM has finally given us this performance and now people are complaining because they will have to pay for this upgrade. Once again I say get over it. For those of you who say that you will simply move over to a Viper, then do it. This only means that you were buying the Z06 because it was cheaper instead of buying it for the car. But once again I say get over it because if you can't pay the Z06 price then you obviously won't be buying the Viper.
It seems people are trying to convince not only themselves but others why the price is too high. We don't even know what the price is, yet people are worried s%$%less that they can't or won't be able to buy one. It is actually funny to see those worried about the price justifying why it won't sell. Get over it. Everyone made will sell. If not to you then to someone else. Whenever you move into new territory you are going to **** some people off. As the saying goes, "You can please some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time".

AU N EGL

Really?? Every time my car comes back from service it is spotless, brake fluid changed, brake pads and rotors checked. Oil changed, belts inspected, tires checked for ware, rotated right to left and left to right, every bolt inspected and tightned, seat and seat belts inspected, stearing linkage checked. . . . Ohh wait, I do all my own work

BMadden

At $75-80k(with taxes) for the Z06, it's already exceeded Lexus prices. Their most expensive model is the LS430 and it top's out at $70k.


As for making the Corvette a brand of it's own independent of Chevrolet, I've thought they should do that for the past 15 years. Unfortunately, though, I don't think we'll ever see it happen.

SteveJ

Many people don't mind buying an unknown quantity to have the pleasure of being the first on the block. Maybe they have enough money that the Z06 won't even be a stretch for them. That's fine with me. I hope the Z06 is a big hit. We don't know right now what the insurance cost will be. We don't know if there will be a reasonable selection of alternative tires at reasonable prices. We don't know what the first year bugs are. Heck, we don't know what the bugs are that won't ever be fixed (ex. column lock 1997-2004). There are a lot of things we don't know, and I only picked the first ones that occurred to me. I'm not pissed off, but I'm waiting.

kverges

Does any one of you pay attention to what a C6 REALLY costs? MSRP for a loaded convertible (power top, Z51 and so on) is $62K. You are dreaming if you think a Z06 is going to cost LESS than that.

Fact is, those who really want the car will pay extra; question is how many of us are there? As a Viper owner, I am not put off by $66K, and that's part of the market Chevrolet seeks.

The car will depreciate, though, and those who want to wait can get their $58K Z06 perhaps as soon as summer 2007, earlier if you want a well-used and higher mileage example.

peccles

I think GM should price the C6 Z06 as to get the same profit % as they get on the base C6. I don't know what that number is. I'm assuming it would be below $65K amybe less than $60K. The first year will be a big hit and an easy sell. Now if it continues at that pace in year 2 they can raise the price slowly to see what the market will bear. If they price it too high at the start, they will have to trouble with sales starting late in year 2. Of course, that might be the plan. Once sales start to lag too much, throw in the 3 valve 7.0L good for 575HP and maybe hit the 200mph mark.

So if making the same % profit as the base C6 can keep the car under $60K, GM can smile when headlines read "Corvette Z06 sales take a bite out of Porsche" and "Z06 kills the snake as Viper sales dwindle".

Mover

It's hard to guess what GM will price it at. Value is relative. I was just talking to my dealer, who also sells Caddys. We were discussing the huge (and fast) depreciation hit XLR's and vettes have in our area. The price of the Z06 isn't that important to me, but the depreciation hit is important...since I trade in cars often...usually 2 years, although this time I waited for the Z06.

usroute66 MKW

It doesn't work that way and GM bean counters know it. Look at any high end brand and see what the mark up is on the premium model . Do you think it costs MBZ $100 K of additional costs to build the $195K AMG SL65 over the base $90K SL 500 ? Does Porsche really put in $60K more cost into building a $130K 911Turbo vs $70K base 911 ?
There is a lot of added profit in the high end model - GM is actually being "generous" if it MSRPs at less than $70K , but that is because of the low- rent " Chevy " badge .

1Day

do you know how much difference there is between the SL500 and the SL55 leave alone the SL65 which is a different animal algother...

ofcourse its again down to how many can you make and what it will take to make a good profit..since 65AMG is one man one engine philosophy plus its low production numbers raise the price..ofcourse to a certain extend i agree it can not command 60k over the SL55, but would atleast cost 25-30k more...

kverges

While figuring cost, imagine YOU are GM.

Base car stickers for $44K, and lots of poseurs are going to baby it to the tune of over 25K units a year.

Z06 has unique frame, body panels, and engine with titanium, dry sump and a bunch more in it. Gonna have to pass EPA, DOT and many hours of durability testing, engineering time and a bunch more. What do you figure that costs? Probably need at least 10 "mules" that are custom made, many, many hours of engineering time, trips to Germany, Canada, Arizona, and more.

Then factor in that the engines will be hand made in a new engine plant; what do you figure the plant, tooling and personnel cost?

Now then, the Z06 buyer is far more likely to flog the car, hotrod it and then show up at the dealer claiming warranty after N20 or a blower has been on the car.

What's a fair price increase over the base, unoptioned $44K to cover your investment, warranty risks, and make a profit? How much does MTI or LPE charge for a 427 stroker, upgraded brakes and wheels and forget the aluminum frame? Do they offer warranties that match OEM duration AND the ability to take the car to any Chevy dealer?

Find a vendor that will provide a 427 stroker, upgraded brakes and wheels/tires on par with the Z06, custom body panels to fit the bigger wheels and tires, and a serious warranty for $14K extra and then talk about how $58K is the limit.

At $20-$25K over base, the car is still fairly priced to those who actually will pay for the incremental performance the Z06 offers. Can it all be done cheaper? Maybe for the DIY person (except weight, and I know no way to crack that nut without huge compromises), but I doubt the typical consumer could build Z06 performance and looks for $25K over the base C6.

Is $20-$25K too much money for 100 hp and the other goodies? That's a value judgment that the market might not bear. I don't think GM can sell numbers like C5 Z06s at this increment, but I also think that the C6 Z06 is more like the ZR1 (in fact, more visually distinctive), which had an even larger percentage price differential for, by 1995-6, a mere 70 hp over the LT4.

Production numbers will tell the tale. At 8,000+ units or some such, discounts will come and come early. At 2,000- units, I think every one will sell at $66K. I would personally start higher and see what the market will bear, volume-wise. Wouldn't it suck to have a tight margin and find that consumers really did not want the fixed roof and other compromises the Z06 requires in large enough numbers to recoup your investment?

JoesC5

You can't compare cost between a mass produced automobile and one that is one off modified, i.e. LPE, etc. For example the mass produced C6 you purchase off the dealers showroom for $50,000 would be well over $150,000 if you strolled over to the parts counter and purchased each componet individually and then handed them over to the mechanic in the service dept. and had him assemble them. And that would be using all stock GM parts. Even though the LS7 will be "hand assembled" the parts are mass produced, with the machining of the parts being done using machine tools designed for mass production. "hand assemble" of the LS7 is not the same as a "hand Assemble" of a one off engine, like a nascar engine, where each componet is built "one off" and each part is hand fitted. Same goes for the unque body panels. They will be produced at the same manufacturing cost as the normal C6 body panels. There is, of course, some increased developement cost and tooling cost in the Z06 panels, but when amoritized over a projected life of ~35,000 (7,000 annually X 5 years production run) the cost increase per car is not that much. Same goes for the beefer driveline componets and the different wheels. All of those thousands of parts that go into building a Z06 will be run down the same assembly line in Bowling Green as the thousands of parts used in the assembly of the standard C6, thus little increase in assembly costs. The developement cost of the C5 was $250,000,000 and was amoritized over a projected run of 125,000 units, which equals $2,000 per car. The total run of the C5 was 250,000 units, so GM made an extra $250,000,000 because the car was so sucessfull that they sold twice as many as they projected, which was the number presented to management to justify the expense of producing the C5. If GM spent $50,000,000 total in developement, tooling cost and certification for the Z06 over the standard C6 (which I doubt), at a projected run of 35,000 units (my guess, no facts to back this figure up) then the cost per unit would be less then $1,500 per Z06.

BHP

Sorry friend, that is a lame excuse. There are some exemplary Chevy dealers but they are rare. There is NO excuse for poor service period. The customer has the power to vote with their pocketbook, which ultimately decides if a business survives.

1Day

I have seen some honda dealerships give very good service as well..they are cheap cars..but somehow i never feel right going into a chevy dealer..exceptions are always there and i suppose forum dealers would be in that rare exceptions..

usroute66 MKW

Of course I do - I have a 911 Turbo , 2 MBZs and an order in for a black/black AMG E55 wagon which will run close to $100K for a station wagon- so I know all about added value and pure profit !

1Day

good for you...

isnt the diff between the Z06 and C6 Z51 as much as SL55 and SL65, there is, so i heard..so if chevy can command 25k for their tech, then merc will obviously go much more, reason being its a merc, they over charge anyways and also cuz the base price was higher so the % diff becomes higher..but then again i think SL65 should have been base 155-160 not 185..

kverges

I doubt the production costs compare as favorably as you say, for example do you think the molded C6 fenders in volumes of say 25K/yr will cost the same as CF panels in volumes of 7K/yr? Also, I would be surprised to see total production volumes of 35,000 over the life of the car. I'll bet the budgeted amount is less that half that, and maybe closer to 1/3. Granted, that still leaves quite a mark-up for the car over development costs if real volumes are sold, but I guess I don't mind paying it. A very favorable profit experience may lead to more and better products in the future, and marginal profits or a loss could turn this into a Fiero. And you know what? Perversely, people come to believe a product is better if they pay a lot for it. Keep the volume low enough to support the price and Chevy might also get some halo effect, just like I think Dodge did with the Viper in the 90s.

BMadden

$100k for a station wagon?

STAGED

Great point. They should offer something like what SVT offers for SVT Ford customers. I think that would make a difference as GM attempts to win over Lexus, Infiniti, MB, BMW, and Porsche customers. There should even be a "Platinum" certification for Chevy dealers who hold the highest CSI scores and give them preferred allocation of Z06s so owners get acquainted with the dealer during the purchase process and feel at home when bringing the car to the same dealer with full knowledge ***** has the option to go to a lesser Chevy dealer for future service.