harmonyp

I'm being fickle. I bought my better half a Stingray, and I've taken over the used C6 1LT, and was "pondering" upgrading her as I'm now using her as a daily driver, and I don't have Nav, or Lumbar adjustments, or HUD, and am missing some creature comforts I want for 2 hrs of driving per day.

Went to a well advertised northern california forum vendor, with actually a pretty stellar reputation on the forum. For which I say hrrumph.

Now - I get it when 300 people a day come in and want to sit in and drive these cars, who will not be buying a vette of any sort any time soon. But come on - we DROVE IN in a flippin 2014 stingray.

I've read til I'm blue about Z51 versus non-Z51 (in fact I started the thread), and really think I'd be ecstatic with the non-Z51 and from what I read it'd even make a better DD for me. Response when I asked if I could test drive one of their multiple non-Z51's on the lot to check out the difference with the Z51:

"We don't test drive any of the C7s. We will have a demo, but that won't be until April."

REALLY?! I just came away from a classic car dealership that let me test drive a $100K classic, and I can't drive one of about - well - a bunch of $60K C7s?

Ok - also trying to determine color, when I do finally make the plunge. I saw (and sat in) my first Brownstone Interior at Abel Chevrolet with mechanic "Rich" that EVERYONE raves about on this forum. Off topic - they're the BEST!!! They had a premier edition, and I went nuts over the Brownstone. I thought it might look like work boots from the picture, but it's so far the interior I would pick if I were ordering. If you like dark brown, and you like the suede - it's unfrikinbelievable.

Anyways I digress - so at this exclusive, exotic dealership I was at (e.g. Chevrolet) - they had a C7 convertible with top down, with jet black leather interior with suede inserts. I asked if I could sit in it to see if I liked it better than the Brownstone (which visually I do not, but). These cars are in a back, and enclosed room. And it's LOVELY. And I'd love for the vette I bought to be treated that way instead of outside. But for gods sake - in this back, closed room, the cars were locked. When I asked the salesman if I could sit in it - he told me he wasn't supposed to - but snuck over to check the door, but alas it was locked. I'm sure if I begged, I could have gotten someone to open the door, and perhaps if I made a fuss AND told them I'd buy a car today they'd have let me test drive one. But honestly with the attitude, you couldn't get me to buy a car from this dealership with a $5K off MSRP discount (well - perhaps I exaggerate!)

BUT F! These are not golden eggs. And they aren't 300K Lambos (even if they drive like them). I was so disgusted I figured the only way I could give input is to 1. not ever buy anything from them, and 2. post on the forum my experience.

And it's a generalization to talk about one dealership and knock local CA dealerships. But early last month when we went to another local dealership to pick up our courtesy delivered C7 ordered from MacMulkin - they had 2 C7s outside and people were walking around them drooling, and they weren't letting anyone sit in them. As we were looking through the one we bought, people were coming up, so humble and kind and... drooling, and we must have let 3 different people sit in it. IT'S A FLIPPIN CAR!! Isn't it FUN TO SHARE? WHAT THE F? How are people supposed to make decisions if they can't sit in them, and they can't drive them. Anyways - after that, we started seeing folks sitting in the C7's on the lot - I guess it was hard to deny folks when a CUSTOMER was allowing folks to sit in their new one.

Bottom line, after my adventure, and driving a used Z06 3LZ and a used Grand Sport 3LT I think I've finally come to closure about modding the C6 I have who has been treated like a princess and feels brand new, for the creature comfort additions I want, cause she's a hell of a car, and I'm just not ready to put out the money for a 2nd C7. But, it was an interesting ride along the way...

hope2

poor management, marketing, no question. then you have some people who want theirs fresh off the truck that no one has breathed on. i can see both sides but have a demo, at least one. then with some miles on it you can run it at the auction for plenty of money

LEJ ZO6

We had a similar situation when we were looking at a C4 ZR-1 back in 1993.

We drove in the lot in a C-3 which we were going to keep and pay cash for the C4. We had never even ridden in a ZR-1, let alone drove one.

The dealer said they don't let customers drive their cars but we could ride with a salesman if we put down a $500 deposit. WTF ?

We asked him again because we couldn't believe what we heard. He repeated the same line and we walked.

I was so pissed that I drove around for about 1/2 hour trying to get my anger under control. On the drive, my wife and I passed another dealership with an Anniversary car on the lot. We stopped, introduced ourselves to the salesman and told him we were interested in driving the car. He got the keys, told us to go to lunch in it and he'd tal;k to us when we got back.

We bought the car right after lunch. We have dealt with this dealership ever since. In fact, my wife has a C7 convertible on order from them now.

SoCalC7

I had a similar experience near Irvine Spectrum. Useless. I subsequently bought out of state :-)

Glen e

by spring when BG is cranking these out, and demand has gone down ( or wall street rattles your 401k). Then there will be demos, but not now - they simply don't have to, bitch about it all you want, but that's the situation. BMW does not demo their M series or MB the Black series when it's new either....

in summary, they don't have to demo now.....

Keep 'Em Flying

Can't blame the dealer for not allowing test drives, being as **** as I am about proper break-in I would never buy one with more than a couple miles on the clock.

690 HP V

CA sucks

690 HP V

You are not allowed to step foot into your new home until you sign...

Stupid business whether you agree or not.

harlold

you guys act like the cars are made out of glass

after the first model year, you can basically test drive anything you want.

don't see 10's of thousands of C6's with blown engines because someone took them on a test drive, do you?

harlold

But to echo the thread starters thoughts. I canceled my order for my 2013 Viper in May.

I went shopping for something else. Stopped by Chevy to look at an 09 Z06. They told me I could test drive it if they ran my credit. I left.

Drove over to Porsche and they didn't even ask for my license to test drive a 9914S, which cost 2x what the USED Z06 did.

Nissan dealer had 3 GT-R's on the floor. Wouldn't even let me sit in one. Oh well.

(I ended up taking my Viper after it was built)

Sadly, the dealers selling cars that are out of their typical range just don't know how to deal with people that can buy toys.

ZL-1

It's a tough decision for dealers. To them it's just another car but many have learned the hard way how Corvette buyers are.

The problem is Corvette buyers are not typical buyers. Many are kind of **** and demand that a car has never been demo'd, preferably not even sat in. What if somebody had hammered it during the break-in period Dealers have learned this and have to keep them locked away.

I've test driven new Ferraris but I wouldn't ask at a Chevy dealer. It seems like the ultimate purchaser of an exotic realizes that the car may have been driven whereas for the more demanding Corvette buyer the car must be truly virginal.

Corvette ED

A true new Vette buyer doesn't new to test drive it. Do you know how many jerk-offs go into new car dealers wanting to test drive cars with no intention of buying?

10-7 OD

The reason that dealer does not allow test drives? They have had customers walk away from ordered cars due to them having 20-25 miles on them. So, they decided not to put any miles on any of their cars. They also ordered a demo only shop car, so test drives could be done with that car only. Their demo car arrives in April. While I was a little frustrated by not getting a test drive too (and I ordered my C7 through them!), if my C7 showed up and it had 20 miles on it...and had been used as a test drive mule...I'd be a bit pissed. Wouldn't you?

So while their policy is not ideal for potential real buyers who are unsure about a C7, it makes sense if you think about it. So far, I don't know of any NorCal dealers allowing C7 test drives. They simply don't have enough on hand to let people put miles on them. Low allocation will do that.

The not letting you sit in a specific C7 is just bad business. That needs to change at that dealership. You should have appeared to be a serious buyer, not some punk kid without resources who just wants to goof around. Next time I speak with that dealership, I'll ask about that.

harmonyp

Sorry - the argument of the **** vette buyer that doesn't want a "driven" car doesn't fly right for me. An **** vette buyer will drive them, figure out what they want, then order exactly what they want - options, colors, and get it brand spankin new.

If these primadonna dealerships would let "serious" buyers drive them and sit in them, they'd get a LOT more orders instead of us buying out of state.

My attitude is now - f them. I had a superb experience 3000 miles away with MacMulkin, and if I buy again, I'm repeating it.

blackmagicZ

I understand the dealer wants to sell you a pristine virgin Corvette. I ordered mine from Abel Chevy, because they don't markup their cars. I know of a couple of other dealers that do mark the cars up 20k. They tell me they have no problem selling.

Pete43

I had been looking at my C7 for about a week and went in one morning with the intent to buy. I worked out the deal with the salesman trading in my 2013 green Fiesta. I left to get a check from my bank, showed it to the salesman and asked could I drive it first. He said no. I told him I hope it at least has a warranty. It had 25 miles on it so someone test drove it.
But they were nice enough not to wash the car or put one of their advertisement stickers on it!
Another dealer about 2 miles from my home has 2 C7's (Gray and Blue)and he drives the blue one every day. Least he waves.

vetteLT193

This makes sense on cars that are already sold but ones for sale on the lot? Seriously?

harmonyp

Sure, they have no problem selling, the one or two they get in. But what about all the sales they've lost. The danged car sells itself. Pretty is as pretty does, but once you get behind the wheel of a C7 - for me, and everyone I've talked to - it's insta-love, I HAVE to have this car.

And if this dealership would have been open about letting me drive a non-z51 right there and didn't make me feel like I was in WAY over my league and like I was a bottom feeder, I may well have made a different decision and ordered one from them on the spot. Instead I'm pissed. I drive 100K miles a year, I'm going to go thru my C6 vette fast enough. And they won't be getting my business. And I won't encourage anyone else to give them business either. That's what one gets when one treats customers this way. And they also told me they were the third largest vette dealer in the nation. I was tempted to ask where they thought Furman and MacMulkin and Conti and Kerbeck and the dealers that actually got 3 digit allocations instead of low 2 digit allocations in that paradigm. But I didn't attack the poor salesman who was actually a nice guy in a crappy dealership.

And I talked for a long time with Rich at Abel (and the owner and sales folks were extremely kind) about his leaving a high level dealership to move into tiny Rio Vista for the opportunity to work for a dealership that treats its customers right. That's where I'll be going for service. Hmmm thinking about it, guess they'd be the place for me to order from when I'm ready too...

sly1

I would be surprised that if anyone who bought Corvettes from a particular dealership and established a relationship, wouldn't be allowed to take a C7 for a test drive. On the other hand if someone is unknown to a Chevy salesperson, how does he differentiate a serious buyer from someone who has no intention of buying? Let's not forget that Corvettes share the showroom with $25k - $30k cars, and many Chevy buyers struggle to qualify for these relatively inexpensive cars, much less a $60K+ C7. The dealership traffic is far different in a Chevy showroom than let's say that of a Porsche dealership, where their "inexpensive" cars sticker in the $60Ks and most sticker for well over a $100K.

Maybe some Chevy salesmen can offer their perspective, but I would expect that if Chevy dealers allowed anyone to test drive C7s, they would be beat to hell in a couple of weeks.

Glen e

You cant lose a sale when you cant get the car...seriosuly, stop all this lost sale crap...most autonation stores got 30-45 cars for the year..they had a waiting list of 60-80..there are no lost sales and no test drives...the plain truth....

many of you guy are really hypocritical...you want a car with no miles but then want to test drive one and put miles on it and probably flog it a bit.......and then a dealer takes a hit selling ..and right now again, THEY DON'T HAVE TO....

BUT .....they will, later on in the product cycle...