Strake

and get rid of the $300 doc fees that kerbeck and MacMullen DON'T charge......

JerryU

Bought my 2nd car from Kerbeck, great to do business with! The first I flew to Atlantic City and drove it home to SC.

The 2017 Grand Sport I was able to find a small dealer 30 miles away that did a great job with the Courtesy Delivery of my ordered Vette for $250 no extra charges. Kerbeck handled the SC temp plate and sales tax etc (only $300 in SC.) That is the way I saved money! The C7 Tech did a great job of installing my Stage 2 aero package ordered with the car. They get paid extra from GM for that service.

aerobaticflyer

I used Kerbeck when I ordered my GS because the GS was just coming out and I figured they'd have one of the largest allotments so it helped on getting mine faster....at that time they were doing about the same discount as other forum dealers. But their size gets you closer to the front of the line on a new model it seems (but probably not in every case).

JerryU

^^^
Good point, if there is a 20% constraint on brakes, visible Carbon Fiber roof (often was) they have a far better chance that a small dealer of getting it ordered! Was concerned about my machined aluminum faced wheels, GS brakes (they were constrained about when I ordered) and Stage 2 aero package and you never know about an M7 with the volume reducing. No problems.

Zo62018A8

What is the difference between a "Courtesy Delivery" vs having the car come from Kerbeck straight to my house?

Myfourth1

Nothing that I can think of since Kerbeck does the PDI before it ships. Amoni even set my personal preferences for me before it shipped. Mine was perfect when it arrived from Kerbeck and from MacMulkin and it's pretty cool when that truck pulls up in front of your house. My neighbors came out to watch it being unloaded. Good luck with your decision.

SouthOCBoy

Courtesy Delivery means it comes straight from the factory the way you ordered it. Getting it delivered directly from the dealer means you took one off their lot. Depending on where you live Courtesy Delivery may be cheaper. Getting it shipped is usually around a $1/mile.

JerryU

Courtesy delivery is Only for ordered cars not ones Kerbeck has in stock.

GM charges a fixed $995 to ship anywhere in the continental US. That can be a Chevy dealer in Bowling Green or to the Corvette Museum next door all pay $995 (plus extra for Museum Delivery.).

However they don't care what Chevy dealer they deliver to. It must be a Chevy dealer that will accept it. In my area, few will, and never ask a salesman they get paid for selling cars. I talked to the controller at this small distributorship and found out they do it all the time for the largest employer in town, some 3000 employees and no doubt some execs and sales folks who get cars.

They accepted $250 as their profit (some that will want more) plus they get paid by GM the normal amount for prepping a new car and in my case installing my Stage 2 aero package.

Be foolish to pay a shipper ~$1200 to put in on a truck to your house if you could find a local dealer to accept IF you want to order a car.

Nate@VanBortelChevy

My job would be so much easier if only people knew how much money a dealer is actually making on a $70k to $80k Corvette when selling it at 10% off. And then when you try to educate them, they assume you're lying. Even if you break down the invoice in front of them, they think you're lying. LOL.

Zo62018A8

You dont make money on the car. You make it by holding at least 2 points on the interest rate and selling F&I products. The days of front end gross are long gone, my friend.

mbaessler

Are you trying to describe drop shipping? You order from whomever and have it shipped from the factory to your local dealer. My local dealer wants to charge me $500.00 to receive and prepare for delivery.

iclick

When I was in the market (Feb. 2017) Kerbeck was charging a $360 fee of some sort that may have had another label. I personally find those opportunistic fees insulting but in the end it's the bottom line that counts, and if the dealer wants to lessen his chances by adding fees it's his option. In LA dealers can't charge more than $200 for a doc fee, but all dealers I've encountered here charge that amount.

Supersonic 427

The large volume dealers give some great deals when buying on a Clean Deal (no trades) Throw your Corvette trade in there and they either do not want it or they will want to steal it. This I find especially with Kerbeck who seems to absolutely does not want your trade. Other large volume Corvette dealers will accept your trade, but offer far below market (trade in value). Many times if you have a trade you may do better with your local dealer.

mschuyler

He did a perfect description of "Courtesy Delivery." The local dealer is doing you a "courtesy" because he didn't sell you the car. Instead you bought the car from a discount dealer elsewhere. Not all dealers will do it. They are not required to. Courtesy Delivery is a viable option if you are ordering a car from the factory. Indeed, if you are on the West coast and order from an East coast dealer, it is by far the cheapest way to do it.

"Drop shipping" is a more generic term which does not involve the consent of the receiving party nor any additional charges. For example, Barnes & Noble has a centralized ordering system and will order X number of books from Random House to be "drop shipped" to their branch stores throughout the country. Barnes & Noble expects their discount to be based on the total number of books, not the number sent to each store.

mpuzach

Yup. This has consistently been my experience as well.

DCortez

Mac had the best pricing when we were shopping. Get financing in place ahead of time.

F4 Phantom

I had the exact same experience with Amoni and Kerbeck.

drs

If you want a job where your customers will trust you not to lie to them, you need to change to a different industry.

mschuyler

First of all, that assumes you even know what the car cost the dealership. My experience has been the first-line salesmen often don't know the first thing about the cars they are selling, much less the actual cost. They are low on the totem pole of a dealership (and often treated shabbily.) I'm not saying YOU personally don't, but industry-wide it's an issue. Secondly, we assume "you're lying" because we've had so much experience being lied to in the past. The industry on the whole has a terrible well-earned reputation. Third, it has become common knowledge that the "invoice" price is NOT the price the dealership pays for a car. There are so many incentives, bonuses, hold-backs, special tags, and hidden pricing that there is no way a consumer knows precisely what the dealership ultimately pays for a vehicle. You do this every day and we do it once every few years so that alone puts the consumer at a distinct disadvantage.

Now I know smaller dealerships are at a disadvantage themselves. As Puzach has said, he couldn't sell corvettes for Macmulkin prices and "keep the lights on." And once Macmulkin and the other big dealers sell more cars, that means they get more allocations, which lets them sell more cars. They "get on a roll" and are difficult to stop. The smaller dealerships can't compete on price. If that is deemed "unfair," take it up with GM. Consumers are not in the loop here.

I do know that web-savvy businesses and salespeople have a great opportunity here. There's no reason a smaller dealership can't become the next Macmulkin if they put time, effort, and funding into doing so. If they do not want to do this, they'll stay small forever. What is really sad to see is dealerships lobbying their state legislatures to pass laws so Tesla, for example, is not allowed to sell directly to the consumer. That's a dinosaur mentality and doomed to fail. The "local dealership" model is already outmoded, as anyone who has purchased from a forum vendor knows already. Trying to prevent Tesla from selling cars is not the kind of activity that earns the respect and trust of the consumer. So yeah, I wish your job were easier, too. But "explaining the invoice" to me does not engender in me much confidence. Sorry.

JerryU

Great explanation of why it's called "Courtesy Delivery!" For my '08 C6 went as far as 60 miles and could not find a dealer who would do it - so flew to NJ. Frankly got lucky on the Grand Sport and found this dealer 30 miles away who was eager to do it for $250. Frankly would have paid $500 as flights to and hotels in Atlantic City aren't cheap and driving it 600 miles on I95 through DC, not fun!

The key is forget asking a car salesman or even the sales manager. They make money selling cars. Find the controller, like I did by luck, or the finance person. That is the person that handles financing and tries to sell you tire/wheel insurance! May not be the right person but at least they won't be hostel and can point you to who might be receptive!

After you find a dealer that says OK and defines the price, Kerbeck (etc) will contact them and handle the details with GM