Kevin A Jones

Nothing surprising here, ask dealer for ALL ADDED COSTS at start of negotiation and factor it into discount off MSRP to determine final out the door price.
It doesn't really matter to me how a dealer gets to their lowest final price, just that they get there so I can compare to other dealer final out the door pricing to insure I receive best price overall.

Slynky

I would like to thank everyone for taking time to reply and send suggestions. I just returned and I can give an update now on what transpired.

I met with Shon (Some sort of manager and Corvette specialists) and Shon took me over to meet Chris (their Corvette specialist--he does all the orders, etc). BOTH were very knowledgeable.

The first thing I did was inform them of the negative press they were receiving here and took the sample offer I received from Hendrick at Buford. Without a blink, they said "Car Care" nor "Maintenance" were required items and said they wouldn't use it All that was left was the "Admin Charge" of $699 (which was untouchable). Well, there usually going to be some kind of admin charge--I paid $450 on my 370Z 8 years ago. I guess it's inflation.

So, I told them what I was wanted off MSRP and I brought two builds with me from the website. Chris entered them. Then Shon went to get the printouts and scribbled some numbers on them. I had approached them with 12½% off a Z51 build and 14% off a GS build. When Shon returned, he computed the MSRP build price for each with the percentages I had proposed figured in. No haggling I could have the Z51 I configured for 12½% off MSRP or the GS I configured at 14% off MSRP. I checked the numbers and that was it to the penny. After that, the admin fee, T T T, Electronic filing fee, lemon law fee ($2), and some $8 charge.

Now, I thought about the $699 admin fee and buying from another forum vendor (who plenty of people reported were giving 11% - 12% discounts off MSRP). And I'd need to pay $500 for courtesy delivery. So, given the difference between Hendrick admin fee and courtesy delivery, it was a difference of $199. Not a huge pot of money. Plus, I had good discounts off either car, especially the GS at 14%.

SO, after a few hours of deciding which car (and I know there will be people who say I screwed up but I can give my reasons in another conversation), driving to another dealer for a sneak peak at wheel choices in person, I decided on the Z51. I knew if I bought the GS in LBR and the standard set of wheels, I would always wish I had the Z51 machined-faced wheels (which I really like). I looked at the GS machined wheels and it wasn't "vibrant" enough for the added cost of $1495. I don't like the chrome at $1995. And nearly everyone builds LBR using the $495 black wheels (didn't feel like having the exact same car as load of of LBR owners). So, that's one of my main reasons for my choice.

BUT, the real reason for this post is to give a fair comment to Hendrick at Duluth--They were/are fair, there was no haggling, they were VERY patient with all my questions (and off-topic conversations I started up). So, my Z51 build was $70,070 and they reduced it to $61,311.25. And in the other fees and I'm OTD for $66,435, EVERYTHING.

Now, here is the kicker. Chatted with Chris a lot and we laughed about different things we had done Told me about his dad in the navy and I mentioned being retired from the army. And he looks at me and say, "You need to do this." Gives me the GM military website, says supply the documentation it asks for to prove I'm retired, says it will give me a code and I can bring that code when the car arrives and I pick it up and pay it off. I asked what good was the military discount since I had already done better than it. He said, it will reduce their admin fee from $699 to $75. Well, I'm alright with that !! And, he didn't have to say anything but he did.

So, to sum it up, I got the car I wanted for the discount I wanted (which is competitive with any I've seen posted here), no courtesy delivery fee, and just a $75 admin fee. Maybe I missed something, but I think I was treated fairly and received a competitive price. Order goes in on Tuesday--they have 3 Z06 allocations and 7 Corvette allocations.

AORoads

I'm glad you're happy. I learned something about the "Military Discount" and the validity of the "admin fee" I am surprised.

Slynky

I was stationed at a "secret" base outside of DC (in northern Virginia) in 1972 and again from '78 - '82.

Bluebeast17

Crooks trust me I know bought a car from them was told more lies than the salesman had fingers and toes.

Dcasole

Glad it all worked out !

I bought my car from Rich Hendricks Buford Store and could not be happier

Also their Corvette Mechanic Todd at the Buford store is great !

He worked on both my C6 and My C7 …

Going there tomorrow to look at a used car for my daughter
Dave

ROBWILKER

Just going to frustrate yourself. Henricks just needs extra cash to flaunt at the next Barrett Jackson auction. You should listen to the advice you have been given. I can see why they will talk to anyone that will engage their "bush league" tactics. They are over a grand up, you are in the hole, even before they get to MSRP plus ADM (additional dealer markup.) Caveat emptor.

Mister Big

Sounds like the 20% "Resort Fees" the Las Vegas hotels are charging.

cyi1

I live near that Rick hendrick. I'm in Duluth also. Go to Jim Ellis in chamblee. I will ONLY do my service there even though it's out of the way. I also almost got a '15 used Z06 from Jim Ellis but got a really good deal out of state (close to 20% off).

If you order out of state I know an amazing transporter that will get you the car really quick and for reasonable rate. Mine was picked up from Michigan back to Atlanta and he left whenever I gave him the "ok" to go get the car.

Better deals are out of state especially the northern ones that have long winters where cars sit.

I purchased from a Chevrolet dealership in Midland, MI, I believe, and unlike the dealerships here, their admin fee was like $100. It was so low compared to all these dealers in Georgia that I didn't even want to negotiate that out of the price.


Edit--oops op bought car. Congrats and enjoy the ride. Take it to Jim Ellis for service though.

Vetteman Jack

Slynky

Please read my lengthy post (above) on the car I ordered and the deal I got. Maybe I'm not seeing something but it looks like a good deal to me and it was a haggle-free environment.

Slynky

Thanks for the reply and suggestion.

Slynky

Please see my post above and the final price I paid. Thanks for your input.

green2000

All that matters is the price you pay. They can calculate it however they want to get to this number. They may have business reasons to add those fees but do as you are doing and get the bottom line to where you want it.

sTz

SilverScorp

Yea, Rick Hendrick Chevy isn't the best place to go for buying a Corvette. Their car services are good and that's about it. When I was looking for a Z06 at Hendrick, they tried to slap those charges in the total cost as well. When I asked them what were these charges for, they could not explicitly tell me what they were for. On top of that, they wanted me too buy some crappy GM car coating which they wanted to charge me $2,500 for three bottles of GM car care. So, I walked out as fast as a I could and went to Jim Ellis. I had a much better experience there versus Hendricks. I think the difference was about $943 dollars subtracted from those BS charges at Hendricks.

Rebel Yell

Sounds like you hit a home run Slynky, and it gives me a little faith in Hendricks. Something I never had, and the reason I never darkened their door. Hendricks owns damn near every car franchise there is in the Charlotte area, so I'll give 'em a chance next time since they did you right. Post some pics when you get your new baby home. Congratulations.

Skid Row Joe

You're getting slaughtered if you order from them. Run!

JK 23112

I am happy that Hendrick was able to get you the car you wanted at what you think is a fair price. That is the way it is supposed to be. Regarding the Hendrick dealer near Richmond (VA), their service department is excellent and I had my first "free" service done there on my 2017 Stingray. They were awesome in that respect.

Their sales department and its practices were deplorable, though. When I was in the market (before buying, but absolutely ready to order my new Corvette), they were one of the three that came up as "preferred dealers" with my credit union. The guy who showed me their in-stock models was nice and fairly well-informed, but I cringed when their new Corvettes were parked underneath pigeon's nests in their "parking deck" behind the showroom building. He gave me some basic information, but we never talked an exact price. A few days later, someone (a manager, I think) called me. I told her exactly what I wanted (I had done my homework) regarding color, options, etc., etc.

She said they had great financing options, but I was planning to pay cash for the car. They told me about their "good" offers for trade-ins, but I did not have a trade-in because the Corvette was going to be my 'second' car. I had gotten a price (to the dollar) from two other local dealers - but it was still like pulling teeth. Hendrick would not give me a "firm" price on a factory order! They got kind of indignant with me and she reluctantly quoted me a price that was about $2,000 below full MSRP - plus their "fees" that amount to six or seven hundred dollars!! No thanks. I was 51 years old (fall of of 2016) and they assumed I was some wet behind the ears kid because this was going to be my first Corvette - but definitely NOT my first time buying a damn car.

I would suggest that you look very hard at the three big forum dealers (Criswell, Kerbeck and McMulkin) - all of whom will give you a straight-up price. I chose to deal with Mike Furman at Criswell and would highly recommend him. He reached out to me on this forum and I drove up to see him (with an appointment) at the Criswell location in Gaithersburg. He was totally no-pressure, easy to deal with and VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE about anything to do with a Corvette. I knew what I wanted to order - Stingray, 2LT, NPP exhaust, Torch Red w/ black interior, wet-sump (non-Z51) oil system, battery protection package, 7spd manual and black wheels.

He gave me some great advice on ordering the black wheels WITH the red brake calipers and the blackout trim for the emblems. He told me to "sleep on it" for a week.......which I did. I then called him, sent an email back and forth to confirm my options, etc., etc., gave him a deposit on my debit card - and he submitted the order to GM the following morning. He kept in touch quite often during the build process and got me the car about a week earlier than promised. I took an Uber up to Gaithersburg (from Richmond) and drove home my car with less than an hour of paperwork. I did not finance the car and I had no trade-in to mess with. Criswell did have a processing fee ($200, I think), but he disclosed it up front and never tried to add on ADP, ADM or other bogus charges. There is good reason why he has sold more than 4,000 Corvettes in his career.

My advice? Read through the posts on this forum. There is a wealth of knowledge here and you will never ask a question for which someone here can't provide an answer. Some people here like to snipe at each other from time to time, but it's a good bunch of folks from all over the country.

JerryU

Frankly I bought my first two Vettes locally by going to the sales manager with a print-out of exactly what I wanted, the MSRP and dealer Invocie for each item. Put it on his desk and stating (politely) what I would pay! I knew there were hold backs and stated I would not pay any extra protection, advertising or processing fees etc. Bought my '88 and '93 Vettes that way. They ordered and I got exactly what I wanted in ~6/8 weeks.

The last 3 Vettes I bought from large dealers, two from Kerbeck. What a pleasure. No hassles, no trying to guess at the hold backs, no extras for local advertising or all the other BS! Just look at the prices/discounts of the over 200 cars they have in inventory and that is what I paid for one they ordered- built for me. Since they buy ~25 week no waiting to place the order or for allocation etc.

My current a 2017 the Grand Sport, was bought from Kerbeck in a 10 minute phone call and I found a small dealer 30 miles away that accepted Courtesy Delivery for a flat $250- not one penny more. Their service department was happy to get paid by GM for the prep and separately by GM for installing the side skirts and splitter. Only their C7 Tech touches Vettes. The service manager's wife has a 2016 Vette! Was so impressed I did not use the large Chevy dealer in town for the recent software update, went there. It was done in 1 hour! Great folks, great no hassle purchase.

The days of haggling in buying a Vette are gone for me!