There is a dealer in Winston Salem NC that basically is collecting peoples car photos, social security numbers, drivers licenses, and insurance information for cars that they have already sold.

The dealer is Modern Chevrolet.
https://www.modernchevy.com

They actually go back and forth with you over email and make it seem like that they have a car and are willing to make a trade.

I would not recommend doing business with is company and have reported the to the better business bureau.

 

Modern Chevrolet. Age.old tactics.

 

Hardly limited to the one noted.

 

Seems to me like a simple phone call and conversation with the sales manager before giving all your info on the website would've saved a whole lot of time and aggravation on your part.

As has been stated many hundreds of times on this forum, when a car is released for transport, Chevrolet automatically posts it to the dealer's website, whether it is a sold order or not.

Nearly every dealer in the country has a virtual online purchase link exactly like this one. When the prospect fills this out, the info goes directly to an internet lead management team or directly to sales. These folks really do not know at that point if the car is a sold order or not. At this point, they have one job, that is to get you into the dealership.

This system is not really designed for a low supply, high demand car like the C8. If you want a C8, you're gonna have to at least pick up the phone, if not put on your pants and go talk to someone in person.

 

Have you never looked at a dealerships website before? They’re all exactly the same, and you can simply email their internet sales manager regarding a vehicle listed on their website without providing any personal information whatsoever.

I haven’t purchased a vehicle by going into the dealership in over 15 years (and have purchased 10-12 vehicles in there time). I find the vehicle I’m interested in, contact the internet sales manager or sales manager and negotiate price, trade-in value, etc. before ever setting foot in the dealership. My financing is typically done through my bank/credit union prior to finalizing the sale & I give the dealership an opportunity to match or beat the financing terms.

On my wife’s new ‘20 Grand Cherokee for example, Chrysler Capital was able to provide a lower interest rate and we received an additional $1,500 rebate for financing with them. Win-win. When we go pick up the vehicle it’s typically a 15-20 min visit. I’ve even signed all the purchase paperwork on vehicles through DocuSign, so then I literally show up, they hand me the keys, & I drive my new vehicle home.

Wasting hours or an afternoon haggling with a sales person or sales manager is for the birds.

 

Agree 100%. Each of the other dealers that I interacted with basically told me upfront that the car on their site was not in stock. This particular dealer sent multiple emails to me, asking that I finish providing the information so that they could finish "the deal"

They even requested me to register in their portal so that we could finish everything up electronically and finish the deal.

The days of walking in to a dealer are coming to an end.

 

I've sold several vehicles, including a Ram TRX to people I've never met or seen. Things like you posted are pretty common these days, however, it's through a third party web site that sends the deal "a lead" to the dealership.

 

Many years ago one of the seasoned salesmen at a local Ford dealership paid the people living across the street to jot down the plate numbers of browsers stopping after hours.

He had an in with the local LE to see who owned the cars.

Guy sold a lot of cars.

 

These issues should can reported to General Motors directly. Airing them here might make you feel vindicated but will have no impact on the way shady dealers treat their customers. GM corporate is very sensitive to these issues, hence the online ordering process for the new Corvettes. It was specifically developed to eliminate these kinds of issues. The dealers who only a couple or Corvettes a year will find themselves on the outside looking as they will not get future allocations. he more aware GM management is of price gouging the more immediate that dealers allocation will dry up.
And, has others have stated, buying from a different dealer should be your immediate response to poor treatment from any car dealer.
If you want to issue a formal complaint about treatment you received personally received from GM Dealer here is the info.

Step 1

Write out a formal complaint on word-processing software. This can be done with any software such as Corel Wordperfect, Microsoft Word or Microsoft Works. The complaint must include information such as the name of the business, location of the business and the nature of the complaint, as well as any contact information for the buyer.

Step 2

Send the complaint Priority Mail to the following address: GM P.O. Box 33170 Detroit, MI 48232-5170. Priority Mail will provide the consumer with a tracking number and notification of when the complaint was received if requested.

Call General Motors to follow up with the complaint a day after the company received it. This will let GM know the consumer is serious about the treatment she received. General Motors can be contacted at 800-222-1020.

 

You have to be kidding me. Since the OP is talking about using the internet to buy a car how about using it for 60 seconds to do some actual research on the availability of the car he is attempting to purchase? That would have saved him the time, trouble and obvious personal anguish he has caused himself over filling out a form - ON THE INTERNET - and subsequently getting spammed for his info and strung along over a car nobody can buy from a dealer at the moment unless you are willing to pay a huge dealer markup.

It seems people have all sorts of time to go through the ridiculous gyrations you outline above including starting endless threads on public forums when all they really needed to do was some due diligence on their part. It's nothing short of completely baffling.

 

These SCUM of the Earth operate a number of manufacturer dealerships in the state of NC, Nissan, Toyota,Chevrolet and I can tell you I have had the unpleasant experience of dealing with these filthy scumbags. Run, run, run, fast and far away from these bums they will try and steal your wallet while your standing in the showroom, or mug you in the Mens room - yeah they are that bad...!!!

 

No, he isn't kidding, you''re the one "kidding" if you think that a system that shows cars as available that aren't available is a great thing for customers. How hard would it be for GM to make it so that customer sold orders don't appear on dealer websites? Pretty easy considering they have a special VIN (5 instead of 0) that they can filter for. Yes, I understand that it's been this way for years, that doesn't make it a great system or one that does not need fixing. Ideally every or almost every vehicle listed online should be actually available for sale, and that's very far from the case right now.

 

They love it when you call on the car that's listed but a sold order - then they try to upsell you something else and blame GM for putting it on the inventory listings on the GM build out site. They are pathetic liars

 

That's called "Bait and Switch".

If this happens, contact your State Attorney General cuz this practice is highly illegal and can result in the offending dealership getting HUGE fines and/or license revoked.

 

Sorry, but no."Bait & switch" rules apply to advertisements for sale, such as a dealer's newspaper advertisement. A website is not considered "advertising" in that sense, plus there are numerous disclaimers on the site that warn a customer that the car is subject to prior sale and prices shown are not necessarily the "final" price etc.

 

There is an old saying, A fool and their money are soon parted.

 

They tried that with me...and I ran!.....