You'd hate living in Montana! Road rash from gravel, bugs, birds and gophers a fact of life out here. Few years back I finally gave up and stopped agonizing over chips on my Gen 6 Camaro and now just drive it and enjoy it.

 

That is precisely what I did... 500 miles came and went quickly, and I had the additional pleasure of watching the “magic moment”:

 

Did it twice all the way across country... first time we visited friends in North Carolina before driving through the middle of the country, and finishing with a couple of days in Yellowstone; the second time driving the Florida Panhandle and then working back across the southern route.

Neither car was any worse for wear when we got back. Bother trips were nearly 4000 miles.

 

Will even match Rapid Blue :P

 

I'm going to do the NCM delivery. You've have to break the car in sometime, why not do it in the first day of ownership and then have fun the rest of the way home. For me, it's going to cost about the same for NCM delivery as it would be shipping the car from the East Coast.

 

Nope.... You still pay the shipping.... Same shipping charge from the factory to the museum as it is from the factory to a dealer.... Just the way the freight contract is.

 

Cool...thanks!

 

I believe he's talking about the shipping cost from a dealer on the east coast, rather than the standard destination charge. He may have purchased from Kerbeck or Criswell.

 

7. Hopefully plant tours start up again. Personal tour - you control the time spent in each area.
8. Dash plaque (?? in place of the door jam sticker I got during the Museum Delivery of my C6).
9. I also got the chance to order special "Museum Delivery" clothing (back in 2005 - I assume they still do this).
10. Invitation to R8C reunions at Museum. Went to one - had a good time. Like a mini "Bash".
11. Also got a wooden plaque w/serial number, etc.
12. They took a photo for us in front of the museum (not a big deal).

If you are a car nut (and aren't most Corvette purchasers?) it is pretty cool. Was worth the money to me. Would have done it again on my C7, but I bought off the lot to get a Black Rose color just in time. (The plant tours were shut down anyways.)

Have done two BMW European Deliveries. They lay it on pretty thick - really neat. 5% discount (besides whatever you make your deal for), which pays for your vacation. Got to drive the autobahn & 4 laps on the Nürburgring.

Last I knew Mercedes doesn't give you a discount, but pays for your hotel. Volvo paid for your flight to Sweden.

Did a Performance Center Delivery on one of the BMWs too. They put you up in a Marriott in Spartanburg, feed you, give you lessons on their track, tours, a ride with their drivers, etc. Also very cool!

 

Cars are made to be driven not babied. If you wear it out just buy a new one.

 

It is a lot of fun and the factory tour is awesome. That being said, we've done it twice (C6 and C7) and the second time was NOT worth it. NCM guy sucked and the king for a day appeal was not the same. When I bought my Z06 just drove it home from the dealer 1500 miles away. I'll do that again the next time too.

 

Wrong. Courtesy delivery means it’s ships directly from the factory to the courtesy dealership. The paperwork is handled by the selling dealership. The other delivery is when it goes by a private carrier like Reliable from the selling dealership to your home location.

 

Just keep your car in the garage. You will never have to worry about your paint job.

 

Personally I’d much rather have my C8 delivered straight to my detailer, without any dealer prep. This way his team can prep the car at a way higher level, do paint correction, and apply PPF before hundreds of miles of driving. Seems like skipping the tour would pay for the detailer prep alone.

 

Just to add a bit to Eagle's correct information.

1. Courtesy delivery is likely to cost you from $300 to $500, which goes to the local dealer that accepted delivery from the factory. Let's say you factory ordered a car from Macmulkin in New Hampshire and had the car shipped to Haselwood in Seattle. Why would you do this? Either because Macmulkin had an allocation and Haselwood did not, or Macmulkin gave you a smashing good discount and Haselwood did not. Not all dealers will allow a courtesy delivery. Some dealers are angry and won't participate.

2. Everyone pays the "Delivery Charge" which is now a bit above $1K. This is the charge from the factory at BG to the accepting dealer, even if it's the NCM across the street from the plant. It is not mileage based, but a flat rate everyone pays with nothing negotiable about it.

3. "Shipping" from a remote dealer to your home costs about $1.25 per mile. This is normally done when you buy an in-stock vehicle from a far-away dealer and have it shipped by truck from their location to your home. Why would you do this? If they had the exact car you wanted already in stock. It's best to use a quality shipper with a record of delivering vehicles. DO NOT SCRIMP for the cheapest rate through a broker. You will get screwed if you do.

4. NCM "R8C" delivery. Approximately $1000. Entirely different charge that is paid to the NCM which gives you many different perks, some of them silly, at the museum. This helps support the museum. It s not a "delivery charge" per se. You pick it up at the museum and drive it home. We flew to Nashville from Seattle, rented a car to drive to BG, left the car at the museum and they took care of it. Just another part of "the service."

Four different kinds of charges for four very different reasons.

 

Unless something has changed Corvettes are shipped by truck never rail.

 

I'm not paying a delivery charge, and a grand for a tour, and a grand for plane fare and hotels. I got **** to do.

 

When I visited the factory, there was a lady picking up her car. She started it and got to ride through the final acceptance testing. Very cool, but there is a cost. The horror would be to go through the startup and have it fail testing. There was a car in the rework bays with the engine pulled. All good unless it's not. Pat

 

The Garage of Shame? Yes, I saw it. I don't think that lady was actually picking up her car at that moment, There is yet another program at BG that allows you, for a hefty fee, to watch your car being built. Last time I checked it was over $2K. In this one, you follow the assembly line over the two days it takes to actually build the car. But you can't take your car for about another two weeks, so people who do this and NCM delivery have to come back a coupe of weeks later!

Yet another choice is to "buy the book," where they have an NCM photographer take pics as your car is being built. It does not show everything, but there are quite a few high-def pics in the finished book. Cost is about $750.

Good for you! And the other good news is: You don't have to! Imagine that!

 

Since I am hoping for delivery in Feb or March, I wouldn’t tempt driving to Colorado in winter weather.
Ralph