This forum is great – I’ve been following for years but just now finally signed up because I can’t figure something out from prior posts. Thanks for all of your great info!

So, I was getting an oil change on my C6, ended up talking to a salesman, and by some miracle they just found out they were unexpectedly getting in a red C8 that would be at the dealership “any day, maybe even today”. So, of course, I bought it on the spot; gave them a pretty big down payment and financed the rest.

When it didn’t show up after a week or so, I started looking into things and learned that it’s a CTF vehicle (5000654). The dealership now swears they didn’t know it was preproduction and appeared to not even know what CTF vehicles are. I tracked it on palsapp, which said it was delivered to the distribution center in Toledo, OH on March 25. After another week I talked with Corvette Concierge who told me the code was changed to 6000 (delivered to customer) by the dealer because I already paid for it; also said that the CTFs are being held at the railyard until after all the orders are completed and shipped and that it probably won’t ship until the end of 2020.

Dealer says this is fake news and is looking into it. I totally understand the rationale behind getting the ordered vehicles to folks who ordered them before getting a CTF to some schmuck who just walked in, basically cut the line, and bought one. But I didn’t realize at the time I was doing that and I wouldn’t have bought it if I knew it wouldn’t show up until December. In the meantime, I’m going to be making payments on a pretty big loan and also paying the required full-coverage auto insurance.

I don’t suppose any of you have different info? One post from a few days ago said all the produced C8s are shipped, but I think that was just from BGA. Does anyone know if the CTFs held at the Toledo railyard are going to be shipped soon? Do you guys think I will see my CTF C8 before the snow flies? I’m in SLC, Utah.

Thank you!

 

So you paid in full for a C8 without taking delivery of the car. You obviously have a lot of faith in the dealer. Most buyers order have some small print saying something like "Dealer shall not be liable for failure to deliver or delay in delivering the motor vehicle......." Best of luck in getting the C8 you own delivered!

 

Several things are completely wrong. Number one, the dealers don't order or configure the CTF cars, they are given to the dealers by GM, they are told a few things like color and trim level. If they have sold customer cars they have a full order history they they created. The holding of CTF cars is BS too as my dealer had two of his CTF cars delivered last week, I saw them. As far as a dealer not knowing it was a CTF car, how does he explain not ordering the car????

 

The dealer didn't order it - said they were just told they were getting an extra C8 and that they just found out about it right then. They had a spec sheet with vin, order number, vehicle specs, etc. That form said order status was 4300.
I agree re: holding CTFs is BS because there are a bunch of people on internet videos and even on this forum who have CTFs. That's what Corvette Concierge told me a earlier this week, though. I was alright with waiting for awhile until I heard that - I'm hoping someone on this forum has better info.

 

You’re being fucked with. Get a lawyer.

 

The problem I see here is that the dealer reported it sold It's almost impossible to track it through Chevrolet anymore because on their side it shows delivered to customer. Best bet would be to some how figure out which rail yard its at and call them up to see when the "planned load" will be and track it by VIN. I hope the dealer figures it out for you.

 

If you paid for the car and have a bill of sale then you officially own the vehicle right ?! I would be tempted to track down my car and demand it be released, drive it home or arrange other transport. I live in PA so Ohio wouldn't be a stretch for me, little farther for you though. I feel the dealer dropped the ball here and I would ask for the delivery cost to be comped.

Good Luck with it. CTF #622 here.

 

Thank you! The dealer is working with their regional rep to figure it out and told me today to expect it in 2-4 weeks, though I’m not sure if that was a guess or based on the rep actually knowing where the vehicle is located. I know it sounds crazy that I didn’t wait for delivery to buy it, but I trust this dealership and know they’ll make it right. Thanks for your help!

 

Two CTF cars were just recently auctioned off on EBAY. So the cars are out there. Hard to understand that you would be required to pay the full purchase price of the car without delivery. Hopefully the dealer will take care of you. Good luck with your search and I hope you get your car soon!

 

very sketchy

 

Not sketchy and he's not being fucked with. The problem is that the dealer did all of the paperwork and reported the car sold before it arrived. For the same reason stated above, I don't like to do this because then you can't track it.

Normally, this wouldn't be an issue though because the car would most likely arrive in a few days. We're not in normal times though and shipping is at a near standstill for everything right now. We have cars stuck at the railyard and bailment lot because there aren't enough cars to fill a load so they're not shipping them. No ETA on anything that is listed "IN TRANSIT" for us right now.

Wherever the car is now, if there aren't enough cars there to fill a load, it's probably not getting shipped. Now GM will allow dealers to pick up vehicles from some bailment lots and rail yards. The dealer's GM Rep should be able to tell them if it can be picked up.

Bottom line is that neither the dealer nor the customer should have done the paperwork before the car arrived. The right thing to do would be to put a deposit on it and then sign up when it arrives.

 

I’m surprised you were able to finance a new car without the car physically being at the dealership. And I’m surprised the dealership would actually process loan paperwork for the same reasons. I believe they violated some commercial law so I doubt that contract valid. Part of the closing process is a certificate of the actual mileage and they can’t do that without someone physically seeing the odometer. Very fishy.

 

It happens all of the time. Not illegal at all here in Texas. Probably not illegal in most if not all states in fact.

We've done it here before, to lock in incentives for a customer car that is in transit at month end. Just in case rebates get worse after the car arrives. All you need to do paperwork is the invoice for the vehicle.

 

latest load > 4 CTF cars

 

My out of state dealer would not begin the financing paperwork until the car was physically at the dealership.

A deposit should have been all that is required to lock in the sale. That's done all the time. I don't understand why a dealership to process loan paperwork when they didn't have the car and didn't know when they were going to receive it. A contact requires consideration on both the buyer and seller. In this case, the buyer got nothing. I would wager if the buyer contact the states attorney's office, he would get help. The deal still sounds fishy.

The big lesson here is a car salesman can say ANYTHING VERBALLY and its NOT LEGALLY ENFORCEABLE. Everyone needs to remember that.

 

Another issue is who has title to the car in transit? My dealer made it clear they couldn’t move forward with the sale until GM invoiced them for the
car. I also believe the dealer can not sell the
car until it’s in their inventory so the GM invoice was needed. So, question to be answered is who technically owns the car when it physically hasn’t been delivered to the dealer? A good friend of mine purchased a CTF car and paid for it after the car was delivered to the dealer. Again something is fishy.

 

Dealers always get the invoice before the actual cars arrive. Invoice does not equal title. There is no title on a car until the dealer sends title work to the local DMV. There is a manufacturer certificate of origin that GM sends the dealer and most of the time, that comes before the car also. That has to go the DMV as well for title work.

I've been doing this for 20 years and while it doesn't happen often, it's not uncommon for someone to buy an in transit vehicle. It's all up to the customer and dealer. If they both agree to it, there's no issue. It's buyer beware in that situation. It's highly unlikely that the dealer is trying to do something fishy. They're just reporting a sale early, maybe to help their numbers this month with GM. In normal times, the car would arrive in a matter of days.

It has never been an issue in the past. Like I said though, we're going through different times now. We've never had to deal with shipping issues and plant shutdowns due to a global pandemic before.

 

First, I don’t question your experience. Second, the term “title” in my context is ownership and risk of loss from a commercial legal perspective. I agree the original vehicle title is different. In my case, the GM issued the invoice to the dealership late so my delivery and finance started later than normal. My dealer said this was not the normal situation.

To get back to the OP situation, it makes no sense for the dealer to close the sale before the car has physically arrive. Sounds like the dealer talked the buyer into closing the deal and kicking off financing before it arrived obviously to count it as a sale. I can tell you unless the buyer in writing accepted the deal including financing clock starting before the car physically arrive, then the dealer would have a tough time enforcing the contract.

Again, car dealers can say anything but it’s not enforceable unless it’s in writing. And I mean anything. That’s why there is the “Due” document signed by the dealer and buyer detailing what is left to be delivered. I’m sorry, but someone that completes the buy and financing before seeing the car made a big mistake.

 

You have the VIN and Chevy marked it as sold, I wonder if you could add it to the MyChevrolet app and click "find my car"?

 

I totally tried that but you have to activate Onstar first by pushing the blue button. Called Onstar to try getting around it but no luck. Asked the dealer to try turning it on remotely because some people were able to do that per lots of prior posts but again, no dice. I did get email saying my SiriusXM trial started - tried figuring out if I could track through them but you can’t.

Just got off the phone with the dealer and they’re going to call back. I don’t want to harass them so only call every few days. Today I am trying to find out if anyone even knows where it it (I’m hoping the GM rep will). Keep hoping it was on a train to Denver or Arizona or something and just shows up!

Thanks for all the info and help you guys - makes wondering what’s going on a little easier 👍🏻