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I have been dreaming about owning a Corvette pretty much my entire life. I have owned almost exclusively V8 cars. When I was 20, I worked hard to save $10,000 for a down payment on a 1999 Medium Blue Metallic Trans Am. And I did it! I took that car home at 20 years old strait from the showroom floor with less than 100 miles. I drove that car for 3 years, completely stock until someone convinced me to take it to the track. The the mod daemon was upon me. I spent probably $30k on mod's. All boltons. It was an automatic so I had a 3500 stall converter, full tubular suspension, QA1's, took all the sound protection out... I was running 11.8's with boltons. I attended many car shows, my car was 1 of 500 in medium blue metallic, and it was fast!
Fast foreword 20 years. Since my first car, I have owned 4 Trans am's and currently own a 2011 stock Camaro 2SS. Always owned a V8 car. I did buy a Toyota Celica as a 2nd car while I worked on a head/cam install on my 99 TA that would have most definitely put it into the 11's.
It was not meant to be. I decided to joint the USAF in 2005 which meant a huge pay decrease. I had to sell my car and the head/cam package. It was painful, but it needed to be done.
Why am I telling you this story? Because I have always been a big fan of V-8 power. I love racing, I love car meets, and I appreciate mechanical engineering.
Since joining, I have owned 2 LS1 powered cars. None of which I could afford to modify based on my reduced salary. But I was still a fan!
Recently, I moved to Hawaii. And I finally achieved a salary level that could possibly afford a C8 corvette. This is after 16 years of service in the military. However, my hopes were dashed. I applied online for financing, and was assured by the dealership here that I would be approved for financing. I poured over the GM build website with all the different options. I felt, wow, Finally, I have attained a level of success as a military member serving my country after 16 years that I will finally be able to own my dream car. I was told, it would take a mere $1,000 to reserve my order at the dealership.
But I am not a complete dummy. I started researching and found that many dealerships were adding "market adjustment" charges to the MSRP prices. This was never relayed to me, I had to actually ask the question. My question was, "How close to MSRP are your prices, what fee's are charged other than taxes?". That is when the truth came out. I was told there is a $15k "market adjustment" added to the MSRP price. Which put my dream car out of reach for a lowly military member to afford. Suddenly, my 70K, able to afford if I was disciplined with my money, turned into an $85K, just out of reach vehicle that I will never be able to own.
Reason is, in 5 years I will retire and live in the Philippines. This was literally the last time I could every possibly afford my dream car. It looks like it will remain a dream. Thank you JN Chevrolet in Honolulu Hawaii for trying to get me to order a car with a $1K deposit so that you could later tell me there was a market adjustment of $15k, and you would just take my deposit and then sell the car for a profit as well. Thankfully I was smart enough not to fall for that trap.
Well don’t feel so bad, there’s an active thread going on right now about what income you need to have to afford a C8, the consensus is a million + in free cash, 5 to 10 million in assets. I only did 6 years in the Marines but I know us military folk can’t touch that.
BS- its a max 100k car- no one needs a million dollars in non retirement cash to afford it C'mon
First off, thank you for your service! I know that for the Museum's 25th anniversary caravan, there were several people from HI that put their cars in cargo containers and had 'em shipped to Long Beach. Depending on where you live in HI, there is likely to be one or more Corvette clubs. Maybe you could talk to some of them and see what your best option(s) might be?
I'm sure others will also chime in, but the most straightforward way is to place a refundable deposit with MacMulkin Chevrolet in Nashua NH and/or Ciocca Chevrolet in Atlantic City NJ. They are the top two by volume and you get in line to buy it at MSRP when it's your turn. Being in Hawaii will be an interesting one since you will want a courtesy delivery to a local dealer, which you will want to ask them about. It'll be at least 1 year wait. Otherwise, you'll need to do leg work to find another dealer that could be quicker.
I deposited with MacMulkin 7/7/21 and my order was placed this month. 2022 Rapid Blue 1LT Z51 with MSRC. $70,885.
Well don’t feel so bad, there’s an active thread going on right now about what income you need to have to afford a C8, the consensus is a million + in free cash, 5 to 10 million in assets. I only did 6 years in the Marines but I know us military folk can’t touch that.
Don’t give up yet, from looking at Chevrolet’s Dealer Finder, there are at least five Chevrolet dealerships on the island. Doesn’t hurt to give each one a call.
First off, thank you for your service!
Secondly don't give up yet, there are a few options-
1- order from a dealer state side and ask those dealers mentioned above if they would do a courtesy delivery. The dealer you order from @ MSRP places the order but specifies the dealer in HI as the delivery dealer- nothing more to it other than the fee the delivery dealer charges. That cost about $500 give or take in the lower 48- may be more in HI but you could order it from a dealer @ MSRP plus the courtesy delivery fee.
2- order from a dealer state side and ask a dealer on the west coast for a courtesy delivery. Then cargo ship it to HI. Did a quick search and it looks to cost about $1500-$2000 to ship a car from CA to HI, no idea how accurate that is.
I have been dreaming about owning a Corvette pretty much my entire life. I have owned almost exclusively V8 cars. When I was 20, I worked hard to save $10,000 for a down payment on a 1999 Medium Blue Metallic Trans Am. And I did it! I took that car home at 20 years old strait from the showroom floor with less than 100 miles. I drove that car for 3 years, completely stock until someone convinced me to take it to the track. The the mod daemon was upon me. I spent probably $30k on mod's. All boltons. It was an automatic so I had a 3500 stall converter, full tubular suspension, QA1's, took all the sound protection out... I was running 11.8's with boltons. I attended many car shows, my car was 1 of 500 in medium blue metallic, and it was fast!
Fast foreword 20 years. Since my first car, I have owned 4 Trans am's and currently own a 2011 stock Camaro 2SS. Always owned a V8 car. I did buy a Toyota Celica as a 2nd car while I worked on a head/cam install on my 99 TA that would have most definitely put it into the 11's.
It was not meant to be. I decided to joint the USAF in 2005 which meant a huge pay decrease. I had to sell my car and the head/cam package. It was painful, but it needed to be done.
Why am I telling you this story? Because I have always been a big fan of V-8 power. I love racing, I love car meets, and I appreciate mechanical engineering.
Since joining, I have owned 2 LS1 powered cars. None of which I could afford to modify based on my reduced salary. But I was still a fan!
Recently, I moved to Hawaii. And I finally achieved a salary level that could possibly afford a C8 corvette. This is after 16 years of service in the military. However, my hopes were dashed. I applied online for financing, and was assured by the dealership here that I would be approved for financing. I poured over the GM build website with all the different options. I felt, wow, Finally, I have attained a level of success as a military member serving my country after 16 years that I will finally be able to own my dream car. I was told, it would take a mere $1,000 to reserve my order at the dealership.
But I am not a complete dummy. I started researching and found that many dealerships were adding "market adjustment" charges to the MSRP prices. This was never relayed to me, I had to actually ask the question. My question was, "How close to MSRP are your prices, what fee's are charged other than taxes?". That is when the truth came out. I was told there is a $15k "market adjustment" added to the MSRP price. Which put my dream car out of reach for a lowly military member to afford. Suddenly, my 70K, able to afford if I was disciplined with my money, turned into an $85K, just out of reach vehicle that I will never be able to own.
Reason is, in 5 years I will retire and live in the Philippines. This was literally the last time I could every possibly afford my dream car. It looks like it will remain a dream. Thank you JN Chevrolet in Honolulu Hawaii for trying to get me to order a car with a $1K deposit so that you could later tell me there was a market adjustment of $15k, and you would just take my deposit and then sell the car for a profit as well. Thankfully I was smart enough not to fall for that trap.
Disgruntled non-C8 Corvette owner.
I thought we had an overseas vehicle military program. If, memory serves I remember guys ordering vehicles in Germany for delivery here in the U.S. GM was a big player in this program as well. Is this program still available?
retiring at 47yrs old? wow!
thanks for your service. sorry the shady dealer tried to screw you, they are good at it.
The only bad part of Vette ownership is the Chevy dealership. Always has been.
I agree with the previous posts above. Don't give up the your Corvette dream yet. Get in touch with local Corvette clubs in your area to get advice on ordering your C8 at MSRP and getting shipped to Hawaii. You might also try searching and posting in our Regional Forum for Hawaii. There may already be posts there regarding to your questions. Good luck and thank you for your service.
Well don’t feel so bad, there’s an active thread going on right now about what income you need to have to afford a C8, the consensus is a million + in free cash, 5 to 10 million in assets. I only did 6 years in the Marines but I know us military folk can’t touch that.
BS- its a max 100k car- no one needs a million dollars in non retirement cash to afford it C'mon
BS- its a max 100k car- no one needs a million dollars in non retirement cash to afford it C'mon
Agree - even Dave Ramsey's guideline is not that ridiculous.
All things with wheels and motors add up to less than half your annual income. To justify a brand new car purchase you should have a NET worth of a million and pay cash for the car.
Well don’t feel so bad, there’s an active thread going on right now about what income you need to have to afford a C8, the consensus is a million + in free cash, 5 to 10 million in assets. I only did 6 years in the Marines but I know us military folk can’t touch that.
5 to 10 million assets and 1 million in free cash?
What?!
I would bet a very, very small percentage of C8 owners are in that range...
Agree - even Dave Ramsey's guideline is not that ridiculous.
All things with wheels and motors add up to less than half your annual income. To justify a brand new car purchase you should have a NET worth of a million and pay cash for the car.
Accurate.
It's not one's income that qualifies for what you can buy, it's your net worth and cash on hand to pay for car, cash on the barrel head.
Well don’t feel so bad, there’s an active thread going on right now about what income you need to have to afford a C8, the consensus is a million + in free cash, 5 to 10 million in assets. I only did 6 years in the Marines but I know us military folk can’t touch that.
This is laughable, there are plenty of fully loaded full sized pickup trucks and SUVs out there that cost as much as a reasonably equipped Corvette.
As others have suggested, go through Ciocca, MacMulkin, or Crisswell Chevrolet. All are at MSRP and are very up front about any fees. Even if you have to ship the car, the cost will be just a fraction of the up charge you were quoted locally. I ordered my 2022 HTC from MacMulkin and had the car in just about 9 months. Local courtesy delivery cost me $250.00, and just like that, I had my very own C8 parked in my garage. Stay on top of this and you will have your 'Vette.
BTW, I did 21 years in the Marines, including stints at Pearl & K-Bay. Hawaii is beautiful, but not sure I would want to spend the rest of my life there.
Some have suggested MacMulkin, but here is their courtesy delivery statement - note HI.
Courtesy delivery
We only use a select group of Chevrolet dealers in various areas of the country. These dealers have a proven track record of providing a similar level of care and service for both the customer and your Corvette, as we have here at our own dealership. As we all know there are always risks to doing a courtesy delivery, but we understand this can be a challenging task for long distance customers. This is why we will always recommend that our customers take delivery directly from our professionally trained Corvette Team for the ultimate experience. Our order team will discuss these details with you once we get closer to your allocation. Due to the rise in the cost of doing a courtesy delivery now ranging from $800-$1500, it may make other delivery options a better choice. We DO NOT offer courtesy deliveries to customers in the following states (ME, NH, VT, MA, NY, CT, RI, NJ, PA, DE, MD, D.C., AK, HI)
Disappointment!!!
I know that for the Museum's 25th anniversary caravan, there were several people from HI that put their cars in cargo containers and had 'em shipped to Long Beach. Depending on where you live in HI, there is likely to be one or more Corvette clubs. Maybe you could talk to some of them and see what your best option(s) might be?
