C6 buying experience
 

Made an appointment to drive and ultimately purchase a left over new 2012 C6. Silver 3LT Coupe with light Titanium seats. Settled on a price via e-mail before I went there. When I get there, the guy I'm supposed to meet at 11:30 isn't there! I'm told, "He'll be in at 1:00"! I find another sales person, and he gets the key fob to open/start the car. Door won't open, car won't start, battery dead, car is really dirty. By now I'm re-evaluating my decision to buy this car. The salesman and the porter eventually get the car started with a jumper. When it finally starts, he floors the accelerator and revs the engine to 6000 rpm! I get in and notice it's low on gas. Porter takes it to gas station. Upon return, he enters the parking lot of the dealership at 60 MPH, and screeches to a halt in front of me. I drive the car and like it a lot. We go inside and discuss the purchase price. Now all of a sudden the price is $4K more than we agreed on. I walk out disgusted! Now consider this--I'm a buyer for their premier, top of the line product, and was exposed to all this BS even before the exorbitant price was discussed. He knew I was coming to buy, and never even cleaned the car for my inspection. Obviously, they are not impressing many people with their lack of interest in the Corvette line! The sad part of my Corvette search and purchase is that I went to another dealer on my way home, and the same thing happened!! This one was a 2013 Supersonic Blue Coupe 3LT with beautiful cashmere interior. Same scenerio--door wont open, car won't start, car is filthy dirty. I said to my wife, let's get out of here. I guess nobody cares about customer satisfaction. 2 dealers in one day, 2 disappointments!

No doubt, some of GM's biggest problems are their dealers. I do believe its part of the race to the bottom on wages for a lot of these jobs and the quality of the employees they are attracting. Years ago it was the same salesmen at the dealers forever, most were there until they retired, now its someone different every time I stop in. There's a lot of truth in the old saying "you get what you pay for"

Hope you don't write off Corvette ownership because of a few bad dealership employees. They really are great cars.

Sorry to hear of your sad experience(s). Maybe it would be a good idea to make GM aware of this. A real "letter" not some electro mode method, might generate some tangible results.

Since you've been on here since '07, I still won't assume you know about Forum dealers. It is highly, remotely possible, but improbable, that any one of them would treat you like that. And let's face it, even with Forum dealers, some are better than others---but all know that first impressions.....

Maybe you might like to stick around and email, call, etc. some Forum dealers. And do send that letter even if names the dealers and takes up all of 2 paragraphs. They need to know. I think GM people read this forum but they will surely read your letter.:cheers:

You need to say what dealers did this to you.my salesman had a good price and car was ready and waiting.there is no excuse for that i dont care if it was a kia soul

I pretty much had exactly the same experience with my '08 bought during height of depression. Called salesman and said I wanted to look at car the next day. Drove 150 miles to dealer. Called about a half hour before arrival and was told he was off. Got there and met another salesman. Battery dead, car dirty from sitting outside for a year.
When car sale was consummated I was given the second fob and noticed it didn't work. Salesman said that was always the case. Had to be programmed later. This was my first coupe and later, when home, I was reviewing window sticker and noted car had second roof option. It was missing. Dealer couldn't believe I missed roof's absence. After I explained salesman's lack of knowledge of his premier vehicle I was given a replacement.

Stand by

I could go on a rant about how MBA's have helped management teams try to squeek out overy ounce of profit on a widget for the sake of "shareholder value". I could rant and rave about how corporate makes stores do things to modernize the look and feel fo the showrooms, in an effort ot make them all appear to be uniform, which attacks margins. I could stand on my soap box about how many owners are paying their employees low wages, which earns them the exact type of service you experienced, but I wont.

Just know it an epidemic in this country, and isnt limited to corvette sales. Also know that there are still plenty of folks who care, but you need to find them. This board is a good place to find the proper corvette sales folks. They are plenty of them here who would do a great job for you. Do some reading and you will find them easily.

Seriously, you should contact some forum dealers. It is a totally different experience compared to most local dealers.

I'd seek out the dealership owners in both cases, I can't imagine a dealer principle would be at all pleased with losing a buyer in that manner.

If I ever buy "new" again I will do it from a FORUM Dealer via the internet and cellphone, pick my car up at the Museum.

I just bought a used 2009 Vert. I AVOIDED all Chevy Dealers....went private and higher end auto dealers. Very Happy...had to drive 1200 miles to get my new car home but at least I avoided the idiots at the local chevy dealer.

You need to call Tommy Thompson at MacMulkan Chevrolet in Nashua N.H He'll cut through all the B.S Have the car shipped to you and STILL save you $$$$ Only takes a phone call. You'll be dazzled !!!!

Not surprised by your experience, just have to keep looking as there are some great dealers out there that actually understand customer service.

C6 buying experience
 

Thanks to all who responded. I have been searching all the forum dealers. I was pleasantly surprised at the selection and pricing--you guys are on to something special. I'm going to contact the dealer (Bocker in Freeport, Il.) where we bought our 2012 LTZ Suburban. Treated like royalty--VERY pleasant buying experience--my kind of dealership!

We purchased our 2006 C6 Covertible about 2 months ago at Rick Hendrick Chevy. They were a GREAT experience. They could not have done more for us, they bent over backwards.

They let my wife and drive the car together and after we agreed to purchase, they washed and detailed the car. Free oil changes for two years, new Michelin tires and took the time to teach us about the car.

The really cool part was almost every employee came up to us and congratulated us on purchasing a Vette. We even have a dedicated service advisor. Best experience ever buying a car.:thumbs:

Glad you found a dealer that values you as a customer. While somewhat rare these days, they are out there. I know my local dealer has always treated me very well - that's why I am a repeat customer with them.

Maybe their used sales are OK...but their new car sales leave a lot to be desired. Hendrick (in Cary, NC) has a leftover 2012 GS coupe. It's a "new" car...but it has 400 miles on it (which they didn't disclose until I asked). They won't give any adjustment for the miles, saying it's no big deal. They also add a $595 "admin fee" to every car they sell. These guys also put dealer markups on cars for stuff like paint protection and nitrogen inflation in the tires. These guys need to take a lesson from the forum dealers. :crazy2: No wonder they still have several 2012s on their lot.

Bocker sponsors the local vette club (Northern IL Corvette Club). I haven't dealt with them but am interested in knowing how things go for you.

Why am I not surprised/:crazy:

I just purchased my 08 from a dealer in NC last month.. purchase price, financing, everything was set up through e-mail which was really nice. The salesperson I started out with was super patient, and was really easy to work with.. Now onto the "bad". I drove from Cincinnati, OH to Winston-salem, NC in a one way rental car.. this was about a 7 hour commute in which my day started around 530am. I let the dealership know what time I would arrive (around 3pm), and I was on-time (thank you GPS). I show up expecting to sign the docs, and drive away thinking I would be there for 30 minutes max... Wasn't the case, they had to fix the push start button, the car wasn't cleaned or fueled and the docs weren't ready. I was getting really irritated, because what should have been a quick in and out to head back to Ohio I ended up being there for almost 3 hours while they did all this stuff. I ended up not getting home till like 2am. I was so pissed that everything wasn't ready to go, I was surprised a dealership of this size was not prepared better especially since I set the expectation early with how I wanted the process to go.

Don't get me wrong, it did not kill the joy I received when I actually drove away in my "new to me Vette" but the experience once I arrived was definitely not as good as it should have been. Not to mention the salesperson (not the original one I started with) trying to entertain me for that amount of time was a little annoying as well.

Just sharing a similar experience.

....just to add


I flew out to Miami on the 7th and was picked up at the Miami airport by a high end auto dealership. They drove me to the dealership, had my 2009 Corvette Convertible ready to go, all detailed up, ready for test drive...the price was pre negotiated. They sell Ferrari's and other high end exotic cars--they treated the Vette like it was gold. I was in and out on under 1 hour as I had to drive to Orlando to see my mom, spend the night and then drove 1000 miles more to Houston.

Cleanest deal I have ever done. Sales Manager was ex-Chevy Dealership manager--he laughed when I told him I avoid Chevy Dealerships all together unless they are Corvette Forum Dealers. He understood why.

:salute: