Criswell Buying Experience - Step Inside!
 

My '19 M7 2LZ Z06 is my tenth Vette, seven of them purchased new. Since I am a bit OCD, I really had some concerns about buying this car the way I bought it. We moved to North Central Florida 13 months ago, and about three months ago I decided that I wanted to trade out of my '17 Shelby GT350 and get back into another Z06. My last 6 Vettes (including this one) have been ZR1s or Z06s.

The last time they offered Anniversary blue paint was in '96, loved the color, never had one. And I wasn't going to miss out getting one this time. The time was now - the '19 Z's are the most highly developed cars with several ZR1 pieces migrated to them, plus updated MSRC programming, much better paint quality, and time was quickly running out if I wanted to get a new Anniversary Blue manual Z, since that paint was being discontinued.

Looked everywhere - this was a hard car to find, especially a non-black interior, manual transmission, 2LZ. And as luck would have it, Criswell had one and one only car exactly to the specs I wanted (see Bluesmobile pics on the C7 Z06 forum). Negotiation time … I discussed this with CJ Uzzo and as negotiations got more serious, with his manager Jason Witte. I was concerned that I had NEVER bought ANY car long distance that way, and my active imagination was in full overdrive. We struck a deal, did the paperwork, and now the next big decision.

How to get my Shelby to them, and how to get the new Z to me. Sending the Shelby via PlyCar was a no brainer, because I wanted that car protected and to keep another 1000 miles off of it since it already had very low miles. My original plan was to fly up to DC (I used to live and work in the DC area and still fulltime consult for them) and drive back. That was until I realized that GM wants this car to have an oil change around 500 miles - half the way back. So, reluctantly, I decided to have it shipped back to me via PlyCar.

And all of it worked out perfectly. So the bottom line is this: CJ Uzzo and Jason Witte and Criswell did everything they needed to do to make this purchase a pleasure. Now I know that CJ is NOT the big name usually associated with Criswell, but he and Jason worked damn hard to make this happen perfectly. CJ was always available to me, and if he didn't know the answer, Jason did.

I don't shill for anybody, but when people do a professional and honest job, they need to be recognized.

So my advice is, if you go shopping at Criswell, ask for CJ Uzzo, and tell him Jerry sent you.

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Criswell in any way - I am an independent consultant to an agency of the Fed Govt.

Pictures?

OP... how you purchased a Corvette from criswell and didnt buy it from Mike Furman is about as odd as it gets lol....

great read. Congrats and enjoy the car...

ps. Wth is anniversary blue?

Anniversary blue? :toetap:

Nope, sorry. it was ADMIRAL BLUE. My mistake, two many :cheers: celebrating the new arrival

I also bought from them and did not use Mike only because I called in and was referred to one of the other salesmen. Without going into the details do not do this the price was good but the experience left much to be desired. Go with Mike I wish I did

Sorry to hear that! My experience was excellent as I described above. Enjoy your ride, these are beautiful cars...

I bought from Criswell also. It was one of the best buying experiences I have ever had. I worked with Aris. Corvettes weren't his specialty, but he referred me to one of the other salesmen who was a total Corvette geek to answer all of my questions. The manager, Bart, was really easy to deal with. Normally, the manager is the guy you have to wrestle with to get a good deal, but Bart just made it happen.

Three months later, my dad ended up buying a Corvette from them as well. His experience was the same as mine.

Next time I need a Chevrolet of any kind, I'll buy from them.

Haha/can't blame you. Enjoy the car/great color!

I totally agree, this is my tenth Vette, 7th one bought new, and by far the best Vette buying experience. If I buy an 11th, it will be from them.

Congrats on the new ride!!! Criswell is an awesome dealer! I purchased my GS from them.

Pics???

Ask, an ye shall receive!. And this car was delivered to me in flawless condition. I asked CJ to just have it washed, no wax, because I want to detail it out myself. And he made sure everything was done the way I asked...


https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...58743c2c15.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...bce4746645.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...2eeb806989.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...85419cc159.jpg

LOL... I had looked at and admired that exact car several times during my occasional Sunday AM strolls around the Criswell lot. I live 4 miles away. Then one Sunday it was gone... I was wondering who ended up with it!

Well thanks for admiring it, and a big double thanks for not buying it! This combination was hard to find, until I found it in Criswell's inventory. After finding it, I knew it needed to be in my garage... :yesnod:

It was a close one. If that thing had been Laguna blue and had a black interior it might be in my garage now. I occasionally go through these "need more power" episodes and look at putting a SC on my Z51 or trading up to a Z06. The SC would be cheaper unless/until I had a mechanical issue and then the $ gap to the warrantied Z06 would probably vanish. So for now I just enjoy my Z51 as is. Enjoy you new baby!

Nice
 

beautiful, congrats!!! Love the color.

nice car. I love this color. I just ordered a new gs and would have gotten this color if they didn't didn't discontinue it.

My GS is Blade Silver with the two tone sears like yours but I like Admiral Blue so much my new Golf R is their similar "Lapiz Blue"...
Out of respect, I won't put a pic of a Golf on this thread. :flag:

Enjoy the ride