I have Novi Stretch Bras on both Corvettes. For ease of installation I braised a piece of metal to the bottom screws that need to be removed and replaced on the lower air dam resulting in a wing nut for easy on and off by hand. After 51000 miles the wing nut on the passenger side broke off. I went to the local Chevy dealer to buy two screws to rebraise a new wing nut onto. THEY WANTED $20. for 2 of the tiniest screws made !!!! I cordially refused their offer and drove 15 miles to another Chevy dealer who GAVE me the 2 screws saying "enjoy".
In reality the additional 15 miles to the other shop plus 15 miles home plus the 10 miles I drove to the first dealer totalled 40 miles.
Monetarily I drove 40 miles of which a portion was well over the speed limit...Lets say 2 gallons of gas at $5 = 10 The end result is I saved $20 by getting the screws free, however, still got screwed by paying $10 out of pocket for $5 worth of gas.

 

That is why they are called Stealerships!

 

Right there with you OP. I'd have walked as well.

 

I don't see where you were screwed except in your mind. Did they owe you anything? Nope. They are NOT obligated to give you a thing. You are not entitled to it so if someone wants consider you a charity case, that is on them. IF the other group doesn't want to give it free, that is their right. If you were entitled to the screws, I would agree with you. You WERE NOT regardless of how entitled you feel.

 

Screws are dirt cheap at the quants that manufactures pay for them. When you order them they aren't even counted but just weighted for an estimate, say for 1000. Most orders are 5000 to 10000 screws.

If you ever worked in a production area you would be surprised as to how many screws and small parts were dropped on the floor and then just swept up and thrown away after the shift.

The dealership paid more for the AC while you were there than for the screw.

 

Point? If they want to sell something, that would be THEIR prerogative. You are NOT entitled to anything.

 

What has that to do with GM? GM didn't have anything to do with it.

Bill

 

All true however retailing that screw is where the cost comes in.
If I gave you 10,000 screws for FREE and told you to package them 2 in a pack and retail them one pack at a time in a facility in this country where everybody gets health care, workers comp,
401k, paid vacation etc, etc do you really think you could sell them for 10 cents just because you got them for free?


was thinking the same thing

 

My point was the cost of the screw vs the selling price.

Have you ever been to Home Depot and bought a small bag of screws for less than $3?

Anybody can price gorge an item and you don't have to purchase it from them, just look elsewhere.

Would you pay $200,000 for your C7 just because the dealer gave you all the reasons mentioned above or the more reasonable price of ~$70K at a more reasonable dealer? (Hey, all our Corvettes are packaged separately, really!!).

I read about owners constantly trying to find the cheapest price on important items like oil and filters. "I found mine $1 dollar cheaper at so and so". But they see no problem in paying $20 for two small screws, WTH?

And you ask "what are you complaining about, it's only $20" It's the principle in this case.

"A fool and his money are soon departed".

You do you.

 

sheesh man relax
the price wasn't that big of a deal considering they have to retail something in a pack of two, or one

 

Thank you for your response and I am very relaxed because I would never fall for this unless there was absolutely no alternative, then I would just be stuck paying such a ridiculous high price.

I understand your point but If Home Depot can do it why can't GM? Thats my point and thats why they're called "Stealerships".

Heck, I have a box of over 1000 screws that I will sell to you for only $10 each , thats 50% off, and I'll even put each one in a plastic bag, how many do you want?

I hope you understand what I'm trying to point out and say.

Peace, brother.

 

yeah
Boy was I expecting something more with a thread titled "GM tried to screw me" than saying they wanted 20 bucks for a pack of screws at a dealership.

I thought maybe he'd say his engine blew up at 800 miles and they denied it because he didn't use 0W-40

 

Why should we all adopt the same business model just because it benefits you? This is like me telling my mother "Johnny can stay out late so why can I not?". My mother suggested I get adopted by Johnny's parents, BTW.

 

Next time just ask for the part number and try finding a box from a supplier. I needed some panel screws for my C7 and I think they were like $6-7 each at the dealer. I had the dealer jot down the part number and then did a google search. Found a box of 50 on Amazon for $20. More than I'll probably ever need but at least I have some on hand if I ever need them in the future. I might have paid more than it would have cost for a single piece at the dealer but I justify that I got a fair quantity for what I paid. Turns out I did use more than just 1 so it did pay for itself.

 

Bingo!

$0.32 each vs $10 each, see my point?

 

ahhhhhhh, now I see your point.

Why pay $10 when you can pay 32 cents.

Sounds so simple when you explain it like that.

 

It's just bulk pricing and I get how that works. However, I would argue it goes way beyond that with GM. I understand there's a whole process and it costs more for OEM because each one is in its own little bag, yadda yadda.

GM set the MSRP for this little screw is $9.40. That's what the dealer will charge you flat out. They live or die by that MSRP. Wholesale price is probably $6-7 if you can find a generous parts department (Basing this off https://www.gmpartsdirect.com/oem-pa...-bolt-11611882).

Dealer is still making money at $6-7 and GM is making a profit from selling it to the dealer for at least $2-3. GM probably pays $0.50-$0.75 for each individual screw and I'd still argue they probably pay much much less. Setting MSRP at $9.40 is highway robbery. They do it because they can. They want to maximize profits and they want their dealers to make money as well so they jack up the price of a little screw from $0.38 all the way up to $9.

It's just the cost of doing business. To your other point, I refuse to pay GM $9.40 for a stupid little screw; however, I did pay $5.99 (on Amazon) for a GM bolt for my Caliper. That is a price I'm willing to pay as I don't know if it's a special bolt so I want OEM just to be safe (though in the future I will just reuse them). Now the rear bolts for $42 each. Yeah, **** that. I'm just reusing them at that point. I'd only pay that if they were torque to yield. They're not so I refuse to be extorted like that.

 

I'm hoping tinkertech can explain why a titanium screw for a knee replacement that pops off a screw machine one every 1.1 seconds with $1 in material cost
ends up costing $485 per screw.
It's almost like there's more to it or something?

 

Just because my car costs $10000 in materials doesn't mean they are only considering that when selling.

 

Yes, because in this case it's medical. Not FDA approved or certified.

Ever price a screw for an airliner? 100x time cost of the same screw that isn't FAA certified.

There is a big difference between the screw for your dash and the ones above. Peoples lives are involved not just an annoying squeak or rattle in your car.

Using non certified parts in either of the above fields and numerous other endeavors will get in in big trouble that you won't be able to just walk away from. ie: you're screwed. (no pun intended).

I've spent many years in both of the above fields so I do know a little about it. No way in hell would I ever consider using a non certified part in any field that requires that such part must only be a genuine certified replacement part.