Corvette C8 Update:
**Warning – Extremely long post ahead** (No.... There is no TLDR available for this one....)
So this is didn’t exactly end well, (or at least the way I thought it would). I called my dealership to inquire about the delivery projections for the C8 [I was short on time, As I prefer to talk in person v.s. on the phone.]
Anyways I talked to a sales associate who I sort of know. I quickly mention about my deposit/application and what would I possibly be looking at for a projection date. The associate quickly interrupts me and says “I don’t know, I don’t know what to tell you.” (I sensed he was frustrated, as he probably receives calls like this all day long, probably every day, so I get it.)
I basically asked the associate, how is that possible you don’t know anything, when it seems others are receiving confirmed delivery dates who were behind me in the ordering que. And then the associate replied back by saying something along the lines of if I had specific special ordering, that might be pushing out my delivery further. (Which I had one special option I elected for the seatbelt trim, literally, that was it.)
Anyways, fast forward, I brought up to the associate how there’s ‘localized community discussion’ that this very dealership is kind of showing some favoritism in terms of other buyers that are moving up in the order list with money being thrown under the table to gain an earlier delivery date.[ I also addressed how I only have one month to retrieve my deposit, otherwise it’s nonrefundable past a certain date If I want to back out.]
So the associate starts laughing at me on the phone and says there’s ‘no one handing money to anyone’, and “You’ll get your order when we call you” (His response was snide and cocky]. So I ask him to explain how is it that others are being bumped in the process of receiving earlier dates versus myself. At that point, the Sales associate challenged me to prove that others were being moved up in the process over me.
So, in kind, I responded to his challenge and printed off the Community discussion table about the C8 delivery and advised I was going to forward this to the GM of the dealership to find out what kind of ‘dirty work’ is being involved in the ordering with this specific dealership, and I wouldn’t stop until I get a clear answer as to how other buyers are moving ahead of me with the ordering.
So I end my phone call, and about 45 minutes later, I get a call from the GM of the dealership asking me what my concern was. I explained everything about the discussion I had with XYZ associate. I also asked if the GM read the contents of the local discussion about how this specific dealership seems to be creating their ‘own rules’ on the ordering for the C8. He responded by saying that this was ‘inaccurate or ‘they’ would never do that’, etc. I went on further Basically that I’m not the only one that believes this, but I’m also the only one that seems to be speaking up about it. And I mentioned that I Would escalate to contact the owner (who owns like 13 of dealerships) to get to the bottom of this and file complaint with GM directly to look into this.
At that point, the Manager basically became very shaky in his voice and almost to the point where his whole candor changed to me on the phone. He then said he would look further into why my order and why their was no movement, and why others were advancing. He also offered to extend my deposit by an extra month if I was willing to wait.(And he offered to refund the application fee in addition if I wanted to cancel my deposit.)
So I kept pushing, and I basically was trying to be as professional and objective as possible by saying I really wanted A more concise answer on this versus just trying to buffer the situation, or push me off all together.
Fast forward again.....
I get a call back from the owner of the dealership explaining that GM is the one being very unclear with their orders, special ordering changes the dynamic of how/when you would receive your order and depending on the geographic/city you live in, [certain GM dealerships are more well-established to receive their ordering first.]
Alogether, I didn’t really point the finger at dealership, because I can’t prove everything versus only what I know, but I definitely believe I poked some holes in this situation. I was also offered that I could transfer my order to another GM dealership, in hopes of being bumped in the process for an earlier ship date, but there was no guarantee either.
Out of frustration, I decided to accept the cancellation and the application fee was refunded, being they still couldn’t provide me a clear answer of what to expect, even though I’m ahead of probably 10 other buyers who somehow have confirmations of their ordering status.
That all said, there’s no doubt there’s some ‘inside work’ going on at this particular dealership how things are being operated, and now that there’s some exposure on this situation, I hope others don’t have to go through with what I/and others did
So since I’m impatient and I refuse to wait any longer on a confirmation date, I think I just will scrap the idea of the C8 together, (as I also mentioned I really didn’t want two V8 ‘s anyways.) I just think there’s some shady practices at dealerships, and this was something new to me that I’ve never experienced, but has been discussion for months with other buyers refusing to take initiative On being taken advantage of.
***********************
In place of the C8, I am looking at a 2018 F150 Raptor (Ruby Red), with the 2020 Ford explorer ST (Rapid red) and 2019 Taurus SHO (Ruby red) being the other two options.
