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I just wanted to share my story about meeting Mike from Criswell Chevrolet especially since I didn’t purchase anything from him.
I bought my ’12 GS CE 3LT on 10/30 from a local non-Chevy dealership. At the time, I had no experience with Corvettes and bought the car because I feel in love with it. Shortly after, I joined CF and absorbed all of the information I could find about the car. After going over the car in more detail I noticed the stripe on the rear hatch lid was starting to peel up from the underside.
One evening, I drove over to the local Chevy store and spoke to one of the service writers there and asked if it would be covered under warranty. He said more than likely yes, but they did not have a body shop so I should take it to another Chevy dealer that did.
I asked if he could give me any information about the car as I bought it used and didn’t even know which package it had. He informed me the car was originally sent to Criswell Chevrolet. I immediately thought of Mike because of all of the posts I see here.
I sent Mike a private message explaining to him what my issue was and he said I needed to contact Dina as she is their Corvette specialist service writer.
After map questing the location, the dealership is 40 miles away from me and past four other Chevy stores. I decided any excuse to drive the car was good enough for me and a 40 mile drive even for service work was a no-brainer.
40 miles goes by quick when you are driving a Vette
Anyways, I get there and meet Dina and Matt the Body Shop Manager who both were very professional and courteous. They wrote up a warranty request claim and Matt took pictures. Matt told me the warranty approver was not there at the moment and he would submit the claim and call me to let me know.
I thanked him and decided while I was there I would look at the Vettes they had on the lot. They have a lot and after looking at the ZR1, I must get a CF splitter now.
While I am there I decided to go introduce myself to Mike and to thank him for his assistance.
Mike was sitting at his desk and you could tell he was really busy. I introduced myself and mentioned my name on CF and he immediately remembered the stripe issue, which impressed me. He asked me if I had spoken to Dina and I said yes and was waiting to hear back on the warranty.
Mike was very friendly and never once made me feel like I was bothering him. We talked briefly about my car and how I bought it and it had originally been sold, more likely by him. While we were talking Mike printed out a copy of the original invoice and gave it to me, all the while never making me feel like he was too busy, I was a burden or more importantly not worth his time as I wasn’t buying anything.
He was also going to give me a lot of information on the car but the computer system he needed to access was down, so he asked me to write down my information and he would mail it to me as soon as he could. I was blown away with his friendliness and you could tell even after 34+ years selling Corvettes, he still has a deep passion for what he does.
Even after thanking him for his time and information when I was starting to leave, he said “Let’s go look at your car”
For someone that looks at cars all day and clearly knows what my car looks like, I was yet again surprised at how passionate he seemed.
Mike – Thanks again for your time and whenever I am ready to purchase another vehicle you will be the first person I call. I wish you much continued success in the remainder of your career.
And for anyone here that is in the market for a car, I highly recommend contacting Mike, a monkey could sell you a car but it is a whole other level of service with someone like Mike and people like him are hard to come by.
Mike is that way with all his actual and potential customers. You will not go wrong with any dealings with both he and Criswell. And I am personally honored to call him great friend as well.
Definately get the CF splitter and side skirts as well. I did and am waiting for the return of spring to put them on
I bought my 2013 Night Race Blue 427 1SB convertible from Mike two weeks ago after years of talking vetttes with him and some of you may have seen the thread Mike started on this site of my purchase with my lovely wife by my side. I cannot agree with HRS KLR more as far as his kind words regarding Mike Furman. If you want your vette buying experience to be as enjoyable as possible while receiving expert knowledge on both the present and historical corvettes; service beyond the call of duty; and a genuine enthusiasm for the car, its history, and your excitement; you cannot choose a better salesman or dealership. We have all purchased cars from dealers and salesman before and for me they were simple transactions with a hand shake and a thank you even when spending significant cash. That is not Mikes style, if you are buying a Vette from him and Oh, this is not a paid advertisement, I am just a thrilled customer and second time vette roadster owner!
Yep, Mike just sold me my Siver 2013 Z06. I was very impressed with him as well. However, he sent me some Peanut Brittle in the mail as a "Thank you" last week. While it was very good, I ate the whole damn box that same night! Easily gained a couple pounds. Thanks Mike
Mike is that way with all his actual and potential customers. You will not go wrong with any dealings with both he and Criswell. And I am personally honored to call him great friend as well.
Definately get the CF splitter and side skirts as well. I did and am waiting for the return of spring to put them on
...and we hadn't met until you drove the 4hrs from Pittsburgh to take delivery of your 4LT Carlisle Blue GS Cpe! Thanks Grady.
~
I can't thank HRS KLR(OP) enough for the well thought out and very kind words. I work for a great dealership and the best owner that I have ever been associated with in my 34+yrs of selling Corvette's.
Mr Criswell has tremendous vision and is extremely customer orientated hence the Dealer of the Yr Awards he receives every yr. I look forward to speaking to any and all Corvette enthusiasts as my passion for America's #1 Sports Car never wanes. This is fun to me and I try to make every Corvette experience for whatever reason fun for all involved.
Mike Furman "Ambassador for the Corvette Museum."
301 212 4420
Criswell Chevrolet
Gaithersburg, MD
"I ship Nationwide!"
I could not agree more with everyone's comments regarding Mike Furman & Criswell Chevy experience. Yep, he is a pretty special guy...
My wife & I had the pleasure of placing our 1st Corvette order with Mike. The build was completed Friday, Jan. 4. Today, she arrived at our local Chevy dealer, whom will be conducting the courtesy delivery.
As fate would have it, the dealer called me @1:10pm informing me the car carrier arrived, and our 2013 Grand Sport Convertible was there. I was less than 5 minutes away...how is that for luck..and I had a digital camera. The carrier had just pulled in, and our Vette was the last delivery of the day. Pictures to follow.
From our first engagement (last Sept) with Mike, he has gone above and beyond to ensure that the Corvette experience was going to be one to remember for a long, long time.
Mike, you are the best, and a good friend. Look forward to the day we actually meet face to face.
There may be one more Corvette in my lifetime (yep C7), and Mike Furman will be the man to make it happen.
Best wishes & continued success.
Your friends and customer Tom & Candy
__________________
CapeCodVette
USN (1971-76)
2013 Gran Sport Convertible
3LT
NRB, Blue Top, 2-tone Titanium/Gray/crossed flags
Mag Selective Ride Control
NPP
Automatic
Red Calipers
ZR-1 spoiler
Chrome Wheels
Battery protection
Corvette stainless pedal covers
I've been frends with Mike for a long time. He is knowledgeble and great to talk too. Ill have to get over my awesome 2012 Supersonic Callaway and then will order my New C7 Callawayed from him
Awesome posts...He's the best
Joe Federico
Yep, Mike just sold me my Siver 2013 Z06. I was very impressed with him as well. However, he sent me some Peanut Brittle in the mail as a "Thank you" last week. While it was very good, I ate the whole damn box that same night! Easily gained a couple pounds. Thanks Mike
Look who's talking...I am still eating the Bagels you brought down from the Rockland Bakery!!!...and Thank you!
For me it was the shortest 113.6 mile drive I ever made to purchase my '12 GS from him.....worth every mile of it !
Well, you must be different than me and everyone else because my driving 113.6 miles to get to my new Corvette would have felt like 500+ miles. Unfortunately, going back would feel like the short drive.
Corvette Store
Wanted to share my encounter with Mike@Criswell
the experiences always seem positive...
