Oneslackr

Thought you guys would enjoy this encounter I had today with a sales guy at a local dealer in my area.

I had a chance to see a C6 today up close & personal for the 1st time. Capital Chevrolet in Austin has a yellow/ebony, Z51, 6spd, coupe with XM, Onstar etc sitting on their lot. It's listed as a certified used vehicle. (I'll get to the used part in a second)

While I was looking at it another guy came up to look at it also along with a 2nd sales guy. This other customer started asking questions which neither sales guy had answers to. So I started answering his questions about the brakes, suspension options etc...The 2 sales guys were looking at me like shut up already you damn know it all. At first I don't think the sales guys thought I knew what I was talking about but their view quickly changed. It was kind of amusing to see how little they knew about the car. I was answering the customers questions so well he thought I worked there. I finally had to tell him that I was just looking also.

I noticed when I was looking at the car they hadn't left it in reverse. So the other customer asked the younger sales guy to start it up so he could hear it run (my sales guy stepped away for a few minutes).

The sales kid gets in & tried to start it & got nothing. Dead battery!! So I asked him did you guys leave it in reverse? He said we sure did but I knew they hadn't. Then the young sales kid got called away & the other customer left. (though I didn't let the other customer leave before I told him to check out our forum & told him about the good deals he can get through forum dealers!)

About this time the sales guy I was dealing with came back over & I told him that the sales kid tried to start the car but it has a dead battery. So he says are you sure he knew how to start it correctly. So then he climbed in & tried to start it. Being as he knew so much about the C6 he went to put the key in the ignition while I'm standing there watching him. Then he realized there is no key slot. So then he pushed in the clutch & hit the start button. Of course nothing happened!! So then he kept the clutch pushed in & started hitting all the buttons on the key FOB thinking that would start the car.

So then Mr. Sales Guy got a great idea. He tells me maybe it won't start with the doors being open. So he told me to shut the doors, the hood, & the hatch. So I shut everything knowing full well that he would get locked in the car with the battery being dead.

Then he tried the door release button & got nothing. So then he starts to panic & starts pointing like crazy at the door handle on the outside & for me to let him out.

The window was down a bit & I told him if the battery was dead I can't let him out because there is no door handle. Then I finally told him to reach down by his left foot & feel around for the emergency door release cord. He found it & was able to get the door open. Poor guy must have felt like a horses ***!! But I hope he at least learned a bit about the car.

Before all of this happened I asked him what their allocation was for vettes since all they seemed to have are trucks/SUVs on their lot. He said only about 4 vettes per year! No wonder they don't know much about it.

I told him yellow wasn't my color & wanted a black one. He said they had 1 allocation slot open so he could do that. So I asked how much of a deposit did they want. He says $5,000 to $10,000!!!! Said that is pretty much the norm on these cars!!! I almost started to laugh!!!

He also told me the reason it's a used car is because it had a 1019 miles on it. The story supposedly was that a guy who had cancer had always wanted a vette & so his wife bought him one so he could drive it before he passed away. Then she got rid of the car. They were asking $53K for it. I didn't tell him that I could buy a new one for that.

I did tell him about our forum & how supporting dealers were selling new ones for MSRP at the most & even at discounts at best. I also mentioned that some dealers around the country were honoring GMS pricing & he found that hard to believe.

I told him I was waiting to see the Z06 next month & then waiting to see the price later in the year before I made any decisions. I said if the Z06 wasn't sky high that's what I would be getting. Regardless of what I get I don't think I'll be buying from this dealer.

jabez

You should have offered him 10,000 , as is , for the car since it had no car handles and would not start.

mike1952

Kyle, luckily most of the other dealers in Austin are a little better informed. Bet you had fun with this though!

Mike (LeMans Blue, Z51, 6 speed, 1SB)

C6MagRed

Great story...I stopped there once and nobody would help me so I got in my '99 Coupe and left....never been back.....

...sorry to do this and its nothing personal but I think is in order...doors won't open with a dead battery (He couldn't have gotten in without using the key in back)

SlowAzzVette

"He also told me the reason it's a used car is because it had a 1019 miles on it. The story supposedly was that a guy who had cancer had always wanted a vette & so his wife bought him one so he could drive it before he passed away. Then she got rid of the car. They were asking $53K for it. I didn't tell him that I could buy a new one for that. "


this is true!

We all have had our shares of idiots trying to sell us cars.

The reason Texas can get away with selling at MSRP and over is because they do not get as many vettes as other states for some reason. But if you ever want a reputable dealer, contact Henna, they took care of me big time!

FunDriver

No handles! Offer him $5000...it didn't even have a key to start the darn thing with!

Oneslackr

Sorry but that's exactly what happened. No B.S. here. True you can't get in the car with a completely dead battery.

I had just been looking at the car from the outside. The windows were rolled up so I just peeked in the window. The sales guy talking with me didn't offer to let me see inside & I didn't ask.

When the other customer showed up with the sales kid I guess the sales kid had the FOB with him because the other customer was able to open the passenger door. Then they opened the drivers door, the hatch, & the hood. The sales kid put it in accessory mode I guess & showed the other customer the HUD display. The radio was playing also. I took advantage of this to sit in it & to look at the HUD display too. That's when I noticed the car wasn't in reverse. Not sure about how long it had been parked like that. Probably not too long. The battery was probably just about dead & turning on the HUD & radio polished it off. By the time they tried to start it the battery was dead & it wouldn't start. You know the rest of the story.

C6MagRed

Cool

greengo

Gunn Chevrolet in San Antonio had 4 C6's in the showroom. Yellow, Black, White, and Blue. Mike Talamantez is a class act when it comes to car salesmen. When I picked up my car today he shocked me when he said......"The price of your car has gone down since you ordered it..by about 700 dollars" He didnt have to tell me that and I would have never known the difference! What a guy!

smslevin

Lol. Was it a young blonde kid? Nice, but dumb as a hammer. He actually asked me if I was going to buy the car 'cause if I did he'd make >$3000 in commission and would 'goof off' the rest of the week!

I kept calling it a used car and he kept calling it a new one. Once a car has been titled, its used... period. I told him I had one on order for $9k less than he was asking for his 'used' car. Of course, he didn't even know what GM Supplier was.

9 times out of 10, a Corvette buyer knows more about these cars than the salesman. Not everyone is Dave Salvatore!

Bwright

I had to wipe away the tears after I got up off the floor.

Oneslackr

Yeah, the sales guy helping the other customer was a young blonde kid. Probably the same one you talked to. Didn't get his name. He knew more about the car than the guy talking to me who locked himself inside (this guy was also blonde but somewhat older, probably early 30s or so). I found the whole thing very amusing.