zackvette

What does a "Courtesy Delivery" actually mean? If I pay a $995 destination Fee, and GM pays the receiving dealer a PDI fee, why should I be required to pay the receiving dealer another $250-500 when I order my 2014 out of state? My local dealer is charging $9000 over sticker... so why would I order my new Vette there?
Does the fact all my service/warranty
work will be done at the receiving dealer over the next decade count at all? Or, am I just naive? Do I have just another Greedy dealer, or are the vast majority of Vette dealers charging extra to deliver your out of state car? Thoughts?

ldepalma

Think of it this way - Your ordering it out of state like I am. The local dealer in your area is not making any money off of YOU, hence, this is there way of getting a few bucks thrown there way. My plan is to drive to MD and pick up my car from one of the forum dealers here and then drive my new C7 home to the west coast. No stupid PDI costs and angry looks because I didn't buy it from my C6 dealer. My local dealer is doing the same as yours by the way....

AORoads

Call it what you like, but MOST dealers will charge you a fee for doing what they should be doing anyway.

I can tell you that there IS one dealer I know of, who now happens to be one of the most prominent Forum dealers, offered me free courtesy delivery several years ago. His reasoning went like this: maybe you will buy a new car from me next time, and maybe you will use our service department next time. If I think about "long-term" thinkers, he is right up there at the top of the list.

And not to mention any names, but I'd bet that the poster above is going to buy his new car from that very same person.

ldepalma

Yes, you are correct. I am and that is his saying so we are all on the same page!!!

torquetube

Think of it as a corkage fee.

Marietta is only 300 miles from Bowling Green. I would do Museum Delivery.

harley2

Yes, do Museum Del, you will love the experience!!

Check your private messages!!

Big Dan 427

The dealer that is getting the sale should be the one paying the courtesy delivery fee, NOT YOU! If the local dealer is trying to charge YOU and extra fee have the car drop shipped to another dealer close by. If you are hell bent on the dealer you mention doing the delivery than tell the selling dealer he has to eat their fee.

ldepalma

Hate to tell you, but you are wrong. That's not the way it works. The courtesy delivery to your local dealer is so they can do the PDI. Since the person didn't go through there local dealer, why would the local dealer do ANYTHING for this person if they didn't buy there car there? Hench the fee...

There is one way kinda around this fiasco. Have the selling dealer do the PDI and then ship the car to your house via an enclosed transport or pick the car up at the selling dealership and drive home even if it's cross-country....

Michael A

On my last Corvette, the courtesy delivery was $300, and the savings were $3000, for a net of $2700. It still seemed like a good deal to me.

The dealer that it was delivered to even asked me why I did buy from them. I told them I called their sales manager, and he said they did not have allocation. They couldn't argue with that. The process went very smoothly.

Michael

vankenn

$9k over msrp lol. Consumers are not dumb anymore. I can get some serious upgrades and options for $9k

Big Dan 427

Well I hate to tell you but you're wrong! The dealer that does the PDI gets paid for it by GM, what the OP is stating here is that they are charging him a fee to "deliver" him his car. My comment simply stated that he should make the dealer who sold him the car pay the fee, that is the way to end the fiasco.

Shipping the car from the selling dealer is totally counter productive, he might as well just pay the courtesy delivery fee as opposed to a big transport fee.

And as to why should the local dealer do the right thing, well it's called good will and future service business.

GOLD72

My family has done two courtesy deliveries so far and both were $250 each. My son got his 08 vette couple delivered in Houston after buying from Les Stanford Dearborn and I also ordered a 2010 CTS Wagon from Les Stanford for delivery at my closest Caddie dealer in Houston. $250 is a reasonable "cut in the action" for doing the paperwork (tax and title) and delivering the car (including a full tank of gas which ain't cheap if you have noticed) after your great deal from an out of state selling dealer. We were happy to pay it. The delivering dealer may hold the blackmail price down in hopes of keeping you for service work and future sales. Much more than $250 is a rip-off IMHO.

ldepalma

Your missing the point. I know GM pays the dealer for PDI. You can't get away from the fact the dealer your shipping the car to, wants a fee for the service. Hence, they are going to make you pay one way or another. They will call it a PDI fee or whatever for allowing that dealership to except your car from another dealer. Don't think the incoming dealer who gets the car delivered is going to do it for free - never happen.

torquetube

If the delivered car is damaged or defective in some way, be prepared for a five-way finger-pointing match. Insurance notwithstanding, it's your property and your problem.

When you pick up a car from the selling dealer, you get to look it over before you sign the check.

The only circumstance under which I'd pay for a Corvette prior to picking it up is R8C Museum Delivery.

GOLD72

When my son wanted to order an 08 coupe late in the model year, none of the Houston dealers could come remotely close to Les Stanford's price. When I tried to order a 2010 CTS Wagon top PEG in Vanilla Latte, the local Caddie dealer didn't want to order it and tried to ship down an identical vehicle sitting up in Dallas for months for $500 plus their price was no where close to the GM Supplier Pricing offered by Les Stanford. I turned down the local dealer's phone proposal and emailed Les Stanford. Within 30 minutes Les Stanford had called and arranged courtesy delivery with that local dealer and from the very fleet mgr who didn't want to order me my car. And for only $250 which surprised Kevin Will at LS who told me that Caddie courtesy deliveries tend more toward $450 to $500.

Big Dan 427

Idepalma we're on different wave lengths on this one. What I am saying is very simply is for the OP to tell the dealer who sold him the car and made all the profit on it to pat the fee to the courtesy delivery dealer. Don't forget the selling dealer does not have to pay out a commission to a sales guy either, so the fee in essence can be considered the sales commission. You're right, the delivery dealer is entitled a fee for their efforts and the selling dealer who made all the wood should pay it...PERIOD!!

GOLD72

You bring up valid concerns. The car can often ship from the assembly plant at essentially the same time as the selling dealer gets invoiced from GM. The selling dealer isn't going to bill you for the outstanding balance until he gets that GM invoice. Both my son's coupe and my CTS arrived in Houston within a week after rolling off the assembly line so the cars arrived at the delivering dealers before final exchange of paperwork and payment with the selling dealer. You could certainly refuse to make final payment with the selling dealer pending your inspection for damage before accepting delivery by the delivering dealer. You don't own it until final payment has been made. Might delay the delivery by a day or two.

Slynky

I don't suppose I should even get in this discussion...for all I know, American manufacturers do things weird.

BUT, when I wanted an Acura (some time back), we agreed on a price even though the local dealership didn't have one on their lot. Then, they proceeded to watch the orders coming in--checking the specs. About two months later, they found one in Florida that had just been delivered to the dealer. That dealer prepped it and even pin-striped it. It was transferred to my dealer and arrived about a week later. I wasn't charged anything for this. NOW, maybe my dealer "ate" the cost of transport and prepping the car--don't know.

My wife's Cooper S was diverted in transit at no cost.

However, when I expressed interest in a different color Z, the dealer wanted to charge me $195 for transport from Alabama.

This is a long-winded way of saying I see the following logic:

Person contracts with Internet Sales Dealer to buy Corvette at good price. This dealer gets the allocation and has it shipped to the dealership that is near the buyer. The Internet Sales Dealer didn't do anything other than act as a middle man. In fact, had the car been sent to directly to the Internet Sales Dealer because the buyer was going to pick up there, they would have had to bear the burden of receiving and prepping the car. So, in my opinion, any cost associated with the delivery of the car to another dealership should be borne by the ordering dealer (who is getting out of that burden himself and passing it to another).

Slynky

C6Tim

I have to agree... I'm pretty sure the selling dealer is going to automatically get compensated by GM for the PDI even though they are not actually performing one. If that's correct, it means the selling dealer really should pony up that money to the buyer to help pay the dealer who is going to actually perform the PDI. It's only fair...

I also believe it's a terrible business decision for any dealer to refuse a courtesy delivery or charge more than GM pays for PDI's even though I do understand how they might get their feelings hurt because you did not buy from them. However, they need to look at the big picture and understand that they will earn all your service/repair business in the future as well as a chance to foster a relationship with the customer that could result in future car sales.