stingraymyway

For the record, I vote for Pie.

It's been my experience that most salesmen have little technical knowledge about the car they're trying to sell. Most try to sell "the deal", not the car, truck, SUV, whatever.
They take for granted the product sells itself, especially when it comes to a niche market like the Corvette. You'll get; it's fast, handles like it's on rails, gets the girls......whatever line they think will work. Their only objective is to get your signature on the paperwork.
I know there's a few exceptions. Some are enthusiasts, but they're few and far between.

Bill Dearborn

Knowing and being passionate about the product is a factor in making a good sales person. When selling a Corvette the newbies will like you for that while you can get into discussions with the old hands. However, the last thing you want is to try and BS them when talking about the product. Most have some level of BS detector and BS can lose a sale almost immediately even when the Customer wants the car.

When I purchased my 15Z a month ago the sales guy was good. He didn't know the car that well and said so. He was professional and I liked him. Then I had to go into the other guy to sign all of the papers and the first thing he tried to sell me was an extra warranty based on his statement that every thing in the car was covered by the 3 year/36K warranty except the central computer that controlled the whole car. That was only covered by a 1 year warranty. I asked him whether that was the ECM, the BCM or the EBCM and he said the one that controls all of those. The needle was bouncing off the BS meter peg with those statements. I even thought about saying that is BS and driving 167 miles home in my trade in. But then I figured I wasn't going to have the car serviced at this place so as long as I got my deal I would be OK.

Bill

owc6

The mental picture of this almost made me pee my pants!

Skidplate

A person could peruse these forums for a month or so and have more C7 knowledge than many 'salesmen'.

obxchartercaptain

Like most have said it is all about the deal.....Most on here want the dealer to give them the car and then pay them to drive it. In the real world that doesn't happen. True there are the big players here, no names need to be mentioned. They discount their Vettes and they do sell alot of them. But, once you get past those top 5 to 9 dealerships...the numbers of Vettes sold yearly by the rest of the dealers drop drastically. The dealer is ENTITLED to make a profit on the vehicles he/she sells and normally the price is dictated by the marketplace in their home town....but....the internet is changing all of that as well. As a retired Charter Boat Captain and LIFELONG Corvette enthusiast I could not think of a better way to spend my retirement years than selling Corvettes, going to car shows, road rallies and drag strips. I also sell other Chevrolets but I am the Corvette Specialist at the dealership where I work. I pride myself on customer care and service AFTER the sale.

I drive a 2016 Z51 3LT Convertible. BTW...I've purchased new a C2, C3, C5, C6 ... I had a Museum Delivery in August. Almost all of my customers appreciate the fact that I drive a Vette. I was able to explain and SHOW them first hand what they were buying and how it worked. And while some of you here don't think it's important that their salesman drive a Vette or for that matter know much about it ..... to my customers it was.....Happy New Year

C7-Beast

I've bought 9 new cars in the last 5 years and only 1 of the 9 salesman even had a clue. I've never understood how car salesman could know so little about the products they are selling and still keep their jobs.

I do all my research before ever stepping foot into a dealer. Knowing many salesman have no clue makes me do my own research and just go in and work a deal. Most times I'll call the dealer and work out a tenative deal. Dealers hate doing that but I tell them " You can talk to me over the phone and get me in the ballpark or I'll call someone else"

I purchased my 08 Corvette and my 11 CTS-V almost 100% over the phone. Obviously they need to verify condition of any trades. I'm honest in describing the care and know what cars sell for at auction.

Would I prefer a salesman who knows the Corvette? It would be a nice bonus but I care about getting the best deal possible on my terms. They may have a fleet of Corvettes but if they refuse to speak on the phone, I move on.

rcooper

My last 4 new Corvettes were bought from 4 different dealers and only one of the salespeople owned a Corvette, and she was very well informed on the car. Three of the four were sold to me by salesmen who did not know anywhere near what I knew about the car.Although nice to have a competent sales person who knows their product it is not the most important thing for them to have the product as their dd or in their stable.
I look for a good deal and don't really care if the sales person is up to date on everything. My last to sales guys had no clue about Corvettes, I still play golf with one of them and the other stays in touch with me via email. Both are great guys....that gave me great deals. Got my C7 from a dealer that had allocation, I did not care that he knew very little. He was polite, handled me well, got the information I requested and did all the necessary leg work.
All of the salespeople that I dealt with were very professional, personable, and took care of my needs. That is what is important to me, and this is how you gain repeat business. So, when the time comes to get a new Corvette one of the last 2 salesmen will get my business.

C7 BOB

I've bought several Corvettes from Corvette guys. It made the process much more enjoyable and fun!

alamo1974

themonk

I knew exactly what I wanted before I walked into the showroom so the receptionist who drove a 911 could've sold me my car for all I care. The salesman didn't sell me anything, he merely filled out the paperwork.

MikeyTX

Ditto. All that matters to me is the bottom line figure.

Red C8 of Jax

Price is king

RickMN

The sales experience IS part of the enjoyment of buying a new car. How many times do you get to spend $60k to $120k in your life? I would feel like I was missing out of part of the fun if I had purchased from somebody who was just taking orders and had no true enthusiasm for the product they were selling.

(not sure the guy I bought from owned a Corvette at the time, but I am pretty sure he owned every Corvette Matchbox car ever made).

justplainjim

To me price and quality of service dept. is what matters..

DB_Florida

I think there would be a difference between new and used. For new, I've figured out my options and my price, so anyone who can complete the sale is fine with me.
Used is a different situation. There are so many variations and possible issues, that a salesman who can identify and explain the various mods would make a difference.

nmvettec7

I have always found that the buying experience in buying a new vehicle is usually terrible and is very time-consuming. First, it's dealing with the salesperson, (whether the person is nice or not). Waiting to get the keys for a test drive, signing releases for the test drive. Once you make an offer, then it's dealing with the new car manager or general sales mgr. Then it's back and forth on pricing. Then you're off to the finance guy, (even if you're paying cash, which I do). Ton's of paperwork to sign and then getting the sales pitch for the extras, like the extended warranties, tire warranties, paint protection sealants, film protection, windshield protection etc. Then the discussion of how good the service dept is and requesting the vehicle come back to that specific dealership for service. Then there's the registration, single ownership, joint ownership, and don't mention you want the vehicle registered in the name of your Living Trust. That's a nightmare to deal with with finance guy who usually doesn't know what the hell you're talking about.

By this time, you would have expected the dealership to order lunch or dinner for the customer. You have had to get up and use the restroom a few times. Holy smokes, this is not fun.

This is usually a 3 to 4-hour adventure that usually can result in a nightmare experience. By the time it's all over, you're so glad to get out of the dealership.

The best part of the new vehicle buying experience is simply getting the keys and driving the car off the dealership lot, or having the car transported and seeing the vehicle being delivered.

There has to be a better way to streamline the process. Until that happens where you can buy a new vehicle in one or 2 hours at most, the buying experience will continue to be an adventure.

Best part of the deal is getting the car home, so you can walk out to the garage and look it a gazillion times because the vehicle is so nice, or the wife asks, "are you going to sleep in it tonight".

BladeSilver2015

I view product knowledge as critical for any sales person that is serious about their job and wants to excel. A sales person that does not know the product will still make sales to some but will lose potential sales to others. I think this is particularly true with enthusiast or niche market vehicles.


After retiring from the Air Force I sold Japanese motorcycles at a power sports dealer. The management insisted we know the product and we were required to own some kind of motorcycle. We were constantly trained on new products and the competition. Later moved to selling HD bikes and the dealership also required that we own a Harley. An HD sales person that rode a Honda did not have a lot of credibility. In addition, sales applicants were exhaustively questioned to make sure the basic product knowledge foundation was already there to build on. In the dealerships I worked for, a sales person with poor product knowledge did not last long.


Corvette sales are a little different. I would say that most people coming in to buy a Corvette are enthusiasts and will not be hard sell on the product itself. However, product knowledge is still very important. If you can carry on a serious technical discussion about Corvettes with an enthusiast and strike up a good relationship based on mutual respect, you are more likely to make the sale (as long as pricing is competitive). As some of you have already noted, BS is not acceptable to many Corvette owners. Another important factor is the complexity of the vehicles themselves. A good sales person will know the product and be able to "train" new owners on every aspect of the vehicle systems and answer every question. That is how they will get referrals and repeat business.

DB_Florida

I agree, but since dealers started doing internet sales, I have found buying to be very quick. The dealers post their stock online, you email back and forth to agree on a price for a specific car, get a copy of the buyer's order emailed to you, and then show up at the dealership with a check, sign some papers and pick up the car.

My last several cars were bought this way, and the entire time at the dealership was 30-45 minutes, much of which was the walk-through of the car's features. And on the last one, I discovered if you schedule the pick-up less than an hour before they close, it goes REALLY fast.

sTz

Generally, the seller's ownership or product knowledge is inconsequential. The buyer should have already completed their own research and be familiar with the product.The best deal, and delivery convenience as applicable, would take precedence.

That being said, a sense of camaraderie and common interest might contribute to a more amicable transaction.

Dave@Ciocca

I think that someone here on the forum knows what they want and once they find the car and the deal they want then nothing else really matters.

However, customers walking into the dealership could be different matter and that's where the OP may get some advantage of being a sales person who owns a Vette.

In my case I do not own a Vette any longer. I started at Kerbeck in 1993 and 1994 was our first year as being the world's largest Corvette dealership (I'm sure that's just a coincidence).

I've sold thousands of Corvettes and have literally spoken with tens of thousands of Corvette customers. I found that I couldn't enjoy owning the Vette as it was actually reminded me of work than of relaxing. If I went to a meet or a cruise with the local club everyone wanted to talk to me about buying a new car.

I found another car with the same type of people who don't know me from Adam and enjoy my rallies and cruises with them for my relaxation. When it becomes time for me to retire I'll probably enjoy that time in a Corvette when it's no longer my job but my hobby.

If I worked at a dealer that only sold a few Corvettes, than not only would it be an advantage, but I would probably be able to enjoy the car like the OP does.

Dave