My Dealer says Your Dealers are all ripping you off!
 

Hello Camaro5 folks!

I decided that I would go to my dealer today and see if I could place an order and then when they finally offer blue I would change the color on the order at a later date.

I had been reluctant do order one thinking I would be depriving another person of a car but I figured if there were any left on his allocation by now that everyone who was truly a die-hard would have ordered already and I wouldn't feel guilty if I ordered one and had to cancel it if they don't offer blue.

So, I went to the dealer and the salesman I normally see was not there so another guy offered to help me. I asked him what his allocation was and he said that GM has not given out that information, and they won't give it out for a long time. He said that dealers may get a showroom car in April or May but they had doubts that production would begin until the summer.

I asked the guy why he didn't know his allocation and he said that that information was not being given out. I said he could check on chevylaunch.com and find out and he said that they have been checking constantly but the info is just not there.

He then told me that nobody in my area would be seeing Camaros for the better part of the year because most of the dealers that get them would be the big dealers in major cities like NYC, LA, etc. He said that those dealers will surely ration them out with a $30K markup.

He told me that they could take a deposit like some dealers are but that just means I'd be giving them money to play around with indefinitely because they had no idea when the cars would actually start getting built and they couldn't place any orders not even for their own dealer stock.

He assured me that since they had hired a new sales guy 2 years ago that specialized in selling Corvettes that they were assured of a great allocation because of the high volume of vettes they had sold in the past 2 years which was huge compared to other local dealers. I just had to wait for GM to tell them their allocation.

I then said I didn't want to call him a liar but several of my friends on Camaro5.com has already placed orders and were even given order numbers and knew what place they had on their dealer allocations. Some guys were #1 out of 5, other guys were #2 out of 3, and so on. The guy told me to "forget what you read on the internet." and "it's all a bunch of B.S." and that nobody was given any allocation and all dealers were doing was taking deposits to "reserve a space in line" for when GM finally gave out allocations.

He said he would be happy to take a deposit from me to reserve my place in line and that he had several other guys foaming at the mouth as well but he talked them out of it too. But if I was really that eager they would be glad to take my money and give me a slip of paper saying I was reserving my place for when allocations become available. He said that he was "doing a favor" for me by not taking money from me and that dealers that were supposedly taking orders were going to have all that money to "play around with" and were ripping enthusiasts off by leading them on like that.

I just wanted to put that out there and see if any of you had any reaction to what my dealer was saying and perhaps if I had miscommunicated to him in some way what I wanted or misunderstood what he was saying. This dealer has been serving my family for 30 years and always has been good so I am saddened by the fact that what he says seems to be so my different than what I read here.

Of coruse he did warn me to not pay any attention to the internet... :barf:

Sounds like he's just misinformed.

I don't really blame salespeople for not knowing everything about this car or even GM policy. How much do any of us know about our companies, products, or services? It is hard to demand a car salesperson to know everything about this car and its allotment, features, or options.

This guys does not know what is happening when it comes to the Camaro. Many of us here at Camaro5 have an expertise in the Camaro. We don't have expertise in other cars. For example, I can tell you all about the Camaro, but don't think I'll be able to recite options or pricing for a Chevy Aveo. I know a little about the Aveo, but I couldn't tell you all of the features like I can with the Camaro. As a salesperson, this guy is responsible for a lot of cars and trucks. It is impossible to memorize every feature of every car on the lot.

Basically, just expect them to price it for you. You can learn the features and options here. Camaro5 is full of great buying advice, too. Don't expect your salesperson to guide you through the process. They're only there for a paycheck; you're there for your favorite new Chevy. :thumbsup:

Yup. He could be the nicest guy in the world but he's misinformed.

It's really a shame that they can't just read the information that GM sends them and follow simple directions. My dealer called me and asked me not to come in until the information was up. I had to tell him it was, we know MSRP, let's go! I think some of them may resent how much the general public (or enthusiasts) knows before they do. I mean come on, it's a guaranteed sale. No pressure. Reading things like this makes me think some of them are not hurting as much as they'd like us to believe.

Funny thing is, they are probably sitting there with a huge allocation and probably don't even know it. Truly sad............

When I was talking to him I couldn't help but shake the feeling that he was perfectly informed and was trying to misinform ME!

I'm going to try a different dealer on Monday.

I am a bit worried though because the guy was talking about huge markups being put on by other dealers. I was getting the feeling maybe he was going to say his markup was much smaller than others...

Captain - we have published the MSRP and dealer cost for everything here on camaro5. How can anyone here get ripped off? Nobody who does research on Camaro5 will get scammed. Your dealer is not well educated with respect to the Camaro. Look for a dealer on Killer74Z28 thread to find someone who is fair and has sold to fellow Camaro5 members.

if I wanted you to come back to me for the sale then I too would tell you that everyone else will be marking it up an outragous amount.

he is a sack of poo

I could see where you might get the impression. First off, we know for a fact the the dealers recieved their allocation numbers last week, we also know from the podcast and from experience, that orders were taken starting the 13th.

I feel really bad for the people that have to deal with this crap. My dealer has been in Tucson for 86 years. Still a family business, and will not sell over MSRP unless there are dealer installed options.
Finding a "dealer" that still has a passion for the cars they sell is getting hard to find. That's one of the main reasons I will not buy from Jim Click Ford/Mazda/Kia... you name it he owns it and could give a rats a$$ about people, only the quick buck.

/rant off:chevy:

In a nutshell, I am trying to say I believe you guys over the dealer but I cannot imagine why he would give me such a crazy story that doesn't jive with anything I see here if he wanted my business. Essentially, I had a deposit in hand and could have placed an order just like you guys did, but he was talking me out of it.

The second he said he didn't know what allocation he had I decided I wasn't going to place an order with him but I tried to keep the conversation going to find out what his game was and I couldn't figure it out.

Why turn away a potential order?

because if he admits that he doesnt know about a product, then his liability is at stake. especially if he isnt the guy you normally talk to.

The answer is simple, he probably wants to order cars for the lot planning to make as much money as possible off of them. Unfortunately there will always be people that will pay a big markup if they can go down to the dealer and pick a car up as soon as it comes out. This guy wants to discourage you from taking that spot, as he knows the big markups will not last long. If he uses one of his spots for you, he loses the chance to make the big markup. He knows the car will sell if it is on the lot. Find a different dealer.

$30,000 mark up? I have my deal to buy at msrp in writing so if someone wants a silver and black 2SS/RS for $30K mark up mine is available........