My experience becoming an new owner
 

Well figured I would post this up. I never really got into camaro's until they stopped making them. Then I heard all the hype about them but I really wanted a Challenger. I have never really looking at the HEMI or the LS motors so I had to look at V6's. I know alot of car dealers from work and on Tuesday I got a call from my guy over at Vandergriff in Arlington. They had 2on the showroom floor that they could sell. 1 was an V6/RS package did I want it.
I got down there around 8pm and loved it. We did all the paperwork and because I know some will ask. They did add a $3K over sticker. I was not going to pay it and was not happy about it. However I had my truck appraised by 3 other dealerships and Vandergriff gave me 2K more for my trade and they came another 500 off the price so I paid 500 over sticker and I was cool with that. I am an impatient person so worth it to me.
Long middle story but there was a hang up and I thought they sold it before my financing came through so I went to a horrible dealership and test drove a V6 Challenger. After driving it for a day I just dcided that it sucked and I wanted the camaro especially with 54 fewer ponies it really lagged horrible. Well on Friday I got a call that I could get the black one if I wanted it the other deal fell through so I signed on it and have had it all weekend and it rocks.
I actually feel kind of wierd because I found this site and all these people have been waiting months and don't know when they will get their car and I just kind of happened upon one and got it 3 days afer I first saw it. But Joe Martinez @ Vandergriff took care of me and they seem to have had at least 1 camaro they could sell right now. They had a gray one on Tuesday and just got a 2SS Orange one in on Friday.

Congrats!

IMO it still sucks that they charged over MSRP, but glad that you enjoy your car. It is a head turner for sure...

thats exactly why i dont deal with vandergriff. if any one is looking for a decent dealership with allocation still left, lynn smith in burleson, tx has several. I ordered from matt watkins, been friends for several years. If he is not there talk to rich, he the older sales guy there that knows everything there is to know about the camaro.

I don't blame the dealership at all. If I had one of maybe 5 Camaro's available for anyone to walk-in off the street and buy in all of DFW I would charge more for it because people will pay for it. That is pretty good business sense. I got upset at first too but then I realized the only reason I was mad is because I knew they were right. I wanted it right now and they were gonna get their money out of the car. If I didn't want to pay over MSRP I could order it anyway I wanted it and wait just like everyone else.

If you woke up tomorrow and there was a shortage of water and everyone was thirsty how much do you want to bet those who have water are gonna charge more for it.


Also to be clear they DO NOT charge over MSRP if you order a car. They only charge it if you walk-in and buy off the showroom floor. And when I went by today they had none.

i saw your car in the show room last week...my wife sat in it...hope u don't mind...
some sales guy told us someone had bought it...but made it known u couldn't pick it up until they got another one in stock...

I don't mind I was signing the paperwork and a lady had her whole family stuffed in it I was getting upset then. Yeah the way they explained it to me was they couldn't sell it until they had a replacement to put in it's place on the floor.

Actually I wasn't suppossed to get it I went to get it Tuesday night and I was second in line because my banks finance computer went down but they had to wait for another one to come in before they could sell it anyway and on Friday they got an orange one in so they could release it and the other guy's finance fell through and I was right there to snatch it up. The only reason I got this one was simply good timing.

Congrats on finding one, but wow, that dealer blows.

1) Selling over MSRP
2) Allowing people to sit in a car you are buying...
3) Forcing you to keep the car at the dealership AFTER you bought it... :bs:
4) Selling the car to two different people at the same time (did i read that right!?!!?!?!)

My guess is that they were allowing people to sit in it after you bought it as well. I would have walked out the door for any of the above.

I hope people at GM are paying attention to all these stories about the B.S. Dealerships. If GM can get the dealerships to be somewhat honest and decent, they'd be selling a lot more vehicles.

Congrats to you..especially since you could pull the trigger on the spot!:)

Congrats, some of us are so far in to our orders (8 months plus for me) it would be a sin to cancel. I don't blame a dealer if they ask over msrp for a lot car, sooner or later the supply will catch up and they won't be able to get away with it. Besides its always somewhat negotiable and if not you can walk away.

No they couldn't sell it to anyone until they had another one on the showroom floor but a guy had his deposit down on it so he was first in line. When one came in Friday they called the guy who had his deposit down and something apparently happened with his finance or he found another car or for what ever reason I was next in line and went and picked it up.


I guess I just look at things alot different than everyone else. I love this dealership this is the 3rd car I have bought from them. Supply and demand says right now they can ask more for their car so they are and some people like me are willing to pay a little more to have something right now and now to wait 2 plus months for it to get here I don't blame them for that. Especially since they gave me more for my trade than anyone else. Until I sign on the dotted line they can let whoever they want sit it in it was their car as soon as I signed the papers they drove it away and cleaned it up.

I personally have nothing bad to say about this dealership and would recommend them.

well i was super impatient, stopped by a dealeship in Texas City, and they had the one I wnted...and paid 5k over sticker...and i'm a college student lol, but its worth it and i have no regrets

if i had ordered one, it would have saved me 5k, but I would be waiting forever possibly...i've seen people who ordered in November 2008 and not get theirs until June 2009