How 'bout some Camaro Scotty stories! (warning first post long read!)

[Hawaii_Subs]

Hi forum friends! (mods feel free to move this if needed)

I know there are plenty "Thank you <insert awesome C5 dealer here> but I never get old of them and I'm sure they don't either. So, here is my story...

After a bad experience with a local dealer here in Hawaii (re: price gouging Hawaii dealers) my Camaro taste buds were a bit taken aback to try again for the car I wanted to call my own. After doing some more research, stumbling on C5 and opening the flood gates of comedy, knowledge and camaraderie, I found Camaro Scotty and began to have semi-serious discussions with him. December 26th, 2009 (my anniversary to boot!) I pulled the trigger and ordered an IBM 2SS/RS with sunroof. It was an exciting time as with the GM military discount and USAA cashback, I would beat out local LS / 1LT prices here in Hawaii. Yes, that's right, an LS selling for ~38,000. The wait had begun.

Fast forward to February, I'm on military travel in Groton CT for submarine training, and find out my TPW is the end of February, AWESOME! Talk to Scotty non-stop, I'm sure at some point I was bordering the "annoying pest" customer, but he continued to update me and let me know about this and that, it's the little things sometimes, ya know? Then he catches me one day and says "There's a slight problem..." I'm thinking the worst, but he informs me that the delivery address was his dealership (Wisconsin) not my courtesy dealer (Hawaii). Hmm, ok that could be a prob. Tries to fix it to no avail. Then, he tells me, "Don't worry about it, you are still on travel, I will priority order a new one for you and take this one into Newman's inventory." I've heard of the rare awesome dealer, but this was a new level for me. Score one more for Scott! So I start thinking about what I want to order, was thinking of shifting the color, but at this time it was mid-March and 2011 MY changes were just around the corner. "Let's hold off a few weeks Scott"... I'm a big boy, I can wait a bit longer.

Well as luck would have it, my current island beater work-mobile decided that was the wrong answer, and has broken down a few times in the past few weeks. After the first time I took it as a sign, "Scotty, forget the 2011, let's get that order in now!" and he says to me, "I still have your IBM in inventory, no production wait necessary." Hell, I ordered it, so I said, "You bet, gimme! " He gave me a quote he had previously had with a shipping company (at this time shipping is all on my dime) so I set out to see if I could beat it with a reputable company. I ended up with a deal from Wisconsin to Hawaii for ~1750, and although enclosed would be nice, I went ahead with the basic open truck shipping. Turns out Lady Luck smiled on me, it caught a ride on a "one spot left" closed container truck! Yay me!

So it gets to Long Beach, California, on the 9th of April. My shipper says it is contracted to go on the 14th and should arrive around the 21st... ugh more waiting, but what am I gonna do? So the 14th rolls around, I'm bored at work (bored + sailor = bad combo ) so I call up my shipper again and ask for the booking number, so I can GPS the ship, expecting it to be maybe 100 miles from Long Beach, if I'm lucky. I bring it up and it is about 25 miles from Honolulu, Hawaii. WTF! Apparently, it got picked up on the 10th because of ship no-shows, so it was going to be on island late on the 14th! Now I wish I wouldn't have looked, cause let me tell you Thursday royally sucked! So today (Friday for those who aren't on Hawaii Standard Time) I'm sitting typing in my booking number every 5 minutes to get the "estimated to be available for pickup: 19th / 20th of April". They don't do deliveries on the weekends here. I'm like,"Please, PLEASE let it be available today!!" So I went to lunch, came back and again, typed in the info. BAM! Available to pickup!! Call the wife (we live about 30 min from base) and she happens to be at the commissary (5 minutes away). This can't get any better. So we go to get it. I'm excited, kids are excited, wife is excited (she says it's stupid to be excited about a car, but she was). Then I do the inspect. Ouch... You'll see the pics in a sec.

But I took it, drove it home, and now am the proud owner of an IBM Camaro That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. And a huge thanks to Camaro Scotty for entertaining me the whole past 6 months or so. I would be honored to work with him again in the future, the Camaro / Corvette community will be at a loss whenever he decides to retire, this I truly believe. But until then, here's to you Scott!
[IMG]http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac225/terowyn/DS****60.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://s902.photobucket.com/albums/ac225/terowyn/?action=view&current=DS****60.jpg[/IMG]

Now the evil shipping damage. Poor driver side mirror, never did anything to anyone!

[IMG]http://s902.photobucket.com/albums/ac225/terowyn/?action=view&current=DS****56.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac225/terowyn/DS****53.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://s902.photobucket.com/albums/ac225/terowyn/?action=view&current=DS****55.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac225/terowyn/DS****55.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://s902.photobucket.com/albums/ac225/terowyn/?action=view&current=DS****53.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac225/terowyn/DS****56.jpg[/IMG]

And yes, I plan to wash her this weekend!!

So, who else wants to post a shout out for Scott?

James

[Ravirn]

First off, you are absolutely going to love your SS! Congratulations on your purchase, and welcome to the Owner's club.

Secondly, going with CamaroScotty was a smart move. Congrats on being smart! I've been reading and posting here for over 6 months and I have yet to hear a complaint against the man. He is a class act all the way, and a true fan of the Camaro.

The damage to your mirror sucks. However, considering the cost of Camaros in Hawaii, I think that you're still going to end up ahead after the repair. Chat with Scott, I'm sure he can give you info re: replacement parts... or hand you over to his Parts guy. From reading posts from people who've dealt with him in the past, he really will look after you. Hey, he's got to make a living too... but Scott understands that making a living = good, but gouging the customer = bad. He's got a good thing going, so ask for his advice in this.

So get out there and drive that beast!!!! WOOOO!

[CamaroScotty]

Thanks James for the post! It has been a PLEASURE working with you the last many months! I kept in contact with James on YAHOO IM - one of the MANY ways you can access me during the process for questions, updates, or just general Camaro discussions!

Hopefully the shipping company handles the claim on the mirror - should be an easy fix....but dissapointing to me none the less. If you need parts, let me know, I'll get Dave on it if the local dealers can't help.

[SS-Eric]

I have known Scotty for about 2 years now, and I can tell you he is 1st Class all the way! In the competitive bus of car sales it's very hard to find someone that is so dedicated to EVERYONE even if you never thought of buying from him. Scotty, from a fellow salesman, Thanks for all you have done and given the Camaro Community!!!

[Ajaxx]

I wish I had a salesman like Scotty. I can't get my salesman to return my e-mails nor phone calls concerning updates on my order. When I ordered he said he would update me every few days...HA. If it wasn't for Becky and camarotracking, I would have gone insane

[AZCamaroFan]

It sounds like we need a Scotty in every city.

[daphatgrant]

All of the above is exactly why I ordered from Scotty myself . HI to WI , and I thought NY to WI was a good distance .

[Brandan]

interesting read on Scotty... will keep this info for future use.....

["prima"Donna]

Scott is 'the man'...

I have seen what a 'class act' he is after being on the forum for the past year, and all I ever see are positive comments about the man...

I've even spoken to him on the phone, and he is as nice to speak with on the phone as he is to 'speak with' online...

YOU ROCK, SCOTT!!!...

[Berean]

I ordered mine from Scott 8 days ago. I'm at 3000 now and hoping to have a delivery story in 3-4 weeks.

[nukemustang]

I was planning on doing the EXACT same thing.... I am in Hawaii as well, but I now have orders off this rock and could not justify spending the money to ship a car out here to enjoy it for a couple of months only to have to put it back on a Matson ship to send it back to the mainland. I have already informed the wife that when we get back to the mainland that a 2011 SS will probably be one of the first things I will buy!


I am glad you got your ride yesterday that is awesome!!

I hope that the car dealers here in Hawaii are reading and realizing it is only a matter of time before a whole lot of people get smart and start going off island to buy things like this, but know at the same time they don't care cause someone here will eventually pay the 10K markup.

[CamaroScotty]

Originally Posted by nukemustang

I hope that the car dealers here in Hawaii are reading and realizing it is only a matter of time before a whole lot of people get smart and start going off island to buy things like this, but know at the same time they don't care cause someone here will eventually pay the 10K markup.

They will now, There were about 200 Business cards in that Hawaii bound Camaro



And a few gifts in the trunk that the competition just can't offer (and my customers don't discuss )

[daphatgrant]

You want my CamaroScotty story ehh? Are you sure? LOL, cliffs at the way bottom .



Starting around last May I started visiting different dealers, I started locally and branched out from there and ended up visiting 12 dealers in upstate NY in total. Out of the 12 that I visited salesman at 2 of the dealers never spoke to me and another 4 had markups ranging from $2K to $10K (yeah $10K, this dealer also owns 9 franchises). After a couple weeks I had my dealerships narrowed down to 2, a primary dealer and a back-up. I called the salesman at my primary dealer and told him that I was choosing them as my dealership and him at my salesman. I told him what I wanted but I wasn't ready to order but would be ready in early April. No problem he said I've got your info, you have mine give me a call when you are ready. Excellent I thought, I'm good to go .

Fast forward 9 1/2 months to this past late March. I call my salesman back up to make sure he remembers me and to let him know that I am still planning to order in early April, April 6th to be exact. Again he says no problem, I'll talk to you in a couple weeks. I'll mention that I am an avid forum reader and try to gain as much knowledge as possible so what happens next wasn't a surprise to me as I had found out the 5th that sold orders where done. I call on the 6th and my salesman tells me that I am past the sold orders date 4/4 and he tells me that "this doesn't make a lot of sense to him" but further '10 orders will have to be put in as stock or lot cars. I tell him that this is no big deal and I had looked at the wrong dates when I looked at the last day to order a sold '10. I was thinking it was the 10th but it was the 10th in Canada and the 4th in the US (I got this info from "CamaroScotty"), so clearly my mistake. I tell no big deal and to go ahead and place the order as a stock car. He tells me I will get first crack at it when it arrives. Excellent I thought, I'm good to go .

I call a couple days later 4/9 to get a order # and am told that there is some bad news. There is no allocation and that again he's "not sure how this works". It's at this point right here where I start to get a bad feeling. I'm not a car salesman, I'm a firefighter I know about firefighting, a car salesman should know about selling cars and things pertaining to selling cars. I don't expect a car salesman to know every single detail about every car that has ever been made but you should have a pretty decent grasp of how to order and sell one at the least. That night I come back to my Camaro headquarters (Camaro5.com) and ask how allocation works and end up getting a PM from "trm0002" the next morning (which should be a sticky somewhere) explaining in a manner that even I can even understand on how vehicle distribution to different dealers works as well as how allocation works.

Over the weekend I start to see that some dealers on here are getting their '11 allocation #'s and some are even taking pre-orders. I figure that I'll take the 1 1/2hr drive to my dealer to ensure that I can get accurate allocation #'s and get a down payment in place. I show up Mon morning to the surprise of my salesman and ask him if he has '11 allocation #'s. He says he can ask his sales manager, he leaves and comes back and tells me that there are 2 '10 spots available and 4 '11 spots available. I ask if these are available now? He tells me he is unsure and sits there staring at me, I ask if he can ask the sales manager when these spots are available (the sales manager is located maybe 20 ft away across the showroom). My salesman comes back and says that all spots aren't open until May. I ask if I can put a deposit down on a '11 right now? He says it's not necessary and that when we get closer to May that I can give him my credit card # over the phone and do the deposit that way so I don't have to drive back down. A little irritated that I have $ and can't get a car ordered or a pre-order even I say thanks and leave. On the 1 1/2hr trip back home I call my back-up dealer who tells me he has no '10 allocation spots left and how he will have the most '11 allocation #'s in NY. I ask if I can place a order and deposit for an '11 and am told no. I thank him and continue home.

I get home and again come back to this faithful knowledgeable Camaro community and post the latest news in my ordering saga. 2 days later I get a PM from the thedonkeyslayer who tells me that he just spoke to a different salesman at my primary dealership and that he was told that there are (2) '10 allocation spots open right now and if a order is placed right then he will be given $1K below MSRP. Now I'm confused. I immediately call my salesman but he is off that day so I ask to speak to another salesman who confirms what the salesman that the "donkeyslayer" spoke with said. "We have (2) '10 slots available now". Well I have been "working" with my salesman for almost a year now I'll try and stick it out with him I decide. I call the next morning and speak to my salesman and give him both the names of the other salesman and tell him that what they have said. He tells me that he doesn't know what the other 2 guys are talking about and that he doesn't think there are any spots. I asked if he could confirm it again as I know someone that has a confirmed offer. Again I get hesitation, now I'm not sure as I don't know the guy but maybe the sales manager is a miserable bastard and my salesman doesn't like talking to him but that's not my fault. I ask him to check and he seems irritated and leaves to re-check. He comes back and tells me that the other 2 salesmen are wrong. It's at this point that I am pretty much done. I was very polite but I explain that I have been calling for about 2 weeks and have gotten a whole range of different answers or no answers at all (I had to explain the difference between sold and stock orders to him along with allocation). I am told that I will have a car ordered as soon as it's available to happen.

I then give my backup dealership a call and ask to speak to sales, a gentleman comes on the phone and I ask if he can give me '10 and '11 available allocation #'s. I am told that all '10 ordering is done and another '10 can't be ordered. I tell him that this is not true because '10 stock/lot orders are taken until late April. He tells me that he'll have to check. I informed him that if he's going to give me a false answer without even checking I had no interest dealing with him or his dealership.

I sat down frustrated and thought for a bit, maybe I'll try "CamaroScotty" as I have heard a ton of good word from the forum. So I called him at around 9am on his cell which was 8am there (sorry man ) and send him a follow up email asking if he has any spots left. I was at work so I couldn't answer but I had an honest email and phone call response within an hour telling me that he doesn't know for sure but he'll have an answer either that afternoon or the next morning. I call him later to ask him a few questions and this is no lie, within 3 minutes I get more accurate and knowledgeable information from Scott than I did in the prior 2 weeks that I spoke to the other dealerships. At this point I am pretty much sold and tell Scott that I will talk to him in the morning. I call the next afternoon and he tells me that he has 2 open spots and that an order can be placed. I give him all my info and order specs and before we are done talking I have an email listing all of the specs of the car. I confirm everything, and thank him for his help. Fast forward 2 1/2 hrs, I get another email from Scott with my order # and also showing that I am also at event # 2000.

Cliffs
-Having trouble finding a dealer or ordering a car?
-Give Scott a call
-The end

[Alarick]

It only takes time, though the dealers there try to tell all sorts of lies to keep people from buying out of state.

Just don't let them try to tell you that you have to pay Hawaii state sales tax on it.

As long as you have a paper saying that you paid the sales tax in another state when you take it to the DMV, you're good.

Learned that one when I did not want to pay $10k over sticker on a Jeep Rubicon when I lived out that way a couple years ago.

Originally Posted by CamaroScotty

They will now, There were about 200 Business cards in that Hawaii bound Camaro