Just curious, does anyone have a plan to beat the gouging that will be S.O.P. from the dealers when this thing comes out? I'm not above paying MSRP, but I just can't pay over. With the volume these cars will do, do you think we'd have better luck finding a dealer out in the country that doesn't do much Camaro business to be willing to sell at MSRP or less [/dream]. Or would it be better to deal w/ a big dealer who moves volume? Any ideas?

 

You have hit on a matter that is very close to my heart in that I wanted a GT500 and went on a rant over the B.S. that has affected that vehicle due to the dealer markups, selling them all on EBay etc (look up previous rants/posts if you wish). At any rate...being in the Detroit area I ran out to my local dealer when the 09 Camaro ragtop appeared at the Detroit auto show in January, and put down a $500 deposit on one for when they are built. The dealer would not commit to any price ceiling. Since then I contacted a local Corvette club and asked them which dealers did not try to gouge the customers for prices over MSRP on the Z06 Corvettes when they came out (being that it was a well known fact that most did). I got the names of two dealers within 100 miles who did not rip off their customers with these rediculous "overcharges". I called each of them, and each of them told me that with a $1000 deposit they would guarantee in writing that they would not charge over MSRP. In fact...both of them openly bragged that they have never done that and would not ever do that to their customers. I wanted to do business with them immediately....but I did call my local dealer out of courtesy and informed him of the promise I had received from the other two dealers. I talked to the sales manager and told him all the facts, and asked if I could pick up my deposit the next day. He got back to me immediately, and promised me that they would not charge over MSRP and sent me a new receipt within 3 days signed by him promising me MSRP on the new Camaro convertible. Try that with a Ford dealer for a GT500....it ain't never gonna happen. I told each dealer that I called that I refused to be a victim of the bull**** that went on with the GT500 Mustangs, and they were all well aware of the problem. Ford is apparently the only ones that do not realize how many perspective customers they are chasing away from their product....despite this weeks announcement that their Mustang sales are down 21%. Ford totally turned me off with their allowing the dealers to sell all of their allocated cars on EBay etc. to collectors instead of selling them to their customers who wanted to buy and drive them. Ford chased me into the waiting line for the 2009 Camaro, and I guarantee you I will never again buy a Ford product due to this bull****. My local dealer has a GT500 convertible in the middle of his showroom floor but he won't sell it it me unless I bid on it????? EAT**!!!!!! I am probably going to be happy for it in the long run despite having to lease a new CTS to get me thru the next two years until the Camaro comes out....but I swear future allegience to GM in the future and will never buy a Ford product again over this crap.
So in a nutshell....thats the best way to get the new Camaro for MSRP. At least you can do it with the Camaro...but you cannot do it with the GT500, or the soon to be built "Bullet", or the GT500KR, or the Mach, or the Boss etc etc, etc. All of those cars will be sold to collectors for over MSRP at a tremendous profit to the dealers while Ford Motor is crying the blues about their inability to make a profit. Maybe they could make a profit it they would figure out a way to sell their cars to their customers who want to buy and drive them.......

 

PARAGRAPHS ARE FUN.

 

it's really got nothing to do with volume of sales from the dealership.... some places are in it to make every penny they can.

Once production is ramped up, supplies should be ample... so finding a dealer that will sell at MSRP should not be a big problem.

as far as dealers taking deposits... that's a no no according to GM. No dealer should be accepting deposits yet, period.

 

I just remember the Mustang GT's got gouged here for the entire first year they were out, am thinking the same thing will happen for Camaro. We've still got a few holdout dealers trying to gouge on Z06's

 

We should have a list sticky'd of all dealers that don't gouge. I thought I saw one on another site a little while back, anyone else seen it? It would be a great reference for those of us who don't intend paying over MSRP

I heard Sewell Chevy of New Orleans does not mark-up, that's as far as I'm willing to go, a FL dedaler would be better.

 

Over on the corvetteforum, they're sponsored by certain dealers that do a really good job taking care of their customers. Almost to a man they sell at supplier price whether you qualify or not. Granted that car is several years old now, but it's nice to have a known group of supporting dealers to choose from when you're ready to go. A chevy dealer that shall remain nameless got booted off of supporting dealer status last year because they signed a bunch of people up for Z06's at MSRP, then pulled the rug out from under them and sold the cars on ebay for big markups. Dealer greed knows no boundaries detroitboy!

 

Buying mine via a friend.

 

Real easy. Call/e-mail around to find a dealer who won't charge over MSRP. Then jump in the car and take a road trip to said dealer.

I have no problem driving out of state to save myself $500 or more.

 

Sewell Chevy of New Orleans was a great dealership to deal with, but they are closed. There were too many chevy dealers in New Orleans and the others got together and bought him out.

The company I work for has a deal with GM that gives us the "GM Suppliers Discount". Will that protect me from the dealer markups?

 

Only at a dealership that *chooses* to sell the car at the supplier price. I also work for a company that gets supplier pricing. I bought a Solstice, and nobody would give me anything close to supplier, and I contacted 14-15 different dealerships. They might now that it has been out for a while, but not for all of last year....

 

I thought this was going to be a "Should I buy a first year?"

Considering the track record - 93 vs 94 and 04 GTO vs 05, I am considering waiting for bugs to be worked out, and, as you have pointed out, avoid dealer mark ups.

But oh the pain of seeing others with a new toy and waiting another 12 agonizing months...

 

U said it. I talked to a friend of mine ( who is HUGE mopar fan ) and he said that the Camaros have bad reliability. Is that true? I will be buying this car hopefully after 1 year of production. This will be my first time spending my money on an American car and I just wanted to know about the reliability issue and if you have had bad experiences in the past with a new Camaro.

Thanx

 

First....whats a paragraph?????

Second.....how can you compare the reliability of a new and not yet produced camaro to a previous product of the same name that has'nt been produced for years and has nothing in common, and will not be built by the same supplier or people?

Ok...I found out what a paragraph is.....but don't judge a vehicle that has not yet been produced by an older vehicle with the same name. The only thing you can compare at this time is the new 6.2 engine being that is now being produced as the standard engine for the C6 corvette and will be available for the camaro...... 430 HP and 0-60 in the corvette in 4.1 seconds. And its built on the stronger engine block and with a forged crankshaft and pistons as well as many other race quality components.

And guess what? (here we are with that paragraph thing ....are you happy now????). The 6.1 hemi mopar only has a cast crankshaft and cast pistons! How long do you think its going to be before those start blowing up after a few mods? Hmmmm.....

I'll take a 6.2 camaro...thank you very much.

 

Yes, actually. It made reading your post much easier on the eyes.