& They Wonder Why They Are Probably Going Bankrupt

The Wife & I went to one of the local Chevy dealers today. There are about 10 in a 40 mile radius around my house. My single only purpose for stopping was to drive the new Camaro SS. They only had one Camaro in stock. It was a black one with the silver skunk stripes. It was freaking gorgous (pics just do not do this car justice) but it was a V6, automatic. There is no freaking way on earth I could buy ANY performance/sports/sporty/enthusiast car with a freaking automatic transmission.

Anyway, I tell the sales scum that I would like to drive a SS. He said the only way I could do that would be to order one. I asked him why I would order a car I've never seen & he said the car sells itself. That is partially true, but I AM NOT buying a car that I've not test driven. Since we had nothing left to talk about, he tried his best to sell me the V6. When I told him only girls & rental car companies drive V6 Camaro's, he got offended. Not like I care. I told him I wanted an orange SS with white skunk stripes with a houndstooth interior. He didn't know what a houndstooth interior was. This is both pathetic & sad. I said the single only thing I would do to the car would be a Borla cat-back. He didn't know who Borla was & said that would void the warranty. This is further pathetic & sad. I mentioned the Magnusonn-Moss Warranty Act. He didn't know what that was, which is yet again pathetic & sad. I tired of dealing with this simpleton so I thanked him for his time & we walked to the GTI. He walked to his car to get something. What kind of car was it? A Mitsubishi Lancer. He's trying to sell me a $32000 car yet he won't drive the brand himself?

& they wonder why they are going bankrupt?

KC-10 FE out...
lane: :usa2:

 

Go to one of those other dealerships and take one out for a test drive. While trying it out, stop in to see this twitt and advise him you found the car you are going to buy.

BTW. I guess I am kinda sad too. I don't know what a Borla Cat back or the Magnusonn-Moss Warranty Act is either. I assume you will forgive me... your faithful northern neighbour.

 

Puts me in mind of when I got out of college and went to test drive an RX-7. Dressed nicely, told the salesman I wouldn't be buying for several months but wanted to take a test drive. He gave me some song and dance about the affiliated Chevy dealer borrowing their demo to find out why people were buying them instead of Camaros/Corvettes. After spending some time talking financing he figured out I was serious and allowed as how maybe I could take the service writer's car out, but I passed. Needless to say that dealer didn't get my money six months later when I bought mine. Sadly too many car salesmen are not enthusiasts and don't have a clue about the nuances of what they are trying to sell. Then again, how many people who buy a car are enthusiasts? Most just want to get from A to B, and maybe look good doing so.

 

Dang, I think I found my new calling. I know what a cat-back is, and who Borla is.

I even know about the warranty act.

Nah, never work out, I cant convince people that cant afford it to buy something that will be upside down before they get it off the lot, much less when the repo people come to get it, with a clear conscience.

I know, a fool and his money and all that, but still, its just bad form I guess.

If I wanted to go that route why not just be a dope dealer or an attorney.

Pretty close to the same, you get to ride around in the latest cars all the time and dress up in sharp clothes.

I know a guy that used to sell new cars, and was very good at it, top salesman so may months running and so on. When I met him he had got divorced, found God, and was living with his parents again. As our conversation on his situation deepened, he let out that he, after going through all their sales schools, etc, had finally one day made a deal with someone that made him feel so bad that he had a huge guilt attack, and gave up the whole thing, just quit. So then his wife leaves him because no money...............and on and on it went. Pretty sad way to make a living. At least for him anyway.

I know somebody has to sell the damn things, but why are they always so lame? Its very rare to even find a salesman that knows a thing about what they sell. If they would spend even a small amount of time on what the thing really is and less on what color it is and how many manipulative psychological bullshit tricks they can pull to get the thing sold.......................................

Here's the kicker, this salesman that had quit told me that he had been taught that when someone that actually knows something about what they want comes through the door, chances are you arent going to be able to make much money on them, so your efforts are better spent on the lookie loos that you can steer. If you have to deal with the determined informed guy, just get him out of there as soon as possible because he will be unwilling to get steered or diverted. So either tell him something so he'll leave, or make the deal down dirty and quick so he'll go away.

 

Randy,
Borla makes really nice exhaust systems for cages. They have systems that run from the catalytic converter back (Cat back), similar to an after-market exhaust for the 6th Gen VFR's. The Magnusonn-Moss Warranty Act basically says if a company is going to void your warranty for adding after market parts, they have to prove that part was detrimental to their product. As an example, adding a cat back system to a Camaro should not hurt anything and should not void the warranty.

Action

 

If what the sales scum told me is true, the entire 2009 production run of the SS is already sold out. I have no way of knowing if this is true, but I do know not a single Chevy dealer anywhere in my vicinty is admitting they have a SS in stock. Considering the amount of hype this car is involved with, I have no problem believing this nonsense. I still don't like the idea of paying $32000 for a car I haven't even sat in.


Are you serious, you've never heard of Borla? They are probably the single most well known aftermarket exhaust maker.


The MMWA is an American law that covers warranties & the specific wording of warranties. Among the many things it covers is the notion (which is entirely false) that putting aftermarket parts on your vehicle automatically voids the warranty. In a nutshell, they CANNOT void your warranty soley because you placed an aftermarket part on your vehicle. They can only void the portion of the warranty that deals with that part specifically. IE, you put new wheels on your Chevy, they wouldn't have to warranty anything to do with those wheels. The only other way they can void a portion of your warranty is if the part you installed damages the vehicle. You put a new intake on your car & it fries the MAP sensor. Chevy would not be obligated to warranty the MAP or anything the fried MAP affected. This can obviously start a waterfall affect, but I'm sure you get the point.

I have a personal example of this nonsense. I have a Gibson cat-back on my truck & it's been there since the truck had 2000 miles on it. The truck (which is a phenominal POS) burns about 1 qt of oil every 1500 miles. The idiot service manager at the dealer I go to has on more than one occasion tried to convince me the cat-back is responsible for the oil consumption. Anyone with even the slightest knowledge of vehicles or engines knows this is complete hogwash. I have a printout of the MMWA in my glovebox to shut up the service department whenever I take the truck in for whatever is wrong with it at the time.

KC-10 FE out...
lane: :usa2:

 

If you do get a chance to test that SS please do give a ride report...Im interested f its all the hype or not....Im a gearhead so the more technical the better!!!! My last 4 wheeled toy was a 92 GT with a pro built 306 cp pistons, scat crank, rods..afr heads f303 cam, you know the works ended up woth 362 rwhp..not bad for a little 306 ford!! But Im no where near a one brand loyalist..I lovem all...and they all need $$$ to be "fast"...

 

KC, I love how you handled the sales person.
I do not like sales people for the simple fact that they try to sell me something I do not want. And as bear said, if I want it, I prolly know more about it than the salesperson anyway.
Anytime they approach me in any type store they get the stare that says,"I know what I want more than you so tread lightly."

 

KC is right-these people are idiots. I was born and raised in Detroit, worked on and drove (street raced on Woodward and I-696) all the cool stuff they are now trying to recreate. Hmmm.... the SS is sold out for a year, so lets take some of our limited production capacity and build Camaro V-6s??!! You have GOT to be f-ing kidding me. Same thing with the Hemi Challenger (you didn't drive the original-you aimed it) they can't build them fast enough but Chrysler going to go under because no one wants their POS econo boxes. Guy at work has one-100 times better car than the original, even looks better. It's sad, and the big reason why has already been mentioned, they are NOT enthusiasts, I'm surprised , knowing the culture at the Big 3, that these cars ever saw the light of day. (The Camero took at least 2 years to long, due to lack of management support.)
Sorry-end of rant.
Guy who ALMOST raced Jimmie Addison's Silver Bullet-look it up. :thumbsup:

 

I plan on seeing if this rumor of the entire 2009 production of the SS is true. I will be checking with 2 additional dealers, 1 on Monday & 1 on Wednesday. I am not calling ahead, I'm just going to show up. My truck is due the 65000 mile service & the dealer I go to is right next to a Chevy dealer. While waiting for the truck, I will walk over to the Chevy dealer.

Before anyone asks, the reason I take my truck in for oil changes is due to the completely idiotic location of the oil filter. The only way it could be in a worse location would be if they put it directly over the exhaust. I rotate my own tires & change the air filter, etc but I don't change the oil in my truck since it is quite literally IMPOSSIBLE to change the oil without making a huge mess of my driveway.

KC-10 FE out...
lane: :usa2:

 

I hear ya!! To get to the oil filter on my Nissan truck, you have to go up through the wheelwell on the passenger side. Without a lift or oil pit, you end up having to take the front tire off, and are still at a terrible angle.

 

That was the only thing I didn't like about my old Nissan.

BZ

 

Borla is a very nice exhaust. I'd have no problem putting one on my Hemi cage. For those that are interested, though, take a look at Corsa. Very sweet.

KC - would you consider a Challenger SRT8? Or you partial to the Camaro?

I know things like looks and colors are purely up to the individual, but I think that SRT is a baaaaddd a$$ car.

 

Well, the dealer I went to today said the exact same thing. The entire 2009 production of the SS is sold. If I want one, I need to order one & it will be AT LEAST a 4 month wait to get it. They didn't even have the V6 in stock.


Since the dealer I went to had no SRT8 in stock, I drove a Challenger R/T in March. I would be embarrassed to own that car. It's an overweight, ill handling, lame ass excuse for a car. Dodge should be ashamed of itself for calling this car the R/T. The R/T should be the base car or they need to shave about 1000lbs off the car or they need to re-gear it or something. It did not impress me in the slightest. It is a nice looking car, but the Camaro is better looking, faster, lighter, gets better MPG, etc for nearly $8000 cheaper than the car I drove. The Chevy SS is over $10000 cheaper than the SRT8 & is still faster than the Dodge. It's a no brainer unless you are brand loyal.

KC-10 FE out...
lane: :usa2:

 

The oil filter on my T-Bird is under the driver's side exhaust manifold above the K-Member, so if you don't do it right, you get your hand/ forearm burned on the exhaust manifold, and then spill oil all down the K-Member, etc.

I'm not going to be buying ANY new cars from the Not-so-Big-three. I'll happily stick to my older Big 3 cars that I know more than the shop mechanics on how to fix, etc. I see no reason to pay a shop monkey $50-100 per hour in labor charges on something that I can fix myself. Besides which, the last time I took a vehicle into a stealership to have fixed, it came back worse than when I took it in.

On the other note, I'm seriously going to look into the new Diesel VW Jetta that is boasting 58 MPG. :thumbsup:

 

Please don't judge all of us that work at car dealers just because you met a moron at one. I lived on an Air base for six years and wouldn't assume your a dumb ass air-dink who drinks every minute he's off duty.

If your truck is a GM vehicle there is a replacement for your PVC that looks just like a PVC but just has a small hole in the bottom. That should cure your oil consumption problem depending on what year your truck is. (Just saw you own a ford, sorry dont know anything about them.)
The Camaro SS is a hard find right now because of the hype. People who preordered them are just waiting for the phone to ring so they can come pick them up. Give it a couple months and try again.

Part of the problem is too many dealers that close to each other, thats why some of us will be gone by next year. It drives prices down so GM figures with less dealers they can get more for each vehicle.

Maybe that dealer is on the closure list and the guy was stressed about it, kinda like when they were closing all those military bases.

 

Whoever told you 58MPG is exagerating a bit. I know 3 people with Jetta TDI's of various years. I've heard MPG ranging from low 40's to mid 50's but never as high as 58MPG. If that were the case, VW would never be able to make them fast enough to satisfy demand.

If you want to call me an alcoholic pinhead, at least come right out & say it instead of hiding behind innuendo.

Tell you what, show me a SINGLE auto salesman with the customer & the customer's best interests in mind. You can't so don't bother. ALL dealers & their sales people have one thing & one thing only in mind. The bottom line. If the customer is happy, that's great, but you can bet your bottom dollar that it's not even of the slightest concern to anyone at the dealer. If you could show me a dealer and/or salesman with the customer's best interests in mind, I would have absolutely no problem changing my tune. I think I would have better luck proving the Jersey Devil exists than finding one of those.

I bought 2 vehicles back to back from the same dealer & same salesman. I feel I got a decent deal on both cars. I also feel, no matter how "good" a deal I think I got, the dealer & the salesman got what they wanted.


Then I see you comparing auto dealer closures to military base closures? Are you serious? Are you sure you want to make that comparison? Last time I checked, auto dealers never deploy their members, never make them work mid shift, never make them take chem warfare classes, etc...

KC-10 FE out...
lane: :usa2:

 

Sorry didn't mean for it to sound like that. I have great respect for anyone in military. The job you do is amazing. I'm sure your one of the many great members protecting my rights, thank you very much.

I was just trying to express that not everyone at the dealerships are ignorant buffoons. Some of us are actually real car guys.

Good luck on the Camaro search it is a great car, even the sissy 6cyl ones.

 

KC:

I can show you a car dealership that cares about the customer.

Its a small family business called "Smith's Used Cars" off Route 9 on Old Furnace Road here in Sussex County, Delaware.

If ALL dealers where like the Smith's. There would be no stealership threads.

BZ

 

The new Camaro has a plastic feel that I don't really like. I much prefer the new 2010 Mustang. I am not a ford motor guy, but style and quality wise, I think the Dodge and Chevy are lacking.

The Nissan 370Z is still my favorite. For the same price, you get a lot better build quality and a more refined motor. Plus the personal, fun-to-drive factor is higher on the Nissan for me

I just don't like the camaro's style. I think the front end looks great, its just the rest of it looks odd.