[Joule Thief]

Costco Volt Purchase Experience: Great deal & A+ service from Concord Chevrolet! LONG

“Wow!” was the only expression I had as I left the dealer Sunday after taking delivery of my MY12 Volt C-5274. I know many have shared some pretty terrible experiences in this forum so I wanted to take a moment and share a very positive one here. I got an amazing deal ($500 below MSRP) plus some extra perks which I’ll discuss below.

After deciding to purchase a Volt back in Aug, I first went to my nearest dealer, Chevrolet of Watsonville. They only had a demo to test drive which I was happy to do. Then the sales guy told me that I would have to get on their waiting list to place an order and that depending on how the vehicle was equipped the owner would be charging anywhere from $5-7k over MSRP! Even the sales guy did not agree with this and told me he’d rather sell me a Cruze. I told him thanks for the test drive and left.

Then I called Costco and they told me at the time (late Aug) that there were only 3 dealerships in the country signed up for a Volt program. They were Concord Chevrolet in Concord, CA; Courtesy Chevrolet in Phoenix, AZ; and another dealer in New Jersey (sorry didn’t get the name). Maybe there are more dealers now, I’m not sure.

I got authorization numbers for both the CA & AZ dealers. Then I called each of them for pricing. The AZ dealer was very pushy on the phone and started with asking me why I wanted a Volt, was it the amazing technology, gas savings, etc. Before I could even give an answer he went on to answer it himself, I really didn’t need to be part of the conversation. Eventually he told me that their “deal” through Costco was to sell at MSRP which was better than selling it above MSRP to non-Costco members. In the following weeks, I received several spam emails and automated phone calls from these guys. They wouldn’t leave me alone even after I asked them several times to get me off their lists. So I would NOT recommend Courtesy Chevrolet in AZ.

I called Concord Chevrolet and spoke with Duane Fiene – GSM and Internet Sales Mgr. Duane was extremely helpful and promised $500 off MSRP for Costco. He got my order placed right away for a fully loaded Viridian Joule w/ Black Leather and Dark Accents. He told me it would take about 6wks which it did (more like 7, but still a lot shorter than many others here have waited). Order went in on 8/24.

Once the vehicle got to shipped status (4200) on 10/1, Duane called me and said the vehicle would be delivered by 10/17. Well it was delivered last Fri on 10/14, ahead of schedule. Duane called me early Sat morning to let me know they would be completing the PDI that day and I could come in Sun to pick it up. I was very excited. The dealership was about 3hrs away from my house but it was well worth the drive.

Duane pre-arranged the financing ahead of time so when I got there all I had to do was sign and go. The vehicle looked great, their trained Volt salesman, Kent, took me for a quick test drive and went over all the features with me as well as On Star setup. I was in and out in under 2hrs. What’s really amazing is that as excited as I was about the Volt, when I was driving home all I was thinking about was how great the dealership experience was!

I also happened to be installing my SPX Power Xpress L2 EVSE this weekend so after I got home I treated the Volt to it's first 240V home charge I'll post more on my DIY install later.

Bonus Perks:
1)As an Executive Member with Costco, I got a $50 gift certificate good towards parts and accessories at the selling dealership. I used this to get the All Weather Cargo mat for the trunk and I also ordered a set of wheel locks.
2)When I got there, Duane told me he meant to have the wheel locks installed for me but didn’t so he gifted them to me! This was unexpected since I didn’t ask for them to be installed when I ordered them. So this was about a $40 value.
3)Concord let me use my Costco AMEX card for $5k of the vehicle purchase towards my cash back reward!
4)They DID NOT install the front license plate bracket as per my request (even though its state law in CA). As I requested, it was left in the hatch area.

Ok, sorry for the long post, but if you are looking for a great dealer in the Bay Area to buy your Volt, Concord is the best. They actually sold the first Volt in the Bay Area to Patrick Wang, see his site at http://www.mychevroletvolt.com/.

As I left Duane mentioned they currently have 3 Volts in stock for sale. He also mentioned that their current Costco price now is MSRP, not $500 off, but I would call and ask if you’re interested. His info is below along with some pictures. You can see more pictures in my profile albums. Lastly, I did get a copy of the PDI (Pre-Delivery Inspection Checklist) that many have asked for. There is a link to one on another thread, but when I tried it didn’t work.



Thanks!

Duane Fiene – GSM
Concord Chevrolet
1330 Concord Ave
Concord, CA 94520
925-682-6400
http://www.concordchevrolet.com/

 

[Steverino]

I think my smile was just as wide when I picked mine up! Still is.

 

[DonC]

Sounds like you ended up with a great experience! What was especially nice was doing the financing before you showed up. I never do the financing at the dealership because there are too many moving parts and it's easy to get confused. I think BTW that's part of the game plan. It's decision fatigue. Seriously, they just keep trying to have you make decision after decision until your mind capitulates. If everything is finished before hand the buying experience is much more enjoyable.

Enjoy your car!

 

[Frankman]

Congratulations Joule Thief! You may be the only person in the world so far to pay $550 less than MSRP for your Volt, AND get to order exactly what you wanted.

 

[volt3939]

Joule Thief;

I saw a Volt Sunday heading south on 680. For a minute there while reading your story, I thought it might have been yours! But in checking the video my wife took (with our Volt Flip camera) it was white with a Courtesy Chevrolet plate.

So far I have captured two others with the Flip, one near Concord, and one in Santa Clara. Missed two others at the same light waiting to turn, that might have been a first in the wild, three Volts at the same intersection at the same time...

 

[Joule Thief]

Joule Thief;

I saw a Volt Sunday heading south on 680. For a minute there while reading your story, I thought it might have been yours! But in checking the video my wife took (with our Volt Flip camera) it was white with a Courtesy Chevrolet plate.

So far I have captured two others with the Flip, one near Concord, and one in Santa Clara. Missed two others at the same light waiting to turn, that might have been a first in the wild, three Volts at the same intersection at the same time...

Yeah, I've only seen a few other Volts in the wild in the Bay Area as well which is surprising given this was one of the first markets and how "Pro-Green" it is here. So far 1 Black Volt driving in Santa Clara with a dealer's plate on it, 1 White Volt parked in Sunnyvale, 1 White Volt parked at my job once, and 1 Cyber Gray Volt as I was driving to get my Volt. Sad that I can still count them on one hand. When driving to work this week, I looked in my rearview and thought I was hallucinating when I saw the front of "my car" facing me. There was another Viridian Joule Volt following me! I tried to slow down and wave or thumbs up, but he (or she) passed by me rather quickly.

Still extremely happy overall with the car after 1wk, it's an amazing automobile with a driving experience unlike any other car I've ever owned.

 

[ari_c]

Congratulations Joule Thief! You may be the only person in the world so far to pay $550 less than MSRP for your Volt, AND get to order exactly what you wanted.

I replaced my order with Jeff Barnes Chevrolet in MD, and my price is ~900 below MSRP. I was frustrated with my original order not getting any allocations even though I was promised delivery by Sept / Oct. Well they had an allocation that was coming up in just over 2 weeks that was unclaimed so I jumped ship. I would have been happy with MSRP, but they had an internet price that was well below MSRP.

 

[MVRacing]

So, have had mine 2 days now... every time it is fully charged I go out for another cruise Not with out dealer problems, but finding a good guy/dealer, Jason @ Gilchrist in Tacoma, got exactly what I wanted for $1340 BELOW MSRP!!

 

[Joule Thief]

So, have had mine 2 days now... every time it is fully charged I go out for another cruise Not with out dealer problems, but finding a good guy/dealer, Jason @ Gilchrist in Tacoma, got exactly what I wanted for $1340 BELOW MSRP!!

MVRacing, I'm really happy for you. After reading some of your other posts on the BS the first dealer pulled on you, that's what inspired me to start this thread. I have to say the night before I picked up my car, I had a lot of anxiety because I was worried my dealer might pull something like that with me, I was actually getting mad and thinking about what I would do if they changed the deal on me last minute when I got there! In fact, before I started the 3hr drive I even called them to confirm one last time that everything was as agreed, fortunately it turned out great but I was a little paranoid for a moment. That's awesome that it only took 2wks to find another Volt after walking out on your 1st dealer, and $1340 below MSRP is UNREAL!!! Hopefully both of our experiences will serve as examples to other buyers that they don't have to pay ridiculous dealer markups. Looking at your sig, it appears we ended up with the exact same car, fully loaded VJ & Blk Lthr w/ Dark Acts - NICE! Congrats again, enjoy.

 

[MVRacing]

@Joule Thief
I love that moniker!! Yes, I think the main point here is if one can be patient and willing to walk away, you are in control of the deal. But, it is best to start from a position of strength ie USAA, Costco, or any fleet buy program that will give you the best pricing from the git go.