One morning I stopped at a dealership I had talked to before, just to look at inventory. When I came onto a lot, a Cyber Gray Volt was sitting there, having just been offloaded from the car hauler. I drove away 3 hours later (would have been 2 if I didn't have the misfortune of the finance guy being tied up with a chatty customer) with a rock bottom price, no back and forth.

Bunnin Chevy in Culver City, CA - PM me if you want a reference to my guy (who isn't the guy who posts on the forum here infrequently... my guy has much better grammar. I just don't want to create a "stepping on toes" situation for him).

 

1-Some dealers look at the Volt as a nuisance like a Corvette. They will need sales people that know the car. Training = $. They need service people that know the car. Training = $. They are living in the past.
2-Then some dealers are more progressive and embrace the Volt as an opportunity to be apart of the future trends, put in some inventory, train people as needed and go for it.
I believe that over the next 2 years this will change and #1 will be sorry.

Bill

 

They were bad when we were looking 2 years ago. They wanted $5,000 over sticker and a 5 month wait. They told us to be happy because they could easily ask $10,000. Ended up going to Ron Carter in Alvin and got exactly what I wanted. They actually made us feel like they wanted our business. Still ended up paying MSRP but back then that was the best you could do.

 

Mak Haik did ask me for 10k over sticker back in 2011. I couldn't believe my ears. I walked out. Bought my Volt in Georgetown for MSRP, as you said that was the best you could do in '11. Houston dealers are absolutely the worst in the USA. High pressure, liars, total jerks. I think its the city - there's so much money in Houston they can get away with it. Its sad. I didn't know about the franchise laws until I read about Tesla's effort to change the model. I pray to God Tesla is successful, as I know our government will back dealers to the bitter end, at least in TX. I've recently decided to sell my Volt as soon as I can save enough for a Model S. Unless I can manage to afford to keep it and have the Model S. That would be truly awesome!

 

Sorry to hear about your experience with Mac Haik, they almost got me with the "zero qualifier" incentive which basically means they'll offer all of the discounts posted on the website even if you don't qualify for it.

I ended up using that # as a bargaining chip with two other dealerships in Houston, which worked well. I got my Volt at just over $8k off MSRP.

Give AutoNation Gulf Freeway or Classic Chevrolet in Sugarland a call. If you're still interested, PM me and i'll give you the name of my salesperson.

 

GM could and should be selling those estimated 45,000 VOlts a year by now. If it wasn't for their dealer network, they sure would be. It's up to the high-volume Chevy dealers to take up the slack of the myriad small-town and small-time Chevy shops who sour the dealings. And not much Chevy can do to help if they go and tell them "buy these service tools for $10K or you are out of the Volt program." Dealership issues, the press and other factors are what makes people look to Tesla for a solution to their headaches.

 

After my frustration with a dealer purchasing my first "new car" from a dealer. I am thinking Tesla being able to go direct without dealers is doing that part right. Too bad they don't offer a gas range extender too.

Is GM stuck with only marketing the Volt through their existing dealers or could they add other methods of distribution to what they are doing. They took a big risk in creating this amazing car. Might be worth doing other things differently, Roy Volt #1019

 

Ok I am not sure I understand this post and others like it.

So one dealer says they will match anyone's price (which is tough because some dealers will do anything). You find a really great deal (but dont buy it) and then ask another dealer to match it. the Salesman is not good about returning a call on a deal that doesnt look like will ever happen and then when asked, squirms a bit unnecessarily. The dealer finally tells you that they cant do that deal and walks.

So why not just go back to the other dealer and buy the car who made the offer the other dealer couldnt match?

Where is the harm here?

When I buy a car I basically ask the price, and then I either buy it or go away. Maybe I am too easy? Or dont feel the extra effort to push the extremes is worth it?