[Patti]

It has taken me a couple of days to post--been very busy getting up to speed on 240 vs 120 charging and multiple rebates etc. etc

We just leased a 2013 Summit White, black interior-base model with add of Safety Package. 36 month lease, $3,000 drive off, $240 a month (without sales tax). I shopped all over Central and Northern Calif., ended up leasing with Keyes. They are very fluent in "Volt Speak" and were great to deal with. They were able to have Joe deliver the car to us up here in central CA. Rick Alperin and Joe were both straight forward and very savvy re: Ally leases etc.

Here in the San Joaquin Valley, the Volt qualifies for an additional $2,000 rebate in addition to the $1,500 from the state of California. Add the gasoline savings and the lease payment is almost a negative number.

Best of all, we are loving the Volt!!

 

[CBRFRTZ]

I am VERY interested in leasing a Volt. Is Keyes the best place to do this? I was looking into the base 2012 Volt for $249/24ms/12k with 2499 due with AutoNation. This is a chevy national lease deal. does this mean you have to have a 900 credit score. Any help would be appreciated

 

[N Riley]

Do you get the additional rebates since the dealership gets the Federal tax rebate?

 

[CBRFRTZ]

Honestly have no idea. Sorry

 

[Fulgerite]

You may also qualify for a FREE level 2 EVSE + installation from SPX as well. Feel free to contact SPX and find out if you qualify.

https://homecharging.spx.com/volt/Home.aspx?l=1

 

[CBRFRTZ]

WOW. Thanks for the info.

 

[KEYES CHEVROLET]

Patti,

It was very nice speaking to you over the phone! I am very glad we were able to take care of you and get you into a new Volt!

ENJOY!

Thank you for your business!!!

Shawn

 

[jbfalaska]

Gotta love a happy ending. Congrats on the car and the deals.

Spread the word.

 

[Fulgerite]

Well... I am glad that some people are reporting good experiences with Keys... When I contacted them they treated me horribly.

My story starts when I called and asked if they had a Volt in stock I could test drive. They said "sure come on over". I drove 35 miles to go see the car. When I arrived at Keys they told me the car was too valuable and "special" to just let me have a test drive. (The battery was dead anyway.) They said that the Volt was a "premium" car and that they were selling for $5,000 OVER the sticker price. They said unless I was willing to sign a deal today I could NOT drive the car. Needless to say I was annoyed. I explained that I can't sign any deal until AFTER I drove the car to see if I like it. They refused. Not only did I waste 70 miles worth of gas... I was annoyed that they LIED to me on the phone and told me that I could have a test drive... Then switched stories and told me the car was too "special" for me to drive. I demanded to speak with the manager. He kept me waiting for 30 minutes and then came out and told me I could NOT drive the Volt unless I was willing to sign a deal FIRST. I got in my car and drove home angry. Two other friends of mine have also reported BAD experiences at Keys Chevrolet in Van Nuys. (These were service department complaints.)

Since my experience involved the manager... I can't blame it on an inexperienced employee. My experience came directly from the management.

The next day I drove up to Power Chevrolet in Valencia. Power Chevrolet was polite, professional and knowledgable about the Volt. I proceeded with my purchase and drove home in my new Volt one day later. I can highly recommend Power Chevrolet in Valencia. (They are outstanding in my opinion!)

Perhaps... The management has changed at Keys? Perhaps they just have some good deals going on right now? I don't know... But I DO know I would never set foot in that particular dealership again after the way I was treated.

I say these things not because I have a personal vendetta against anyone at Keys... I am not just trying to do a "hatchet" job on Keys. I just want other Volt customers to know how they treated ME. I think it's also important for the management at Keys to understand that when they treat customers like ME poorly... it can have consequences.

I sincerely hope that Keys has turned over a new "leaf". I sincerely hope other Volt customers have a better experience than I did.

 

[KEYES CHEVROLET]

Well... I am glad that some people are reporting good experiences with Keys... When I contacted them they treated me horribly.

My story starts when I called and asked if they had a Volt in stock I could test drive. They said "sure come on over". I drove 35 miles to go see the car. When I arrived at Keys they told me the car was too valuable and "special" to just let me have a test drive. (The battery was dead anyway.) They said that the Volt was a "premium" car and that they were selling for $5,000 OVER the sticker price. They said unless I was willing to sign a deal today I could NOT drive the car. Needless to say I was annoyed. I explained that I can't sign any deal until AFTER I drove the car to see if I like it. They refused. Not only did I waste 70 miles worth of gas... I was annoyed that they LIED to me on the phone and told me that I could have a test drive... Then switched stories and told me the car was too "special" for me to drive. I demanded to speak with the manager. He kept me waiting for 30 minutes and then came out and told me I could NOT drive the Volt unless I was willing to sign a deal FIRST. I got in my car and drove home angry. Two other friends of mine have also reported BAD experiences at Keys Chevrolet in Van Nuys. (These were service department complaints.)

Since my experience involved the manager... I can't blame it on an inexperienced employee. My experience came directly from the management.

The next day I drove up to Power Chevrolet in Valencia. Power Chevrolet was polite, professional and knowledgable about the Volt. I proceeded with my purchase and drove home in my new Volt one day later. I can highly recommend Power Chevrolet in Valencia. (They are outstanding in my opinion!)

Perhaps... The management has changed at Keys? Perhaps they just have some good deals going on right now? I don't know... But I DO know I would never set foot in that particular dealership again after the way I was treated.

I say these things not because I have a personal vendetta against anyone at Keys... I am not just trying to do a "hatchet" job on Keys. I just want other Volt customers to know how they treated ME. I think it's also important for the management at Keys to understand that when they treat customers like ME poorly... it can have consequences.

I sincerely hope that Keys has turned over a new "leaf". I sincerely hope other Volt customers have a better experience than I did.

I am sorry about your particular experience and I don't know how long ago this was or who specifically you dealt with, but there is now a structured set of personnel and upper management that is involved in all vehicle transactions. This is to ensure that everyone walks away happy with their new vehicle and their deal.

Shawn

 

[Fulgerite]

I am sorry about your particular experience and I don't know how long ago this was or who specifically you dealt with, but there is now a structured set of personnel and upper management that is now involved in all vehicle transactions. This is to ensure that everyone walks away happy with their new vehicle and their deal.

Shawn

Shawn... I am glad to hear that you have a new "structure" in place. My experience was last November of 2011. I wish those structures or protocols were in place when I needed to lease my Volt. Fortunately... Power Chevrolet met my needs and made me a great deal. I am a very happy Volt customer now.

I sincerely hope you have success selling & servicing your Volt customers. We certainly can use friendly and knowledgable dealers for this extraordinary car.

As a customer... One thing I can recommend that might help you stand above the rest of the dealers. New Volt customers often don't know what options are available for charging the Volt. My experience with most dealers is that the seem to know LESS about charging options than I did.

It would be very helpful if you could help educate customers about the various programs available for obtaining Level 2 chargers and having them installed. For example SPX can offer FREE EVSE's and installation to Los Angeles residents. SPX installed my ChargePoint EVSE and a TOU meter for FREE. I paid nothing out of pocket. Another incentive program is available from LADWP. LADWP offers up to $2000 grant funds for installing an EVSE. LADWP also offers a program for reduced rates for EV owners. These programs are great incentives for your new Volt customers!

You might also want to keep a list of qualified electrical contractors that have experience installing L2 EVSE's that you can pass on to your customers if they ask. This information costs your dealership NOTHING except the time to learn about them and pass the information on to your customers. Your customers will really appreciate the info and it adds real value to shopping at YOUR dealership instead of somewhere else. If you have the answers... You win more customers. (You look smarter than the other dealers.)

To learn about SPX's FREE installation programs you can start here: https://homecharging.spx.com/volt/Home.aspx?l=1

Another idea that I can highly encourage: Consider installing a couple of public charging stations for your Volt customers to use while they visit your dealership. It helps establish that you are confident in the future of EV's and you have confidence in the Volt. SPX or ChargePoint might even be able to help PAY for those public EVSE's too. (Nissan Dealers let Volt owners charge on their public chargers while visiting... You should let other EV owners charge while they look at the new GM EV's...)

 

[KEYES CHEVROLET]

Shawn... I am glad to hear that you have a new "structure" in place. My experience was last November of 2011. I wish those structures or protocols were in place when I needed to lease my Volt. Fortunately... Power Chevrolet met my needs and made me a great deal. I am a very happy Volt customer now.

I sincerely hope you have success selling & servicing your Volt customers. We certainly can use friendly and knowledgable dealers for this extraordinary car.

As a customer... One thing I can recommend that might help you stand above the rest of the dealers. New Volt customers often don't know what options are available for charging the Volt. It would be very helpful if you could help educate customers about the various programs available for obtaining Level 2 chargers. For example SPX can offer FREE EVSE's and installation to Los Angeles residents. SPX installed my ChargePoint EVSE and a TOU meter for FREE. I paid nothing out of pocket. Another incentive program is available from LADWP. LADWP offers up to $2000 grant funds for installing an EVSE. LADWP also offers a program for reduced rates. These programs are great incentives for new Volt customers. They cost your dealership NOTHING except the time to learn about them and pass the information on to your customers. Your customers will really appreciate the info.

To learn about SPX's programs you can start here: https://homecharging.spx.com/volt/Home.aspx?l=1

Another idea I can highly recommend: Consider installing a couple of public charging stations for your Volt customers to use while they visit your dealership. It shows you are committed to the future of EV's and you have confidence in the Volt.

Again, I apologize that we fell short of your expectations when getting your Volt. Thank you for your constructive criticism. It will always help us assess what we are doing to ensure we can effectively take care of ALL of our vehicle buyers, not just our Volt customers.

Thank you again!

Shawn

 

[KEYES CHEVROLET]

I am VERY interested in leasing a Volt. Is Keyes the best place to do this? I was looking into the base 2012 Volt for $249/24ms/12k with 2499 due with AutoNation. This is a chevy national lease deal. does this mean you have to have a 900 credit score. Any help would be appreciated

Please check out the deal that I just posted by clicking here:

http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread....MSRP-of-44-120.00...-2200.00-down-279.00-OTD...

Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks!

Shawn

 

[DonC]

I had a friend last week who didn't have a very good experience at Keyes. It may be that she didn't talk to the right person, but she found the person she dealt with unhelpful. I felt slightly bad about that having recommended she start with Keyes. Not a big deal, she got a 2013 MY Volt from Rydell for about $3500 under MSRP.

Bigger deal for her was that she liked the neutral leather and the black top of the 2012 MY cars better but wanted the extra few miles of range in the 2013 MY Volt (she's got about a 50 mile daily commute so she'll use it). On her first day she made it to the office and back with one EV mile to spare. She was stoked!

 

[Fulgerite]

I had a friend last week who didn't have a very good experience at Keyes. It may be that she didn't talk to the right person, but she found the person she dealt with unhelpful. I felt slightly bad about that having recommended she start with Keyes.

Don... I am sorry to hear that your friend also had a poor experience at Keys. (And recently too...) That's disappointing to hear. I think I have read some positive reports from Keys customers recently too. I sincerely hope other customers have a better experience than we did.

 

[DonC]

Don... I am sorry to hear that your friend also had a poor experience at Keys. (And recently too...) That's disappointing to hear.

I don't think it was anything like you went through. That was BAD.

 

[BAZINGA]

Patti, congrats on the new Volt you bought at Keyes and the great deal you got. Here in the mid-west we don't have big volume dealers willing to deal like some of the dealers on the coasts.

Welcome aboard.

 

[VikAiRious]

It has taken me a couple of days to post--been very busy getting up to speed on 240 vs 120 charging and multiple rebates etc. etc

We just leased a 2013 Summit White, black interior-base model with add of Safety Package. 36 month lease, $3,000 drive off, $240 a month (without sales tax). I shopped all over Central and Northern Calif., ended up leasing with Keyes. They are very fluent in "Volt Speak" and were great to deal with. They were able to have Joe deliver the car to us up here in central CA. Rick Alperin and Joe were both straight forward and very savvy re: Ally leases etc.

Here in the San Joaquin Valley, the Volt qualifies for an additional $2,000 rebate in addition to the $1,500 from the state of California. Add the gasoline savings and the lease payment is almost a negative number.

Best of all, we are loving the Volt!!

Yes the San Joaquin Clean Air rebate makes a total of $3,500 in rebates here in California, It's adds up to about $100/month of the lease payment! Or maybe pay for a 240v charger! Congrats on the great deal and most of all, being a new Volt driver!

 

[Jerry Garcia]

I would refer you to my post with a bad Keyes experience, but it was removed by the moderator after only 9 hours (and 2000 views), at least I got to get a test drive and they were pretty nice until I wanted to know where the car was after 10 days. They did apologize, and I ended up with a better deal elsewhere, so I don't hold a grudge (in fact, I should thank them). Some people have really bad experiences with Keyes, and others really love them, so maybe I was not so lucky. You have to do the math with a $3000 down payment, however, that adds a whopping $83 bucks a month to the car. so you paid in reality over $320 for the base model, or $280 compared to the standard $1500 that others are charging. You failed to mention how many miles you get a year. If you paid that much for only 10k miles, I would say you got a crappy deal, and you could have paid less for a fully loaded model elsewhere (I know because I did). Either way you made up for everything with the killer rebates that we don't get in SoCal. Shawn, do you still think that Keyes gets overwhelmingly high reviews on this site after reading this thread and others? I would say 50 /50 would even be stretching it.

 

[KEYES CHEVROLET]

I would refer you to my post with a bad keyes experience, but it was removed by the moderator after only 9 hours (and 2000 views), at least I got to get a test drive and they were pretty nice until I wanted to know where the car was after 10 days. Some people have really bad experiences with Keyes, and others really love them. You have to do the math with a $3000, down payment, however, that adds a whopping $83 bucks a month to the car. so you paid in reality over $320 for the base model, or $280 compared to the standard $1500 that others are charging. Either way you made up for everything with the killer rebates that we don't get in SoCal. Shawn, do you still think that Keyes gets overwelmingly high reviews on this site? I would say 50 /50 would even be stretching it.

Jerry,

I really don't know what to say. Rick publicly apologized to you and wrote a pretty long response in doing so. What more do you want us to do? I am trying to be polite, courteous and professional about the whole thing, but it seems like you are making it your mission to jump on every customer's positive Keyes' thread to ruin their happy Volt buying moment.

Thank you.

Shawn