Dealer Price Gouging - Name & Shame

[SolarExec]

I am afraid there will be many stories like this one so I thought it would be appropriate to start a thread to NAME & SHAME the offending dealerships...

After GM added us to their launch markets I called Capitol Chevrolet in Austin to put down a deposit and get on the waiting list (at the time they told me there were already 3 other people who had put down $500). The salesman told me they did not have pricing (of course). I explained that did not bother me but before I agreed to write a check I pressed him to commit to how much at, above, or below the MSRP they would charge. I explained that I had pre-ordered cars before and had always found this out ahead of time. He put me on hold, came back a couple of minutes later and said they would be charging above sticker, not sure exactly how much above sticker but "around 10." "Ten what?" I asked. "Ten Thousand." Yeah right.

I headed over to Champion in Austin which - as others have already noted - is holding deposit checks for $500 and planning to charge at MSRP (it is an AutoNation dealership).

Any chance GM can just dump any dealers engaged in price gouging? It is unfortunate that this is going to tarnish the Volt roll-out. Nissan really does have a better approach (though an inferior car IMHO).

[sperk99]

This was terrible....wanted $1000 down...nonrefundable. No guarantee on MSRP...nothing in writing.

The sales guy was great...the general manager was a jerk. Didn't even want to talk to me and I was willing to put a deposit down but if I didn't like the car or had second thoughts, could not get my deposit back.

Also, they wouldn't guarantee MSRP or any mark up.

[Vegaselectric]

I am afraid there will be many stories like this one so I thought it would be appropriate to start a thread to NAME & SHAME the offending dealerships...

After GM added us to their launch markets I called Capitol Chevrolet in Austin to put down a deposit and get on the waiting list (at the time they told me there were already 3 other people who had put down $500). The salesman told me they did not have pricing (of course). I explained that did not bother me but before I agreed to write a check I pressed him to commit to how much at, above, or below the MSRP they would charge. I explained that I had pre-ordered cars before and had always found this out ahead of time. He put me on hold, came back a couple of minutes later and said they would be charging above sticker, not sure exactly how much above sticker but "around 10." "Ten what?" I asked. "Ten Thousand." Yeah right.

I headed over to Champion in Austin which - as others have already noted - is holding deposit checks for $500 and planning to charge at MSRP (it is an AutoNation dealership).

Any chance GM can just dump any dealers engaged in price gouging? It is unfortunate that this is going to tarnish the Volt roll-out. Nissan really does have a better approach (though an inferior car IMHO).

The big dealers are putting a big and bigger foot on the car!

[Vegaselectric]

Big Foots Brother!

[Mike-o-Matic]

Wow, several-to-ten-thousand, on top of a still unannounced MSRP?

What a great way to treat your loyal customers.

[VoltGuy]

"After GM added us to their launch markets I called Capitol Chevrolet in Austin to put down a deposit and get on the waiting list (at the time they told me there were already 3 other people who had put down $500)."

SolarExec I am one the three people that had the $500 down when you called. When I first called they told me the deposit was $1000 and 5 people were ahead of me but that the Sales Manager was deciding right then what the "deal" was going to be so everyone was going to have to be called back after that and the "deal" redone. She took my number and said she would call back later.

About 2 hours later she called back and said they would be "auctioning" off the cars. They would probably start at about a $10K premium and you would be called in order of your deposit to see if you wanted it at the price they decided on and if you didn't want the car at that price they would go to the next person in line. They would keep going in that order and adjusting the price until someone bit. Apparently some of the first 5 were not too excited about the $10K premium and they bailed moving me up. I have no idea where I am at in the top 3.

I really don't think they will ever pull off the "auction" but since the $500 is refundable I am going to leave it with them just so I have a front row seat on how this really unfolds. I told them just in case they came to their senses and wanted to do a normal pre-order deal I would pay a $2K premium but that was it. They said Ok, they would just have to see what demand turned out to be. The "deal" has probably already changed since I called almost three weeks ago now.

Needless to say I do have a Plan B (actually it is really Plan A at this point) as I doubt this one comes through but Plan B means buying a plane ticket which is just fine. I live in the DFW area so Austin is just a 3 hour drive, it would be nice to buy down there but not on their existing terms.

They did send me a form letter thanking me for my deposit and it spelled out typical terms like you would normally do when you are not doing an auction saying you would be contacted 6 weeks prior to production to pick your options. Well that isn't going to happen. You will be bidding on whatever it is Chevy ships them probably.

As others have said this is a real mess. There is really no telling how all this will play out at dealers around the nation.

[Andy0x1]

I'm not so sure it is fair to complain about a dealer that would rather sell the car to someone willing to pay more for it.

Sure, you may only be willing to pay sticker, but if someone wants it $5000 more then you do, why should you be entitled to it at a lower cost?

If you are so worried about markup, why not go protest a retail outlet about theirs.

These cars should be auctioned if the demand is really that great.

[VoltGuy]

Andy what dealership did you say you work for? Just kidding.

The subject for this thread is "All about Chevrolet dealerships selling Volts and taking waitlists. Share your experience, good and bad."

I think that is what I talked about. What my experience has been and how I feel about it. I do not agree with their method of the Auction but that is just my opinion. They have ever right to do what they like but I don't have to agree with it and I don't have to participate.

I am sure they hope they will find many customers with your opinion that an Auction is just fine.

[George S. Bower]

Hmmm- I must admit I had not been keeping up w/ this thread and I am not sure how I feel about this. On one hand there are only a few for the public and maybe GM dealers should charge whatever the market will bear. On the other hand is GM's image.

I don't know, I've said this before.

GM should have made this car a Cadillac and charged accordingly. If they can't sell the car at anything but a loss then why market it as a "Chevy".

[hermperez]

The other thing we should keep an eye on is to see how much money buyers who flip the Volt make.. they get the fed credit and a profit, not fair!