The ZL1 Chronicles: Welcome Home #595

Finally! After months of excitement, anxiety, disappointment, anger, and constant debating the wait is finally over. It has happened. The roller coaster ride has ended. The 2012 Chevy Camaro ZL1 is all mine. For the final time I said goodbye to my 2011 SS that brought me nothing but great memories. Now, I officially welcome the beast. 2012 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 #595 is here and she kicks some major ass.

When I made the trip to Bob Steele Chevrolet the only thing that crossed my mind continuously was that I was heading back to “eBay Chevrolet.” The same place that made me mad about the price bump and lousy trade offer. I kept my cool when I arrived and this time it was a new salesperson that I got to deal with. It looked like this experience was going to be much better, and it was.

After the casual meeting with Will it was time to check out the car. Victory Red was the color and the thought entered my head that this car is the exact same car that was here three months ago. It was! Sounds like these guys were desperate to make a sale especially at GM Employee Pricing. I already knew what to expect from the car and with no test drive allowed I had to make a decision. Should I commit? Well all that depended on the trade in value of my Supercharged SS.

With all the upgrades installed by GM I knew that their previous bullshit offer was not going to work with me. I didn’t expect much and kept my expectations rather low. Thoughts rang in my head that disappointment was soon to follow. At least they’ll give me a gas card for my troubles if there was no deal. The pressure was all on them to deliver. Then the offer came in and the shock went across my face. Wow! this trip was worth it. They made the offer I couldn’t refuse. I made a call to my mom back home and told her there’s a new car on the way. She thought I was nuts, but when I told her the offer I got for my car she was happy. I immediately told the salesman to get the paperwork. This ZL1 is mine.

After the commitment of buying the car was implemented it was time for the drive, and what a ride it was. The ZL1 shifted and idled so smooth which was much better than the SS. The handling on the turns was amazing. Of course the best part was the drive itself especially when I took it on I-95 and surpassed 120 mph off the on ramp. The adrenaline was rushing at an all time high and the smile on my face continued to grow. My excitement was on par with The Dukes of Hazard when the General Lee did one of it’s famous jumps. The only thing the other cars saw on the road was a red blur speed right past them.

Once I was handed the keys it was time to say goodbye to my Black 2011 Camaro SS. She was a beauty and for a minute a tear went down my eye. I said once before that I would keep this car. It was a sad moment to hand over the keys. At one point I was a little reluctant, but the transfer was done. I did have one request and that was to do a lineup with both cars. Will said they were going to do it anyway. When my ZL1 was ready she stood right next to my SS. I took a few pictures in between both cars and then started up my SS for the last time giving it a few revs of the supercharged V8 engine. It was a great send off. Now it was time to get in my new ZL1 and drive off into the sunset.

As I drove home to Palm Bay for the official revealing to my family I knew that they were going to be happy with my purchase. While driving back All I could think about is that I’m now part of an elite club. Sure there’s a few people who own a Camaro whether it’s a V6 or V8, but I’m the only man in town with a ZL1. That puts me on the top of the food chain as Mustangs will choke in my smoke as I see them in my rear view mirror. It’s time to make some new memories and this time I’m sticking to my word that I’m keeping this car. Seriously!

The ZL1 Chronicles: They’re Back Again With Another Offer

Just when I thought I was over…they find a way to pull me back in.

So here I am, back at my day job when all of a sudden I receive a phone call. This call comes from Bob Steele Chevrolet. Yes, the same dealership that wanted to fuck me when it came to buying the 2012 Camaro ZL1. It’s been almost three months since the disaster of eBay Chevrolet that took place in the dealership. Now they’re back with a new offer. Part of me wanted to tell them to go fuck themselves, but after listening to what they had to say I then became slightly intrigued.

Employee Pricing!

Is this just another useless ploy, a last ditch desperate attempt to get me to buy, or were they sorry for the crap they caused a while back and really wanted me to have the car? I questioned the motives of the dealership, but my interest was there. Just maybe a sale is a possibility. More of a long shot of course especially considering the work that I’ve already put into the car. Why am I considering the offer? Because it’s a ZL1 of course! The car was in stock and ready to move. Then I saw the car on their website something hit me. Is this the exact same car from the last time I was there? Did they not sell it yet? Maybe I need to investigate this a little further.

While the below sticker offer is quite enticing I still have a couple of other areas where the numbers are a bit off. Trade in value. Last time the trade in allowance given to my 2011 Camaro SS was $24,400. I wasn’t going for the lowball treatment. I want more and I know they’re more flexible on that. The other issue is my upgrades. I added a supercharger, wheels, and exhaust all factory installed and warrantied by the dealership. I have a lot of money invested there and I’d like to see something back on that. These two areas are make it or break it for me.

Just think if they didn’t pull their greedy bullshit price gouging three months ago I would have already had the car at the price I wanted, and all the upgrades would’ve never been necessary. Now I have a lot to think about before Friday’s meeting. To buy or not to buy? This is the dilemma. Currently my answer stands at “No!” However, all it takes is just a little nudge and everything can change.

The ZL1 Chronicles: They Called Me Back!

Ok car sales people, we all know how the game works. When a customer strolls in looking to make a purchase of a new or used car your goal is to make sure you keep them there as long as humanly possible. We all know those long waits they make us go through just so they can talk to the sales manager to see where they can profit most from. The other rule is to never let you leave. Leaving customers lead to possible lost sales…or do they?

In my last episode, I stormed out of a dealership after they tried to fuck me over with a $10,000 price bump along with offering $4,000 less on my trade. Add that all up and you have $14,000 in profit which would give this salesman plenty of pizza and beer for a year, or at least a trip to Las Vegas where he can blow his money on the craps tables and hookers. Now don’t get me wrong. I love the new Camaro ZL1, but I don’t love it that much when a dealership wants to publicly rape me in the process.

Now I’ve already decided that the ZL1s “juice” is no longer worth the squeeze. The ether is gone and I’ve moved on to upgrading my 2011 Camaro SS. Actually as we speak the crew at Rosner Chevrolet has already put on the new 21″ black wheels which I showed off on my Twitter and Facebook pages. They’re also installing a brand new Edelbrock E-Force supercharger as well as a Flowmaster exhaust package (spared no expense). Of course this is only “Stage 1” of the process to personalize my Camaro. “Stage 2” only requires minor details and will be performed at a later date.

Well before I go completely off topic let me go back to the salesman bravado of never letting the customer leave. While this particular salesman let me leave the dealership, I guess he had a change of heart in the next 48 hours that followed. That’s right. The son-of-a-bitch called me back and still wanted my business. So here’s what went down over the phone earlier today.

“Hello Brian, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry that we were not able to put you in the new ZL1 a couple of days ago. I was wondering if you were still interested in the car.”

Now I didn’t want to tell the guy that I wasn’t interested, or making the upgrades to my current ride (at least not yet), so I decided to play along. “Well, let’s see. I drove all the way to your dealership to buy a car only to get publicly humiliated and ass raped at the same time while you smile your way to the bank with the profits. Hmm…I really don’t know anymore. Do you think I should still be interested?”

The salesman replies “Well I apologize for any inconveniences that took place. I realized that maybe we got off on the wrong foot in the negotiations.”

“Negotiations? What negotiations? What I distinctly remember is the $14,000 you all tried to rip me off on, and then tell me what this car would go for on eBay.”

“Well Brian, I think that we can come to a better deal today. I saw the website and noticed that you were correct all along. We believe that the customer is always right. I’m willing to sell the car at the original price that was found on the Chevrolet website.”

Wow, what balls this guy has. Now he wants to come clean. So I ranted on. “So let me get this straight. At first you wanted to rip me off, then say that you were wrong, and now you want to offer me the car at the original price that it should have been in the first place. Wow, what happened. Did the truth fairy come by and tell you that you needed to stop the sleazy salesman lies. Is your sales manager low on crack and didn’t get his fix? What gives?”

“Well Brian we knew that you were really interested in the ZL1 and we want to sell this car to you.”

“Now you want to sell the car to me. What happened to Alabama man? Did he have a moment of clarity after slapping his wife around after a night of bowling with the guys and telling her that he can do whatever he wants? Did someone on eBay reject their bid? Did a Craigslist buyer change their mind? C’mon, you guys are eBay Chevrolet. With your overinflated trendy prices you should have no problem selling cars.”

You would think that the salesman would get a little upset and hang up the phone, but he didn’t. He took insult after insult from me. There must be some sort of incentive he gets for selling me the car. A day off, steak dinner, hookers, something other than the commission. He replied “I understand that your upset, and as I stated earlier we want to sell this car to you. My question is what would it take to get you in this car today?”

“Well lets see, hmm…you took off the $10,000 price hike to give me original price. Well that’s no good enough. I want full trade in value for my car and I’ll be willing to buy the car at $56,000 out the door.”

“Brian, I can’t go that low. My sales manager won’t approve that.”

“Of course you can. I don’t care about your sales manager. Remember that you want to put me in the car today, and you’ll do anything to make it happen. Well that’s my deal. Time is money my friend, and this deal won’t get any higher.”

“Well I guess we can work out something, but let me ask you that if I can’t get him to agree right away, up to what price would you be willing to pay?”

I knew this was coming, “Ah the old “up to” game. I love this one. Well what part of $56,000 out the door and full trade did you not get? Now the price is $55,000. Do you want to sell this car or not?”

“Brian, we can’t go that low. I guess you really don’t want the car. I don’t think we can do business anymore.”

The cat was finally out of the bag. It was time to end this conversation. “I knew we couldn’t do business when you tried to sell me a “bare bones” ZL1 at an overinflated price. Besides, I really don’t want the car anymore since I’m upgrading my own ride. I have to go now.  I wish you the best of luck in selling that car, and tell the gold folks at eBay Chevrolet that I said hello. Good day sir!”

That was all. No more battling sales people for a car I don’t want. As I’m writing this I just received a call from Bill Schultz Chevrolet in Fort Pierce, FL and they have a black 2012 ZL1 in stock that they want to sell me. How should I reply to them?

And the hits just keep on coming.

The ZL1 Chronicles: When Things Are Too Good To Be True, They Usually Are

OK, so I thought that ordering a 2013 Camaro ZL1 would be the way to go. However, in the past week several dealerships were trying to offer me a 2012 model. While my excitement peaked I still decided to keep my cool just in case they were all full of shit. Well it turns out that they all were exactly that. So it was time to make another decision. Do I stay the course, or move on to greener pastures with my current Camaro SS? Well here’s my story.

As I was getting ready to leave Alabama, Rick Hendrick Chevrolet continued to call me about their shipment of ZL1s. In a previous entry I mentioned how they were full of themselves because the cars never arrived. That is still true to this date. No cars, no business…period! Sadly, they never really got the message very well because they keep on calling me for customer satisfaction surveys. Now what part of me would be satisfied when you don’t have the cars that you promised?

Back in Florida, I received a call today from Bob Steele Chevrolet in Cocoa Beach. they had a 2012 ZL1 in stock and ready to sell. At first I thought that it was too good to be true. Turns out that when I arrived they actually meant what they said. There she was in the color of Victory Red. “Victory!” is what I claimed. I sat in the car and was instantly in love. Godzilla was here for real, and it was everything that I wanted. Now the salesperson a wanted to bring me in for the sale. Get the paperwork ready man. Let’s make a deal!

Now before you all think I went into this deal blind, let me assure you that I did all my homework before arriving. I knew the price of the car, what I could work the dealer down to, as well as the value of my trade. I was ready to make the deal until the paperwork arrived and that’s when the ether left the room. How did I feel? Well this clip will sum it all up.

This is when you learn that when things are too good to be true, they usually are. The fucking was now underway. I don’t know what was up with this salesman, but you could smell the shitstorm coming from a mile away. He arrives with the paperwork from his sales manager which now shows a $10,000 bump in the price of the car. This was only just the beginning. I then look down to see the trade in value of my car and see that it was $4,000 lower than what the average value is for my Camaro SS.

I said, “What no anal lube. I mean seriously, if your going to fuck me at least bring the grease monkey over so that I can feel a little easier about this.”

As I once again take a look at the paperwork, I tell him that this is not the price that is offered on the Chevrolet website. He then looks dumbfounded while still telling me that this is the price. I tell him to check his facts again. He responds by saying “do you know what these cars go for on eBay?”

I told him “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that I was at eBay Chevrolet. Your supposed to price a car based on it’s value, features, and options and not on trends. eBay and Craigslist do not determine the price on a car!”

The salesman then says “Well I have a person in Alabama who is willing to pay $7,000 over the price for this car.”

I replied “Well if that’s true then why hasn’t he bought it yet? What really irks me is the fact that you want to get another $3-7 thousand on top of that from me.”

He replies “Well this is the best that I can do.”

I then tell him “Oh I’m sorry, but where does it say “sucker” on my head. Better yet can you please get me the phone number of the dealer your sales manager gets his crack cocaine from so I can have some of what he’s smoking.”

I then stormed out of the dealership laughing along the way. No way am I buying from them or anyone. I’m not even ordering a new one. The ether is gone. For the last month I’ve been filled with disappointment only to notice that I already have a Camaro. My 2011 Camaro SS. I’ve always loved my car even if I felt like I was cheating on her and almost ready to replace her. She’s been loyal to me all this time and now it’s time to make up for it. Upgrades! I went to Rosner Chevrolet in Melbourne, Florida and they took care of me right away. I ordered some new black wheels and a supercharger for my 6.2 Liter V8 engine giving me the horsepower I want to measure up to the ZL1. Now my excitement has really peaked and I don’t have to wait forever for it. By this time next week my Camaro will now be “Godzilla!”

I’ll post some pics when it’s done.