Crooked Dealers already on Prowl for ZR1 Sucker Buyers

teamzr1

Supporting vendor
The highly anticipated 2025 Corvette ZR1 is finally arriving in Chevy dealerships across North America.

Predictably, the earliest models coming to showrooms are coming with significant dealer markups.
The C8 ZR1 is already an expensive supercar, and the privilege of being one of the first to own one is coming at an even greater price at many dealerships.
In one example, a California POS dealership is offering a prospective buyer a ZR1 for $500,000.

The trash dealer in question is FH Dailey Chevrolet in San Leandro, California. Which is a dump, hardly anyone speaks English
The dealer has in stock a C8 ZR1 in a highly desirable configuration that closely resembles the press car spec frequently used in Chevy’s marketing materials for the ZR1.
It’s a 3LZ coupe finished in Competition Yellow Tintcoat.

It’s not a ZTK, but it does have the Carbon Fiber Aero Package (RPO TOM), front lift adjustable height memory (E60), carbon flash wheels (SOG), yellow brake calipers (J6E), competition sport bucket seats (AE4), and some extra yellow accents in the interior.
The total ticker price, including the destination charge and the gas guzzler tax, comes to $206,280.
It’s not a cheap Corvette, to be sure. Even with that high price, the half-million-dollar asking price represents a 142 percent dealer markup.

This isn’t the first Corvette ZR1 markup we’ve seen in a six-digit dollar amount.
Last month, a sales associate at a different slum of California Chevy dealer making a post in the “Corvette C8 Z06, ZR1 & E-Ray” Facebook group showing a ZR1 that was in transit to the dealer.

He listed an MSRP of $206,080, plus an additional dealer markup of an even $100k.
The same salesman posted other available ZR1 allocations with $50k markups.

Supercar shoppers can expect the markup problem to continue on the 2025 Corvette ZR1 since it has a limited production run for its debut model year. However, unlike the C7 ZR1, the C8 ZR1 will be produced for longer than one model year.
The 2026 model has already been announced, and there’s still more life left in the C8 generation, since it just got an interior refresh.
 

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Nassau65

CCCUK Member
Well, I suppose if there’s money to be made, someone will try to make it.
You will always pay something extra to be first on the block. Bragging rights cost money.
How much is an acceptable “mark up” tho.
 

Nassau65

CCCUK Member
Just like people expect more for a car that a “face” previously owned.
Would I pay over the top just because somebody famous once owned it? I think not.
 

teamzr1

Supporting vendor
With the C8 Z06 GM had the rule if the buyer sold a new Z06 within 6 months that all warranty was voided
Word is for ZR1 GM raised that to one year to help limit the flippers
 

Roscobbc

Moderator
It should be that the main dealers shouldn’t be allowed to ask above the retail selling price.
Whilst I do agree with you relating to dealer mark-up (providing it is a sensible figure allowing a reasonable margin for the dealer)
It brings me in mind of the current 'scenario' of a number of large UK dealerships closing down, them citing difficulties in the market relating to the 'split' between ICE and Electric vehicles and general reduced demand.
And on the other hand we are seeing a number of new Chinese branded cars now being heavily marketed with dealer network support.
To me it seems that the same dealers who 'gave-up' on European manufactured vehicles have simply moved-over to Chinese brands.
We are told that Chinese manufacturered vehicles are significantly cheaper to buy than European brands........(in China perhaps) but to me it seems the Chinese vehicles have simply moved in the same price bracket that European brands once 'inhabited' only three or four years ago.
So, summing-up and being as our current government (unlike 90% of all other world countries) do not levy any additional taxes on Chinese vehicles being 'dumped' on the UK market.........yet the vehicles are being sold at what I would consider as being close to premium prices............is this due to the greedy larger car dealer networks abandoning traditional UK, Japanese and European car brands in favour of larger margins selling Chinese vehicles? - Is there anything to reccommend Chinese vehicles? has our governement 'abandoned' the UK car business.
 

teamzr1

Supporting vendor
GM has no control of the vehicles once in the hands of dealers as they are the buyers
Dealers either get a short term loan from GM and must pay that off once the dealers sells the vehicle or
The dealer pays in full up front

Thus, they are the owners and controls how to price over the suggested GM sticker price
Thank politicians who years ago claimed nameplates like GM were controlling buyer prices and had their own dealerships
so they made it a law that GM cannot control prices or sell directly to the buyers

No different what a flipper does. So blame the dealers and all those willing to buy way over the sticker price to flip the vehicle
 
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