2020 Corvette

[HeavyDuty]

Glad I can be helpful, @Le Français

I agree with most of the previous two posts. I don't think there's really anything to compare a C8 to in the current marketplace for HP, handling, styling, and price.

I'll also say that in the 11 months since I started shopping for a C8, I've seen only three of them on the road, and two of those were when I went to PA. Even in NH -- with the 2nd largest Corvette dealership in the world -- they are still quite rare, and because most people have never seen one, they definitely get attention from the public wherever you go.

If you want to fly under the radar, this is NOT the car for you!

Last weekend I saw a blue one like in your picture out near Exeter. In fact, several of my sightings have been that blue. I’ve only seen one in traditional red.

[Navin Johnson]

The best dealers sell in volume, and they're able to do that because people know they'll get the car for MSRP (they have a reputation to uphold). People from all over the country order from just a few Chevy dealers for that reason, and they may sell 800+ Corvettes in a year.

Other dealerships gouge people, so they aren't able to sell nearly as many, and as a result, GM doesn't allocate them many Corvettes. Nobody wants to be promised MSRP, wait a year or more for the car to come in, and then be told by the dealer that it will actually cost them $10k - $40k more than they were originally told!

GM et al. does not base allocation on what dealers charge for cars. The manufacture really has no idea what the car sells for. When a manufacture delivers a car to a dealer for their records the car is sold and that is all they give a shit about.

GM as an example rams cars down dealers throats (in normal times) to keep their numbers up. Generally manufacture allocations are based on units sold. If a dealer wants 10 Corvettes they likely must take an ass load of shit that is difficult to sell. If I was a GM dealer and could choose inventory for my area it would be Burbs Tahoes Silverados Colorados and Vettes. And GM won't do that.

So if a dealer is selling 800 Corvettes in a year they must be selling about 20-25k new autos a year. (hint: most big Chev dealers are selling 2-3k autos a year. Most in my area sell well under 1000 new a year)

[uechibear]

GM et al. does not base allocation on what dealers charge for cars. The manufacture really has no idea what the car sells for. When a manufacture delivers a car to a dealer for their records the car is sold and that is all they give a shit about.

GM as an example rams cars down dealers throats (in normal times) to keep their numbers up. Generally manufacture allocations are based on units sold. If a dealer wants 10 Corvettes they likely must take an ass load of shit that is difficult to sell. If I was a GM dealer and could choose inventory for my area it would be Burbs Tahoes Silverados Colorados and Vettes. And GM won't do that.

So if a dealer is selling 800 Corvettes in a year they must be selling about 20-25k new autos a year. (hint: most big Chev dealers are selling 2-3k autos a year. Most in my area sell well under 1000 new a year)

That basically fits with my understanding of how it works.

I do know from personal experience they sell 800 Corvettes in a year (when I placed my deposit, I was #614 on the list, and just over 9 months later, I took delivery -- with there being hundreds of people on the list that either received their 2021 C8 before I placed my deposit or after I got my car); however, I have no idea how many other cars and trucks they sell.

I've also seen data on Corvette forums of how many Corvettes certain dealerships have historically sold, and the top two were 800+ in a year up to about 1200 for the #1 dealer, if I remember correctly. The last two years have been less than usual due to a UAW strike a couple of years ago near the beginning of C8 production, and there have been numerous weeks of assembly plant closings due to parts shortages because of Covid-19 and other things.

If not for those plant closings, I would've had my C8 five or six weeks earlier, and YES, it was hell waiting (especially during nice weather), but at least I only waited 9 months and a week. I've read of some people who have waited almost two years for their dealership to get their allocation, and the people in Australia are waiting about three years for a C8!

I have read that the bigger volume Corvette dealerships continue to take Corvettes from the factory even when they're harder to sell -- like when the C7 generation was winding down in anticipation of the C8 becoming available -- and that GM rewards them for that with continuing large numbers of allocations... as you wrote, "Generally manufacture allocations are based on units sold" and they do sell a lot of cars (Corvettes, anyway)!

[Navin Johnson]

That basically fits with my understanding of how it works.

I do know from personal experience they sell 800 Corvettes in a year (when I placed my deposit, I was #614 on the list, and just over 9 months later, I took delivery -- with there being hundreds of people on the list that either received their 2021 C8 before I placed my deposit or after I got my car); however, I have no idea how many other cars and trucks they sell.

I've also seen data on Corvette forums of how many Corvettes certain dealerships have historically sold, and the top two were 800+ in a year up to about 1200 for the #1 dealer, if I remember correctly. The last two years have been less than usual due to a UAW strike a couple of years ago near the beginning of C8 production, and there have been numerous weeks of assembly plant closings due to parts shortages because of Covid-19 and other things.

If not for those plant closings, I would've had my C8 five or six weeks earlier, and YES, it was hell waiting (especially during nice weather), but at least I only waited 9 months and a week. I've read of some people who have waited almost two years for their dealership to get their allocation, and the people in Australia are waiting about three years for a C8!

I have read that the bigger volume Corvette dealerships continue to take Corvettes from the factory even when they're harder to sell -- like when the C7 generation was winding down in anticipation of the C8 becoming available -- and that GM rewards them for that with continuing large numbers of allocations... as you wrote, "Generally manufacture allocations are based on units sold" and they do sell a lot of cars (Corvettes, anyway)!

Orders and allocation are two different things. Dealers can order as many as they want as long as they have a name on it.

[TGS]

OK so it's possible to get a new Corvette for MSRP if you find the right dealer and are willing to wait?

Taking the starting price of $60-70k, is there anything else on the market right now that competes? Porshce Cayman?

As an owner of a current generation 718 Cayman, the Cayman does not compete on paper with the C8.

Buy the Cayman if you've always wanted a Lotus Elise but needed the Elise to be more daily-life/street friendly.

Buy the C8 if you wanted a C7 but realized it's just way too much power for a front-engine/RWD car to use efficiently. Per dollar spent, it will crush a Cayman on the track as well.

My 2 cents.

[Doc_Glock]

Buy the Cayman if you've always wanted a Lotus Elise but needed the Elise to be more daily-life/street friendly.

I 100% identify with this demographic. Thank you!

[Bucky]

Well damn...thanks to @uechibear (seriously, thanks for the insight into the process) now I’m thinking about a C8.

Then again, I suspect the lack of a third pedal and being overpowered for pushing it safely on back roads means it wouldn’t be optimal as a fun car for me. Heck of a buy for those for whom it’s a good fit!

If you like that third pedal, a C7 Grand Sport is a heck of a good handling car for a “front engine” car, without having the overpowered LT4 engine that the Z06 has. Also has cool features like rev matching and foot to floor shifting. Unfortunately at the moment, C7 prices are in a high side these days.

[rob_s]

I'll also say that in the 11 months since I started shopping for a C8, I've seen only three of them on the road, and two of those were when I went to PA. Even in NH -- with the 2nd largest Corvette dealership in the world -- they are still quite rare, and because most people have never seen one, they definitely get attention from the public wherever you go.

I see maybe one a week, and I don't think they're the same ones.

But SE Florida has a unique crossroads of money and bravado...

[RJ]

@Bucky

I was at the Revs Institute in Naples FL this past weekend and saw a 1963 Chevrolet Grand Sport, one only 5 ever made. At 1,000 lbs less than the production Stingray, these were designed to compete with Carroll Sheby's Cobras. The program was killed by upper level GM management, but this one managed to be saved. Very cool 'vette:

[OlongJohnson]

I remember a line about that front end... The takeoff speed was approximately 140 mph.

Or something like that.

Daytona coupes were significantly better.