First off, let me start by saying that those of you who own a GTO are very lucky and blessed, as this is truly an awesome car and a load of fun to drive. I hope you get many, many years of safe enjoyment out of your vehicles!
OK, so my local dealershiip has four 2004 GTOs on their lot, 3 autos and one manual, which happens to also be Pulse Red. I drove the 6-speed. The 3 auto's are "advertised" as $27,200 in big yellow letters across each of their windshields. The Pulse had no advertised price, just the sticker, which was around $33K, I believe.
The test drive itself: great power and great feel to the car. I wasn't comfortable in it in the sense that it was an unfamiliar car, so that lowered my opinion of it somewhat. I'm sure if I drove it straight for a few days and were more familiar with the feel, I wouldn't be distracted by the "newness." But an overall great car.
(Side note: I don't see how anyone can get close to 29 mpg on the highway like the sticker says. With the instant mpg showing, I was doing 60 mph in 6th gear (on a flat stretch w/cruise control on), the instant mpg was around 24. I just don't see what highway they were driving on that gave them an
AVERAGE of 29.)
Now for the fun part: talking with the salesman....First of all, I wasn't planning on buying today, and I told the salesman that up front. No, wait, let me back up even further.......I stood around in front of and inside the dealership for nearly 15 minutes before I had to ask someone for help. I finally walked into their secret management cube and asked "Are you open for business, because no one is treating me like a customer." It was all ass-kissing after that, but a sad display that I had to seek help in a room full of salespeople.
He goes off to work on a pricing sheet, and comes back with pure crap. First off, they start with the sticker price, even though the other 3 GTos on the lot are advertised as $27,200. They offered $7000 for my trade, a 2004 Chevy Cavalier, which is pretty fair, I guess. And there was a "factory rebate" of $5,500.
I immediately call them on the advertised price of the other 3 GTOs, so why wasn't I getting the same deal? The salesman didn't even know the other ones had sales writing ontheir windshields
, so he had to go back to his manager and "work some more magic." He comes back with SUPER-DUPER bull**** that I'm actually getting the manual for LESS than the autos, because they are taking the $5,500 factory rebate off the "sale" price of $33,000.
OK, at this point I'm upset that insulting my intelligence, especially when the guy
KNOWS I've done my research, as I told him upfront I knew what the current incentives were, when they were changing, and when the 2005s were going to be hitting his lot. It's like they are programmed to ignore what you say and just wait for a break in the conversation so they can interject their next sales routine blurb.
Which in fact, came next with "What's it going to take to get you into this car today?" At this point I lost my cool a bit and told him, "You're going to have to give it to me for free, because I told you up front I wasn't going to buy one today. I told you I wanted to drive an 04 so I can compare it to an 05 in order to see if the increased 05 price justifies the increased horsepower of the LS2.
*blank stare*
It was obvious this guy was ignorant when it comes to the GTO and what is available both now and in the near future. I can accept that, as not all people are enthusiasts, but he continued to treat me as an ignorant customer who apparently doesn't give a second thought to buying a car -- any car.
So, he wanders back to his supervisor for more coaching, and comes back with, "Well, I can't give you a copy of the pricing worksheet we worked out because this incentive is good for today only. Please come back when you're serious about making a purchase."
"OK, thanks." Shook hands and never looked back, nor will I go back when I am ready to purchase. I know I've said it before, but that dealership really is a Stealership. I know not all salespeople and dealerships are like that, and I've actually had several GOOD experiences with dealerships. But this one just continues to insult its customers.
Oh well, that's my story. I just thought I'd share.
, which we did. Leaving the Dodge dealership less than impressed with the Magnum we stopped by Acura, Nissan, Volvo & Cadillac dealerships finding nothing very interesting at all, save the CTS-V, which is WAY out of my price range. I suggested that we check out the GTO, of which she knew nothing. Upon entering the showroom, there was a blue GTO sitting there, which my wife thought was a G6 or a Grand Am. My salesman who I like to call Dennis Hopper, cuz damn he sure looked like him, was a charming 50+ year old GTO freak. After the typical sales blather he suggests that we take it for a spin. He gets the keys, plates it up and away we go. He tells me to take it out onto the interstate, which i do. I look down at the miles on the car and notice that there are almost 950 of them. I look over at Mr. Hopper and ask if this is a demo car, which he responds that it is and to feel free to open it up. After hitting 110 then hammering the binders to make my exit, I dump it down to 2nd and throw the thing sideways getting onto the surface streets, power shift 3rd then back off and casually drive for another mile or so to the next right turn which takes us back to the dealership. I do a 4 grand dump and power shift up until 120 then it happens, or at the time so I think it happens. I look over at Dennis Hopper and say "so this thing is governered at 120?" He says "No, why would you say that" and I say "cuz it just cut off at 120, either its governered or we just ran out of gas"
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