Chevrolet’s decision to offer a carrot/stick policy for Z06 sales has been on the books now for nearly a year since it was first announced. The program gives owners of the 2023 Corvette Z06 a reward of 500,000 My Chevy Rewards points valued at $5,000 for those who keep their Corvettes longer than six months. Those that sell their Corvettes before that time is up are supposedly barred from future “in-demand” sales while the person buying the flipped Z06 doesn’t receive the factory warranty.
Win a 2023 Corvette Z06 with Z07 Plus $25,000 Cash
The program was set up to “combat the flippers” who were only buying the Corvette new to sell it for a profit. This has been going on forever in the car industry (and every other hot market) and it’s something that will continue to happen. The solution to combat the flippers is to flood the market with product, but the Z06s slow ramp up continues to feed a market that is hungry for the 670-hp American Supercar.
The problem with Chevrolet’s Z06 Vehicle Retention Program is that it punishes the wrong person in the Buying/Selling process. Most flippers are simply taking advantage of supply/demand to reap their rewards when selling and I would gather that most of the flippers who got an early Corvette Z06 were just lucky and informed enough to get on a list early. They aren’t doing this with multiple cars, so the threat of a future sales ban is really meaningless.
It’s the buyers of a flipped Corvette Z06 who will be the ones punished for simply buying the car from an owner. With the first year of production ending in September, we’ve already seen a host of issues that could require an owner to take the car in for service and there’s no joy in saying that. Owners of a pre-owned Corvette Z06 without a warranty could be on the hook for an expensive repair as the car goes through its first year growing pains.
If Chevrolet wanted to combat flippers of the Corvette Z06, they should start first by looking at its dealers who are charging massive Market Adjustments on the cars. These dealers don’t care about getting the cars into the hands of real customers, and as we saw with Speed Phenom’s wheel issue, they don’t care about servicing the customer after the sale either. By limiting the sale of the Z06 from individual sellers in the first six months of ownership, Chevrolet continues to guarantee these dealers additional markups for the car because they are being sold new with a transferrable warranty.
I just pulled the list of new Corvette Z06s offered for sale on AutoTrader and there were nearly 200 vehicles that came up. When I changed the parameters to private sellers and used Corvette Z06s, that number was 9. Looking through the dealer listings, we see many Chevrolet dealers selling the new Z06 with market adjustments of $100K or even higher. They don’t care about the car, they don’t care if you have owned Corvettes in the past, they only care about making that sale.
Chevrolet has continued to tell us how they planned to combat ADMs on Corvettes by determining allocations through various means. Remember that first it was dealers who sold the most 3LT Stingrays? And then it was based on time to sale, but Chevy mucked that up by changing how they compute those times as well. What Chevrolet should do now that the first year allocations are out is determine who sold the most at MSRP and which dealerships provide the highest level of satisfaction t buyers. What’s the point of filling out those dealer surveys after the sale if they can’t be used to reward those Corvette dealers who do it right? There has to be a way to rank those dealers who got their Corvette Z06s into the hands of real customers without playing these games, and then those dealers that charged exorbitant market adjustments don’t get the same amount of Z06s in Year 2 unless they change their ways.
The Corvette Z06 Vehicle Retention Program is great for customers who are planning on holding and driving their new Z06s, but it’s clear to us that the program only benefits dealers who are able to suppress sales on the secondary market by keeping their customers on the sidelines in their first six months of ownership. It will hurt those true Corvette enthusiasts who made the decision to buy a flipped Corvette, and Chevy is just giving away $5,000 worth of parts, accessories, service visits and more to owners who had no intention of selling their cars in the first place.
I’m all for free stuff just for being customer, but the program isn’t doing what it was intended to do and Chevrolet should end it now.
Related:
Chevy Releases Additional Details and the Customer Sign-Off Form To Tamp Down on Z06 Flippers
Chevy Drops the Hammer on Z06 Flippers by Limiting Z06 Warranty Transfers
GM Offering Z06 Buyers $5,000 in Rewards Points for Not Flipping Their Corvettes
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General Motors should not have caved when the pressure was put on them to lower the time from 1 year to 6 months.
They should have also held to any dealer selling a Corvette, let alone a Z06, have the personnel and equipment to service it.
Additionally, there is nothing (as far as I know) that guarantees a dealer CTF cars. Use those as a tool to reward good dealers.
They could have also leaned on the auction houses (both physical and digital) to not participate in flipping.
I have also been a vocal critic of GM giving preference to VIPs who then flip them, trash them (both GM figuratively and/or the car physically), or do not take delivery of their custom-ordered units.
I did notice one Corvette dealer did suffer from their ADM and their MSRP+ schemes. They sank down the list from high single-digit rankings to lower double-digits.
Not everyone who bought a used Z06 was an enthusiast. I have seen them for sale by used car dealers.
Ultimately, it falls to the enthusiast community to police ourselves. If we, writ large, keep paying over MSRP then it only incentivizes the market. If we keep buying from dealers who value our business so little that they cannot service the very cars they sell, they will continue to treat us poorly.
And to anyone who saw Austin’s video about the carbon fiber wheels, I suggest you check out the ShottenKirk Chevrolet video.
City Chevrolet, Charlotte, 2023 blue Z06 with 3LT, is competition performance package, 2,300 miles, offered at $242,000 today.
Outrageous
Thanks, Keith! Couldn’t have said it better other than I vote for stand-alone Corvette dealers with emphasis on certified service techs and quality sales performance (which is what you are looking for). And as said by Doug Fehan at the ceremony where he was inducted into the NCM Hall of Fame, “You have to remember, dealers hate the manufacturers and the manufacturers hate the dealers!”
Totally agree with the information, I have and still on a waiting list since November 2022 to purchase a new C8 and I keep seeing for 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023’s turned over for extreme prices. I have never owned one but my intention is to keep it once I get the opportunity to purchase one. Not fair what is going on with dealers at the present time.
Control , i need control, i must control You! WTF ! what GM should do is build , sell and service a quality vehicle and once it is sold , they should help the owner do any thing he/she/it wants to do with ‘THEIR’ car. If the owner wishes to sell it at any time,,, any and all warranty should be honored….And, I bet they honor the warranty on any/all Z06s sold.. That is what they are in business to do, sell cars..and sell them for ALL they can get, That is Free Enterprise! Attempting to CONTROL others never leads to a happy endings…..
The problem isn’t the flippers (that number is small) it’s the greedy dealers with the crazy markup’s! I have a dealer in my neighborhood in Washington State that has a Z06 on the lot ready to go. 60k over MSRP! It actually started at 100k over! I know it’s crazy to pay over MSRP but hey I want the car. Made an offer for 30k over and essentially was laughed at. GM this crap has to stop. The crazy thing is that someone will but it. And that’s the problem. I know free market and they can!
Ordered an Anniversary HTC Z51 in Carbon Flash in December 2023 with an agreed MSRP price and went through 3 dealers to find one to agree to it. The others were at $20,000 over.While I was waiting a same optioned Z06 showed up coming to my dealer,they said I could have it for $75,000 over. It’s all about the $. I kept my ordered Z51.took deliver in April, and after hearing my buddy’s ZO6 I was glad I saved $75,000….I wanted a Corvette that sounded like all my other Corvettes,and that wasn’t a ZO6…..I’m an old gear head,I’m not into cars that sound like Ferraris and cost $ thousands over window.
What Chevrolet should be doing is for every car sold over MSRP you lose at least one allocation for that model. If that doesn’t shut the dealer down from that practice then they lose 2 or 3 allocations or all their allocations. Obviously, GM can’t “force” dealers to care about customers, but they can certainly create certain behaviors.
I was in line for a Z06 for over 3 years. I was promised a first or second allocation. I have been a loyal customer at my dealer for 15 years and have bought 10 new corvettes as well as other cars.
My dealer got greedy and decided to sell cars at $100k over MSRP and never offered me a car. He sold the dealership and the new owners said “ when we can’t get over MSRP anymore we will sell you a car” !
So I can’t get a car at another dealer as they have long established lists and I will lose the 500,000 points!
Needless to say, the dealer has lost my business long term. However, I think my being on the list for an ERAY is probably in jeopardy as well as GREED rules and REAL owners are getting screwed!
I have written to GM and no one responds.
Chevrolet is not naive to the point of not knowing what they were doing. As a multiple time vette owner I feel betrayed by the brand. Deeply disappoint with them. I hope they actually do something about the dealership markups, they are the ones really hurting the true vette loves!
Blame the Fed (aka Zhazarian mafia, look it up) for their money magic scheme that has devalued their currency.
Well I put a deposit down at my dealership Whitmoyer chevrolet in March of 2020 for a Z06 and was #12 on his list from what I’m told is that they’ve only gotten 2 allocation’s they have already delivered 5 yet the last guy a YouTuber that got his Z06 was DragTimes and he told me it only took him less then a year to get his Z06 at MSRP from Whitmoyer, so you try to figure out what’s going on all I can say to GM I not happy.
What is really appalling about GM, is their lack of acceptations for individuals who may experience either health or unexpected financial downfall. Nope, they must suffer at our illogical and back-wards punishing decisions. Shameful, yes, but really stupid.
Go after the dealer ADM’s and you will solve most of this problem. Empower the customer and GM will always be more successful.
Having been on my dealer’s list for over 2 years it is very disappointing what is happening in the market place for a new Z06. I already own a 2015 Z06 which I bought at MSRP. Chevrolet needs to go after dealers ADM’s allocation.
All the suggestions to “punish” dealers by withholding allocations or strong arming them to honor MSRP ignore the strong state laws protecting the complete independence of dealerships.
In my state GM has no power over the price a dealer chooses to charge and can not, legally, withhold or adjust allocations as a result.
The dealer isn’t even obligated to sell a car to YOU at any price even if it was produced to your specifications, and shipped to the dealer to fulfill your order.
GM put such a bad taste in my mouth over the C8 Z06 that I actually went and purchased a European car instead. I paid a lot more for it but I also get white glove service from a qualified mechanic to work on the car. I own 9 Vetts but I at this moment am thinking I might never buy another Vette from GM again.
All I can say, is with the Chevys handling of this Corvette crisis, i’m done, I’ve been a loyal customer since I was 18 when I bought my first brand new car. I’ve been buying new cars on averaging about every three years and I’m 57now. All of them being Tahoe suburbans or in 15 years or so all have been 2500 Duramax diesels. my last one being at 2021 which I just recently sold and was going to replace it with the 2024 2500 Duramax . but I’m completely done with Chevy. So Currently looking for a new ride. Not sure what I’m gonna get but it won’t be a GM product.
Overrated
City Chevrolet never has offered a Blue Z06?
Not right to punish the customer when you basically let the dealers charge whatever ADM they want, and many well beyond reason.
2-5K? Fine. 60-100K? Seriously? Tell that dealer he won’t get another. I sure don’t see evidence of it happening. I see plenty of evidence of the customer being punished though.
If you say its just capitalism on the dealers’ side, well then that applies to the customer too.
After seeing how Austin was treated, there is no way I’d by a Z06 even at MSRP! When you pay $200K+ for a car, you deserve to have the red carpet treatment when it comes to service. At this point, I’d be very worried about ANY GM dealer servicing a Z06. At least when you take a Porsche, Audi, BMW, etc in for service, they KNOW how to work on it and they have the right tools.
GM really messed up rolling out the Z06. Service centers can’t properly work on them, the LT6 has engine problems (ticking sound, search YouTube), motors that have blown up, transmission issues.
In my opinion, don’t be a hero…let someone else storm the beach. Sit it out and wait until they work out all the bugs and service shortcomings…and never buy the first year of a new car. Just look at the 2005 C6…that car is junk! LS2, horrible interior, weak transmission and rear end, etc.
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