![[VIDEO] More Talk on the One-Year Vehicle Retention Policy for the 2025 Corvette ZR1](https://www.corvetteblogger.com/images/content/2025/03/032225_17.jpg)
Yesterday we helped spread the word that General Motors would be breaking with its earlier precedent and was implementing a full one-year owner retention policy for the upcoming 2025 Corvette ZR1. Previously, GM was requiring just six months for the Z06 and E-Ray models. Owners that sold before that time period wouldn’t be allowed to order any more “in demand” vehicles from GM while also having the warranty blocked on the car for the next buyer. GM hopes that it will deter flippers from selling America’s Favorite Sports Car on the secondary market at a profit, but we still saw plenty of new Z06 owners selling their cars anyways while good unsuspecting buyers were getting shafted when they learn the warranty is blocked.
Our friend Justin from HorsePower Obsessed has some thoughts on this as well, and I thought he did a great job in summarizing what real Corvette enthusiasts see when they look at this policy, not those just buying the car to flip. Real Corvette owners are rightfully pissed off as the vehicle retention policy only hurts customers in the long run:
“It’s pretty frustrating as a customer to see this car going down the road that it’s going because I am a gigantic Corvette enthusiast, and it seems like it just keeps getting worse with every performance variant. The availability is worse, the carbon fiber constraints are worse, the retention policies are worse, and yet the real problems aren’t being fixed. The flippers still exist, the over MSRP charges are still happening at the dealership levels, and availability is still almost zero. I don’t understand how we’re five almost six years now into the C8 Corvette lineup and we’re still having the same issues we’ve had from day one. It’s insane!”
That’s so true what he’s saying here. We thought at the time that the C8 issues with carbon fiber were due to Covid and supply chain issues resulting from prolonged shutdowns, but it’s now 2025 and we’re still talking about the same things we were back in 2022 as the Z06 began its rollout.
I also see some of the commentors saying if you can’t afford to hold the car for a year, then you shouldn’t buy it. But that’s not the point we are making here. The point is once you buy it, it should be yours to do with what you want regardless. And the reason I feel strongly about this is because there is no limit to what dealers can sell the car for. We know that GM can’t tell them what to charge, but let’s just say that you can’t sell a car that you don’t have an allocation for, while good dealers selling at MSRP are watching these other stealerships making money at their expense. Justin continues with that point:
“I appreciate the fact that GM is trying to stop flippers and this retention policy is their attempt at that, but I feel like it should not be that difficult for them to stop the dealerships from charging over MSRP. If you’re going to stop me from selling the car within the first year, then you should definitely stop the dealerships from charging over MSRP. It’s only fair at that point if I can’t sell the car for a profit, they shouldn’t be able to sell it for a profit either.”
I didn’t feel this way previously about the Retention Policy when it was first announced for the Z06 as it sure sounded like GM would be serious about it from both the secondary market and predatory dealerships charging markups. But after seeing what little affect it had, I’m now over it unless GM can come with a way to even the playing field between dealers and the open market. Comments or thoughts? Leave them below!
From HorsePower Obsessed via YouTube:
Source:
HorsePower Obsessed
Related:
[VIDEO] GM Changes Owner Retention Policy to One Year for Corvette ZR1 Buyers
Chevy Drops the Hammer on Z06 Flippers by Limiting Z06 Warranty Transfers
[VIDEO] GM Blocked the Warranty on this Z06 Corvette Despite the Owner Never Flipping His New Car
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I wish Ford had done that with the Maverick truck. People were ordering 2 or 3 when they only needed 1 and selling the others at inflated prices. This created a 6 month wait to order one and then a one year wait to get it. I was lucky and found one of these almost exactly as I would have ordered it in the rare Velocity Blue I wanted with only 900 miles on it and 1 month old. The bad part was it cost me $3-4K more than if I could have just ordered one and got it in a couple of months like normal. At least I love the truck and don’t regret buying the one I found at the higher price. Kudos to Chevy for not allowing this selfish behavior.
If Chevrolet thinks it’s going to tell me when I can’t sell a car for without black balling me I don’t need their car. I think we should black ball Corvette and let them close the factory. This is America not Russia. I fought for this country but not so that you could tell me how to live.
The fix shouldn’t be hard. When a dealer is marking up over MSRP, Chevrolet can simply not offer them any more allocations. As for the 1 year retention requirement, I’m good with it. Tell the flippers to go buy Bitcoins if they want to speculate.
Should be a 5 year retention so guys like me have an equal opening. To true collectors this game is getting stale. If your not a dealer’s buddy you simply loose.
The current dealer model is archiac. Dealerships never own inventory and make small margins on the sale after paying floor plan costs and overhead. Their real profit is in service and financing. Maybe GM should sell direct like Tesla and use select dealerships as delivery points.
GM can not, under Federal Law, prevent dealers from dictating selling price high or low. That is why the “Monroney Law”, (that is the name of the senator that introduced the law in the early 1960s) is written ‘Manufactures ‘SUGGESTED Retail Price’.
Our government can’t dictate the selling price of anything.
As for flippers they hurt us. The dealers can control that, if they choose to. Requiring that the sales agreement (order) and final bill of sale are in the same name and the Corvette is titled to that name and retail sales tax(s) are paid.
As for over MSRP dealer mark ups, The blame is 50/50 on dealers and buyers. A business, any busines, prices are driven buy what buyers are willing to pay.
No buyers over MSRP? then no dealers selling over MSRP.
One year retention kinda infringes on my rights but it is about all GM or Ferrari, Porsche can do to try to discourage flippers.
They tried voiding warranty coverage on flips, leed to Law suits.
My dealer sells at MSRP. GM can refuse to sell more Corvettes to dealers that charge more. It’s their problem to fix, and they should as it does not build dealer or GM loyalty.
1 year is nothing,, who buys a high demand car and only owns it a year?? Thats absolutely insane.. I have 3 high end sport cars and plan to keep them a long time.. A 5 year retention plan would be better in my opinion.. Keep the car flippers out.. If you don’t like it don’t buy it.. Any REAL enthusiast will keep a new ZR1 a long time…
1) I think we need to give GM credit for trying to do something about the flippers with these retention agreements. What else can they do? 2) GM doesn’t own the dealerships and GM isn’t interested in getting into huge, drawn-out lawsuits with them over allocation.
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