Old_Goat, good for you! I considered a Vette but this old body just doesnt work well getting into and out of one. I have owned several in the past and lov'em. I seriously considered the new Camaro as I also had one of those (gen1) and it was a sweet car. However after seeing one in real life at the car show I couldnt bear to drive such a butt ugly car. I was however, totally sold on the Challenger. Had plenty of Chrysler products but no Challengers. this will be my first and last as I intend to keep it until the end.

 

vetts are nice as hell but not when your 6"5.

 

You know, the really troubling thing about this whole thread is that here, Dodge dealers had a man who very much wanted to buy one of their products. Although their competitors are offering a similar product (yeah, yeah, I know there are LOTS of differences between a Challenger and a Vette, but at the end of the day, they are both sports cars) at a reduced price, those Dodge dealers would rather LOSE A CUSTOMER than give up 1 cent of profit.

It's like several weeks ago, I stopped into San Antonio's North Star Dodge to check out their Challengers (they had four 08 SRTs and one 09 SE). They wanted an extra $6K for the SE (I have no idea how much extra they wanted for the SRTs). I offered MSRP for the SE on the spot (I even had my checkbook with me and could have done it, all $24K at once). No deal. The lowest they would go was "maybe" $3K over. Now everybody here knows that in real life, NOBODY even pays MSRP for a car, unless they are a total fool or the car is EXTREMELY popular. There is lots of profit for dealers in MSRP alone, yet those bozos wanted to hold people up for even more than that. Naturally, I declined their unkind offer, since I already had an SE on order.

Yesterday, out of curiosity, I searched the local Dodge dealers' inventory and saw where North Star Dodge still has all four of its SRTs, the SE that I saw and another SE. I wonder how many folks like Old Goat have stopped in there, saw that they were going to be fleeced and went on their merry way and bought a car somewhere else. Now, those cars are just sitting on the North Star lot.

You would think that as bad as the economy is (look at the monthly stats on car sales) and how shaky the situation at Chrysler is, that Dodge dealers everywhere would be trying to sell as many Challengers as they possibly could since it is THEIR ONLY POPULAR CAR. Even at a grand or two under MSRP, they are STILL GOING TO MAKE MONEY and possibly make a customer for life. If anything kills off Chrysler, it is going to be the greed factor that drives away customers.


Edit: I showed this to my wife and she pointed out that at the time we were there, North Star had FIVE SRTs listed online. She is right, so they have sold ONE in four or five weeks. We only saw three of the cars, though: Two blacks and an orange. The unseen ones were silver. Either the silver ones were going so fast that we could not see them or they were in the shop being worked on because someone did too many burnouts with them.

 

^ it is the truth...

 

Hey OldGoat, hope you enjoy your new Vette. I completely understand your frustration. I respect your decision. I wish I had the willpower to cancel my order, but Dodge just did too good a job on the design of this car. After all this time spent waiting, to back out now would feel like I let them win. For me its a battle to the death, or delivery, whichever comes first.

[sm=signs003.gif]

 

just like roswell said ... many dealers are marking up every model which is driving tons of people away.

i'm sure if they were at msrp challengers would be everywhere but there are still dealers marking up the 08's 10k and the r/t 6k espically here in miami although I think 73chally made a good deal on his ? But yeah I understand its' sad when so many people are willing to give them 20 , 30 and 40k and there just turning them down ...


vettes are hot!~!!!! good choice goat

again just not when ur 6'5

 

I love my new Challenger...had a 70 in high school, so maybe reliving a bygone time in my life. Almost purchased a vette myself a couple of times.....nice cars. My wife and I actually looked at a few, in the past, but she didn't like the seating postion. If it was up to me, I would go with one of the older models, but that's just me. Have owned several GMs in the past few years, including a 9 3 Saab Conv. and an H-3 Hummer. I have driver other models, but nothing really in the GM line gets my blood going. Enjoy your vette....... The new Challenger is the first Mopar I have really wanted in years, so I had to go with it. Dodge did it right this time.

 

Have to agree with BLK on this point. The last car GM did right (besides the Vette) was the new Monte Carlo. There is a blue SS running around Wiesbaden with the Jeff Gordon race livery and yellow-lettered Goodyears. Not exactly Retro, but still a sweet looking ride.

Edit: Couldnt get the pics to load, so giving links to one on Flickr instead.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/buglugs/2085585483/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/buglugs/2085585361/

 

Goodbye Old Goat. May you drive your 'Vette like a Young Goat.

 

Good luck with vette former vette owner c3 c4 c5

now have 3 kids need a family car 2009 SRT 8 on order