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9 Posts
- Incoming Rant -
So.. I needed some stuff from my local Lowes Home Improvement store today and since it's right across the street from Marty Feldman Chevrolet in New Hudson, Michigan, I'd thought I'd swing in there to see if there was any new info on when the Bolt ordering codes would be available.
The salesman I'd dealt with last month was no longer employed there so I was referred to another member of the sales staff - 'Pat Williams' as being the one who 'would know about that'. Mr. Williams claimed that I would not be able to order a new Bolt until 'sometime next year' as they were 'a 2017 model'. When I mentioned, that GM still claimed an October start date for production of the 2017 Bolt, and that historically ordering codes for new models were made available to dealers a month or so before production starts, he claimed that was false and that production wouldn't start until next year. (I should point out that this is the same guy who, when I visited last month, claimed that the Bolts were already available in California and had been for months).
Perhaps, I speculated, Mr Williams just has a hearing problem, and can't differentiate the word 'Bolt' from 'Volt' and was telling me what he knew about the 2017 Volt. Or, maybe he was hoping I'd suddenly become disenchanted with the Bolt upon hearing this news and take one of the 2016 Volts they had on their lot, or maybe one of those nice loaded Silverados parked just outside the showroom doors. At any rate, I just shook my head and, without saying another word, calmly walked out the door.
I have always bought or leased NEW cars (and I'm 58 years old), so I've dealt with numerous car dealers over the years. Thankfully, the older I get, the more immune I seem to become to dealers trying to blow smoke up my a$$. Needless to say, I won't be going back to that dealer.
I gotta think that if GM really wants to sell these vehicles, they would issue timely and accurate reports about the Bolt production and ordering dates to their dealerships so dealers could pass this information along to their customers. Additionally, it is becoming painfully obvious to me that there may be some truth to the assertion that dealers really don't want to sell electric cars. As has been pointed out in other posts, car dealers make about 70% of their profits from the service department. Since electric vehicles require much less maintenance or service, I suppose it's only natural for them to want to protect their bottom line by doing whatever they can to steer customers to traditional ICE vehicles.
So.. I needed some stuff from my local Lowes Home Improvement store today and since it's right across the street from Marty Feldman Chevrolet in New Hudson, Michigan, I'd thought I'd swing in there to see if there was any new info on when the Bolt ordering codes would be available.
The salesman I'd dealt with last month was no longer employed there so I was referred to another member of the sales staff - 'Pat Williams' as being the one who 'would know about that'. Mr. Williams claimed that I would not be able to order a new Bolt until 'sometime next year' as they were 'a 2017 model'. When I mentioned, that GM still claimed an October start date for production of the 2017 Bolt, and that historically ordering codes for new models were made available to dealers a month or so before production starts, he claimed that was false and that production wouldn't start until next year. (I should point out that this is the same guy who, when I visited last month, claimed that the Bolts were already available in California and had been for months).
Perhaps, I speculated, Mr Williams just has a hearing problem, and can't differentiate the word 'Bolt' from 'Volt' and was telling me what he knew about the 2017 Volt. Or, maybe he was hoping I'd suddenly become disenchanted with the Bolt upon hearing this news and take one of the 2016 Volts they had on their lot, or maybe one of those nice loaded Silverados parked just outside the showroom doors. At any rate, I just shook my head and, without saying another word, calmly walked out the door.
I have always bought or leased NEW cars (and I'm 58 years old), so I've dealt with numerous car dealers over the years. Thankfully, the older I get, the more immune I seem to become to dealers trying to blow smoke up my a$$. Needless to say, I won't be going back to that dealer.
I gotta think that if GM really wants to sell these vehicles, they would issue timely and accurate reports about the Bolt production and ordering dates to their dealerships so dealers could pass this information along to their customers. Additionally, it is becoming painfully obvious to me that there may be some truth to the assertion that dealers really don't want to sell electric cars. As has been pointed out in other posts, car dealers make about 70% of their profits from the service department. Since electric vehicles require much less maintenance or service, I suppose it's only natural for them to want to protect their bottom line by doing whatever they can to steer customers to traditional ICE vehicles.