Yesterday I was driving past my local Chevy dealer and I saw a Blue Z06 sitting out front.
Today I stopped by to take a look.
I knew they wouldn’t let me drive it, but I just wanted to see one in person.

At first I though it was gone.
It wasn’t right out front where it was yesterday.
I figured I’d go in anyway to check out the other vettes that were parked there since they had so many.
After checking them out I figured I’d hit the road before the sales guys attacked.

On my way back to the car I happened to notice the little beauty parked just two spots down from me. I had walked right past it.

WOW, what a machine.
Even though there’s not much different on the body from the stock C6, the enhancements are nicely done.
The slight flaring of the rear to accommodate the STEAMROLLER 325/30/19 tires makes a big visual difference.
The center air intake on the hood and slightly longer nose make the front look different too.

So as I’m looking at it, one of the sales dudes comes out to jot down some numbers from the sticker.
I asked him if it had been sold and he said with an evil grin that it had.
I understood the evil grin after I asked him what they had gotten for it.

Now for those that are not familiar with the Z06, it stickers for about 65,000 dollars.
If you load it up with OnStar, Nav system, and other options it maxes out to about 72,000.

What did the sucker…oops, mean buyer pay?……..85,000
OUCH !!!!

Nice, but if I were buying one I’d wait until the dealer raping had subsided.

Obligatory fuzzy cell phone camera pictures follow….

 

I can't believe someone would pay $85,000 for that.

 

people have paid more, it's still a good value

Most the guys paying over are the ferrari and porsche guys wanting to get into something they can truely thrash on the track and be quicker then their "fancy" car

 

Shawn,

So are you going to buy a Z06 or a regular C6?

 

I wonder if there will be some good buys on non=ruined 06's in a few years.

 

the Lemans Blue in the C6

 

wow, dealers must be loving these cars. at least 15k markup, that is huge!

 

damn...

 

I would love to pick up the last Z06

 

Beautiful car. I so wish I could have one now!

 

Reminds me of the assmonkey's who were paying $50k for PT cruisers when they first came out. I mean its a cool, fast car, but why pay that much of a premium just to be the first kid on your block with a new toy

 

Paying a bit extra for a Z06 versus a PT Cruiser is a big difference IMO. I personally would never pay over retail price for any car, but I can understand why some would pay extra to get a Z06. At that price point, many have disposable income and even at $85k, the Z06 is an outstanding value.

 

that looks hawt!

 

$85K? Someone obviously hasn't done their research yet. With all the problems the new Z is having there's no way in hell I'd shell out $15K OVER the retail price. Hopefully the bugs will get worked out ASAP but there seems to be more than just a few issues with the car.

GM sucks.

 

blue always looks great, but anything over retail is dumb to be the 1st to own one like these people pay

 

The Z06 is an amazing call. While I would take a Viper because it is more exclusive, there is no denying the capability of the Z06!

 

there's just a few incidents of problems. the great majority of the cars are most likely fine. unfortunately, it's the bad seeds in the group that stand out.

 

Acura's transmission problems started out as just a few incidents.

And it isn't just a few incidents of one or two problems. It's "just a few incidents" of half a dozen or more fairly serious problems (engine fires, brake rotors , etc)

 

hey, I agree with you.

 

the problems w/ the new Z's are very very minimal and very isoloated That said, it's a first year of production, car still looks in great shape


If someone is willing to pay over, let them, it may be stupid in your eyes, but I doubt it's a deal in theirs

Let's get some better pics in here, here's one I detailed a few weeks back

 

Paying more than sticker for anything is not very smart in my opinion. When the new Mustangs came out, this shady dealer (Gwinnett Place Ford) was selling them for over $8000 over sticker. And the shady salesman was trying to tell me that is their real price even though the sticker in the window had a MSRP of $26 and change, and a written in markup amount.

No way in hell I would pay $36,000 for a GT Mustang. What makes it so bad people were buying them at that over inflated price. Cars are going to come down in value anyway way pay more than its worth?

The only car I can kind of understand people people over sticker for is exotic cars like Ferraris

That guy who paid 85 large for a $72,000 Corvette... plain stupid.

 

Why does that make them shady? If someone wants to buy it, good for them. Also, paying 10-15K over isn't stupid for a lot of people. If you have the money and it's not gonna hurt ya, why not do it. Better then waiting a few months to find/order the car you want w/ your specific options. Would I do it? Most likely not, but if I had money and it wouldn't effect me, sure.


I know two guys that paid well over sticker, they got the cars they wanted (would of been a 5 month wait) and it didn't bother them one bit. But then again, they also have exotics in their garage and refer to their Z06 as their "bic" (disposable lighter )

 

umm... 85k is chump change for a lotta ppl

 

Everything is always worth what someone is willing to pay for it...

With every new model, there is always a price to pay to be the first one on the block to own one.

85K IS chump change for some people. I'm a working stiff, so I don't really know of understand it, but some people will can buy stuff where "Money Was No Object"...

It really must be nice to be able to blow $85K on a car and not have to worry about it. I'm sure some of these people are paying cash for it, or selling a couple of cars from their collections to come up with the cash...

Now, if someone is financing the 85K on the car, they probably shouldn't be buying it...

I'm sure they'll work the bugs out just like they did on the 2001 Z06's... Wait till the hoopla dies down, and they'll be selling for under MSRP...

 

It's still a great car, but having an engine fire, making only left hand rotors, etc just is crazy on a car people are paying $85K for. If I had the scrap I'd still buy one but it's kind of ridiculous to have those kinds of problems right off the bat. The car's only been out for 4-5 weeks(?) I'm sure more problems will be reported.

 

hey I'm with you man, you don't see me driving a Z06 do ya.

 

Let's look at my 350Z for a comparison. Nissan is usually known for good quality and reliability, but let's see what I have gone through with my Z:

- Front tires replaced 3 times due to feathering (suspension problem affecting all 2003 and early 2004 Z's. An extended warranty was issued for free tire replacement while the suspension had to be modified in mid-2004 )

- 6-speed Transmission replaced at 30k miles. Many 2003 models had this same failure with the synchro's which required full replacement to resolve.

- Rear axle replacement - Replaced at 15k miles. Again, affected many 2003 and early 2004 models.

- Window grease - Silent recall which affected many 2003 models.

These alone affected my car. Early model build sports cars often go through these growing pains. My lesson is that I will never buy a car right after it comes out again.

 

I think the issue with problems on the Z06 is more that since there is a much more limited production car than many daily driver cars, any problems reported is a much larger percentage of the total cars. So if there are 100 problems reported with only 1000 cars on the road that is a big number, but 100 problems in a car that has 50,000 on the road is much less of a big deal.

I don't fault the people buying the car, I'd love to have $85K to spend on a car. It just seems rather silly to me to basically throw away $10,000, regardless of how much money you make when in a short time the price will be much less. It's not like someone with $85 to just throw down on a car is short on toys. Perhaps this is just me, I've always tried to make the most of what I have, regardless of my income.

 

Would love a Z06, but the price and insurance would kill me.
50K is doable, but 70K (if I could find one) would be pushing the limit.

I guess I’ll have to “make due” with only 400HP.

 

As long as that car is maintained. You can beat the living shit out of it and it will last well past 100k with minor problems. The many F body and vette owners that have 100 plus k miles can tell you that.

 

Shawn,
Where do you live in PA or may I ask where the dealership is located? A friend of mine wanted to get the new zo6... he's visited several dealerships around the Jersey area but couldn't find 1 available.

 

oh my bad, I wasn't saying that this makes them shady.

I just wanted to point out the fact that they are shady in general, trust me on this one.

I can write a book about the ways these crooks tried to get me, and the way they got my friend. Thankfully I never bought from them, I never would, but they are the closest ford dealer to my house so if I wanted to see the new mustangs, that is my only option.

 

damn this verizon wireless PC card!!

Also I was going to add that maybe not "stupid" for people to pay 15,000 over sticker for a car, but doens't make too much sense in my opinion. I too can afford to do that (85K for a 70K car), but it just doenst make much sense to me. Why waste the $15,000 when that money can be spent better elsewhere. If I had to wait 3 - 4 months to get a car, then thats fine with me, I'm not going to rush out and spend 15 large over sticker just because I "have to have it" right now. I admit I do have expensive taste and times I do get in that impulse buy mood, but after making some pretty expensive mistakes by rushing out to get cars when they first come out, I wouldn't mind the 4 month wait because in the end its still just a car

 

The dealer is Chevy21 in Hellertown PA.
This is a small dealership and they NEVER have any vette’s in stock.
Vette’s only go to the larger dealerships based on the prior years sales.
This place probably only sells 8-10 of them a year. All are pre-orders and they’re sold when they get there.
They told me if I want one in March I’d have to order it in October.
At full MSRP of course.

I’d rather drive an hour to www.kerbeck.com in Atlantic City to get one.
They are already discounting 2006’s and they blew out their 2005’s with rebates up to 8-Grand a few weeks ago.
Order a 2006 C6 there and you’ll have it in 5-6 weeks.

The Z06 is another story. They are in high demand.
Most dealers won’t see more then 1 or 2 this year and as you see they add thousands of markup to the price.
The dealer I took these shots at just put up a new multimillion dollar showroom.
It just opened two weeks ago and I think GM shipped them a bunch of vette’s so they could show the place off.
Like I said, they never have any in stock and now they have a bunch.

As for your friend, have him call Kerbeck.
They were selling all Z06’s at MSRP for preorders.
I’m not sure how many they got or are getting this year.
But they’re the largest dealership in the country and they sell close to 2,000 corvettes a year.
That’s his best bet.

 

if someone can afford to pay a 13k surcharge on a 72k$ car, they can afford to buy a better car. unless they're stupid. performance aside, it's a vette?

 

Even at 85K….name something else that runs with it for that price.

 

With Kerbeck's pricing on the C6, I bet alot of people who are trying to sell their C5 Z06's are having a hard time....

It almost seems foolish to consider a used C5 Z06 now that the "regular" C6 has 400hp.

 

I'm not talking about performance. I'm talking about the 13k (not to mention the depreciation hit that happens when you drive it off the lot). My point is anyone that can't afford something better, for instance a ford gt, has no business tossing 13k$ in the toilet instead of just waiting a few months. I guess it's a matter of opinion, but it just strikes me as strange/stupid that's all.

 

I'd imagine someone willing to pay that much over sticker just really wants a corvette, and only a corvette. They probably aren't interested in a 'better' car for the price (or already has one or more).

 

I agree, but 85K might be the “sweet spot” for that particular person no matter what the car.
Maybe spending 150K or more is out of the question for him.

Some people save their pennies and overextend to buy a 30K car.
I’m sure there are others that do the same at other price points.

I also agree on the depreciation.
Imagine the guy totals the car out in a month or two.
The insurance would probably only pay out 60K no matter what the original sale price was.