Dealer Tries to Force Corvette Buyer to Finance His C8

Corvette buyer asks Corvette Forum members what should be done about dealer’s attempt to attach a third-party loan to his C8 order.

Dealing with a dealership can be maddening. The sales department pushes for more to meet commission. The finance department pushes for more to bring cash to the dealer. Everyone’s on pins and needles, including you. If you’re shopping for a C8 Corvette, though, our favorite dealers take that pressure off. The only pins and needles there likely come from the in-house acupuncturist.

However, you may find yourself in a stickier situation at another dealer. A Corvette Forum member is in such a pickle over his C8 order. One involving the finance department, and good ol’ greed.

Can a Dealer Make You Finance?

“Went to the dealer yesterday to have my GS oil changed and to talk about my car #5150 which should be built on 7/14 with the salesman,” wrote 90sundevil. “Wanted to tell them for the 5th time that I don’t want any other add-ons to my car […] He then said that every new Corvette deal has to include some part of it financed thought them. He said ‘You can finance, like, 10k, and then when you get your first payment. You just make that plus two more and then pay it off.’”

Our Corvette buyer wasn’t having it, nor was our mod, Zjoe6. As our mod said, “If you’re not getting $1000 off for the financing, then there’s no incentive for you to do that. Tell him to go fly a kite […] Sounds like they’re trying to pad their pockets at the last minute.”

According to legal site Public Counsel, what this unnamed dealer is attempting to do is exactly what our mod said: “aggressively encourage” the C8 Corvette buyer to finance a part of his purchase so they can make more money off of him. How? By sending the loan through a third-party, then receiving a percentage of the loan as a markup.

Public Counsel adds that if he’s been told to “finance the vehicle to obtain a certain price (or to buy the car at all),” he’ll need to “contact the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Better Business Bureau.” We predict a big headache for the unnamed dealer soon.

Photos for Corvette Forum by Cameron Aubernon

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