Bit the bullet!
Discussion
Test drove a C6 convertible today (mainly to check it would fit in the garage :-) And since it did, I signed on the dotted line! It'll be a Victory Red '08 (since all Corvettes are red...), just got to wait for it to find its way to Reading over the next month or so.
One trivia question: I zeroed the average fuel reading before the drive, and over an hours worth of suburban roads and dual carriageway it averaged over 21 mpg (which is nice). Does anyone know whether the mpg readout on UK C6s is for UK gallons or US gallons? (Just remembering my UK C5 where I had to apply the +20% fudge factor as it still thought in US gallons)
Gary
One trivia question: I zeroed the average fuel reading before the drive, and over an hours worth of suburban roads and dual carriageway it averaged over 21 mpg (which is nice). Does anyone know whether the mpg readout on UK C6s is for UK gallons or US gallons? (Just remembering my UK C5 where I had to apply the +20% fudge factor as it still thought in US gallons)
Gary
G4HKS said:
But have your ordered a manual or auto?
Martin, C6 MANUAL - Victory Red (What other colour is there?!)
Auto, of course. Flappy-paddles were OK, but I'm not convinced having them attached the wheel (rather than the column) really works unless the steering is less the 1 turn lock-to-lock (which it isn't!). Loved the limo ride-quality compared to my Z4 as well.Martin, C6 MANUAL - Victory Red (What other colour is there?!)
'Ello Eric - Black? You sure? On a Z06 yes. A mere C6, RED !!!!
Let's hope that by the time the car arrives here A. Strats' are still in business and B. They actually get in what he ordered - the last '08 spec car a customer ordered from Reading took 4 or 5 months to arrive and it suddenly changed spec from a Manual to an Auto - all by itself. Customer was not amused....
I understand that the new 6sp auto box is very good, but not for 600BHP...
You going to Fairmile Sunday or the PH do in Sussex?
Let's hope that by the time the car arrives here A. Strats' are still in business and B. They actually get in what he ordered - the last '08 spec car a customer ordered from Reading took 4 or 5 months to arrive and it suddenly changed spec from a Manual to an Auto - all by itself. Customer was not amused....
I understand that the new 6sp auto box is very good, but not for 600BHP...
You going to Fairmile Sunday or the PH do in Sussex?
Edited by G4HKS on Wednesday 13th February 20:40
G4HKS said:
Let's hope that by the time the car arrives here A. Strats' are still in business and B. They actually get in what he ordered - the last '08 spec car a customer ordered from Reading took 4 or 5 months to arrive and it suddenly changed spec from a Manual to an Auto - all by itself. Customer was not amused....
Based on my C5 experiences, it's traditional for dealers/importers to go out of business (or at least stop handling US cars) at some point during your ownership...! As for the last (only?) '08 that Reading ordered, they did indeed get it wrong although allegedly the buyer accepted it in the end as he couldn't face another 4 or 5 month wait. Again, it seems to be traditional for dealers to be incapable of understanding the specs/options/prices (which makes the buying process rather slow as they have to keep running into the next office to phone Park Lane!). Still, to be fair, they were happy for me to go on a nice long test drive which is more than a lot of "premium German" dealers would do.Counting down the days...
Hi Gary
Yep I agree with what you said and he did get the auto box thrown in for free because of their inability to get the order right in the first place, so good luck to him. Met him at the Fairmile last meeting and he was a happy chappy.
Bet you can't wait for your new toy, I have only had mine since August last year and I still love it to bits!
Yep I agree with what you said and he did get the auto box thrown in for free because of their inability to get the order right in the first place, so good luck to him. Met him at the Fairmile last meeting and he was a happy chappy.
Bet you can't wait for your new toy, I have only had mine since August last year and I still love it to bits!
Edited by G4HKS on Thursday 14th February 20:47
Good news - my '08 Convertible is now sitting in Stratstone's "compound" in this country (and has been for a few days)...
Bad news - the admin lady who assigns registration numbers has been off sick since last Friday so they can't assign a reg number!!!!????
So no reg number = no insurance = no car... Hopefully she'll get well soon, but it amazes me that Stratstone's cashflow seems to be dependent on one person. Actually, thinking of the company I work for it doesn't surprise me at all! Just frustrating to be on the receiving end. And trying to keep my diary empty without getting fired is a challenge I can do without
Bad news - the admin lady who assigns registration numbers has been off sick since last Friday so they can't assign a reg number!!!!????
So no reg number = no insurance = no car... Hopefully she'll get well soon, but it amazes me that Stratstone's cashflow seems to be dependent on one person. Actually, thinking of the company I work for it doesn't surprise me at all! Just frustrating to be on the receiving end. And trying to keep my diary empty without getting fired is a challenge I can do without
GW65 said:
Good news - my '08 Convertible is now sitting in Stratstone's "compound" in this country (and has been for a few days)...
Bad news - the admin lady who assigns registration numbers has been off sick since last Friday so they can't assign a reg number!!!!????
So no reg number = no insurance = no car... Hopefully she'll get well soon, but it amazes me that Stratstone's cashflow seems to be dependent on one person. Actually, thinking of the company I work for it doesn't surprise me at all! Just frustrating to be on the receiving end. And trying to keep my diary empty without getting fired is a challenge I can do without
Suggest you explain that your happy with the situation on the understanding that for every day that goes by (and has passed) you will deduct from your final payment a days depreciation (calculated from the difference in value between a 1 year old car and yours divided by 365).Bad news - the admin lady who assigns registration numbers has been off sick since last Friday so they can't assign a reg number!!!!????
So no reg number = no insurance = no car... Hopefully she'll get well soon, but it amazes me that Stratstone's cashflow seems to be dependent on one person. Actually, thinking of the company I work for it doesn't surprise me at all! Just frustrating to be on the receiving end. And trying to keep my diary empty without getting fired is a challenge I can do without
Might make them find a solution.
Stratstones eh? Don't you just love 'em? And you haven't even got the car yet! They are a nice bunch but totally understaffed.
Best of luck when you (finally) get your hands on it - my Vette puts more smiles on my face than my other cars, so enjoy it!
Best of luck when you (finally) get your hands on it - my Vette puts more smiles on my face than my other cars, so enjoy it!
Edited by G4HKS on Thursday 6th March 15:33
Well, to finish the story, I finally collected my new Vette 3 weeks ago and I love it, although my feelings towards Stratstone are far less positive... I've just put the finishing touches to my letter to the Dealer Principal so I'll see what he has to say before I go into any details. Let's just say that in my opinion the buying experience wasn't commensurate with a £50K+ car. Conversely, I'd recommend Tracker to anyone in the market for a tracking device - their customer service was outstandingly good.
As for the car, it's a 2008 Victory Red convertible A6. The LS3 seems to have adequate torque
, sounds fab and the C6 seems far more chuckable than I remember my C5 being. I had to go for Sat Nav, but I do like it - especially the integration with the HUD. It also came (to my surprise as I hadn't ordered them!) with the new design polished alloys (QG7) which look very nice. Even better, it's only a couple of MPG worse than my old Z4 across the board (even with a tight, new engine).
Here's a link to a piccie: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2370/2368432991_7ca...
Oh yes, and I sent off my membership cheque to Rich at CCCUK!
As for the car, it's a 2008 Victory Red convertible A6. The LS3 seems to have adequate torque
, sounds fab and the C6 seems far more chuckable than I remember my C5 being. I had to go for Sat Nav, but I do like it - especially the integration with the HUD. It also came (to my surprise as I hadn't ordered them!) with the new design polished alloys (QG7) which look very nice. Even better, it's only a couple of MPG worse than my old Z4 across the board (even with a tight, new engine).Here's a link to a piccie: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2370/2368432991_7ca...
Oh yes, and I sent off my membership cheque to Rich at CCCUK!
Congratulations Gary - see you got the car in THE ONLY COLOUR WORTH CONSIDERING.
Funny you sold your Z4 to get into the C6 - I did exactly the same thing with a Z4M I had for exactly 4 days. It was very nice but that was just it, "very nice".
Regarding Stratstone. You thought the buying experience not commensurate with a £50k purchase? What can you possibly mean? Corvette's main dealer performing below par? Can't be surely?
I booked my C6 in for it's first MOT and yearly service almost a month ago. Pretty straight forward you would think. Did the 50 mile round trip and even dropped the car off the night before to be told the following day they couldn't do the MOT because they take it to a third party garage (??) and "they don't get on with their OWN franchise next door" (Volvo) who have an MOT facility on site.
Still, at least the invoice had the line "car valeted inside and out". What it didn't say is that their valeter is still using the same cloth since January to dry the body and glass off. Don't ask.
Funny you sold your Z4 to get into the C6 - I did exactly the same thing with a Z4M I had for exactly 4 days. It was very nice but that was just it, "very nice".
Regarding Stratstone. You thought the buying experience not commensurate with a £50k purchase? What can you possibly mean? Corvette's main dealer performing below par? Can't be surely?
I booked my C6 in for it's first MOT and yearly service almost a month ago. Pretty straight forward you would think. Did the 50 mile round trip and even dropped the car off the night before to be told the following day they couldn't do the MOT because they take it to a third party garage (??) and "they don't get on with their OWN franchise next door" (Volvo) who have an MOT facility on site.
Still, at least the invoice had the line "car valeted inside and out". What it didn't say is that their valeter is still using the same cloth since January to dry the body and glass off. Don't ask.
Edited by G4HKS on Wednesday 16th April 16:14
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