Hi, my name is Ron and here is my story.

I have a birthday coming up next month and my wife green-lighted a new sports car to replace my 2008 BMW Coupe. We found a Certified 2011 Torch Red Grand Sport at Jessup Chevrolet in Cathedral City and decided to pull the trigger this morning. I expect to take delivery on my early present by Saturday, or even sooner if possible. The car only has about 8000 miles, is an automatic with 3LT package and it has chrome rims with new tires. This will be my first Corvette and will fulfill a dream I have had since I was a kid and first saw a new 1954 Corvette.

Two years ago I owned a 2001 BMW M Roadster and very much enjoyed learning about my car, how to handle simple repairs/maintenance and possible mods to improve my enjoyment of this car. I am hoping that participating in this forum will similarly enrich my enjoyment of this Corvette. While I have never owned a Corvette, I have driven a few since one of my friends has owned five or so over the past many years and believes it is the only car that is both practical as a daily driver as well as being a true high performance sports car when you are inclined to get on it.

To be honest, I had my heart set on getting the latest generation Z4 until I test drove an S35si. It was less than satisfying due to the ergonomics - low seating position coupled with close steering wheel and poor vision looking over the hood for a short guy like me. I sat in a new Vette at a dealer and felt it was a lot more comfortable. When I test drove the Grand Sport this Saturday I was hooked. Wow, it was very comfortable and so cool cruising around the Palm Springs area with the top section removed. I knew immediately I wanted the car.

After I pick it up and detail it, I will post some pictures. The dealer has it all cleaned up, but I am a little OCD and will not rest until it is looking its best.

I look forward to communicating with you all, and tapping into your expertise on these wonderful machines. Hopefully I will get to meet some of you who live in the area, assuming local events are planned at times. Thanks for wading through this rather long post. Ron

 

The salesman from Jessup called today to tell me my car was already sold and I was out of luck, despite having called in a deposit on my credit card and having just sold my BMW at my local dealer. Apparently we both thought we had a deal and were busy attending to details, but our salesman claims a used car manager at the dealership had put an ad out to sell to other dealers earlier and the car had been claimed by a dealer! So far I have no idea who this dealer is and whether he is willing to sell me the car, but I was told the buying dealer would not let me keep my deal with Jessup, because they wanted the car. So, I guess I am back in the market for a new or near new Vette. What a crock!

 

Since my other deal fell through, I picked up a 2011 Coupe in metallic red with cashmere upholstery in Scottsdale AZ this past weekend. Under 2000 miles and it looks like new. It drives great too, so I a happy Vette owner at last!

 

Congrats on the purchase!! Post some pics if you would. We love pics.

 

Congrats! I feel your (past). Drove to a dealership looking for an advertised 2003 Corvette. Got there and discovered the dealer was closed for licensing and the car had just been wholesaled to another dealer! Was able to track down the car's new location, made the deal and drove it home. A frustrating trip but gratifying eventually.

 

I still feel like I missed out not getting the Gran Sport, although the new Coupe is a very nice car and does have fewer miles and cashmere upholstery which I really like. I will try to put up some pictures, but photobucket seems to have lost me and I am not sure how to post directly from the computer. At any rate, I will try to get on photobucket again and see if they got everything straightened out.