ME Delivery/Pickup Options

[John]

As so many of us look forward to getting your new mid engine Corvette, have you thought about how you are going to pick it up?

There are so many options on how to pick up your new Corvette!

1) Getting it from your local dealer you bought it from (the most used/most typical method);

2) Picking up your new Corvette at the National Corvette Museum (more on that option below);

3) Getting your ME via NCM Museum Delivery, then having a transporter ship it to your home.

4) Having GM ship it to your non-local dealership that you have bought from, having them do the PDI, and then that dealership or you arrange for it to shipped by a transporter to your house;

5) Your buying from a non-local dealer, arraigning your transportation there, then doing a great road trip home;

6) Telling the dealer you are buying it from (if not close to you) to have GM drop-ship it directly to a dealer that is close to you; more about this process, known as a courtesy delivery below.

There are so many pros and cons for each option (though if you have the perfect local dealer, that primary option has almost exclusively “pros” to using it.

We do have a related thread about whether you are planning to buy locally or nationally, but in this one, we will drill down on the many pros and cons of each of the five options for picking up it. However, should you want a little background:

https://www.midenginecorvetteforum.c...-or-nationally

Please:

1) Share both what you have already done for a past Corvette(s) and what method you are planning for our ME’s delivery; and,
2) What are the pros and cons you are thinking about past or future choice, and how has or will that lead you to how/when/where you are now planning to get your ME?

Let’s first look at some specific choices:

A) National Corvette Museum Delivery Program (factory option code “R8C”)
1) This must be specified at the time you initially order your Corvette;
2) Current cost is $990 additional.
3) It is a very special and unique experience that many have done and enjoyed.

Here is how to learn more about it:

https://www.corvettemuseum.org/visit...seum-delivery/

B) Courtesy Delivery (often called drop ship delivery)

Again, this option may be chosen if your primary/ordering dealer is not close to where you live...

1) This is an option you also should specific at initial order; or, must be specified before you get to status code 3000; not changeable thereafter.
2) You need two dealers to cooperate to pull this off. First your selling dealer (and that almost 100% of the time is not an issue), and, second a dealer who will accept delivery of your car, do your PDI, but will additionally charge you a courtesy delivery fee.
3) There are many pros and cons to this program, but we leave leave it to follow up posts

Your experiences and your new ME pick up thoughts and plans please:

[Racer86]

R8C , like the last time.Then we take the long way back home to the Charlotte area. We enjoyed the whole process, and now have a hard time buying a car any other way. .i also like the fact that no dealer touched it . No “tech” doing a burnout in the back lot.

[MikeC8]

I would hate to drive it all the way home and keep the tach under 4000 rpms. Then very your speed and no cruise control ...I don’t know how people have that much will power. I’ll just pick it up at the dealership again.
It was cool watching my 17 GS tach at 500 miles change the red line. Finally !

[John]

The team that does the PDI at NCM is a very dedicated crew. They are done thousands and thousands of Corvettes PDI, in fact over 10,000. Additionally, if you want them to install your custom, specific brand accessories, say a ACS Composte great looking front splitter, your mudguards and more, they will do that for you. Lastly, and to me very, very important, is that they have a great relationship with the factory. Let’s assume they see you center console lid is not just right; not 100% of the time, but a lot of thetime, they can get a replacement lid installed on your car before you ever knew there was an issue with it (and avoid your fixating it on it on your way home, going to your local dealer to get it replaced, etc).

The most extreme example of this was a front left fender replacement. Not typical they can do that, but at least I personally watched at the the once was done — but not by the PDI crew, but by the factory coming over and pcicking up the car (literally one mile apart from the Museum), taking it back to the factory, getting it returned. I watched it leave the PDI area, and two hours later, watched it return that card with a great replacement fender.

Additionally, the tour you get of the Plant (thought we know it is temporarily closed due to some reason LOL), is far longer and better than the typical one hour public tours.

We did R8C on our C6 Z06, and it is a probable for our ME.

[John]

I would hate to drive it all the way home and keep the tach under 4000 rpms. Then very your speed and no cruise control ...I don’t know how people have that much will power. I’ll just pick it up at the dealership again. It was cool watching my 17 GS tach at 500 miles change the red line. Finally !

We solved that issue in a very special way. First, the back ground roads around Kentiucky are curvy Corvette roads, and they are better/smoother than most, so we took a casual two day, 500 mile, personalized road trip from NCM and then back again. What a terrific time, getting to know the car, braking it in properly. Then had a pre-appointment at Campbell Chev to change the oil and filter (great job, very fast, nice folks), and then started our 2,500 trip home. That could well be the game plan this next time, though on some new to us, other greater Kentucky Corenr corner winding back roads we have yet to see.

[Frenzy36]

Not sure as plans change and it is a very long way off, there isn't ANY INFORMATION from GM
I usually fly in and drive home though.

[John]

Frenzy36 you make a good point, especially as those of us who might be doing R8C and driving home, I sure would not have done that December 1, 2014 when my new C7 Z06 would have been able to be picked up via R8C.

Actually the reason I started this thread has been that picking up our ME on the east coast, bringing it home to the west coast, is one of our bigger future issues. And not knowing whether, even though our order will be picked up early, whether we get to pick it up in August, September, October or whenever could be a big deal for us (and others). For as Frenzy36 noted, we have not info from GM yet. I am just thinking ahead a little.

[MidEngine]

I sure wish initial customer deliveries would be in the same time frame as the C7’s were, when it was sunny and warm in mid September. Or better yet, how about an upside surprise of earlier than that summer deliveries?

[jagamajajaran]

I ordered my 2017 Grand Sport from Mike Furman at Criswell Chevrolet and took NCM delivery. I prefer NCM delivery because it allows for the speediest delivery after the car has been built, a lower probability of damage during transport, a PDI service that will catch and correct any issues before delivery, and a very special delivery experience.

[John]

Very good reasons Jag. Thanks, for we know you are R8C experienced.

[Shadow]

Only one of the five above that I have ruled out is local purchase. Even my local dealer told me, knowing I get an early Corvette, “sorry that we will not have an early allocation, but we would happily do a courtesy delivery for you.” Nice. They are highly competent folks. I treat them well too, having my Corvette serviced there, having brought to their service center many other Corvette friends, and I bought a non Corvette from them.

[91ZR1]

The last two Corvettes I bought from Rick Conti at Coughlin in Pataskala, OH. Drove one up and drove the new one back (500 miles each way to SC). Had a great experience both times.

This time, if in fact, as it appears, is the end of the 65 year history for the front engine Corvette, as well as the end of a manual transmission, there is no way I will be trading my Z06. So with nothing to drive up, I think it’s time to do a NCM delivery.

Depending on what the “base car” has, power wise etc, I may wait for a second year car ... or not! ?

[meyerweb]

I would most likely buy local, from Mike Furman. (Although he'd better watch out: there's a new dealer in Northern Virginia whose goal is to outsell Kerbeck, Criswell, et al.) I don't know if I'll do museum delivery, though. I really want to do the buyers tour (assuming it's still offered) and don't know if I can justify another grand on top of that. And Criswell ought to know how to do PDI, given how many they sell.

[tooold2race]

We've picked up Corvettes at our local dealer. We've also bought from a couple of the big guys across the country. In those cases, we flew out. loaded the car, and drove it home, enjoying the road trip. The best experience was the Museum delivery of our very early C7 'vert'. We drove that one back home to Texas in rain and sleet. Please remember that it's only a car and it's designed and built to be driven. The car wasn't any worse for the wear..... and we weren't either.

We fully intend to pick up our new C8 at the Museum and drive it back to Texas, regardless of the season. Hey if the weather sucks, we can hang out for a couple extra days in Nashville and then move on with the adventure. It's really a great way to 'experience' the new car.....

[John]

I like your thinking tooold2race. Your thought of if the weather is too bad, ride it out until it changes, is a good one. And not hard for those who are retired and could easily take a few extra days.

Reelatedely, re our Museum pickup then the trip home, if we some day to wake up and there is a touch of frost or an inch of snow, we too would wait an hour or two until it melts.

Our plan if we do not get our ME under a colder time of the year,, would be to head south to Nashville, then southwest down the Natchez Trace Parkway, then west until California, and finally up I-5 toward Oregon. The only real “iffy” place for us would be around the Siskiyou Mountains which connect northern CA with southern OR — and again if that were weather ugly, we would hang out for a day or so until better weather to make the final stretch home,