With so much anticipation and excitement of the new 7th generation Corvette over the past year, and then the rollout in January, wishful thinking, maybe someday I'd have one, never expecting it would this soon. When Jim M. took me in his two week old beautiful 2013 velocity yellow 427 I started getting the urge to upgrade, followed by a second trip with Jim G. and Joe O. As soon as we parked, in pouring rain, we looked at six right-off-the-truck C7's. In the showroom, a new arctic white C7 was parked beside my favorite C6 60th Anniversary 427, and did they POP. The following weekend sitting in another 60th anniversary at a C7 unveiling day, I truly fell in love. A few minutes later the beauty was bought. Before it was bought, I was offered a fantastic trade in for that car but hesitated. The next few weeks I realized a window of opportunity was open on taking advantage of a possible good trade now vs. my car slipping in value by the spring and knowing it was almost time for new tires. I truly loved my LeMans blue C6 except for one issue, the very hard ride of the Z51 package; the car has been completely trouble free with only 18.5K miles.
Alan sent me the link of this white coupe stating it was scheduled to arrive at Best Chevrolet, knowing my passion for a white Stringray. Three weeks later Best informed me it finally arrived. When looking at the wrapped beauty, I loved the Arctic white, 2LT, adrenaline red, NPP and red calipers. Questionable options were the 7 speed manual, machine faced wheels and navigation. I was quoted a very good and fair trade in value for my C6 but decided to check out the local C7 inventory and/or place an order for a '14. During the next week I visited three other dealers, one very competitive, one somewhat, and the third was outright rude. Joe informed me he just had the same experience also buying his C6 there; we sure won't give them any more business.
I called Best to place a possible order only to be told it would be for a 2015 since they only had allocation for four 2014, all sold and the arictic white was an unplanned extra sent by Chevrolet management. The next day I took Carole "to only take a look." We walked into the showroom and WOW, there it was and did it POP! With two other couples looking like they were ready to buy, after sitting in the car for twenty minutes I got the nod from Carole and a deal was made!! :)
I can't give enough praise for Scott the owner, Bruce the sales manager, my sales rep Jess, Ivan the Corvette tech and all the staff; defintly the best car purchase experience I've ever had. The entire staff has, or will soon, attend the Disney University in Orlando and it sure is noticeable.
Riding home was a challenge since it was the first time driving a manual since my 1970 Corvette and 1969 Mach 1 over 40 years ago. I was pleasantly surprised how fast it came back, like riding a bike. Instantly we both realized the unbelievable difference from my Z51 C6: ride, steering, acceleration, interior and handling greatly improved.
The technology and workmanship of the C7 is far better than my 2007. I've spent hours playing with all the features, settings, etc. Phil was able to pair my iPhone and Pandora wirelessly to the car. I was concerned of no CD player in the C7, but with Pandora it's not an issue now. Found out the NPP system can be turned off, which makes the car very quiet; no need for a switch or fob. The seats are extremely comfortable, steering wheel smaller but much nicer, removable top slightly large but a lot lighter, seating space is slightly less with hatch space about the same, one storage space on rear left with battery tucked away on rear right with a battery tender plug in.
I've put on approx. 300 miles the first week and already feel very comfortable driving and bonding with this beast. The Certificate of Origin didn't arrive with the car. I checked the vin number sequence on the Corvette forum and noticed my car had four zeros in front of the 536 (manufacture number) instead of a one followed by three zeros. Alan referred me to Joe F. who did some investigation to find out that there were three pre-manufactured sequences before manufactured cars were sent to dealerships. The first two sequences were destroyed and 550 third sequence cars were built and sent to Detroit for shows, demonstrations and company executives etc. The first car built for dealerships was number 551. The only option I've ordered from Best is a white Z51 spoiler which is mounted over the present base black spoiler.
What unbelievable changes from the '74 to the '14 Stingrays, however looking out over the hood they feel very similar and both a blast to drive in their own way.
Jim has named them "The 40 year bookends"
-Bill
Proud to be one of the area's leading automotive dealers, here at Best Chevrolet customer service is our highest priority! It is our goal to make the car buying process and vehicle service experience as simple and enjoyable as possible! We are located at 128 Derby Street, Hingham, MA 02043. Feel free to give us a call with any questions that you may have at (781) 749-1950 or visit our website: www.bestchevyusa.com.
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