Happy New Year!

Well it's December 31, 2007! On behalf of Vermont Chevrolet, I'd like to wish everyone a Happy New Year! Come January, there'll be some new special incentives that I'll keep you posted on which will save you tons of money.

Also, we recently launched our new Vermont Chevrolet website at http://www.mychevylive.com. Our vchevy.com website is still live and will stay that way, the new website was designed in the hopes of increasing traffic to our dealership and also to make it more user friendly. Check it out today!

BTW, our Chevy Malibu promotion is still going on! Test drive a new Chevy Malibu and get a free 1.0GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive! See November 7, 2007 post below for details.

L.A. Auto Show

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to go to another pre-L.A. Auto Show meeting for Chevy. We had a free breakfast and then were brought up-to-date on the latest news from Chevy. Afterwards, we were able to go downstairs to the L.A. Auto Show about 15 minutes before it opened to the public (11am). It was great having the whole show to ourselves, there were very few people there. When we left around 12:30pm, the whole place was packed!

One thing I did miss was seeing the new Camaro! I am not sure why I did not see the display, I heard from a friend that it was towards the back. Oh well! But I did take a lot of pictures of various new cars from various manufacturers. Even though I work at a Chevy dealership and really like many of the Chevy vehicles, I like many of you are excited about what other manufacturers are bringing to the table. Here are some pictures of the cars from the L.A. Auto Show. I'll post from the Chevy section first because, hey, this is afterall a dealership blog, but after that I'll post a few cars that I thought were really cool from other manufacturers.

The new 2009 Aveo5, looks a lot better than the current Aveo5. I drive a Scion xA and would definitely not mind having the new Aveo5!

The Chevy Beat Concept. This car will go into production so be patient and keep an eye out.

Here are all 3 concepts side by side, the Groove, Trax, and Beat.

This is my favorite, the Volt electric concept! I can't wait until this one is available in a few years.

OK the cars below are just various cars from various manufacturers, enjoy!

I liked the Scion display, very original.

The new Honda Accord Couple, looks very sporty!


$495,000! But I heard they mark up these SLRs quite a bit!


Check out this Hyundai Genesis Coupe concept!

Another cool Hyundai concept!


The 1-Series. This car is supposed to be FAST!!

As a family man, I wouldn't mind having this 4 door M3 sedan!

The GT-R!

L.A. Auto Show Pre-Media Day Reception

On Tuesday night, I went to a special Chevy L.A. Auto Show Pre-Media Day Reception. It was exciting to see some of the new products that are coming down the pipeline. Of course the Malibu was the highlight of the evening, but we got updates on the new 2009 Aveo5, as well as the various fuel efficient vehicles, hybrids, and electric vehicles coming soon. Chevy is really excited about all their upcoming products and are really pushing to re-educate the public on how great the new Chevy vehicles are. This obviously is not going to be an easy task. People that I know do not put much faith in Chevy or any American Auto manufacturer no matter what I tell them. When they hear the words Toyota or Honda, they assume those manufacturers build trouble-free vehicles but that simply is not the case. I, myself, used to think top quality comes only from imports, but have since learned that that is not entirely true. I truly believe that Chevy right now has great vehicles that are well-built, reliable, and well-designed. In fact, since 2000, I've owned a Chevy Venture minivan and have had little trouble with it and it still runs great. If I trade that in, I'll most likely get a Tahoe or a Malibu, depending on whether or not my wife wants to drive a big or small car!

Another great part of the reception was the FOOD! Thank you Chevy for providing us with some great food!

FREE 1GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive!

As some of you know, we will be getting the NEW 2008 MALIBU's this month! What we are going to do is have a Toyota Camry on our lot so that people can test drive both the MALIBU and Camry, back-to-back. If you come in and test drive the new MALIBU, we will give you a FREE 1GB Flash Drive (1ST 100 customers, limit one per family). The flash drive has the Vermont Chevrolet logo on it and is made in Korea. The actual memory chip is a Samsung unit, so you know you'll get top quality. Plus it looks pretty good!

UPDATE! (11/9/07)
We got our first 2008 MALIBU yesterday and sold it that same day!! A wonderful couple interested in getting an Equinox (Chevy's small SUV which in itself is a great car!) saw the new MALIBU and they were sold. Not to worry though, we have another MALIBU coming in this weekend and many more coming in during this month!

UPDATE! (11/8/07)
We just received our first 2008 MALIBU! Check out what it has:

• Dark Gray Metallic Exterior/Ebony Interior
• 2LT Trim
• Options: Rear Power Package (Rear Power Center and Manual Rear Window Sunshade), Sunroof (Power Tilt and Slide)
  
• 2.4l 4 Cylinder DOHC Engine
• 4 Wheel Independent Suspension
• Airbags (Front, Side, Side Curtain)
• 4 Wheel Anti-Lock Disc Brakes
• Stabilitrak Stability Control
• 1 Year Onstar
• A/C
• Rear Reading Lamps
• Power Locks
• Power Windows
• Power Trunk Release
• AM/FM Stereo/CD
• XM with 3 months free
• 6-way Power Driver's Seat
• Manual Lumbar
• Heated Front Seats
• Seat, Ultralux
• Floor Mats
• Rear Window Defogger
• Rear Split Folding Seat
• Driver Information Center
• Tilt and Telescopic Steering with Steering Wheel Controls
• Leather Wrapped Steering Wheel and Shifter Knob
• Remote Vehicle Start
• Adjustable Pedals
• Universal Home Remote
• Inside Rearview Mirror, Auto Dimming with Compass
• Remote Keyless Entry

MSRP: $23,685

Looking for Some Good Salesmen or Saleswomen!

FYI, if you live in the Southern California area and are looking for a great job, stop by and apply for the position of Sales Consultant! If you've got the experience, the personality, and are an honest hard worker, this job is for you. A big plus is if you can speak Korean or Spanish as well since that is our demographic.

Now with that said, if you do choose to apply, please make sure that you really do have the skills necessary to be a good salesman. One person who lasted for maybe a few weeks had some sales experience but it just wasn't good enough. He did sell one car during that time but he lost a lot of potential customers that a seasoned Sales Consultant would not have. He was a nice guy but he just wasn't a good salesmen.

If you have any questions about the position don't hesitate to get in touch with me! Or just stop by Vermont Chevrolet and ask for an application!

GM Helps Those Who Suffered Through the California Fires

The fires in Southern California made a huge impact on everyone here. While the fires were raging, you could see the smoke covering the rays of the sun and ashes covering our vehicles. This of course was nothing compared to those who lost their lives and/or their homes. Many of the things lost in the fire cannot be replaced, they now only exist in the memories of the people affected. I know I and others at this dealership are keeping those who suffered in our prayers.

Although some things just can't be replaced, I'm glad to see that GM is offering a Southern California Recovery Bonus for greater discounts for those affected by the wild fires. GMAC is also offering an additional Southern California Recovery Bonus if you finance with them. Some people may see this as GM and GMAC's attempt to cash-in on the suffering these fire victims went through, but I see it as savings which translates to lower vehicle cost which translates to lower monthly payments. Every little bit helps.

6-Speed Madness!

When you hear about a car with a 6-speed transmission, 2 things come to mind. If it's an automatic, you think high-end luxurious car. If it's a manual, you think sports car. New this year is the 2008 Chevy Equinox Sport (which we have in stock!). This vehicle comes with a 6-Speed Automatic with "shiftronic" capability. This is a first for Chevy in this type of vehicle. Before, if you wanted a 6-Speed (automatic or manual) Chevy you were limited to the Corvette or our heavy duty Silverados (with either a 6.6L Turbo Diesel or 6.0L V8). No other Chevy sedan or SUV comes with a 6-Speed Automatic, well, at least until the new 2008 Malibu arrives! It seems like Chevy is skipping the 5-Speed Automatics that many import sedans offer and going directly to the high-end 6-Speed Automatics! Now if only they can make it a standard option on cars like the Impala and Malibu that would be great!

In the meantime, what's so special about a 6-Speed anyway? Theoretically, 2 main things stand out, 1st is a more efficient use of the engine power band (translates to better acceleration and smoother shifts) and the 2nd is better fuel economy. I drive a small economy car which has your traditional 4-speed automatic, but when I'm cruising at 65mph, my RPMs are way up at 3500! If I had a 6-Speed Automatic, or even a 5-Speed Automatic, my RPMs would be a lot lower than that which translates to MORE GAS SAVINGS! So instead of getting 30mpg, who knows that might go up to 35mpg.

Back to the Equinox Sport. Like I mentioned we do have a white one in stock. If you are looking at a special internet price on it or to come check it out, send me an email!

p.s. Not to say that Chevy is the only or first brand with a 6-Speed Automatic, high-end luxury cars (Mercedes Benz, BMW, Lexus) had it before Chevy. Mazda had one before Chevy in its Mazda 6. The high-end luxury cars actually are now coming out with 7-Speed Automatics!

Only 5 More Days on Current Incentives!

Hey everyone, our current incentives will end on 10/31, only 5 days away! The best deal we have is on our 2007 Tahoes. We just recently put an ad on the local Korean newspaper for $8000 savings on any 2007 Tahoe we stock. The example we give is a Tahoe LS with a price of only $27,699. This isn't just the base model, it also includes 3 Passenger 3rd Row Seat, Power Adjustable Pedals, and Rear Parking Assist.

Please remember with the $27,699 price, that is not the "Out the Door" cost. You've got to add tax, registration fees, doc fees and such. The tax and registration fees are based on the cost of the vehicle before the cash rebates are applied. So tax and registration fees you pay are for $32,699 since the cash rebates are $5000. But even so, it's still an awesome price!

For those interested in LOW APRs, you can get 0% for up to 60 months in lieu of the $4000 rebate, but you can still use the $1000 bonus cash rebate

For pictures, check out our craigslist ad here.

p.s. Later this year the Tahoe Hybrid is supposed to come out! I'm pretty excited about the hybrid, it's supposed to save quite a bit of gas compared to the standard V8. The downside, it probably won't be cheap. We haven't gotten any pricing info on it yet but with all the technology in it, (more than the 2008 Malibu Hybrid) some people have speculated prices in the $40,000s. I'll definitely post on here once we get it in stock!

1st Post! - My job at Vermont Chevrolet

Hello my name is Roberto and I just wanted to share what I do here at Vermont Chevrolet. As this is the first post of this blog I'd like to say "WOOHOO!"

Now that I got that out of the way, I have various hats I wear at this dealership. When I first started early this year, I was strictly doing Internet Sales. I followed up on potential customers by calling them and emailing them. Once in awhile I would stand in front of the store and take walk-in customers. Then I started taking on other responsibilities such as Courtesy Delivery (that is when you order and buy a vehicle from one dealership and have the factory ship it to a different dealership close to where you are located), Tech Support (they found out I have an IT background), Web and Graphic Design (I used to do this freelance), and various Administrative Admin jobs to boot. It's a lot of stuff, but I like it because I am never bored or lack things to do!

Of course, nothing feels as good to me as delivering a new or used car to the customer and seeing a big smile on their face. I'm sure there are times when you may not get that big smile, but for me, I have not seen that yet!

If you live in this area, I encourage you to keep checking back with us. Although we have a dealer website, www.vchevy.com, I will post some specials here too. Many times, I will have cars on sale with better prices than our main website!