I was on a list in early December 2019 for a 2020 but that was with a dealer who typically got a lot of trucks and not many Corvettes. Once I was told that realistically I'd be looking at a 2021, I then called around and found a dealer who'd purposely ordered around 100 2019 C7's, in order to increase their 2020 C8 allotment. They had 43 new C7's left for sale then (which has now gone down to zero). So I placed my deposit with that dealer on January 21/20 for a 2020 and got on a waiting list. I'll call that "dealer #2". I maintained my spot on the wait list of the first dealer and also got on a wait list with a third dealer, just in case.
I was told at the beginning by "dealer #2", they felt I'd likely get a 2020 but at that point, it was pre-COVID and they were expecting a good number of C8's. That dealer received 22 allotments initially, then another 4 and I still remained on the waiting list. Then some people cancelled and a few others decided to change to a Z06, so when the dealer got another 2 allotments (their very last ones) on March 13/20 I was promised one of them and put my order in on March 14/20 and luckily, dealer #2 created a "OrderWorkBench" that same day, so the order was sent to GM on March 14/20. I was told to expect the car around June and of course, that was just before the real COVID-crunch occurred which ultimately resulted in Bowling Green shutting down production. I was fortunate to get in just below GM's cut-off point since GM decided not to accept any further C8 orders later in March. I was fortunate to be at 3000 status, when GM later announced it would honour all 2020 orders that were at 3000 status or better. So now I'm sitting with a TPW of September 14/20 (expected delivery by the dealer in mid-October) but that was just over a month ago and today I asked my dealer for an update since several people on the Forum have had their TPW's were moved further ahead.
After GM accepted my order and I had an "order number" assigned, I cancelled my spots on the 2020 wait lists with the first and third dealers.
So the lesson I learned is to find not only a dealer who receives a good allotment of Corvettes, but also ensure you know where you are on the wait list and keep periodic tabs on what happens with that list, which is what many others on the Forum are telling people to do. Another suggestion is to get your order in asap when possible and also insure your dealer submits the order to GM right away after that. The only other advice I have is to belong to a local Corvette Club or if you don't have a Corvette yet (like me) then know someone who's in that Club that will put in a good word for you or refer you to the dealer, and choose a dealer who has affiliations with that Club, since that helped me quite a bit. If your dealer works closely with a Corvette Club, you'll have some sway because of all the business the dealer gets from Club members. It's a win-win scenario since that same dealer will see a lot of Corvettes and have qualified service personnel used to working on them too, so you're more likely to get good advice about Corvettes and good service on yours. So making sure the dealer places your order in to GM right away and the "Club angle" are new things which I've not seen anyone else mention on the Forum. Perhaps all this will help you out.
My concern now is for people waiting for a 2021. You'll have to contend with others who placed earlier deposits on a 2020 but got bounced, plus there's the shortened production time with 2021's not being made until (likely) January 2021. So I'm predicting a shortage not only of 2020's but also 2021's. We'll see. Good luck to everyone, getting your C8 and hopefully we'll not all face further COVID-inspired delays from now on and as the weeks turn into months...