Finally picked it up on Tuesday.

I guess @Thom you are finally answering the burning question I have been struggling to understand on this forum. Most people put a deposit, anxiously wait for the call some 14-24 months later (on avg), and during that time study and build and change their mind and rebuild 10 times over until they make their final choice and done. They pickup their dream car, cheer like a little boy, maybe shed a tear or two of joy, and drive off the dealer lot and never look back. Until that point all good.

Where things blow my mind is the part where before peeling out of their dealer’s lot, some people have the mindset to say, hey you know what Mr dealer man, take another deposit of mine, as I am not sure I really like this color or the options I chose, so slap me back up top your list, let me try this one on for size, and in 1.5 to 2 years will see if I still like it, and even if I do like it, will just order up another color and some new options just to keep things fresh and exciting in my life.

But true, did not think about the suitcases of money people are enjoying, with a high value trade-in, making them think they can get a newer model year with more options covered with all the profits falling into their pockets.

I am guessing the above scenario will not be around forever. Just trying to convince myself that when I go to pickup my fully optioned 3LT HTC Z51, why I would want to leave another deposit for a future ‘25 model just because I may want to change colors or hope the ‘25 might have something new and exciting on it.
 
JCWP said:
Really all you get for the $6K or so is: full leather, upgraded seats, and color combo options, I believe? I must say, I like the napa leather - great quality. I bought from dealer for over MSRP - so, it is fully laded incl. competition seats which I would not have ordered.
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I personally like what you get for another $6K with 3LT, as I feel I will be enjoying the look and smell of the NAPA leather, and the exotic look of the alcantara roof lining and trim, more so than my larger intercooler and bigger brakes on the Z51 package (which I was also forced to take due to constraints). I totally get it and respect the 2LT crowd, that is what I was initially planning to get too, it is the sweet spot for the tech, and keeps the monthly payments in check. I needed to go 3LT for the RB/TB interior, but I know I would be missing the higher grade interior on the 3LT if I had not chosen it. To each their own like they say, but I will definitely be sniffing that NAPA stuff all day long. I never had an alcantara interior so looking forward to having it, I think someone on this forum mentioned that it gave the car a little more of an exotic feel similar to the interiors of the Lambos, McLarens etc, hard to say since I never owned one of those either (just sat in them).
 
Neils said:
I personally like what you get for another $6K with 3LT, as I feel I will be enjoying the look and smell of the NAPA leather, and the exotic look of the alcantara roof lining and trim, more so than my larger intercooler and bigger brakes on the Z51 package (which I was also forced to take due to constraints). I totally get it and respect the 2LT crowd, that is what I was initially planning to get too, it is the sweet spot for the tech, and keeps the monthly payments in check. I needed to go 3LT for the RB/TB interior, but I know I would be missing the higher grade interior on the 3LT if I had not chosen it. To each their own like they say, but I will definitely be sniffing that NAPA stuff all day long. I never had an alcantara interior so looking forward to having it, I think someone on this forum mentioned that it gave the car a little more of an exotic feel similar to the interiors of the Lambos, McLarens etc, hard to say since I never owned one of those either (just sat in them).
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I agree 100%. I was leaning full bore Z51 ( I have it) 3LT HTC when I was waiting for my name to come up, Started out (in my mind) with 2LT non Z51 and then after seeing a 3LT thought: what the hell, my 5th and last corvette - go full bore. I would have ordered the rapid blue as I love that color. The red mist metallic is very nice though - quite happy with it. The car looks amazing inside and out.
 
Thom said:
Personally I've never liked alcantara. It reminds me of mouse fur. :)
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To each is own. It looks amazing. The napa leather throughout is amazing as well. My lid is down all the time - so, only see it when it is up - just a bit as trim as well. GT2 seats would have been my preference.
 
JCWP said:
I agree 100%. I was leaning full bore Z51 ( I have it) 3LT HTC when I was waiting for my name to come up, Started out (in my mind) with 2LT non Z51 and then after seeing a 3LT thought: what the hell, my 5th and last corvette - go full bore. I would have ordered the rapid blue as I love that color. The red mist metallic is very nice though - quite happy with it. The car looks amazing inside and out.
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Funny you say that because once I had set my eyes on Red Mist (online) I said that is it, done, and never bothered to look at all of the other colors, Then moved to HG, AO and RB. It was my trip to Ciocca that sealed the deal for us (as a family) on the RB/TB setup. But it is a loud color, not for everyone. I think if I was to purchase a Z06 for the long run, would probably end up being a RM or HG or that newer dark grey. Just not as much into the blacks, silvers and and reds all that much. Can't wait to have that 3LT interior, car is expected sometime in June, and wait until you see the final setup, lots of aftermarket going onto it. Trying to make it a 1 of 1.
 
Neils said:
Funny you say that because once I had set my eyes on Red Mist (online) I said that is it, done, and never bothered to look at all of the other colors, Then moved to HG, AO and RB. It was my trip to Ciocca that sealed the deal for us (as a family) on the RB/TB setup. But it is a loud color, not for everyone. I think if I was to purchase a Z06 for the long run, would probably end up being a RM or HG or that newer dark grey. Just not as much into the blacks, silvers and and reds all that much. Can't wait to have that 3LT interior, car is expected sometime in June, and wait until you see the final setup, lots of aftermarket going onto it. Trying to make it a 1 of 1.
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I'd love a Z06 or the E-Ray; but, I know I will never get one. I'd love to do some after market add-ons; however, no where to go here in Vancouver to get custom work done: lowered ( dealer can't do) - none of the dealers have a custom shop which I find odd - wheels etc. etc. Keeping car pristine hoping I get a chance for the E-Ray - which I would order loaded to the max. - LOL. The RM looks awesome in the shade, sun, you name it and with the ceramic coating I just dust off once a week with the pile of microfiber cloths I have.
 
JCWP said:
I'd love a Z06 or the E-Ray; but, I know I will never get one. I'd love to do some after market add-ons; however, no where to go here in Vancouver to get custom work done: lowered ( dealer can't do) - none of the dealers have a custom shop which I find odd - wheels etc. etc. Keeping car pristine hoping I get a chance for the E-Ray - which I would order loaded to the max. - LOL. The RM looks awesome in the shade, sun, you name it and with the ceramic coating I just dust off once a week with the pile of microfiber cloths I have.
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don’t really need a custom shop to do aftermarket. For rims / tires I ordered my Vossen setup from 1010Tires which the dealer will slap on for me. My RSC visible CF aero ordered from the US (to a US address picked up by me), and dealer will slap it all on since they are used to installing GM aero and willing to do it. So the drop is the only one where you need to find someone who knows how to swap out springs or install the collars. In my case the dealer will do it since they did it before on other cars, if not there is a place that in ON that does this kind of thing all day long. Tint and PPF well they are a dime a dozen out there. A few more custom mods ordered from the US from GS Creations. All will be revealed in a couple of YouTube videos around Grand Prix time here in Mtl
 
Neils said:
don’t really need a custom shop to do aftermarket. For rims / tires I ordered my Vossen setup from 1010Tires which the dealer will slap on for me. My RSC visible CF aero ordered from the US (to a US address picked up by me), and dealer will slap it all on since they are used to installing GM aero and willing to do it. So the drop is the only one where you need to find someone who knows how to swap out springs or install the collars. In my case the dealer will do it since they did it before on other cars, if not there is a place that in ON that does this kind of thing all day long. Tint and PPF well they are a dime a dozen out there. A few more custom mods ordered from the US from GS Creations. All will be revealed in a couple of YouTube videos around Grand Prix time here in Mtl
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I have Z51 so set-up for lowering - still need to order parts. No one does it in Vancouver. Very expensive getting stuff sent to me. I have used Paragon a few times - expensive and takes forever. ACS as well. Got dealer to install. My 2016 C7: Hotchkis sport sway bar kit from USA - installed by dealer as well as OEM spoiler and side skirts. Not so easy to get lowered (C8). Yes, I could order wheels from USA or maybe there is a dealer that could order for me and yes installation would not be a problem - spacers - would like them more flush with the edge of the wheel wells.
 
The key to getting parts from the US is using a port forwarding service or having one not too far from your house. I live 30 min from the Lacolle border along Champlain NY, so easy for me to ship stuff there, I pay a small fee and go to pick it up myself. When I do not feel like driving, I use a service in ON, which lands the boxes on the US side of Niagara Falls, and then once I declare the items online and pay the taxes, they ship it to their warehouse on the other side of the falls in ON. From there you pay a small fee, and you can have it reshipped to anywhere in Canada. Quite often the shipping within the US is free, and it's much cheaper to pay a $10 fee per box to land it at one of these places, and then another whatever to reship, compared to the hundreds of dollars to ship direct to you. I do this all the time, that is how I landed all of my RSC aero stuff (went to get it at the border). For the Vossen wheels the price 1010Tires cracked me matched the US price, so was not even worth going thru the hassle to order from the US. Food for thought.
 
Neils said:
The key to getting parts from the US is using a port forwarding service or having one not too far from your house. I live 30 min from the Lacolle border along Champlain NY, so easy for me to ship stuff there, I pay a small fee and go to pick it up myself. When I do not feel like driving, I use a service in ON, which lands the boxes on the US side of Niagara Falls, and then once I declare the items online and pay the taxes, they ship it to their warehouse on the other side of the falls in ON. From there you pay a small fee, and you can have it reshipped to anywhere in Canada. Quite often the shipping within the US is free, and it's much cheaper to pay a $10 fee per box to land it at one of these places, and then another whatever to reship, compared to the hundreds of dollars to ship direct to you. I do this all the time, that is how I landed all of my RSC aero stuff (went to get it at the border). For the Vossen wheels the price 1010Tires cracked me matched the US price, so was not even worth going thru the hassle to order from the US. Food for thought.
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Sounds good. but, I am too far from the border. I will check with local tire/wheel shops. If do not get a E-Ray I definitely will do the mods I mentioned. I do not want to spend $15K unless I am keeping it. Thanks for your advice - appreciated.
 
Neils said:
I personally like what you get for another $6K with 3LT, as I feel I will be enjoying the look and smell of the NAPA leather, and the exotic look of the alcantara roof lining and trim, more so than my larger intercooler and bigger brakes on the Z51 package (which I was also forced to take due to constraints). I totally get it and respect the 2LT crowd, that is what I was initially planning to get too, it is the sweet spot for the tech, and keeps the monthly payments in check. I needed to go 3LT for the RB/TB interior, but I know I would be missing the higher grade interior on the 3LT if I had not chosen it. To each their own like they say, but I will definitely be sniffing that NAPA stuff all day long. I never had an alcantara interior so looking forward to having it, I think someone on this forum mentioned that it gave the car a little more of an exotic feel similar to the interiors of the Lambos, McLarens etc, hard to say since I never owned one of those either (just sat in them).
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I feel like 3LT is pretty terrible value TBH. Except to get one of the colours not otherwise offered. I also got 3LT twilight/tension interior. The step up from 2tone gt2 seats with coloured seatbelt was under 3k.
 
ggurface said:
I feel like 3LT is pretty terrible value TBH. Except to get one of the colours not otherwise offered. I also got 3LT twilight/tension interior. The step up from 2tone gt2 seats with coloured seatbelt was under 3k.
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I beg to differ, and my thinking is compare the 3LT to walking into a furniture store, and selecting a nice quality L sectional for the living room or cinema room. First thing they will tell you is that for the listed price, you are getting leatherette, and while the material is much better than it used to be, and can last you years, it can still crack or fade or get used more due to rubbing.

So when you ask for the price with leather, then they throw you some options (seating surfaces only, arm rests added, back added, sometimes sides and rear are left out to save some money on surfaces you normally would not touch). Then look at that price, it is no longer the listed price, and is likely 30% more. Same thing here, I doubt it's costing GM $1k in leather for the dash, doors, seats, plus suede on roof and pillars and they are marking it up by 500%.

My thought process is saying if it costs them $3K and they are marking it up by another $3k, then I am ok with spending $3k of their margins to get leather and suede on those surfaces, and unlike my example above about the sectional, I doubt the upgraded cost is representing 30% of the total price of the product. A very rough guess, $6500 (3LT) over $120K (with Z51 and some options), represents a +5.5% cost increase for that leather and suede.

And yes, I did take leather on the sectional too !! Not the higher end leather, but a decent grade of leather. Allows me to sleep at night, and I wish you could come to my father's place, we bought him a cheap couch with leatherette some 8-9 years ago, it is snowing black flakes on the floor, they used a very cheap leatherette on that couch. Not comparing that to the Mulan leather, that is much higher end, but you just never know what you are going to get with a non leather product. I don't have NAPA type leather in the family truck, and it is holding up fantastic. So it has gotten much better over the years.

Conclusion, to me personally, a great deal for the 3LT !! For those looking to keep monthly payments down, not so much (which is fine too). Options for everyone !!
 
Neils said:
I beg to differ, and my thinking is compare the 3LT to walking into a furniture store, and selecting a nice quality L sectional for the living room or cinema room. First thing they will tell you is that for the listed price, you are getting leatherette, and while the material is much better than it used to be, and can last you years, it can still crack or fade or get used more due to rubbing.

So when you ask for the price with leather, then they throw you some options (seating surfaces only, arm rests added, back added, sometimes sides and rear are left out to save some money on surfaces you normally would not touch). Then look at that price, it is no longer the listed price, and is likely 30% more. Same thing here, I doubt it's costing GM $1k in leather for the dash, doors, seats, plus suede on roof and pillars and they are marking it up by 500%.

My thought process is saying if it costs them $3K and they are marking it up by another $3k, then I am ok with spending $3k of their margins to get leather and suede on those surfaces, and unlike my example above about the sectional, I doubt the upgraded cost is representing 30% of the total price of the product. A very rough guess, $6500 (3LT) over $120K (with Z51 and some options), represents a +5.5% cost increase for that leather and suede.

And yes, I did take leather on the sectional too !! Not the higher end leather, but a decent grade of leather. Allows me to sleep at night, and I wish you could come to my father's place, we bought him a cheap couch with leatherette some 8-9 years ago, it is snowing black flakes on the floor, they used a very cheap leatherette on that couch. Not comparing that to the Mulan leather, that is much higher end, but you just never know what you are going to get with a non leather product. I don't have NAPA type leather in the family truck, and it is holding up fantastic. So it has gotten much better over the years.

Conclusion, to me personally, a great deal for the 3LT !! For those looking to keep monthly payments down, not so much (which is fine too). Options for everyone !!
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I don’t quite follow your example. As far as I know the C8 has leather seats. The 3LT seats may be softer or something, but I don’t think the 1LT and 2LT are leatherette. I know you said that the Mulan is a higher end leather, but then you say you don’t know what you get with a non leather product. Confusing since you acknowledge that Mulan and Napa are both leather. So basically what you’re saying is that your home couch is midgrade leather, but your C8 has the highest grade leather. If that’s what you want, and this argument helps convince your wife/partner, then fantastic and I am not disagreeing with your choice- only with your example.
 
Neils said:
I beg to differ, and my thinking is compare the 3LT to walking into a furniture store, and selecting a nice quality L sectional for the living room or cinema room. First thing they will tell you is that for the listed price, you are getting leatherette, and while the material is much better than it used to be, and can last you years, it can still crack or fade or get used more due to rubbing.

So when you ask for the price with leather, then they throw you some options (seating surfaces only, arm rests added, back added, sometimes sides and rear are left out to save some money on surfaces you normally would not touch). Then look at that price, it is no longer the listed price, and is likely 30% more. Same thing here, I doubt it's costing GM $1k in leather for the dash, doors, seats, plus suede on roof and pillars and they are marking it up by 500%.

My thought process is saying if it costs them $3K and they are marking it up by another $3k, then I am ok with spending $3k of their margins to get leather and suede on those surfaces, and unlike my example above about the sectional, I doubt the upgraded cost is representing 30% of the total price of the product. A very rough guess, $6500 (3LT) over $120K (with Z51 and some options), represents a +5.5% cost increase for that leather and suede.

And yes, I did take leather on the sectional too !! Not the higher end leather, but a decent grade of leather. Allows me to sleep at night, and I wish you could come to my father's place, we bought him a cheap couch with leatherette some 8-9 years ago, it is snowing black flakes on the floor, they used a very cheap leatherette on that couch. Not comparing that to the Mulan leather, that is much higher end, but you just never know what you are going to get with a non leather product. I don't have NAPA type leather in the family truck, and it is holding up fantastic. So it has gotten much better over the years.

Conclusion, to me personally, a great deal for the 3LT !! For those looking to keep monthly payments down, not so much (which is fine too). Options for everyone !!
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Agree! I had the mulan leather in my C7 convertible. After 5 years+ starting to show to signs of wear. Happy to have 3LT this time in my C8. Not crazy about the competition seats even though they look awesome: carbon fiber trim top, leather (napa) head rest, side pieces and rear section - the rest ventilated material; the problem is getting in and out of the car with the raised side pieces - causing slight crinkle in the leather - hard to raise my ass high enough to get over it onto the seating surface - LOL. They are comfortable - not sure how so on a long trip?
 
harshadt said:
I don’t quite follow your example. As far as I know the C8 has leather seats. The 3LT seats may be softer or something, but I don’t think the 1LT and 2LT are leatherette. I know you said that the Mulan is a higher end leather, but then you say you don’t know what you get with a non leather product. Confusing since you acknowledge that Mulan and Napa are both leather. So basically what you’re saying is that your home couch is midgrade leather, but your C8 has the highest grade leather. If that’s what you want, and this argument helps convince your wife/partner, then fantastic and I am not disagreeing with your choice- only with your example.
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I confuse myself sometimes let alone others it’s normal. The couch example is the part where I say you never know what you will get with leatherette. But my point there is that you can also pay a premium for a better material. Same with the 3LT, I am sure the Mulan is great, but the NAPA is better (one can argue how much better versus asking price). In my family truck I am ok with a Milan type leather. It’s the vehicle that will take a beating so not expecting it to look top notch. For the C8 I want that think looking and smelling like a show car, so am willing to spend more for the higher grade NAPA and suede.

So conclusion, leatherette is better than what it used to be but it not a premium material. Mulan must be a quality leather-like material that is probably in most GM cars including even Escalades, NAPA is the premium stuff and just like the couch example, one can pay for an upgrade to a premium material. That is all.
 
Neils said:
I confuse myself sometimes let alone others it’s normal. The couch example is the part where I say you never know what you will get with leatherette. But my point there is that you can also pay a premium for a better material. Same with the 3LT, I am sure the Mulan is great, but the NAPA is better (one can argue how much better versus asking price). In my family truck I am ok with a Milan type leather. It’s the vehicle that will take a beating so not expecting it to look top notch. For the C8 I want that think looking and smelling like a show car, so am willing to spend more for the higher grade NAPA and suede.

So conclusion, leatherette is better than what it used to be but it not a premium material. Mulan must be a quality leather-like material that is probably in most GM cars including even Escalades, NAPA is the premium stuff and just like the couch example, one can pay for an upgrade to a premium material. That is all.
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Got it the first time - LOL.:Banghead:
 

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