Dealers blasted online for Corvette markups

Two Chevrolet dealerships near Houston became the subject of backlash on social media and Corvette owner forums last week over the prices they were asking customers to pay for the new Z06 model.

One of the stores, Mac Haik Chevrolet, responded by removing the $90,000 markup it was charging. The other, Classic Chevrolet Sugar Land, attributed the uproar to a misunderstanding and said the additional money it brought in from an auction for its Z06 allocation went to charity.

Both dealerships were called out on the website Corvette Blogger as examples of "dealers behaving badly" with their Z06 allocations, and photos of documents outlining the stores' Z06 policies circulated on Twitter and Facebook.

Mac Haik's general manager soon posted on Facebook that the dealership was eliminating the markup and apologized for upsetting people. "We sold Stingrays at MSRP and customers flipped them, so we decided to sell the Z06 over MSRP," the manager wrote. "We will contact all customers that have ordered one and lower it to MSRP."

Classic Chevrolet put the opportunity to buy its first Z06 up for auction. The winner, who bid $71,000, was then required to pay sticker for the car itself, including a $10,000 nonrefundable deposit.

An executive from the store told Road & Track that all of the auction proceeds would go to the Houston Food Bank, Shriners Hospitals for Children and four other charities.

General Motors warned dealers early this year that they could lose their Z06 allocation for marking up the price, saying it creates negative press and reflects poorly on them and the automaker.