How did you celebrate National Plug-in Day? I noticed the only get-together in the Dallas/Fort Worth area was over in North Dallas. I knew most of my electric range would be gone by the time I got there, so I tried to get something going on the Fort Worth side of the metroplex.
No luck.
My next idea was to contact my Chevy dealer to see if they had anything planned for the day before, since the actual celebration was on a Sunday. I think I caught them off-guard, but my sales guy, Kevin said he’s check with management to see. I told him it would be great if they would contact Volt owners to see if they wanted to come up to the dealership that Saturday to talk to potential Volt buyers about their experience with the car. I added that I’d love to do that.
Kevin got back with me later and said they were going to have an ad in the newspaper and several Volts on the lots would have large banners announcing National Plug-in Day. He also said they’d be happy to have me come out and share my experiences. (They had read some of my blog and probably knew I’m a rabid Volt fan)
Originally, the plan was for me to be at the dealership from 11:00AM to 3:00PM, but I mentioned to one of the managers that if they thought it would be productive for me to tell my story to their sales staff, I’d be happy to do that as well. That got me an invitation to the morning sales meeting at 8:00AM. Those of you who know me on Facebook know that I am often up at the wee hours of the morning and that Saturday was no exception.
The general manager introduced me to a meeting of about thirty sales and finance people and was quite kind in his comments about my blog. I proceeded to share my story of how I came to be a Volt owner and how much I’ve enjoyed the experience (and why).
I was surprised, after the meeting, to be approached by a Toyota rep I’d met at the Alt Car conference back in November of last year. His name is Stephane Burress, and he is the owner of “the Bat Prius,” or “Darth Prius.” He had jumped ship and had joined the Chevy team! It was great to see him again, but I was surprised he remembered me. I guess the video interview I did with him left an impression…
The we started the day proper. I went out to the sales floor where the dealer provided breakfast tacos and at lunchtime, had a guy grilling burgers for everyone. I was very well fed!
I was surprised to meet Al Blackwell, a fellow member of the Chevy Volt Owners group on Facebook. I had posted that I would be at the dealership, and he drove over to meet me. He has an aging Prius he loves, but his next vehicle is going to be a Volt. I mentioned the pricing incentives the dealer had on the 2013’s and Al seemed to have his interest piqued. I introduced him to Kevin and thought for sure Al would be trading in the old Prius for a new Volt. No such luck. Al resisted temptation but I’m sure he’ll join the club before much longer.
Next, a salesman I had not met walked up with a customer in tow and pointed at me saying, “If you want to know about the Volt, this is the guy you should talk to.” (how nice!) The customer and I chatted for quite some time. He had driven to the dealership in a really sweet looking 2-seat BMW convertible (not one of the Z’s, but I didn’t catch the model name). After our conversation, he and the salesman, Dale, went in and he traded the BMW in on a Volt!
My last customer interaction occurred when I noticed a couple young guys pulling up in a Volt, after their test drive. They went off to one end of the porch and talked for a while. I eventually approached one of them and asked what he thought of the Volt. He said it was “okay,” but that the one he drove had the check engine light and a couple other warning indicators lit. Then he said he was thinking about getting a Cruze instead. I have to admit, I was surprised the dealership would allow a Volt in that condition to be test driven, but the indicators could have come on during the drive. I then asked if he’d driven in sport mode.
He had not.
That was it. I said, “Come on, we’re going for a ride in my Volt.” I definitely showed him what acceleration was like in sport mode, discussed my experiences with the Volt and gave him a QR code that would take him to this blog, so he could learn more. He didn’t purchase a car that day, but I think the Volt is back in the running.
Then the rain came. It was a much needed deluge, but it put a damper on things (unintended pun). There is a phrase in Texas that described the rain we got perfectly. Rains like that are said to be like “a cow pi**ing on a flat rock.” It certainly came down hard! The rain eventually stopped, and I stayed until around 5:00, but I didn’t get a chance to help create another Volt owner. Bummer.
It was a great day for me.
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