Well I picked up my Hell Cat (1st delivery at my dealership) I had previously posted some about my original order just sitting in the system since the order banks first opened up so I bought a new 2015 SRT and two weeks after that purchase, the dealership calls to tell me the order magically changed to its on the train being delivered to Louisiana. Well this is how the trade and deal went down. Figured everyone would want to know the details. I got the call this morning that the car had been dropped off at the dealership last night. I asked the sales manager if he had the figures worked up since I had given him the VIN on the new SRT I had just bought so I could see if we were still going to be able to make a deal. I had decided that I would not take a big loss for only having the car for one payment. He just said, don't worry we will make a deal. I took the hour drive up to the dealership thinking if I should really pull the trigger on the Hell Cat. I had come to really love the SRT and it was sublime green with every available option except leather. I really enjoyed the adaptive cruise control and crash avoidance system. As I pulled in to the dealership, their she was sitting out front with a space open right next to it. I pulled in and parked next to it, get out and immediately start looking the car over from the outside. Several sales people all of a sudden came out and started looking at my car comparing the Hell Cat next to the SRT. Both were sublime green, but actually there is quite a few differences between the two on looks besides the top hood scoops on the SRT. I walked in to the dealership and went up to the sales manager desk said my hello and immediately stated I wanted to drive the car first before any paperwork to insure there was nothing wrong with the car. He tossed me all three fobs and said, Mr. John go take your Hell Cat for a spin. As I was walking away, I stopped turned around and told the sales manager that I would be checking the performance page that tells you the max speed the car has been driven. (I learned that function on the SRT) The two sales managers looked at me a bit funny and said okay. I opened the hood (boy that motor is packed in there compared to the pictures you see, opened the trunk and checked out the interior. So as I finish looking around the interior, I go to start the car and blam, a whole heard of sales folks and customers are all standing in front of the car waiting to see me drive it off. That was weird..lol I crank it up and it actually sounded exactly like my SRT. I start to back up and immediately notice the steering is definitely a lot stiffer than the SRT at the factory default setting. I slowly pull out of the dealership with the plan to just go 70 tops to check out any wheel pull, noises, etc. As I pass through about 25mph you definitely hear a different sound than the SRT, the whine of the supercharger, but once you go a few miles an hour faster, you don't hear it anymore. the car had I believe 5 miles on the speedo. As I got up to about 45, I started smelling a slight burning smell..oh no what's up I'm thnking...well it didn't take but a couple of seconds to figure out what was up, the climate control system was not on recirculate so the hood exhaust scoops route the airflow out of them right over your outside air intakes for the climate control system. Once I hit the recirculate button, the smell went away. A state cop was on the side of the road so I was a bit limited. As I started up the on ramp for the Interstate, I pressed slightly too hard on the pedal and she did a little fish tail. I found the ride on the interstate the exact same as the SRT except for the stiffer steering. I pull back in to the dealership and scroll through to see the max speed driven and I see 100 logged. I walked in to the sales manager office and said to the two guys, so guess what the max speed logged on the car? They looked at each other than looked at me and said 100. I said right your busted! Then they explained to me that the mechanic that made the car ready test drove it and came back and said something was wrong with the car that it was a total pig and an SRT would run circles around it. That's when the sales manager said let me check it out and drove it with the mechanic. Seems the mechanic had the transmission in manual shift mode and no telling what kind of rpm he was pulling without the car shifting in the higher gears. Then the sales manager said at first they thought a headlight was missing on the car and when they made a call realized it was the air intake. The other sales manager made the comment that I was an expert on the car already. I said well I have been doing some reading...The hour drive home was uneventful. I just need to readjust to no collision avoidance.
Okay so now what everyone was wondering how bad I would take it on the trade. I'll share my numbers with you and once I figure out how to post the actual paperwork I will because I am probably going to get called a liar, but here it is. My 2015 SRT was fully loaded every option available except leather. The MSRP on that car was I believe $50,650? You can get the exact price by building the car. That dealership gave me $3,000 off sticker on that car and the exact price of the car after dealer discount was $47,650.00 this figure did not include tax or registration. I had to pay 8% tax and 277.50 registration fees. My Hell Cat MSRP was $65,870. That was a fully loaded vehicle except no engine heater on either vehicle and no colored seat belts. They gave me $45,000 for my 2015 SRT with 2,300 miles on it and here is the kicker, they discounted the Hell Cat $2,275.83 which made me take a $374.17 loss on the SRT, but hey I put 2,300 miles on it. and of course I loss the 277.5 registration fees, but captured the taxes paid back through the trade in so total loss was $651.67. So did I make out okay?
I asked the sales manager if it was okay if I posted the sales paperwork and he said go ahead and include their phone number so I will get this posted for the board members.
A couple of other comments about the differences in the car I forgot to mention. First I did not swap out the rims and fuel cap with the SRT like I said I would do originally and this is why, The airfoil on the Hell Cat does not have the cut out in the middle like the SRT? Also the exhaust tips are black and not chrome like on the SRT and finally I thought about the brake dust and said the hell with it and keep the flat black Hell Cat rims.
Okay so now what everyone was wondering how bad I would take it on the trade. I'll share my numbers with you and once I figure out how to post the actual paperwork I will because I am probably going to get called a liar, but here it is. My 2015 SRT was fully loaded every option available except leather. The MSRP on that car was I believe $50,650? You can get the exact price by building the car. That dealership gave me $3,000 off sticker on that car and the exact price of the car after dealer discount was $47,650.00 this figure did not include tax or registration. I had to pay 8% tax and 277.50 registration fees. My Hell Cat MSRP was $65,870. That was a fully loaded vehicle except no engine heater on either vehicle and no colored seat belts. They gave me $45,000 for my 2015 SRT with 2,300 miles on it and here is the kicker, they discounted the Hell Cat $2,275.83 which made me take a $374.17 loss on the SRT, but hey I put 2,300 miles on it. and of course I loss the 277.5 registration fees, but captured the taxes paid back through the trade in so total loss was $651.67. So did I make out okay?
I asked the sales manager if it was okay if I posted the sales paperwork and he said go ahead and include their phone number so I will get this posted for the board members.
A couple of other comments about the differences in the car I forgot to mention. First I did not swap out the rims and fuel cap with the SRT like I said I would do originally and this is why, The airfoil on the Hell Cat does not have the cut out in the middle like the SRT? Also the exhaust tips are black and not chrome like on the SRT and finally I thought about the brake dust and said the hell with it and keep the flat black Hell Cat rims.
