Abel Chevrolet — Local services in Rio Vista

Back in September 2023, I contacted Rich at Abel Chevrolet with some questions about supercharging my C5 Corvette. I purchased an A&A supercharger kit and an RPM transmission, and was looking at Abel Chevrolet to do the install on the C5. My Dad was also looking to have a Borla exhaust installed on his C8. They came highly recommended on the Corvette Forum, so I reached out for more info. Over the next 2 months, Rich and I emailed back and forth about everything from superchargers, transmissions, coolers, suspension and tuning.

Rich was extremely honest about what changes I should do, and which ones were not really required. Rich had his own Corvette modified there so he could race it, so I knew my car would be in good hands. I was extremely impressed with his knowledge, and decided to make an appointment to install the exhaust on my Dad's C8 even though they were 90min away and we have many shops closer to us. The exhaust and install came out fantastic, so I made the appointment to install the supercharger on the C5.

The C5 was at Abel for 2 weeks, as I had no deadlines and I didn't want them to rush when higher priority commercial jobs came in. They kept me updated every step of the way. When they ran into issues installing the kit and transmission cooler, they called me before they made any modifications.

The car came out fantastic! Everything works great and looks professional! I talked with several service managers and techs over those weeks, and I can't say enough about how good everyone is at Abel! They were very friendly, honest, and extremely knowledgeable about Corvettes. I would gladly take our Vettes back any time we needed to do any work. If you are thinking about having any work done on your Corvette, then don't hesitate to choose Abel Chevrolet. I've had bad experiences with my local dealerships in the past, but Abel was something different, they really took care of my cars! Thank you Rich and...

This is a dealership I truly wanted to like. Instead, I found them to be old school, and not in a good way. Deceptive sales tactics, complete lack of any ethical or moral compass and little shame when called out.

I negotiated a price over the phone for a car. Followed it up with an email exchange agreeing on the price. To put down a deposit, I drove two hours to the dealership. When I got there and looked at the car, the salesman said “I have to tell you, we have another interested party and if you want the car you’re going to have to come up another $1k. I shook his hand and walked away.

A week or two later I noticed the car was still available a decided (against my better judgment to up my offer a few hundred dollars and they agreed. They took a $2k deposit and that evening the car said “sold” on their website with our agreed price reflected on the website.

I was paying cash but they needed a credit check as a formality, yah ok whatever. Opened up the pdf and they adjusted the price by $1k up, and I couldn’t believe it. So I spoke to Derek Able because I was livid and he apologized for any misunderstanding but said sorry, we just sold the car. Technically we had a deal, an agreed upon price and verbal contract. The car was mine. Nope they sold it out from under me.

Absolute scum bags. This behavior and deceptive practices are what gives “the dealer experience” everyone hates. I have all the documentation to prove this but suing isn’t my thing but warning other certainly is....

Excellent parts department! I recently had someone break into my truck and steal a couple tool bags, one containing the keys to my car in a side pouch. Having lost the spare the week before during an epic fail to leap from the boat onto a wet dock (don't ask lol!) I thought I was going to be out of pocket a fair amount. I called on the phone to ask about getting another key from the VIN# which a friend had mentioned was possible. The very polite and knowledgeable man I talked to said not a problem. Checked to be sure they had the transponder style key I needed was in stock. Made sure to inform me to bring the paperwork needed to prove the vehicle I wanted the key for was actually mine and said to come on in. I was there for all of 20 minutes while they made the key, entered the code needed and gave me very detailed written instructions on the new key to vehicle synching/pairing instructions. Super helpful! And the best part, I actually was able to have all of that done for under $100. I was shocked! I can't talk them up enough,...