This post is part of our “Shop Smarter” series, helping consumers navigate today’s car market with confidence.
In an industry that’s changed more in the past five years than in the previous fifty, one thing hasn’t changed at Karl Chevrolet: the way we do business.
We get it — car shopping in 2026 can feel overwhelming. Prices shift daily. Online deal ratings are unreliable. Fees are hidden in the fine print. And for many consumers, the experience of buying a car ranks right up there with a trip to the dentist.
We think it should be different. And for nearly a century, we’ve been proving it can be.
It Started with 34 Cars and a Handshake
In 1927, Leo Karl Sr. and his brother Emil purchased a struggling Chevrolet franchise on what was then Railroad Avenue in New Canaan, Connecticut. In their first year, they sold thirty-four new cars and thirty-eight used ones.
The Karl family was already well known in town. Leo’s older brother John had opened a garage on South Avenue back in 1915 — and in a contest held by the Colonial Theater that year, John was voted New Canaan’s most “popular garage man.” It’s fair to say that automotive service was in the family’s DNA.
From the start, Leo Sr. ran the business his own way. After World War II, when new cars were scarce and demand was through the roof, some dealers played favorites — moving certain customers up the wait list in exchange for side deals. Leo refused. He treated every customer the same, in the order they came, because that was the right way to do it.
Nearly eighty years later, that same principle would be tested again during another crisis. And the answer from his grandson would be exactly the same.
Three Generations, One Philosophy
When Leo Sr. passed away in 1951 at just 50 years old, his son Leo Jr. was fresh out of college — just three weeks out, in fact. Along with his brothers, he stepped in to keep the business running. By 1957, Leo Jr. was named Chevrolet’s Dealer of the Year.
But awards weren’t what drove him. In 1962, Leo Jr. started a pension plan for his employees — not because anyone required it, but because he believed in taking care of the people who took care of his customers. He served on the Board of Social Services in New Canaan, CT, for 44 years, was active at Waveny LifeCare Network, his parish at Saint Aloysius Church, and was deeply involved in the fabric of New Canaan life.
When he received the Spirit of New Canaan award in 2018, he kept it simple: “The three most important things in life are faith, family and community. Faith and family are crucial, and community ties it all together.”
Leo Jr. formally handed the day-to-day operation of the business to his sons Leo III and Steve in 1996. But he kept coming into the dealership every day — going to the post office, checking the bank balances, reading the paper — right up until he was 90 years old.
He passed away in January 2024 at the age of 94, leaving behind ten children and a business that was, in every sense, built in his image.
When Values Were Put to the Test
The COVID-19 pandemic created a perfect storm for the auto industry: factories shut down, inventory vanished, and demand soared. For dealerships sitting on scarce vehicles, it was an open invitation to charge whatever the market would bear. Many did — tacking on “market adjustment” premiums of $5,000, $10,000, even $15,000 or more over MSRP.
At Karl Chevrolet, we made a different choice. We honored the manufacturer’s suggested retail price on every vehicle for every customer, throughout the entire pandemic. We also made the decision early on that we would not lay off a single employee — instead asking the team to temporarily accept a 20% pay reduction until conditions improved.
And rather than hunker down, we leaned in. When Grace Farms Foundation needed help distributing masks, gowns, and medical supplies to local hospitals and first responders, Karl Chevrolet served as a logistics hub. We became a drop-off point for food and water for healthcare organizations. We stayed open, stayed involved, and kept our promises.
In 2022, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance — one of the nation’s most respected financial publications — took notice. In a national feature titled “Fair Deals in a Tough Market,” they profiled Karl Chevrolet and the decision to put customers above short-term profit.
As we said then: when you live and work in a small town, it’s not all about profit. It’s about relationships.
Rooted in Community
One of the things people sometimes don’t realize about Karl Chevrolet is how deeply connected we are to the community beyond the showroom.
Members of the Karl family have served on the New Canaan Town Council, the Board of Education, and the Health and Human Services Commission. We’ve supported organizations like STAR Inc., New Canaan Baseball and Softball, Stamford Youth Soccer, and the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots program. We’ve sponsored outdoor movie nights at Waveny, co-hosted the New England Auto Museum’s Father’s Day Car Show, and helped bring electric vehicle charging stations to the area — including solar panels on our own roof.
We’ve served in volunteer non-profit roles at the New Canaan Volunteer Fire Company #1, the New Canaan Community Foundation, the American Red Cross, the New Canaan Library, Waveny LifeCare Network, and countless other area organizations. Giving back is in our team’s DNA.
In 1997, the University of Connecticut recognized Karl Chevrolet with its Nozko Family Business of the Year Award. We’ve been named the DealerRater Chevrolet Dealer of the Year for Connecticut, consistently earned the Carfax Top-Rated Dealer Award with a 4.8-star rating, and — perhaps most meaningfully — nearly 1,900 area consumers have bookmarked us as their preferred dealer.
But here’s what matters most to us: our customers keep coming back. Many of the families we serve today are the children and grandchildren of our original customers. Some of our pre-owned vehicles were sold new at our dealership and have been serviced by our technicians for their entire lives. As Vice President Steve Karl put it: “Once you’re in the family, you tend to be very comfortable, come back and buy another car, recommend us to other people — friends, family — and next thing you know, they’re buying a car. The word of mouth is incredible.”
What This Means for You Today
You might be wondering: that’s a nice history, but what does it have to do with my car search right now?
Everything.
In a market where online deal ratings can be manipulated, where hidden fees inflate the price you actually pay, and where some dealers change their practices based on whatever they can get away with — history and track record matter. They tell you how a business behaves not just when times are good, but when times are hard.
At Karl Chevrolet:
- We price every pre-owned vehicle against Kelley Blue Book and JD Power benchmarks — not our own math.
- Our dealer conveyance fee is $489 — one of the lowest in Connecticut, where many dealers charge $799 to $1,000 or more.
- We end every price in “27” — honoring our founding year and saving you roughly $70 per vehicle compared to the industry-standard “95” or “99” pricing.
- We provide a Carfax vehicle history report with every pre-owned vehicle.
- And we never charged a penny above MSRP during the pandemic (or at any other time) — because doing the right thing isn’t something you do only when it’s easy.
These aren’t marketing slogans. They’re the way three generations of our family have chosen to run this business, through the Great Depression, World War II, oil crises, recessions, a global pandemic, and everything in between.
The Bottom Line
In the first post of our “Shop Smarter” series, we outlined the challenges consumers face when trying to compare prices across dealerships — from misleading online ratings to wildly inconsistent dealer fees. Over the coming weeks, we’ll publish detailed guides on each of those topics.
But every guide, every tip, and every piece of advice we share comes back to one simple belief: the best customer is an informed customer. We’re not afraid of educated shoppers. We welcome them. Because when you compare honestly, Karl Chevrolet stands out — not because of clever marketing, but because of nearly 100 years of doing things the right way.
If you have questions about your next vehicle, we’re always happy to help — whether you’re ready to buy today or still doing your research. Stop by 261 Elm Street, visit us at karlchevy.com, or call us at (203) 966-9508.
We’ll be here. We’ve been here since 1927.
Next in the series: Why That “Great Deal” Badge Might Not Be So Great — a deep dive into how online car ratings work, how they’re being gamed, and what to look for before you trust a deal badge.
Read the full series: Car Shopping… What’s the Real Price?