I Hate Auto Dealerships, satan's spawn...All of Them

[1990C4S]

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler

At which time I said to him that if there were additional customers in line, all he had to do was tell me and we would've put a deposit to hold it until we got there this AM.

In this market you should have assumed that there were other interested parties. You already said how hard these vehicles are to find.

It's not the salesman's job to protect you from other buyers.

[berettafan]

He did you a favor. I sincerely doubt a pcm change fixed a transfer case issue.

And.......FCA product!

[speeder]

The actual buyer got there before you. You were a verbal commitment, (worthless), to maybe buy it if this/if that. Dealers do a lot of horrible schit but this was regular old business.

It's like when you see a beautiful woman pregnant. Someone got there first.

[Steve Carlton]

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler

Yesterday afternoon @2pm the sales guy called me, said the vehicle was fixed, they test drove it and is ready for sale. I told him we would meet him there first thing this morning when they opened, finalize the deal.

In CA, deposits are refundable. It seems like in other states it depends, so the language of a deposit receipt would provide the answer.

You were really expecting the dealer to hold the car pending your next test drive before deciding ahead of customers ready to purchase it right away. How is that fair to other customers or salespeople?

Anyway, as berettafan said, I wouldn't expect the transfer case to really be fixed. They probably did you a favor.

[speeder]

I can't imagine a schittier vehicle to actually own. Rent for the weekend maybe but that's about it.

[stomachmonkey]

It would be one thing if this were a private sale where a handshake is all I require to seal the deal but it's a commercial transaction.

As scummy as I agree dealers can be there should be no expectation or obligation for them to take a sale out of play without some earnest money.

I understand OPs reluctance in this particular situation and can't say I'd do it differently but I'd also accept the risk that it may not go my way.

I'd probably be of the mindset that the universe meant for me to not have that vehicle and assume it was for the better.

[porsche4life]

Originally Posted by speeder

I can't imagine a schittier vehicle to actually own. Rent for the weekend maybe but that's about it.

No kidding. I put about 20k miles on one when they were new. No way I’d want to own one this many years later.

[Norm K]

Originally Posted by speeder

I can't imagine a schittier vehicle to actually own. Rent for the weekend maybe but that's about it.

I avoided mentioning that, as to each his own. That said, I'll take my rock solid, bulletproof and very comfortable 220K mile GX470 over the much newer PoS (IMHO, of course) the OP's looking at.

I view the Durango as a vehicle that was pretty crappy when new, and that, strangely enough, hasn't gotten better with age.

_

[Dantilla]

Also have to consider the competition between salesdudes.

Your guy may have been anxious to sell you the car in the morning when another salesman scooped up the deal.

[Por_sha911]

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler

I spent the majority of my professional life in / around dealers... My complaint is if I'd had known there were other buyers, I would have asked if I need a deposit to hold, that's all.

I have to question how knowledgeable you are about dealerships. Unless you were in the wash bay or the parts department, you would KNOW that money talks and all else walks. Every salesman is competing with the rest of the sales department to sell that unit before one of the others does. There is no "holding' a car for sale without money and a signed agreement. Some of the shady sales folks will try to hide the keys for a few hours but once they are found out, they have to let go and are now dirtbags in the eyes of the rest of the department.

As far as sold for more money... they have taken less but we used to have an expression: the "be-back bus" crashed and burned, no survivors. 75% (maybe more) of be-backs never show up again.

As far as "other buyers", there may have been but they owe you nothing or, there may just have been a walk in who bought it on the spot.

If you wanted the vehicle that bad, you should have dropped everything and gone down there immediately.

Speeder's comments below are 100% correct.

Originally Posted by speeder

Sad story but what mechanism did you think was in place to keep other sales people from selling that car? If I'm working at a dealer and I have a customer who wants to buy a car we have in stock, I would go to the manager's office and ask whether it's sold already. If he said that another salesperson has a customer who gave a verbal commitment to buy it, "if this/if that," and there is no $$ down on it, guess what? I'm selling it to my guy standing there with $$ in hand. You cannot stop me from selling it...there are very specific rules in place at dealers to make it fair to all commission employees.

Sorry to hear about it but next time, lock it down in your favor. Especially in the current market.

The salesman called you to tell you it was available. He did everything he could and probably lost out on a sale at the end of the month. I feel bad for him.

It stinks that you gambled and lost but they owe you nothing. Accept that you made a mistake. Own it.

[pmax]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

Carvana and carmax are killing the private party sale market right now too.

This.

There is no car shortage.

Consumer complaints against online auto dealer Carvana have escalated during the pandemic, to the point where some states have slapped the startup with fines and stop-sale orders, citing buyers who have waited months for registration paperwork to be processed and license plates to be delivered.

Buyers in multiple states have reported delays ranging from weeks to months and instances of multiple temporary tags being issued (reportedly even in states where it is not normally legal to do so) with no sign of any permanent registration paperwork or metal tags, according to the Wall Street Journal. There has been a series of reports out of Florida, for example.

CBS Dallas-Fort Worth reported earlier in November that dozens of complaints had been filed against the online dealer in Texas alone.

A recent report by Houston's KPRC Channel 2 quoted a woman whose 22-year-old daughter has been waiting 455 days for tags on the 2018 Hyundai Elantra she bought in August 2020. Car dealers in Texas are required to submit registration paperwork within 30-45 days.

“She’s already been told once by a police officer not to be driving the car. It needed to be tagged. She had it for over a year,” Peyton Harden's mom, Jessica Boom, told the station. “They can’t issue any more temporary tags. They can’t. They can’t tag it. What are we doing? Why aren’t you fixing this?”

Carvana did not respond to the Houston station's requests for comment.

https://www.autoblog.com/2021/11/29/carvana-complaints-registration/

n the email, the FDHSMV says it “remains concerned with Carvana’s apparent inability to comply with the provisions of Florida law requiring a dealer to apply for title within 30 days of the sale and the impact that has on Florida consumers.”

If Carvana fails to submit title applications by Jan. 31 for any sale made before Dec. 1, the FDHSMV warns it “may commence administrative action to suspend Carvana’s dealer license in Florida.”

Consumer Reporter Shannon Behnken has reached out to Carvana for a comment on the FDHSMV email and is waiting for a response.

The email exchange reviewed by Better Call Behnken also included a spreadsheet with 300 vehicle sales dating back to late 2019, where the title is still awaiting transfer. Over 100 of those transactions were in Florida, records show.

https://www.wfla.com/8-on-your-side/better-call-behnken/florida-threatens-to-pull-carvanas-dealer-license-over-ongoing-title-issues/

No nirvana then ?

[stevej37]

^^^ Yeah..right.
I get calls every week from my Honda Dealer updating me on my purchase.
Three months now and making no progress in line.

[Steve Carlton]

The time you spent waiting will be forgotten once you get the car. Getting the car you wanted will feel good for years to come. Just be patient!

[stevej37]

^^^ Thanks for that.
I am patient and that's prob why they call me often. My Honda Dealer is awesome.

I'm curious to see what the Type R will be like. Might end up switching the deposit to that.

[Steve Carlton]

What is it they say? Marry in haste, repent at leisure.

[pmax]

Originally Posted by stevej37

^^^ Yeah..right.
I get calls every week from my Honda Dealer updating me on my purchase.
Three months now and making no progress in line.

3 month wait for a Honda, why bother ?

I can buy one today, right now in fact, plenty to choose from.

$300 for the Fit.

[Steve Carlton]

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by pmax

3 month wait for a Honda, why bother ?

I can buy one today, right now in fact, plenty to choose from.

$300 for the Fit.

Maybe...if you want a base model civic or hr-v
Anything else is 'get in line'
The lots around here might have a few cars..but they're already sold.

The Fit is going up in value...soon it will be worth more than I paid for it....$4500

[Steve Carlton]

[stevej37]

I love me some Jambalaya...