Car is Here: Dealer Wants me to Pay before I get the Car.

[TimeFor]

My car is coming in on the 15th but the dealer wants me to sign the papers tomorrow. Is this strange? I’m mean, they want me to buy a car that I haven’t even test drove or been in.

They say its not finalized until I take it but still. When It comes in I just take it and leave. I get the feeling they are not working for their money. They need to spend hours talking to me, showing me the car. And Stuff like that. They should have to work to sale me the car. But in this case, I’ll already own it. So whats to stop them from not doing anything?

How do I know I’m getting everything I’m entitled too. Like the presentation of the NAV system… all the goodies inside the car… and my valet information cards. How do I know if they are even going to detail it for me?

Anyone else run across this?

[GreenSteve]

We signed a purchase contract on our Prius while it was still on a boat in the Pacific ocean. I had never driven a Prius, but I stood close to one that was locked once.

The contract we signed included the final price and the VIN, we waited exactly 2 weeks until the car arrived. While we were waiting our credit union mailed the check for the car to the dealer, so our car was paid for in full before we ever saw it.

There was some serious risk-taking involved in doing the deal this way, but all is well that ends well, and we are very pleased with our car.

Relax, you'll love it once you get it.

[SecretSquirrel]

Perhaps you can find a dealer who has a Prius available for test drive before you sign the papers? I ended up ordering from a different dealership than the one I test drove in because the list was shorter. I just didn't feel comfortable ordering one without driving it (and my husband is a big guy, so we were very concerned about the size).

Because of the waiting list, I personally would not be concerned about doing the paperwork before the car arrived. I'd almost prefer it, because it would take a lot of the hassle out of the deal. Dealers know that they really don't have to work to sell this car - especially in my area, where a number of dealers are not adding people to their waiting list at all. All my dealer had to do was answer my annoying monthly "status check" call!

[macreative]

I had to! I bought mine 2 weeks before it came off the boat. The Wait was abosolutely agonizing (See my thread about Prius at port). I had to pay for the car before it came in - and I was on the waiting list over a year. My advice is buy the car, sign the papers, and if anything seems shady {which I doubt it will be} back out. A purchase contract is an agreement to buy the car, not an obligation on your part. Without this agreement, who's to say that the car won't get sold behind your back? When you sign the papers, the VIN number is attached to your name and in the dealers computers, it is listed as "Deal Pending."

Buy it - I wouldn't own anything else - not as long as I can have a prius. I feel so fortunate. I hope all goes well for you. I know it will. You deserve it!

[Dilbert]

I don't see why you can't just do the paperwork the day the car is ready to deliver. I waited six months. They called two days ahead of delivery, I went in the day it was ready, did the paperwork in about an hour and paid for the car. It seems unwise to me to pay for something that expensive without at least getting a look at it. If they are so unethical that they would sell the car out from under you, then perhaps you should not be pre-paying for the car.

[BobA]

I must be in the minority on this... my salesman (internet/fleet mgr) gave me a week that my car would be in, called the day before I was able to get the car... gave me the VIN and the total dollars he wanted as he had ball parked the taxes, in the original quote... I showed up at a time that he had arranged, saw the car, signed the paperwork, gave him my check, was given the tour of the dealership and the car... and that was it... but I didn't prepay... I had given a credit card number for the $1000 dollar deposit... and they had not even put that on the card..

In reading Steve's answer... if a Credit Union would let him prepay.. I would think that it was ok... I'd sure have the check list when I went in to sign the paper work and make sure they understand that I'd want everything that was on it... the valet cards... btw, mine were in the console...

Good luck... I know you'll love your Prius

Bob Andersen

[IsrAmeriPrius]

A purchase contract is an agreement to buy the car, not an obligation on your part.

Wrong!!!

A purchase contract is a legally binding document which confers rights and obligations on the buyer and the seller.

California does not have a cooling off period for automobile purchases.

If you sign the contract, you cannot cancel it just because you changed your mind.

[DaveinOlyWA]

i wonder if it has anything to do with financing?

the last time i financed a car was before the computer days and it took about a week to get my check from the bank... i would think that nowadays, it would be much faster.

on my Prius, i paid cash and there was never a mention of paying up front. in fact, my dealer offered to let me inspect the vehicle before signing papers. other than a quick once over i just wanted to sign the papers, pay the man and GO CRUISING!!

[TimeFor]

Well I signed today. :| Kind of Scary. I don't know if I'm going to like this car. I've never driven one. I don't know if I'm going to like the seat. I don’t know if I can handle the loss of power and handling.

I'm going from a 2002 BMW 530i to a Prius. So.... I don't know... Its a huge jump.

$29097.99 out the door with 500$ deposit.

I got the BC and Z1 packages.

BC was 5327.00
Z1 was 262.00

05 Silver on Black Int. and I pick up the car Friday.

[DaveG]

Well, it's a bit late now for my advice, but when I ordered my Prius, I did all of the paperwork (aside from financing), and had the dealership put a "agreement subject to testdrive" on the paperwork - they didn't have any problems with it. By the time I was ready to pick it up, I had arranged (better) financing through my bank anyway.

Although when the car arrived, I didn't bother test-driving it, I just handed them a cheque for $40,000 (Cdn $ folks , did the insurance, and was out the door in an hour or so.

Dave.