Bait N Switch? What do I do now?

I would also recommend joining Angie's List and adding a review for the dealer. You may help more than a few people that way.

www.angieslist.com

Dave

 

THAT would have made me walk - even if they threw that stuff in for free.

... Brad

 

The division of Toyota that installed these items at port is really not a division of Toyota nor is it in any way related to your dealership. If they function like Gulf States Toyota does here, the items added at the port have two values, the one they charge the dealer for and the one they put on the sticker. There is profit in each item for the dealer.

As suggested, ask for a discount on the items. Asking them to not make you pay at least something for these items is not fair on your part. Your dealer has no way of knowing or controlling these items, and even if they did, it's too late now. The "aliens" at the port (as you put) it will no more listen to your dealer than your dealer is listening to you. You can also ask them to give you the difference in service coupons for free oil changes or something.

I know we all go into a car deal just "knowing" we're going to get screwed, but it can make you jump to conclusions that either are not true or not completely fair. If the total price on the vehicle had come in lower, would you expect your dealer to make you pay the higher price you agreed upon? I didn't think so.

 

Sorry, not buying that story for a second.

... Brad

 

[FONT='Verdana','sans-serif']Brad it is true. Port added options or Regional options are beyond the control of the dealer. But if you want to believe the dealers are evil that is your own attitude to own. We are allot fairer and will usually bend over backwards to maintain customer satisfaction....... unless that customer is just unreasonable then no amount of back flips will make them happy.[/FONT]

 

Yes, Brad, we're all in cahoots to trick you!

 

There is one exception, however, that I should mention for the OP. If you can get your dealer to catch the vehicle at the port after it arrives and before it is configured by the aliens, then they can request exactly what "port-installed options" it gets (at least with Gulf States Toyota). However, this takes due diligence on the part of both the customer and the dealer. You would need to call your sales person every three to four days and have them check to see if a red Prius has shown up at the port but has not yet been processed for options.

Odds are you put down your deposit and you and the dealer both walked away from it until the car arrived configured as it is currently. In absence of a direct contact from your dealer the port aliens will install whatever extras they feel like installing. You realize that it's possible they could have added on much much more than they did...

 

Could the difference be an increase in the destination charge?

This story illustrates why a dealer should be checked out at the BBB (a joke) or the Consumer Affairs Office before doing business.

In 2006 part of the reason I did not want to buy from Liberty was because their cars had added crap and I was not going to haggle down to MSRP. At the same time Cherry Hill's did not have PIO. Most of the PIO are accessories that can be removed.

IMO file complaints with the state/county & the BBB. The order I placed states that it is cancellable only if the buyer does not accept an increase in the MSRP. However, when I bought the MG package 3 this order for the silver package 5 was cancelled.

From a practical standpoint you can decline this car and wait for the next 2008 which probably won't arrive. The dealer will cancel the order & refund the deposit because he can't deliver a 2008 through no fault of his own. The alternative is to accept this car & blast the dealer on the customer satisfaction survey. I don't know if it does any good or not as in my case it didn't prevent all the sleaze. If you don't need the car now I believe you should be able to get one at a lower price in the winter. Read through www.carbuyingtips.com and good luck.

 

Not fair? How do you come by that finding? The dealer is the one with the knowledge. The dealer is the one who provides the contract and describes the terms. If the terms do not say "this x or y may be added and you'll be responsible to pay full boat," then I don't see how the buyer has ANY responsibility. Remove what isn't unalterable and let the buyer have the rest. Is the dealer taking a hit? Yes, but who has control over that? It certainly isn't the buyer. If the dealer is getting stuck by Toyota regional, that still is not the buyer's problem, but it is a problem to be solved between the dealer and the region.

If the dealer knows this goes on, then the dealer should advise the buyer that it might happen. If the buyer says "no way do I want it," then the dealer can advise that a pre-order may not be a good idea. The dealer also could say "OK" to this deal and make certain nothing gets added at the port. It cannot be had both ways. Either the dealer has control or doesn't. If the dealer has control, then the dealer should exercise it. If the dealer has no control, then the dealer should advise the buyer of this possibility. As I noted above: As between the buyer and the dealer, who is the one that is in relationship with the folks who've added these items? Correct, and it isn't the buyer.

Right! I have a difficult time believing this has ever happened. The only time I could imagine it happening would be when the car did NOT come with options requested by the purchaser. In that situation, then, of course, the buyer would not pay the higher price, because the deal called for something else to be provided.

I'm sorry, but I just don't buy this defense of the dealer. If it is such an awful situation, then the dealer should not allow cars to be ordered without advising of this possibility. Would it discourage buyers? Most likely it would -- and then this silly practice would be stopped.

 

No, you misunderstood the last part. I didn't mean if the car came with fewer options, I just meant if it for some reason came in less than the agreed upon MSRP. In that case you would expect them to lower the price even though they are providing you the car exactly as in the contract.

As to the other comments, you are being unreasonable and have no idea of how the process actually works at a dealership. To expect them to call the port every day to make sure your MSRP doesn't go up $600 is asking too much.

The only point you make that is valid is that they should have warned of the possibility of few port installed options showing up on the car. But they didn't. And they have no reason to turn that (in their eyes) small oops into a loss of profit when the next guy on the list will buy it in a heartbeat.

Something people buying cars in high demand just don't get: The dealer is catering to you by putting you on a list and offering you the car at MSRP. They don't need your business to sell this car. You need them to be nice enough to let you buy it at MSRP. You are not god's gift to their bottom line and will not be treated as such.

When you buy a vehicle that they really want to get rid of you are content to push them, harass them, and threaten them to keep lowering the price. They have no choice but to sit on the car or comply and make a deal. Now the tables are reversed and the OP doesn't like it. Too darn bad.

If the OP doesn't see it this way, by all means, they should get their deposit back and go elsewhere. The dealer won't give a rats behind that they did and neither will anyone else. Wow, stop the presses: someone got mad at a car dealer!

 

throwing principle out the window, is 600 dollars worth the effort?? when i saw "bait and switch" i was thinking you were being swindled for thousands of dollars. fight the good fight, but i say f- it.

 

Hi,all,

My personal take on all this is that the $400 (actually $399) MSRP increase occurred in mid-May, so it was known to the dealer on June 24th when Freedom went in & signed the paperwork with the dealer. I think the dealer is just look'g for a way to get out of the good deal Freedom negotiated by trying to recover some money & sell it to him for full MSRP (even though the contract wasn't for MSRP but just $xxx). If you walk away from this, Freedom, you'll end up paying another $500 (above the $399) for an '09 as the MSRP price for those has just gone up that much (along with a destination charge increase from $660 to $720).

The PIO (Port Installed Potions) can indeed be controlled (what gets added or NOT added) if the dealer lets you in on that fact & knows what you do or don't want & catches your car either on the boat or before the car gets processed at the port, but what motivation would he have by telling you something that is going to take away some of his extra profit.

The 1st aid kit is just a toss-in item (easily removed), the cargo net is also just a toss-in item (some dealers make the owner drill the inside panels to install it, but other owners get the net with the attachment "D" rings already installed on the interior panels---easy for the dealer to just remove the "D" rings & fill the drilled holes with little plastic trim plugs of the appropriate interior color).

The lock'g lugs can be removed easy enough too (but they must be careful to not mar them if they want to re-sell them). Sometimes the port will provide the owner with the 4 standard lug nuts that were removed to make room for the lock'g ones, but generally they keep them & either send them back to the factory to be installed on anoither car on the assembly line or they send them to the dealers to be sold in the parts dept as new spare parts for $xxx. Your new car was shipped with 16 standard lugs & if the port removed 4 of them to install something you didn't ask for, the dealer can remove the lock'g ones & should replace the 4 standard ones at no charge to you.

The bumper applique is the only thing which can't be removed without doing damage (it can be removed, but won't then be re-usable). But I highly recommend keep'g that since it only retails for between $49 or $59 & will save the paint on your bumper from getting scratched up.

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

 

This is a very common occurance on all vehicles. The dealers often don't have complete control over what accessories Toyota adds at the port.

That being said if you have a contract at a given price, with a given list of options and accessories, and you want to hold to that line then that's your perogative. If the incoming vehicle doesn't match your requirements and you wish to pass on it because it has an extra $600 in accessories that is a perfectly valid choice. You cannot force them to decontent the vehicle if they don't choose to do so.

It's coming in one way and you have the option to take it or not.

This is a reflection of market conditions nothing more. Perhaps in Nov/Dec/Jan the prices will be more flexible even with the $500 price increase on the 2009 models. Waiting for a lower price is also a very valid choice.

If you really really want a Prius right now why wouldn't you take the one that's coming in this week? That's also a very valid choice.

 

My dealer has said that they can add or remove any of the port options from their A status allocations as long as they do it early enough.

 

I read that a Toyota can be in A Status for as little as 4 days depending on the region.

 

No, I think I understood well enough. Under what circumstance do you believe the price would come in lower? It certainly will not happen for any car that is in demand, will it? Beside this argument, don’t forget that the OP did not have an MSRP contract. Instead, Freedom had a contract for a specific dollar amount. I haven’t seen this contract, but for the sake of our discussion, let’s say the contract does not have another section in which it describes how the price can unilaterally change. (If it did, then the entire thread is unnecessary!)

Unreasonable? I will confess I do not and have not worked at a dealership. Still, I have no reason to expect that contract laws apply differently at auto dealerships. I am accepting Freedom’s statements that there was a written contract, signed by the dealer and Freedom, listing a particular make and model, listing the option package and the color, and naming a specific price. I also am accepting his statement that the contract was signed and earnest money was placed with the dealer. At that point the dealer assumed the obligation to perform. If there were other agreed terms about how either party could walk away, then such terms would become rather critical to the discussion.

If all of these things are true, then it doesn’t matter whether I am being “unreasonable†in any of my expectations about the dealer’s actions. The dealer is responsible to deliver the car for the agreed price. If the dealer feels it would be too much work to call the port, regularly, to check on a car, then the dealer has assumed responsibility for whatever happens at the port. If the dealer takes the time to make the calls, and the port adds unwanted extras to a specific car, then the region has to take care of the problem. Either way, the problem is not one owned by the OP.

I am not advocating that Freedom receive more than his bargain. If Freedom wants the add-ons, then he should pay (something) for them. If he doesn’t want them, then he can have them removed. If removal is not possible, then either the dealership pays the full boat, or the OP agrees to pay a certain amount for the benefit of the extras.

It is kind of you to recognize my one and only valid point. Obviously, I beg to differ with your review of my opinions. Because the dealership knew these add-ons were a possibility, and the dealership wanted to wash its hands of any responsibility, it should have advised the OP. As you note, the dealership made a mistake. To the dealership, it may have been a “small oops†– but it clearly means something to Freedom, because he negotiated a particular price for a particular car. The “next guy on the list†did not sign a contract for that car. The idea of the list is to give people an opportunity to take a different car, other than what they’ve ordered. The option is to pay the dealership’s figure for that car. When the car coming in, however, is yours, because the VIN has been assigned to you and your contract, there is no option for the dealer to toss one contract and write another.

Whew! I don’t know if that is the attitude Toyota would like to see at any of their dealerships. The dealer is supposed to cater to the customer. If the two parties agree to a price, then the dealer is supposed to follow through. Freedom did not sign an MSRP contract. If he did, then he could be expected to pay the MSRP. Instead, Freedom negotiated a purchase price.

Talk about the tables being turned! Who put the gun to the dealer’s head to sign a purchase price contract? To change the deal at this point is the very definition of bait and switch. Forget about the port add-ons for a moment, the dealership signed a contract for a price, not for a moveable MSRP. I’d be more than pleased to represent Freedom in this case, particularly if the attitude you describe is the attitude of Freedom’s dealer.

Are you serious? Why should Freedom get a deposit back? The car Freedom ordered is arriving. The only things different are the changes to the price and the port add-ons. This is outside of the buyer’s control and entirely within the control of the dealership and/or the Toyota region. The buyer does not have to pay more, but the dealership does have to perform per the contract. I would say that as between the dealership/Toyota on one hand and the buyer (Freedom) on the other, the former would be responsible to cover the cost difference(s).

Again, there may be other exculpatory language in the contract. And the OP may simply be out of luck. Until that appears, and so long as what Freedom has said/represented is true, it is the dealership that is unlucky.

Let me make myself understood on two points:

1. I have no issue with a dealership asking for above MSRP. People can pay or not pay. Once the parties entered into a contract for delivery of a particular product, then they should be held responsible. My issue is with a dealer that contracts for one price and then delivers for another price – a dealer that practices bait and switch.

2. I think having this much stink over $600 is a bit much. If Freedom came to my office asking to be represented, I would first ask how much he wanted to spend. After showing him how much he'd have to pay me to fight for $600, I'd have to advise him the lawsuit may not make much financial sense. Still, those of us buying Priuses don't do so just because we like to drive econoboxes. What the dealership is trying to do (again, given the assumptions I've made above) appears to me as a greedy grab for dollars.

 

Here is another suggestion. If you still want the car and the dealer says that they can't remove the $600 in options. Tell them if they throw in tinted windows, floor mats, and mud flaps for free then they got a deal.

 

The MSRP price increased a couple of months ago by $500.00 by Toyota. I'm not sure what base price you were quoted, but if it was the old one, it might of been "OK." Not from a your argument position, but just to get the deal done. I know it is the principal, but what will it matter if your driving away in a Prius at a decent price. I guess it is easy for me to say.

 

Of course.

.... Brad