Dealer jerking me around

Bait and switch tactic.

 

I read your post 3x and I still don't get it. Your ordered car is not related to the black one.

Anyhow, my dealer told me that they wouldn't care. They offered me 4 alternative prius's since I put my order in. I turned them down so it pushes into January and i pick up the tax credit. I also like the feature set on the one I ordered a bit better.

My dealer told me that if I ordered a purple corolla, that I'd pretty well be tied to taking delivery when it gets in. A prius isn't a problem for them to move if I back out.

 

That sounds like what my old dealer did to me. My wait went from ~4 weeks to two months, with the dealer saying "the next one that comes in is yours". I eventually got so pieved at him, I switched dealerships. My original quote was below MSRP, and during my wait they passed the HOV law, so I wouldn't be surprised if my wait was extended because of that. (Totally theoretical.)

 

I'm curious where you live that ANY dealer is selling any NEW Prius for less than MSRP. First I've heard since the early adopters got their 2004s in late 2003 before anyone knew how popular the redesigned Prius would be. Bait and switch sounds like a good bet on the black they have to sell you now.

 

I understand your issue completly. Dealer has your exact car on lot. Tells you about it, you already have a deal that is under MSRP. (good for you!) He then goes and talks to his "manager" and comes back and tells you no go, only at MSRP. You get to wait until yours comes in.

This is a pretty straight forward tactic. They are trying to get you to pay MSRP on this vehicle, even though it is the exact one you have chosen, but it was part of their normal allocation and just happened to show up. They are hoping that you will throw your hands up in the air and give up on the price issue.

I'm not sure how much challenge you gave this guy on the phone or however you were communicating with him, but the reality is that it doesn't matter if this car is sold to you under MSRP or the other car is sold to you under MSRP. They are the same car and as such since it is what you want you should get the available vehicle at the agreed upon price.

Time to get ahold of the general manager of that dealership and register your complaint at their sales practices. That might get you into this car at the agreed upon price rather than waiting for the other car to show up.

 

:angry: I agree. Escalate fiercely and repeatedly; mangager, sales manager, general manager, owner, Toyota corporate regional.
Put it in writing and get their responses in writing.
Threaten to post their behavior and names.

 

+1

Although it's not clear to me if you've put $ down on the Pri. you ordered. If all else fails, ask to test drive another car on their lot (not a Prius). Then eat some really obnoxious food, and get sick all over the interior...

 

I'm not sure about the interior of the other vehicle

However, that is a good point. If you have a deposit with this dealer and have a down payment ready to go I think you need to also complain with regard to that issue. You are ready to buy and close the deal and they are dragging their feet.

Another good point, why is this car MSRP and only MSRP when it is the same vehicle as the one they have "ordered" for you. It doesn't matter which vehicle they give you, just so long as they meet the agreed upon spec and honor the price the agreed to.

For them to game you as much as they currently are, how much below MSRP did you get them down to. I can't imagine that they would actually serious use these tactics for a sale price $1000 or less below MSRP. That is barely enough for them to worry about.

 

How much under MSRP? I understand this is a principal matter, but most of us paid MSRP and many others had to pay over. Finding someone that paid under is pretty rare.

My point is that paying MSRP is not bad when buying a Prius, but I would still fight it as well since they agreed below. If you don't have it in righting (purchase agreement) then you are pissing in the wind.

 

Howdy!

Actually.... there may be a cost difference between these cars...

So the bottom line to YOU is that you'd pay list, and they may make more. However, you should be aware from their perspective, there may be a difference...

The Details:
The dealers and regions have quotas to fill, and some are based on orders, some are based on when the car drives off the lot. In addition there are different formulas they use for co-op advertising, incentives, and dealer rebates.

So your ordered vehicle may, due to any of the above, actually cost them less, and they could offer it for less.

And one other thought just hit me - there may have been "human error" on their part and they'll honor it - but they would prerer not to.

Just something to keep in mind...

And no, I don't have mine yet...."it's on order for list" :mellow:

Uncle H

 

Welcome UncleH.

I suppose I see where a specific car may have monetary items or incentives to dealers applied to it, however if the car's are mechanically and color identical I'm pretty sure that it would be a wash for the dealer. Sell, this car now at the agreed upon price and offset the lower sales price with the vehicle those items were originally applied to, and then sell the coming vehicle at MSRP to whomever comes along to get it.

 

But sir, you presume LOGIC in the dealership!

UncleHarpoon ponders what it would look like if either Spock or Worf (Star Trek characters) would do if they had to buy a car from anyone other than a Saturn dealer..... interesting images of the showroom are dancing in my head........ :blink:

 

How gracious of you. I never have considered myself a "sir".

I like your sense of humor.

I figure that Worf would be arrested and convicted of murder because he will have trashed the dealership after being POed by the dealer and will have killed a number of dealership staff members before somebody slows him down.

On the other hand, I think Spock would be a tough cookie to sell too. His patience and detached manerisms would probably drive the dealer batty. You know how dealers are, they are all about flash and show with regard to the vehicle in the hopes that you will be bewhildered and not able to think about price and the important issues of purchasing. Spock would be such a cool cookie that those tactics would be worthless on the average human dealers. As such, Spock would get the price he wanted wherever he wanted by being himself. I can hear it now: Spock to dealer: "I do not understand the logic of...." :lol:

 

I shopped around at several dealers. Many of them seemed to be putting names on a list and then when a car came in they would call several people on the list looking for that model and try to get the most out of the car.

I ended up at Sunnyvale Toyota in CA. They took a fully refundable deposit of $500 (I know it is refundable because I canceled my first order). They gave me a printed quote for the vehicle I ordered and it's $300 under MSRP. They do pretty much the same for everyone I think, very straightforward.

I'll know for sure how well it goes when mine comes in a few weeks.

Ken

 

That's actually where I originally had my order and at around the same price too, though you seem to have had better luck with your dealer than I did. I ordered a Tideland one at the end of July and didn't get any hint of allocation until end of September. I decided to switch to a San Jose dealership because of better dealer communication and free downtown San Jose parking (the amount of time I spend there is probably more in parking than the $350 below MSRP I would have gotten). Too bad switching dealerships probably extended my wait another month

 

Did your paperwork specify the actual MSRP dollar amount? If not, you could possibly find yourself paying more when you wait. MSRP amounts can indeed change.

 

In most states a deposit is fully refundable. I know that is the case in California and I'm pretty sure that is the case in Washington. If you did need to walk away from the dealership and move to a different dealer I wouldn't go into the dealer to request a refund of my deposit without a lawyer's letter in hand. It might cost $50-100 for them to spit out some customized boilerplate, however I doubt that the dealership would even bother to challenge you on that one lest it get public the dirty dealing they have been doing and the blatant violation of contract law.

Contracts are all about consideration. For a contract to be valid it first has to not break any standing laws and second there has to be equitable consideration to both parties involved in the contract. Considering that the deposits many have given dealers to get a Prius basically have yet to have the contract fulfilled because a car has yet to arrive, that means that consideration has not been given to you. In other words, a deposit is refundable because if the dealer is not able to get you a vehicle in an acceptable time frame, and another dealer can, the first dealer holding the deposit has taken funds without delivering services. So, the contract lacks consideration to the buyer and as such is an invalid contract. The deposit is fully refundable.

Lots of conversations have been had here regarding Prius sales tactics. The general consensus is that Toyota, for as wonderful a manufacturer they are, they have one of the most unorganized and decentralized sales policies of just about any manufacturer out there. Prius sales should have been organized over the Internet by the central authority in the U.S. dealerships should have been nothing more than delivery and service points for those vehicles.

Being not too many years out from college, I think the last few years of Prius sales and consumer experience with the sales process would make a great case study in how not to proceed with sales of a hot commodity. Toyota Motor Sales USA knows the type of dealerships they have in their system. They also knew that this car was going to sell like hotcakes. They should have set up the "rules of engagement" before the cars hit the streets rather than letting the dealerships make the rules as they went.