GTE28

Just wondering if anyone has put down a deposit with a Mitsu dealer for the '09 Ralliarts?

Thx.

Jehuty

iTrader: (3)

Doubt it, the vibe I have been hearing from everyone is that sales people don't even know about it. So if you go to make a deposit, SOL! lol

fkdrcrs

its better to make them think its not very popular, this way you can haggle

GTE28

yeah i'm hoping demand won't be like the Evo's...hence some haggling room.

Stupid salesman at the Toronto show (Mitsu reps we're just salesman from local dealers cause I recognized one of them whom I saw at a dealer a few weeks ago!) said that there would be no room for haggling...then again he also said that he can get the RA's "right away..."

I'm hessitant myself to leave a deposit on a price just incase demand is not as great and the price ends up being lower.

otter

iTrader: (14)

I wouldn't bother, they're not going to be in high demand. You shouldn't have a problem finding one within a month of their release for a reasonable price.

aestival

Yes, I put down a deposit for a few thousand, about a month ago -- if you live in a larger market, there's probably no point, but there's no guarantee they'd even get one here, much less two, in a smaller market in Canada.

Putting down a deposit now is very high risk -- they haven't set the price yet, and you can't even be sure exactly what features will end up in production. Heck, you won't even know what colours they come in for a while... I just figured it was worth the risk for me, because it will cost less than an Evo, and I could afford one of those.

Like anything, you'll always spend extra if you want to be sure you get one, especially if you want to be sure you get the first one :-)

Option

Unless I'm missing something, there shouldn't be any risk. Maybe things work differently in Canada but thought all auto deposits were fully refundable.

fkdrcrs

yeah, i assume if you dont like what your getting, you can get your money back and go elsewhere, of course unless you sign a contract.

aestival

No -- I didn't just make a casual deposit -- I'm actually determined to get one of these cars, and I have the money to buy one.

In my experience, refundable deposits work both ways -- they can back out at any point if you can too. What's the point of that... unless the dealership owner's your uncle or something, I suppose, in which case why bother with a deposit?

I'm not an idiot -- I have a contract with terms, including a deliver-by date of the end of November. Hopefully they'll be out by November. People aren't lawsuit-happy up here like in the US, so when you go to court over a broken contract, they tend to listen -- ditto with hauling someone out over writing bad cheques (checks): up here it's really easy to get the police involved. Best part -- in Canada when you win a lawsuit, the other side pays your legal costs.

[are you saying there's actually a law in the US against binding deposits/contracts on auto purchases? -- that would be pretty stupid... not that we don't have plenty of stupid rules of our own up here in Canada]

Option

Hey Aestival,

I apologize if my last post sounded aggressive to you. I didn't mean to sound like I was attacking you or calling you an idiot. I just didn't understand how putting a deposit down on a car was a "risk." In this kind of a situation, I thought a deposit was just to stake your claim to "first pick" of a dealership's first allotment of Ralliarts. I didn't know that you had signed some kind of contract that is going to require that you buy a Ralliart before any reviews, full specs, or prices are announced. That does sound a bit risky.

Can you tell me why you wanted to sign such a contract in the first place? You said it was so that the dealership couldn't back out, but why would a dealership back out of selling a car to you?

Also, to answer your question, I did a quick search and found the following:

http://blogs.edmunds.com/strategies/480

Taryon

iTrader: (1)

Hey Option, yeah that searched info you mentioned there sounds about right. My father and some friends have warned me about putting down a deposit like that unless I was nearly 100% sure (much like Aestival here) about purchasing the car. They've mentioned that while the deposit is, in fact, fully refundable, you may have to go through a lot of trouble and delays in getting it back as the dealership drags it out and plays games trying to get you to go through with the deal.

aestival

No problem -- I didn't mean to say you were making me sound like an idiot. Thanks for the info, though it was stuff I mostly knew.

I signed a contract for several reasons, but the main one was that I didn't want the dealer to sell the first Ralliart to someone else. The other reasons were that I want the first one they order to be the car I want, and I want them to be extremely motivated to get that car (now they know they definitely have a sale that I can't really walk away from).

Anyway, the more concrete the money, the better chances are that your dealer will fight hard to get a Ralliart early, and the better chance they'll convince their regional distribution people that they deserve one of the first ones (I mean, how many of the other dealers will have signed contracts and non-refundable deposits -- makes my dealer look good, and that's good for me in the long run too).

Again, if you live in a huge market and have a big enough dealer that they'd never make a side deal with anyone else, then no need for a deposit. I live in a very small market with a fairly small dealer (I trust them, but they've got to make a living too).

There are enough reviews of the pre-production Ralliarts to make a fair judgement call on buying one, but you're right about the risk -- but I'll trust in Mitsubishi's record that they won't only come in lime green with wood trim and the GTS engine riding on 16 inch wheels... I think it's very likely the production vehicles will be very close to the show vehicle. My dealer's regional people are apparently telling them the same thing.

My only real concerns are that I do want the TC-SST transmission, and I really don't want the car in lime green, mauve, or gray (or white, for that matter). In hindsight, I should have written the TC-SST into the contract, but it's fantastically unlikely that it won't be an option, even here in Canada.

Option

Thanks for the reply, that definitely makes sense and my infinite thirst for knowledge has been momentarily sated

ohEVO18

iTrader: (6)

does anyone know the expected price range of one of these bad boys? I am assuming it will be competetively priced with the WRX, but just wanted to know if someone has seen the projected cost and what availability will be like. The reason I ask is that my wife and I are trying to figure out what to do with her 03 Mustang, and she and I both are wanting to get her into something newer, better, more reliable and more practical, but I cant just go put her in any Lancer or whatever. I am wanting her to have something thats AWD, has some bizalls (hence the turbo) but it still nice, comfortable, and safe.

Taryon

iTrader: (1)

It's been speculated to start around $25k... mind you, there's been nothing official regarding pricing as of yet. Since it's directly competing with the WRX, most expect the price to be fairly similar.