Do what? Nothing matters until the car crosses the curb - that is when a deal is final and binding - and I can't make someone buy a car if they have already purchased one elsewhere.

Late last year I had a customer go all the way through finance on a Saturday - signed ALL the contracts - then I went out of state to get a car for him on Monday. After the car got here the customer changed his mind and didn't want it. I asked him "well, you signed this purchase agreement stating that you are buying this car and your signature is the same as your word". His response "my signature doesn't mean anything."

Nice.

If this customer (gentleman doesn't apply here) had taken delivery of the car on Saturday he would be an owner and there is no way for him to back out. Since he never took delivery, no matter how much paper he signed, he still never took possession of the vehicle and therefore its not his.

In that case we got stuck with a Galant we otherwise didn't want (I think its still here too) and now thanks to recent events I'm also going to be stuck with an Evo we don't want because none of the other customers on our list want that particular color/package. Not only does that inconvenience us but also our customers. I used up an allocation on a guy who's word and his money mean nothing. That means our other customers, people who's word does mean something have to wait needlessly longer for their cars.

 

The dealer where I bought my Evo, Leith Mitsu in Cary NC, had a $5k markup but they said they received a call from Corporate Mitsu discouraging it. They then decided to lower the price to MSRP and as soon as I found out, I bought mine. And so did everyone else. As of 3/21/03 they had one Red left. The dealer also made the statement that they want to get the cars out there for the general public to see, which in turn creates more business.

Here's something for everyone to consider as well. My dealer said that corporate reads this forum a lot. It makes sense. He said that its a great place to get feedback from the people that matter and care enough for share it. So keep the posts coming. I think this forum was used when corporate started calling dealers to discourage markups. There are not many other ways they could have found out so quickly about the dealer markups in my area, unless they are just calling every dealer and asking.

smanders

 

Mark F,

Even if a customer takes delivery and drives away fully paid, they still have the ability to return the car within 3 days or 150mi. So really the customer is correct in saying that his signature means nothing.

 

I really dont care how sad the dealer feels about someone backing out. It's all about the money...taking advantage of customers in their vunerable emotional state. Who has the deeper pocket anyhow? If you step back and look at the situation, I would feel worse for the person that is stuck with the car payment from a car they werent sure they wanted and were muscled in by a salesperson. To the dealer, it's just another car on the lot that couldnt sell that will probably need to be sold at invoice. I'm sorry, but maybe I have a warped point of view but here in CA, there are no nice salesman, they are all cocky and ignorant. All they want is to get your money......kinda like that jerk we all knew in school that buttered up girls just to get in their pants.

 

I agree

 

This is not true in CA, there's no 3 day cool-down period in CA, it's posted at every dealer in large posters.

 

Oh really? I thought it was adapted by all the states. Anyway this is good to know that it is not.

 

I saw this when I was at Cerritos Nissan. A large sign saying that if you feel you chose the wrong car, you are stuck with it (using those words exactly!). There is no return policy or anything. It sucks. This is why I take so much caution when car shopping.

 

Sorry. That is one of the great ubran-legends and absolutely untrue.

As for a customer saying his signature means nothing, that's a reflection of character. I can tell you this, mine does mean something.

As for Coolguy949's remarks, I seek no pitty. Just pointing out the FACT that as much grief as my profession (and by extension, myself) gets for its level of honesty, we don't hold a candle to car buyers. Not only does that disrupt our business, but in the particular instance cited below it inconveniences my other customers. Instead of ordering a car that a guy sneaked out of, I could have used that allocation to get a car for my next customer, and the one after that and the one after that a month or more earlier.

Do I want your money? Yes. Just like EVERY OTHER PERSON in the world who holds a job, I like getting paid for what I do. You have a job right? You get paid? Getting paid allows you to eat, pay your bills and have a home, right? That money you get paid, where does that come from? Customers and clients, right?

What's the difference?

 

Wrong! You get to keep that guy's deposit. So now you can discount the EVO's price by $500-$1000 (the deposit amount). I'm sure you can sell this "unwanted" EVO at a fair price.

Why do car salesmen think they can screw over their customers all day. Then when a customer pulls one over on them its a big deal, and the customer is the bad guy.

 

Actually, you'd be wrong - across the board.

 

It isn't true in Alabama either. If it was, we'd get taken advantage of quite a bit. People would come in wanting to "buy" convertibles because they were going to the beach that weekend, just to bring them back on Monday morning with a few hundred miles on them, interior ratted out with fast food containers and sand wanting to back out, just to "think about it." And like Mark, I've been through the locate and back out thing. You go and spend money buying a car and having drivers bring it in and then someone backs out even though they tell you that;s what they want and they sign the papers. What can I do to keep this from happening?

Nothing.

I'd look like a jerk if I told everybody that came in they had to pick something from our lot and that's it, or I'd lose their business by having them just to go get it elsewhere in the first place. But you all would be suprised what you guys would think certain actions should be punishible by litigation or fines against dealers, but are done by "customers" to dealers all the time and we can't do a thing about it.