Don't be 'baited' at the car dealerships

[kahnartist]

I was on another forum and read a very sad story of a man who was bilked out of his deposit on a Ridgeline due to unprofessional business tactics at a certain Honda dealership. They told this man that he needed to give them 'X amount' of money to 'find' him a certain color and model of Ridgeline. After a week or so, and no truck showing up, they refused to give him his depost back.

Folks, I PLEAD WITH YOU, please do a little bit of reading and 'research' on some of the unprofessional behavior some car dealers resort too to scam you, wear you down, or keep you at the dealership until you are ready to sign your life away.

I'm not saying that EVERY car dealer resorts to this type of unprofessional aggressive behavior; but the more you know up front, the better prepared you will be to NOT get the fleece pulled over your head.

Simply Google "car buying stragegies" and READ some of the typical 'scams' very unprofessional car dealers use to rip you off.

Here are a few of them:
• "loosing" your car keys of the trade in you brought in to wear you down and keep you at the dealership longer
• Same with your drivers license (which they need to make a copy of for test drives). They 'misplace' it while the saleman takes the screws to you for more wheeling and dealing
• telling you they have your car or truck on the lot (and it isn't). This means the dealer locates another dealer in the area (called a Dealer Trade), and it makes the deal yet MORE complicated and possibly more expensive. If they don't have your vehicle physically on the lot or on their 'shipping sheet' of cars coming in on the trailer, RUN-- (don't WALK) out the door until you track down the place that has what you want.

I hate reading these types of stories and it only takes a few minutes to browing and reading some stuff on the 'net to be saavy.

If you went into Costco or Sam's club and they didn't have the TV or microwave you wanted, would you be willing to give an associate there a 'deposit' to get one for you? More than likely not! So why do this at a car dealership????

Please folks! Do the research for yourself, for your bank account and save us from reading these horrible dealer scam stories!!!!

[Ridgeline2006]

Taking a deposit to get a vehicle isn't a new idea. Dealerships do it all the time, but primarily when it's a hard to find or hard to keep in stock item. I paid a deposit when I got my Ridgeline last March, it was so I could get a particular vehicle that was 'on the way to the dealership.' I knew right up front that the deposit was non-refundable and I also made sure that the deposit was credited against the purchase price. This was done at a time when the dealerships were just being promised cars from the factory but they didn't actually have any in on the lot. I looked at the list of vehicles that were coming in, decided on a particular one, got the vin numbers and description, and when it came in I got it! No problems there.

I know that there are ruthless and unethical dealerships, and I hate fact that they take advantage of people. The best advice to give someone is to be as aware as possible of the details of the deal. The poor guy you're speaking of probably was told that the deposit was non-refundable and if he didn't like that part of the deal he should've walked away.

Further, I don't see any reason to give a deposit now that all the dealers have Ridgelines and you should be able to find one that has the one you want, but if you choose to do business with a particular dealer and ask them to find the car for you, then you should at least understand what you're getting into.

This post probably sounds like I'm siding with dealers -- I'm not! I just think we need to be on our toes and take the deal as it is, not as we want it to be!

[DopplerDon]

Don't forget there is always two sides to a story.

This sounds like the dealer did not keep their side of the contract either verbal or written. This can easily be challenged.

[Ridgeline2006]

DopplerDon wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")This sounds like the dealer did not keep their side of the contract either verbal or written.

I don't think we can jump to that conclusion based on the above post. Maybe the written agreement was to deliver a particular vehicle within 2 weeks, or a month, or something like that, and the buyer just got cold feet and wanted out of the deal and asked for his deposit back and they said no. I'd like to read the guy's post myself to see what he says happened before I jump to any more conclusions.

As I was saying above, the written deal I had was that I would forfeit my deposit if I changed my mind either before or after the vehilce came in. Either way I knew I wouldn't be getting my money back. That was the deal and I knew it going in. That's often the case, but people so often want to change their mind and get the money back. That's why there are so many states with the 3-day rule on consumer contracts --- you get three days to cancel the contract, get your money back, and only have to pay for actual costs.

[EnglishBob]

Can't speak for other states, but in California no deposit is binding for the customer. Until they actually drive the vehicle off the lot they can always back out of a contract and deposits HAVE to be returned. The person should contact the BBB or the Fair trading office and lodge a complaint. If the deposit makes it worthwhile sic an attourney on the store.

If a dealer trade is involved I believe the dealer may deduct "reasonable" expenses from the deposit.

[Ridgeline2006]

If a deposit is always refundable, then what's the point in collecting it in the first place? I'd guess part of the reason has to do with 'reasonable expenses' that can be deducted, and the another part is assuming the buyer doesn't know about the refundability would make the buyer believe he has to go through with the deal no matter what.

So, the best advice is to find out if the deposit is refundable according to local law and pursue it that way. Of course, we still don't know the entire story.

[DopplerDon]

I used my credit card and placed a $500 deposit. By doing this I had the backing of my credit card company that would withhold payment if there was any funny stuff. My dealer is reputable, I am sadly dissappointed with some paint repairs (that were subbed out by the dealer) and we are going thru some difficult times currently. I will eventually post on my experences with some major factory paint defects, just waiting for me to cool down a little. Love my RL, frustrated by some cosmetic issues.