Saandeep Mani

Hey Guys/Gals,

Wanted to get your thoughts on this. I have a specific car color/package configuration in my mind. But, the dealership I'm looking at currently doesnt have it in stock. However, I found a dealership in Kentucky that has it (2 hours away from this dealership). So, I asked them if they can get that car so that I can buy it from them. However, the dealer says, if they have to "locate this car" for me, it will be $200 extra and it will be driven from that dealership to theirs, and so it will have 100s of miles on it before i buy it. This sounds ridiculous to me, because when I bought my previous car (2017 GLC), the dealer had to do the same thing, but they did not charge me extra for it, nor did they drive it to their dealership - they put it on a flatbed and someone drove that truck to the dealership, not the car itself. I would assume that would be the appropriate thing to do, since no customer would want 100s of miles on their car if they want to buy it new.. Does what the dealer say sound right? Please let me know what the common practice is with Acura? Thank you for your help.

JB in AZ

I've purchased a number of vehicles that were called "dealer trades" where the desired vehicle is located at a distant dealer,as you mentioned. Many have been in fact driven to the local dealer. The way this works, is someone from your dealer drives a car to the other dealer (the car that is being traded to that other dealer, and then he/she drives the desired car back to the local dealer. It does cost the dealer more money to use a truck too transport the cars. I can't say that I have had any issues with these cars, that was related to the extra 100 or 200 miles on them.

As far as charging the buyer or not, it is all part of the negotiations, and the fee may in fact be included when they give you a price, when you don't think you are paying anything extra.

Is there a common practice with Acura? I doubt Acura has any common practice regarding dealer trades, rather it is up to individual dealers.

Additional thought, It DOES cost the dealer more, or they will get less profit, selling a vehicle from another dealer's inventory.

89kraus

What you are describing is pretty much what my experience was.
I wanted an Advance model in Performance Red, but my local dealership did not have one.
However I had seen the vehicle at a neighboring dealership's website (about 60 miles away).

They charged me another couple hundred for the "dealer trade/locating the vehicle", (I had negotiated a "TruCar" price, and thought not a huge deal given the $40+K price tag this was a drop in the bucket to get what I wanted).
The vehicle was driven from that dealership (vs on a flatbed). When I took delivery it had 63 miles on the odometer.

In my mind that was a fair deal, since this is a daily driver for me and I would put that many miles on the vehicle within two days.
They spent the afternoon detailing the vehicle before I picked it up (I negotiated the deal the evening before and left work early the next day to finalize paperwork & picked it up). When I picked it up it looked immaculate.

I might think differently if was over 200 miles, but in my mind that is still about 1 weeks worth of normal driving for me.
Plus figure the alternative is you driving your current vehicle to that other dealership (assuming a trade-in) plus drive the new car back, so your still accumulating the miles.
I suppose the only thing you may be giving up is the control over who is driving your car, and how they are driving it. But a flat-bed tow truck driver can still do a fair amount of damage if the vehicle is not strapped down & secured properly.
So in the end, I guess pick your poison...

Ken1997TL

If you want it trucked to you, you'll either need to be patient and wait (basically waiting for them to be already shipping other vehicles from there, unlikely) or you need to cough up the money for it to be sent to you on a special shipment.

I've been there and done that.

Alias1431

I would have just driven over there and leveraged the current dealership's offer to get an even better price...

89kraus

That would be a possibility if both dealers had a vehicle I was willing to purchase (had I been willing to compromise on color for example).

Trying to get a dealership who has the car to go lower than the dealership that has to trade for the car is asking for trouble.
What incentive would the dealership who has the car have? Your there, and if they choose to not play ball, they can also go back to that other dealer and say the trade is off, find the car from someone else.

Before I went to any dealership I did some research. Every article I found suggested to NOT contact the other dealer.
Calling the other dealership or showing up to look at the car in person can throw the deal off, because the dealer that has the car may not realize you are the buyer from the other dealership.
If they think they may be able to sell you the car they may just decide to cancel the trade.

In the end you could just be screwing yourself.