need a little help here...wondering if you all could give me some advice.

I ordered my anthracite TL with decklid spoiler and backup sensors at the end of March with an expected delivery in May. The car arrived at the dealership last Tuesday (5/11) and the dealer told me that he would have the backup sensors installed on Friday and I could pick up the car on Saturday.

HOWEVER, he also informed me that the decklid spoiler is on backorder and won't arrive until 5/19 (the following Wednesday). So, I had two options...pick up the car on Saturday w/o the decklid spoiler (I assume I would also be giving them the check for everything then as well) and bring the car back in when the decklid arrives and have them install it then. OR, I could just wait til everything is installed and pick it up then.

So I'm thinking great...I'll pick up the car first (since I'm so eager to start driving my new car) and bring it back in to have the spoiler installed...and I told the dealer that's what I wanted to do.

But then the day before I was going to go pick up the car...I got a bit worried b/c I would be giving them money for something that I wont' be getting yet (ie, the spoiler). Also, when I bring the car back in and they install the spoiler...if they mess it up or scratch something, or get the leather dirty or something...I won't have much leverage to complain since they already have my money. It could just result in a big headache.

So I called them back saying I wanted to wait til Wednesday or Thursday to pick up the car (or whenever the decklid spoiler arrives and they install it). And then the dealer tells me...Oh, actually Wednesday (the 19th) isn't when we'll receive the spoiler...the 19th is when we find out the release date of the spoiler...after the 19th, we probably won't get it for another 3-4 days...meaning I'll have to wait another week! And he keeps telling me to just pick up the car, pick up the car..it's all cleaned up, come pick up the car. Since I was out of town this weekend anyway, I told him I'll get back to him on Monday and see.

Anyway, I got a little suspicious and called around to some other dealerships and talked to their parts departments...and NONE of them said that the part was on backorder! All of them said it'd take just 1 or 2 days to get it, meaning they could get it by Monday or Tuesday of this week...NOT 3-4 days AFTER this coming Wednesday like my dealer said. I find this very suspicious...I even called the parts department of the dealership I bought my car from...and even my dealer's own parts department said it'd only take 1 or 2 days to get the part!!!!

Something's not adding up here...any advice on what I should do? I'm thinking of complaining to the head of sales over at the dealership I'm dealing with...regardless of all that's happened, they should have ordered the spoiler BEFORE my car arrived to ensure that i could pick up the car as soon as possible (since i ordered the car in March, they had 2 whole months to order it!!!)...now my car could potentially be sitting in their lot 2 whole weeks before I get it? That's just ridiculous...I'm already paying for insurance on this car too!

(Sorry for the lengthy e-mail...wanted to make sure I covered everything)

Thanks in advance for help.

 

Sorry to hear your dilema man. I gotta commend you for doing your homework and calling other dealerships...good move on your part.

I would go to your salesman first with this new info. If no response from him, go to the sales manager as you indicated. Hopefully, that is as far as you will need to go.

Be persistent, but be fair and I think you will be ok.

Good luck!

 

I wouldn't take the car without the spoiler in this situation. Normally, I wouldn't be concerned, but it seems like your sales guy is being a bit cryptic. Either he is really badly misinformed or he is blatantly lying. Niether is a good prospect. If it is a lie, then why he lied is more important than the lie itself.

I would do second Tex's comment. Confront the sales guy. Don't be an a$$ about it, but be firm. Tell him that you called around AND called his own parts department. Also, tell him that you are not happy with having to wait. They should have ordered ahead to get the part. If you don't feel comfortable with the response you get, talk to the sales manager.

Be upfront with them. If you are not comfortable with the situation, tell them so. Remember, you are in charge until you give them the money. Don't flaunt that fact, but use it to your advantage.

 

Many times a parts guy will tell you 1-2 days until they actually go to order the part and find out it is back ordered, some guys will go into the system and check. One option is get the dealer to write up a "we owe" that includes clause witha drop dead date that if not in by a certain date you get full refund for the spoiler. Then you can go get it at your leisure from any other dealer when you feel comfortable. Yor guy has no reason to lie about the backorder unless you think he is trying to do something funny?

 

You're being dicked around by an untrustworthy salesman who is likely toying with you in an effort to delay you and get your car to someone else faster.

Go right over his head to his manager and get the issue resolved.

BJ

 

Thanks for the responses...

KeithL - When I called the various parts departments, I specifically asked if the part was on backorder...When I asked this, they checked on the computer to see...one of them said "No, the part's not on backorder...I don't know what that guy was telling you...we don't have it available, but if we order it today, we could get it within a day or two..." I mean...I called 6 different dealerships in the area, and all of them denied that it was on backorder...so I feel it's more likely my sales guy is wrong and not all 6 parts ppl I called.

boltjames - Yeah, I think I'm gonna talk to the manager...I'm gonna call my sales guy one more time to see what he has to say when I tell him I talked to other dealerships...and like OmegaTL said, if I'm not comfortable w/ the response, I'll talk to his manager. Although I don't think he's trying to get my car to someone else b/c he already gave me my VIN...and I've seen the car already (matched the VIN) parked in the dealer's lot.

My theory is that their trying to get the car off of their hands and off the lot as soon as possible...he's trying to tell me a lengthy enough waiting period for the spoiler so that I'll want to go in and pick it up. Otherwise, the car's gonna be sitting on their lot and it'd be a liability to them...if anything happens to it, any scratches to it by ppl walking around and looking at cars, it's gonna be on the dealership's hands and they might worry that when I go pick up the car, I won't take delivery of it.

Either way, I'm gonna talk to them and talk to his manager...show my discontent mainly because they should have ordered teh part BEFORE the car arrived...maybe they'll throw in some free perks like oil changes or wheel locks or something...

 

Which dealership in New England is treating you this way?

BJ

 

Well then take the car and make them credit you the spoiler and go get it somewhere else! of tell them to screw off and order car somewhere else. Make them give you your VIN number and see what they say. If you ask for the VIN and tell them to hold car until part is in they won't be able to switch cars on you.

 

just to update everyone on this situation...

I called teh dealership on Monday and everything got taken care of. I first called the parts department of the dealership i dealt...and they actually said they had the decklid spoiler in stock (as opposed to what my salesperson told me, which was that the part was on backorder and woudln't arrive for another week!). So i called my salesperson with this info - he said he'd check up on it...didn't hear back from him for two hours so I called him and asked what the status was.

He said there is one in stock, but someone might have a claim on it already...he wasn't sure b/c the parts manager was out that day. He also said there was another spoiler coming in the next day...so if anything I could get that one. He told me he'd call me back in the next few days and let me know.

AFter getting off teh phone w/ him, I got a bit uneasy...so I decided to talk to the sales manager (same day, Monday). The sales manager got right back to me and said he put my name down for the spoiler...and they're going to install it right away. I got a call from my salesperson an hour later and he said I could pick up the car that same day!

Moral of the story - things get done so much more quickly if you talk to the right person! If anyone feels like they're getting pushed around by their salesperson...or that their salesperson isn't trying hard enough to help you...talk to the sales manager...he knows how to take care of business.

 

I wonder what the story was with your salesman. Either he is a real bozo or
the Service folks were jerking him around. My instincts tell me there is a problem
with this guy's relationship with the parts manager.