narnia

The end of December I ordered a 5AT Nav in Anthracite/ Ebony. I was told I'd get my VIN the end of January and car the first week in February. I accepted $11,000 as a trade-in on my Accord from the dealer, even though a few sites said it was valued at $12,000, because it was convenient and I would be able to deduct the trade-in from my sale price and save almost another $1,000 in sales tax.

I just got a call from the dealer telling me there is a delay in Nav cars and my delivery has been pushed back to the middle or end of March. He has an Anthracite w/Nav another customer didn't take delivery on he could give me, but it has the Protection Package, custom pinstriping, body side molding, splash guards, and more stuff. I don't even remember what he said because I was so MAD. Anyway it would be $35,000, about $2,000 more than my original price.

As if that didn't piss me off enough, he said the $11,000 they offered me on my trade in would DEPRECIATE due to the additional wait time. I guess I flipped out a little when I heard that. He ended up apologizing and telling me he'd see what he could move around and get back to me.

If I start over at another dealer I'm probably going to have to wait until March anyway. Now what do I do?

nick79

i guess be patient or get the 2005

i honestly would put a deposit down on the 2005tl and get that. hey its very close now and i think its worth the wait. make it into a good thing.




sorry to hear.

rybocf

Be very careful. It sounds like you have a scumbag dealer. Those things he mentioned are add-on items that the dealer places on a vehicle AFTER it has been delivered. The "Protection Package" is a scam, and you could double the price of all those things and they won't equal $2k.

My first reaction is that they have YOUR car coming (I assume he never gave you the VIN or you could verify) and he wants to jack you for another $1k to $1500 in profits on the car you originally ordered.

If it were me I'd tell them to give you that crap for cost if you would have wanted it, and they can eat the items you didn't.

It sounds way too fishy that they happen to get a car just like yours at the same timeframe, but it has a bunch of dealer add-on "profit" items for them to screw you with.

Do people really wonder why we hate Automobile Dealers? This is just one of many standard tactics. It has to be one of the most unscrupulous businesses in the world.

Ryan

rets

I know you're using credit card to pay deposit. Is it refundable?

This conversation is so familiar, lots of dealers end up with the same results and ask customers paying more to get the similar car. They try to get more $$$ from you 'cause your original deal is $1575 off MSRP for Navi. Too good.

Do you have VIN # over your order contract? Are you sure this full package car is not the car you've ordered? Go to take a look.

You may get another car in other dealers, but it may not be this combo, it's too popular.

If they have different VIN (and should not be the early build car or should not have high mileage), the package they try to throw to you is not worth 2k at all (based on what you described).

Although your trade-in may decline another 1k, I will say keep waiting for a month 'cause your low purchasing price with great color combination. Except you're thinking of other combo in another dealer, you may better stick with them at this moment.


I always say "GET YOUR VIN INTO THE CONTRACT".

NathanSilver

narnia.

Your sign on name is a place from the book:
"The lion, the witch, and the wardrobe."

Is this a coincidence?

NathanSilver

narnia

rets I couldn't get the VIN # in the contract because it was a month ago that I ordered it. My deposit was paid by credit card and the contract states it's fully refundable so no problem there. But I don't want my deposit back I WANT MY CAR

I just spoke to another dealer and he told me they probably sold my car to someone else because the price they gave me was too low. He also mentioned that by making me wait they will depreciate my trade-in value. He has just what I want coming in the beginning of February but wants $1,000 more for it and I don't know what I'd get on my trade-in from him.

It really stinks when people don't honor the deals they make.

Tripp11

From what I understand, every dealership knows what cars are coming in up to 90 days out. So, I would ask the manager to show you on the Acura inventory sheets where your exact car was pushed back due to Navi shortage. There must be some code or indication of this on the inventory sheets.

If upon looking at the sheets, you see your exact color combo and car and there's nothing indicating that the build date was pushed back due to a Nav shortage, then you bet your bottom dollar they sold that puppy to someone else and I would be pissed!!!!

They have to track these inventories some how. Get to the bottom of that and you'll get to the bottom of where your car went.

narnia

NS, narnia is from that book. It's also my cattery name - I bred Persian cats once but I couldn't part with the kittens so that project ended quickly

greenseed

narnia,

Do yourself a favor and go back and terminate whatever contract you have with this dealer. Heres my similar story:

On 12/31/03, I walked into my local Acura Dealer, this was my 3rd visit and I was ready to deal. I made my deal for an 04 TL Anthracite/Ebony 6MT w/Navi. We signed paperwork and left a deposit on an order for this car.

About Jan 16th I start to get fickle about this deal because the dealer hasn’t called or left me any info about the deal. Originally they said about 6 to 8 weeks. Since the dealer wasn’t as forthcoming as I'd like, I called another Acura dealer and spoke directly the Sales Manager and fired away my questions. What I found out was that my order which I thought would be placed on 12/31, was really going to be placed on 1/20/04 before 5:00PM because that's the timeframe that orders are placed (every month?). Which would mean that I’d be picking my car up in very late March?

I got pi$$ed and called my dealer back and confronted him on this. He told me that he did not submit my order yet but stuck to his guns and insisted that he'd have me my car in 6-8 weeks from original order since he was "dealing" with other dealers. This part I doubt.

On the 1/17 and 1/18 I searched dealer inventories within a 50 mile range and came up with about 6 cars in varying colors, however all I'd be willing to accept. I took printout's into his office on 1/19 and him that I wanted one of these.

In the end (about 2 minutes later) he located a Silver/Ebony 6MT w/Navi for me about 40 miles away @ a dealer in Nj with whom they deal (trade) with. Funny thing is that as we were sitting down he said "Oh I was just about to do some searching for you to locate a car". I though "what the F**K, don’t you think you could have done this 20 days ago?"

In the end, they were just jerking me around, but when I confronted the Sales Manger in his office, he took the time to actually look in inventories for me.....

My Silver TL is at the dealer now and I'll be taking delivery next Thursday.

Regarding the protection package, that’s a dealer crap. It consists of the mud guards, wheel locks, and trunk tray. Those items can be easily removed from the car if they wanted to.

rets

TO narnia,

If you really want to get your Anthracite/Ebony/Navi from that dealer, tripp11 has offered some handy tips. You might have to talk to their Service Manager face to face and figure it out.

It requires a lot of efforts and concentration to deal with it. Purchasing the car should not be a burden like this...

Tripp11

Some dealers/salesman just don't get it...all we want is someone to be honest and upfront during the entire deal and we'll bring them business for years to come.

¿GotJazz?

Uhhhmm .... WHY?

Is the 2005 TL going to be that much better? It's almost certain to be more expensive. What if there aren't any changes at all, except colors?

Let's see now. The 2004TL was released around the end of September / early October. It's now the end of January, just 4 months later. Acura is currently having problems keeping up with the demand for the 2004 TL.

Wait - what's that voice I hear over in the Marketing Department of Acura?
My advice: Don't follow the advice from that "wait for the 05TL" posting. If you really liked the car that you ordered, you may want to stick with your original plan. Don't succumb to the dealer's "alternate deal" - they're sucking you in because they know that you don't want to wait. Keep in mind that you will probably keep the car for quite a few years, so an extra month of waiting won't be remembered once you've been driving and enjoying the TL for a while (I've been telling myself this, since I'm still waiting for mine).

You may want to contact Acura Customer Care and discuss what is happening with the reduction in your trade-in from your dealer. There was a sales agreement that you should have signed that showed your numbers. Was there a clause in the sales agreement about what would happen if there were manufacturing delays?

Also, Acura schedules their car builds based upon paint color. There may be some build delays from the original delaer's estimate due to an extra high demand for certain colors from the previous orders. There's a lot of variables that could be messing up the dealer's estimate.

As a datapoint, my order date was on 20-Dec-03, and my estimated delivery date is the end of February. If you ordered at the end of December, it wouldn't be unusual for your delivery to actually be in March.

Good luck, and keep us informed!

DMZ

The dealer crap Protection Package usually consists of aftermarket bulls**t like "Paint Sealant', Rust Proofing, etc.

greenseed

Perhaps. At the Acura dealer where I purchased, THEIR protection package consisted of the Mud guards, wheel locks and trunk tray.

Those other items you've listed above are totally not necessary and are a waste of money. I hope people don’t buy that crap anymore.

NathanSilver

narnia, that's cool.

Brings back memories from that era (1975-1976-ish).

That was my favorite book back then (8yo)--now it's either "Red Storm Rising," or Scorpion in the Sea."

"Runaway Jury" was a great book, but I'm reluctant to see the movie--worried it won't be good.
Like "Congo."

Great book/bad movie scenario.

Over.
NathanSilver

vothsc

About the trade-in thing - read the fine print on the front and back of your sales agreement. It says they can raise the price of the new car if Acura does and they can also reduce the price of the tradein if book value goes down before delivery so they got you legally if not ethically.

narnia

"Deal subject to trade in evaluation and verification of the pay off (if any) at time of delivery."

I only use my car on weekends. With another 1,000 miles on it, which is a very high estimation, NADA lists the car at the same trade-in value; Edmund's took $20 off.

narnia

The saga continues...

I just called the dealer to speak with the Manager. I told him I was a customer who was having an unsatisfactory buying experience at his dealership. He asked my name so he could look up the order and put me on hold.

Instead of the Manager coming back on the line, my salesman picked up the phone. I was about to ask him to put the Mgr. back on but before I had a chance to say anything, he said, "Oh, I just want you to know that we were able to move things around and you will be getting your car as promised. I'll be calling you in a few days with the VIN # and the car will be delivered first week of February."

CarCrazyFamily

I just encountered the same situation with my TL purchase. I had placed an order for a Black/Camel TL w/Nav 5AT on December 27, 2004. I was told that the dealer would to be able to locate the vehicle for me no later than 1 week.

I received a call from my salesman on Jan. 5 telling me that it would be 2 weeks until delivery.

I didn't receive any calls from the dealer within the 2-week time frame, so I decided to call the dealer this past Thursday. I left a message with my salesman who did not return my call.

I tried on Friday, requesting to speak to the salesman and left a message once again. About 2.5 hours later the salesman returned my call, and I inquired about the status of my order.

I was told that they have yet to locate my vehicle and that the vehicle in my color combo would be available by 2/20/04.

I was also told on 12/27/03 that I would be given the vehicle's VIN # in order to forward to my insurance company said information.

At this point I was very upset in that I was essentially left without any notification of this delay. I told the salesman that the situation was unaccpetable and that I would come by the dealership on Saturday to evaluate the situation and set an appointment. Note that I live in Queens, NY and I had to travel abou 1.5 hours to the dealership in NJ.

Anyway, I go to the dealer on Saturday. I see the salesman who directs me to sit at his desk. I sit at the salesman's desk for about 5-minutes and see the salesman approach me. He asks me to step away because he had just completed a transaction with another customer. Annoyed more than angry, I get out of my chair and ask another salesman to speak to the sales manager.

The sales manager greets me and directs me to sit at his desk.

I explain to him the situation. He tells me that the color combo is very difficult to find and that they have searched the tri-state dealers to find a swap on my color combo. He mentioned that they place orders every month for approximately 4-5 cars and that Nav TL's in "rare" color combos are hard to find.

I asked him since he was initally unable to find my color choice that I made on 12/27/03, how come no order was placed at that time to ensure I get the vehicle? My exact words were: "If an order was placed shortly after my visit, since you couldn't find a vehicle to swap locally, we wouldn't be having this problem now."

I was left with no repsonse.

I gave the guy an ultimatum. Basically, if I am not able to get a confirmation on paper by Monday for the vehicle of my choice by the end of the month, I want my deposit back. I also told him that if he is able to find the vehicle and confirm to me delivery by the end of the month, he would have to "make it worth my while" to purchase from him since a considerable amount of time has elapsed since 12/27/03 and the vehicle's price has dropped.

He agreed that if he could confirm delivery by the end of the month, money would be taken off the selling price of the car.

I will find out tommorrow.

BTW, I chose this particular dealership since they were able to give me a good price on the car; my uncle has leased/purchased 5 Acuras from this dealer, and they were flexible on the price.

DMZ

That's because you b*tched and let them know you weren't going to take any of their BS.