Okay, so in early December, I order a NBP '05 TL w/Navi (5AT) with Black interior. Sure enough, one is being built, and they have it shipped to my dealer. I'm told it will take a week. A week goes by, and I'm notified there were quality control problems, and now they have to build me a new one.

So I wait another week, and Christmas comes and goes. No TL arrives. I get a VIN number, and wait. And I wait some more. I'm still waiting. My dealer tells me Honda shuts down for the holiday, and the transport company probably did too. So we expect it in early January. Still nothing. Now my dealer is trying to track down the car from the transport company - it's been at least three weeks, and no car arrived. They have my deposit, otherwise I'd find another dealer. No other dealers in MN have a black/black TL w/Navi.

Here's my problem: I got the 2.9% financing, but it's only good if I get the TL before the 15th. Lets say the dealer can't get the car by the 15th. What should I do then? Hold out for my "perfect" car, and take a higher financing rate? Or take a lesser desired color (like blue?) just to get the car with the good financing rate? I might not be happy with the blue, but I sure won't be happy with the higher financing.

Any suggestions?

 

sounds fishy, go to another dealer

 

Maybe you should get the dealer to put in writing that they will honor the 2.9% APR should you not get your car by the 15th. Get them to put something in writing that will honor the deal you made with them previously.

 

If the dealer wants the biz, he'll honor everything, including the rate, if the car is late. Shit, I'd ask him to throw in something extra just for your patience. Good luck.

 

Any suggestions?
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Credit card: 0% APR, 0 balance transfer, 0 annual fee -- for 15 months. Then get second if you need it.

I did it . It's works.

 

If it makes you feel any better, I ordered mine in Sept, and they mixed up the order (sales guy's writing not clear and he went on vacation so another sales guy ordered). Then end of Nov promised, then end of Dec, so now supposedly it was built this week and will be delivered in next week or two. ABP 6MT Nav. Seems like your info on delays is consistent. I'm in MA, and the dealer is generally pretty honest. They got some new "system" at Acura in Oct/Nov. that allows them to swap out orders, but looks like it has some bugs.

Dealer should honor your rate for sure. Make sure that they do, or have them discount the $$ difference.

Carl

 

i use to work for a car dealership, they will want your business, play it hard! you WILL get the color you want and YOU will get the financing you want. Play it smart bro...customer is always right. they wouldn't want their bonus to be jeopardy

 

Sounds right to me. Mine did well to meet my needs. Because I sold my car based on the original delivery date, the dealer gave me discount to cover rental car for 3 weeks, and then a loaner car for rest of the time.

Carl

 

The Blue is HOT! Black on Black is so cliche. But to each their own. Finding the car you want in Minnesota is a pain with only 3 dealers all having pretty limited inventories. Did you consider checking Wisconsin or Iowa inventories? It might be worth the drive. I know I thought about it. Best of luck!

 

I'm gonna have to agree with those that said just get the dealer to promise the financing in writing regardless of when the car arrives. They owe you at least that much for the hassle.

 

The customer is always right!

 

Simple, you get in writing that the 2.9% rate is good regardless because it wasn't your fault the car failed to arrive on time. If they won't do that then you know there's something skunky going on.

That comment about quality problems on the first car sounds bogus to me. Somebody probably hosed up and they're trying to cover for it.

If you have a VIN on the second vehicle then they should be able to track down its last known location. Things do get delayed over the holiday's but not being able to locate the vehicle doesn't sound right either.

 

When the car finally does arrive, go over it with a fine tooth comb. Many years ago a co-worker's new car was delayed in being delivered. After 2 weeks, they told him it arrived and to come pick it up. While going over the car he could tell that something was not right with the front of the car. Long story short, he learned the car was damaged while unloading from the car carrier. They spent 2 weeks "fixing" it.

He got a different car.

 

Good point.

 

As stated already...get the info in writing!

 

The 2.9% is up to Honda Financial Services, not your dealer, so I wouldn't count on it being good beyond the 15th. The QC problem thing sounds like BS, they probably either did a swap with someone else or your car was damaged (destroyed?) in shipping. Honda may shut down for the holidays, but the trains do not. My car was built on 12/18, a week before Christmas, and it arrived in AZ the Monday after (12/27). Every day or two in between my sales person cut and pasted the info from the computer into an email, showing me my VIN and the car's current location. It got held up in New Mexico for a day when they had a big snowstorm, but other than that and probably Christmas day my car was in a different city each day. I'd see if there's another one in your color that they can trade for somewhere. If they've been stalling you this long there's something wrong, so I'd go to the dealership and talk to the sales manager and demand to know what's going on.

Lance

 

No consumer "orders" a Honda/Acura product. Unlike other brands that accept customer orders, Honda/Acura only allocates cars to its dealers. It's the dealers that assign incoming cars to their customers. Usually, when someone here reports a story of a "missing" car or "QC problems", the dealer sold the car they had committed to someone else willing to pay more for it. Honda/Acura's pretty precise and, once a VIN numbers assigned, delivery times are usually within days of when projected. Sounds like your dealer's not being above board with you.

 

Wow, that's directly opposite of what my dealer said. The only problem is that I started to trust this guy, he hasn't BS'd me much, and I had to assume he was telling the truth.

I had a vin for both vehicles, but the QC problem pulled the first one back. The second one is still assigned to me, but the car hasn't come.

They have my $500 deposit, or I'd switch dealers.

@#%@#% this is making mad. I just purchased an MDX from them with absolutely NO problems. The guy gave me the best rate, and I negotiated heavily to get the rate. I was happy with the price, got no BS (as I have from other dealers), and actually thought this was the best dealership. Now I find out this is a load of ****.

Thanks for the information, I appreciate it.

 

csmoore, did you order a camel interior? I don't understand why ABP is so damned hard to find.

I also originally ordered an ABP/Camel/6MT/Navi in September. I was told the build date would be mid-October, then mid-November. Then that the car was damaged in shipping. Then the dealer said he found one in NJ but the saleswoman and her manager then refused to return his phone calls.

Bottom line, I'm still waiting. If I wanted WDP, SSM, NBP, or AM I could probably get one tomorrow. At this point it's about principle. I want what I want and for $33k, I'm going to hold out for it.

Alligator, if you want NBP/Ebony then wait for it. For this kind of money, don't settle just to make it easier on the dealer. Also, see what they can throw in for your wait.

 

I ordered quartz interior. Seems like the 6MT Navi is harder to find. They said they looked for stock at dealers across the country to find one, and none available. Another guy at work got a ABP Camel automatic non-navi from the lot with no wait.

 

Hmmm... Try running a CarFax search on the first VIN #.

 

What would the CarFax search find? It came up with 0 records, but did state it was a 2005 Acura TL (Sedan, 4 door).

I ran the second VIN as well, and it came up with the same thing. Does this mean the dealer is telling the truth?

What's really weird is that the second VIN is lower than the first VIN. How can this be? (They are both in the 20,000's, but the second is about 150 lower than the first.)

 

Unfortunately, 6MT Nav models are the hardest combination to come by. The wait gets compounded when you want a color other than common Anthracite. The rarer the color combo, the longer the wait. It took 3 months to get mine from date of order to delivery.
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I agree with TommiGSR,
But it does sound fishy, either they just want you to put the deposit so bad even for the fact that they know they do not have the car ready for you or they just simply want you to surpass the deadline because somewhere along the line, you didn't try to get them to put in papers (low APR still works even after 1/15/05 without a car). I would continue fighting if I were you, and quit after 1/15/05, if they won't honor the 2.5 APR, call a lawyer. I know I would

 

The VIN will show the correct car due to the way VIN's work, for example 19UUA66225Axxxxxx will decode to show that my car is a 2005 Acura TL, 5AT w/NAV, Anthracite/Ebony, etc. So it sounds like your dealer gave you real VIN's, I don't know that I'd believe the rest of what he tells you (It's weird that the second one is lower, that indicates that it was built before the first one you got). DMZ mentioned that 6MT's are hard to come by, and that seems to be true. However, the wait is usually for your car to be built, and that's already happened. The ship time should be minimal, especially since you live so close to where they're built. You've only got 4 days left, I'd get the Sales Manager or GM and demand my deposit back. That should get them moving if they don't want to lose the sale. You have other options for getting your deposit back if they fight you on it (BBB, State Attorney General), but those won't help you before Saturday.

Lance

 

Sounds like someone is trying to pull a fast one.

 

Personally, I wouldnt believe squat sh*t from a dealer. Unforntaley we have do deal with them. I was a loan officer for a mortgage company for 3 years and I 've heard every lie in the book from competing companies promising rates that are not available. I hear the same lies from the dealers as well, I just laugh and tell them I was a loan officer and know about the lies and false promises. Remember these guys get paid on commision they will tell you whatever it takes to get you to commit. They figure you will not go elsewhere b/e you will lose your deposit. Threaten to walk and see what happens. Good luck!

 

I called up the sales manager on Saturday and chewed him out. He apologized profusely and explained that it really was Honda that had pulled all of their order of black TL's back for quality reasons. He sounded sincere, and tried many times to explain that there wasn't anything he could do, that he didn't sell the car to another higher paying person. I laid into him pretty well, and he never once changed his story, so I'm starting to believe him.

My new TL arrives on Saturday, and they started to tell me a city where it currently was (Ohio). They also agreed to honor the 2.5% rate by backdating the contract, if necessary since the rate ends on Saturday.

I know they won't get a very good review when Honda calls up to see the quality of service I received....

 

It was all black TL's that were recalled? Wow! That makes a little more sense. As long as it actually shows up by Saturday then I guess you'll be ok. If it doesn't show by then you'll want to get them put in writing that they'll backdate the contract, and hope that it shows up early enough the next week for that to work. Since I know they can see where the car is each day (at least, they saw mine) you might want to call and bug them each day to see where it's at. Hopefully it'll all work out for you, good luck!

Lance

 

Here's what happened:

Your car actually did come in back in December. However, someone walked in off the street looking for a NBP TL, and was willing to pay more for it than you were, so they sold yours to him. They figured they'd just give you the next one and you'd never know the difference. Besides, they have your deposit, so as far as they're concerned you're "off the market" and tied down to them; they figure you won't go to another dealer as long as they have your money.

Now you're waiting for another car matching your specs to come in, while someone else has been driving around in your car for a month.

Get your deposit back and find another dealer.

Oh, and don't give your new dealer a deposit!

Instead, call every Acura dealership within driving distance, tell them what you're looking for, and ask them to call you when one comes in. You'll be amazed at how quickly a car will come in for you when the dealer doesn't have your money yet.

 

Alright, for those of you who were helpful and allowed me to cut through the dealer BS, my car is finally ready for pickup tomorrow. This is my first Acura, coming from an '00 Infiniti I30. Weathertech mats on the way (I'm in MN). Now if I could just find a good radar detector that I could hide in the dash somewhere (so my wife won't find out), then I'd be all set.

 

So how did it go on Saturday? Hopefully the car showed up, everything went fine, and you're out driving right now. Enjoy!

Lance

 

Yep, the NBP/Ebony Navi car showed up. I had to take an I.O.U. for the backup sensors since they didn't have time to install them before Saturday. No problem, the salesman lives close to us and offered to drop off a loaner, take mine in, and bring it back when it's done. Still, everything appears to check out just fine - the dealer hasn't made any mistakes yet that show they were lying to me. Maybe they were telling the truth?

The car is awesome. Waaaaayyyy too powerful, I could easily do 80 in a 55 without even thinking about it. There are some things better with my wife's MDX (like automatic lights and wipers), but some things better about the TL (like the steering wheel controls, the center console, and the audio system.

Overall, I'm very happy.

 

Welcome, glad to hear about the happy ending. Be sure to read the threads on speeding tickets.