Being in the same locale as the OP, I recognize the traits of the stealership.

So sorry to hear of your loss. It is not inconsequential. I would think that a small claims court attorney might enjoy learning of your plight, and could make a difference.

As far as the extended warranty goes, maybe things have changed in the last five years but when we bought the wife's new CR-V in 2017, the dealer wanted $2500 for it. I called a Honda dealer in Florida a year later and bought the exact same Honda Care warranty for $1000.

Back in 1990, I checked a few Chevy dealers for ordering a new truck and they wanted me to buy one on the lot.

I finally got several prices for ordering the truck the way I wanted it but they were still too high.

Then a co-worker put me on to United Buying Service. Easiest deal I have ever made.

http://ubs4cars.com/

Best advice was to get an attorney to send the dealership a letter. Non refundable down doesn’t apply to a truck you didn’t order. Go after the bastards.

quote:

Originally posted by Edmond:
There was (is?) a Toyota dealership who made more money doing that than selling vehicles. I think they were based in New England. They sold the warranties for low markups and cashed in on the bonuses Toyota was giving out for hitting certain warranty sales goals.

Was, I think. It was Handy Toyota. I got a Platinum bumper-to-bumper no deductible 8 year/96k miles warranty from them for my 2010 Tacoma. It was about $1200 for a genuine Toyota warranty, vs. the $2000+ the purchasing dealer wanted to charge me for a much lesser featured warranty, and only a 3 year warranty to boot.

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
OP’s story sounds pretty typical of the treatment we’ve gotten from every Toyota dealership we ever tried to make a deal with. They seem to think their shit smells like ice cream.

Same here. Walked in to a Fort Worth area Toyota dealership ready to make a deal and was told all vehicles sold got the auto armor treatment to the tune of about $1400. Told them it was a no-go for me. They then spent the next 30 mins trying to convince me of the benefits. Ended up leaving at that point. I’d love a new Tundra but without all that crap.

Reminds me of the time I was trying to buy a Jeep Cherokee in 2015. I had been shopping around online and even emailed a couple of dealerships.

Walked into one eventually and told a very nice sales woman that I wanted to order a vehicle which nobody nearby had in stock as I wanted it. She went through the process with me and when I gave her my personal info, she saw that I had already emailed their online sales folks and she had to hand me off to them.

That's when things went downhill. This jackass of a sales guy tells me he's found exactly what I'm looking for and he just needs a $500 non-refundable deposit to transfer it. Okay, great.

"Show me the build sheet and the VIN."
"I can't give you the VIN until we have the vehicle."
"Okay, at least show me the build sheet so I can confirm what I'm putting the deposit on."
"It's exactly what you want."
"Great. Show me."
"I'll have to email it to you."
"Okay, fine. I'll call you with my CC when I get your email."

The next day, I get an email with a VIN, which I look up, which doesn't at all match what I was looking for. His response?

"That's not the VIN for the actual vehicle you're getting - we just have to have something to list for the deposit."

Obviously, I didn't do business with that fraud, but what the holy fuck? Are people really stupid enough to fall for this shit?

-Rob

Tell them to pound sand, and that if they don't make you the original deal you will sue them under your state's consumer protection statute.

They have their sharp elbows out, so you need to get yours out.

They know you want the truck now, and are counting on that desire to make you cave in and pay more after the fact. This is why people hate car dealers. They are, at best, sharks, and at worst, crooks.

I’m glad to hear this. I was thinking the same thing. How can non refundable apply to the wrong vehicle? What if they brought out a Prius? Are you forced to buy it or lose your money. Fight these guys.

quote:

Originally posted by cmparrish:
It was agreed when we put down the deposit that it was non-refundable. I’ll take the loss to be done with that stealership.

They broke their agreements, which is why you walked. IMO that lets you off this particular hook. I'd remind the dealership of this fact, and if they are not immediately forthcoming, let them know you'll be taking it to your state consumer fraud department, and if that doesn't bust your $1K loose, go ahead and contact the consumer fraud group.