I'm trying to buy a new car for my wife. Local dealer doesn't have the model, color, option combination we want but there are some at nearby dealers. He said he can get one.

What's the typical and usual practice here?

1) Dealer requests the car we want and we check it out, then negotiate a deal?

2) Negotiate a deal, get a quote in writing that's agreeable, dealer requests the car, do a final inspection and then sign contracts and finalize purchase?

3) Negotiate a deal, sign contracts, then dealer requests the car. Final inspection and drive away?

I'm okay with #1,2 but not comfortable with #3. I'd rather wait for them to get a car in-stock before signing any contracts that obligate a purchase. On the other hand, is there any incentive for a dealer to request a car that I may not purchase (for whatever reason)?

What's usual here? Should I just wait for stock or is there a low risk way for them to request the car and that doesn't obligate me to purchase (dings, more than 25 miles on the odometer, whatever)?

I would ask the dealer but:

quote:

2) Negotiate a deal, get a quote in writing that's agreeable, dealer requests the car, do a final inspection and then sign contracts and finalize purchase?

That has been my experience on two purchases. My trucks were brought in from out of state. Same dealer in both cases. The first time I had to pay a $400.00 fee. The second time I did not, maybe the dealer forgot to charge me.

I went through the dealer-swap event some years ago, and found it trouble-free.

I drove one that was almost what I wanted and liked it. I told the dealer that I liked it but wanted it with (whatever the options package was called). My dealer didn't have it on hand, but there was one at a nearby NC dealer. We worked out the deal (price, etc) and a couple of days later my sales guy called me to tell me my truck had arrived.

I went over after work and had a look -- it was equipped the way I wanted and not incorrect in any way, so I signed the final paperwork and drove it home. Easy, breezy, nothing to worry about.

Others' experiences may be different, but it's not an uncommon thing to do.

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Originally posted by konata88:
is there any incentive for a dealer to request a car that I may not purchase (for whatever reason)?

Maybe the one you want would also be attractive to others, and is better than what your dealer already has in inventory? I can picture that being an opportunity for your dealer to improve its inventory at little risk of non-sale.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
(more than 25 miles on the odometer, whatever)?

I have a really good relationship with my dealer, having bought several vehicles there. When my transfer showed up it had 250 miles on the odometer (I think they drove it from the other dealer, rather than hauling it). I poked at my sales guy and the sales manager: "Two hundred and fifty miles? I thought you were selling me a new one!" Ideally, a new vehicle would only have a few miles on, but I wasn't really uptight about it. I have more than a thousand times that on it now.

I don't buy or sign any contract on a vehicle unless:
1- I drive the actual vehicle I am purchasing.
2- Order one the way I want it.

This isn’t an uncommon practice. Your dealer essentially buys the car from the other dealer and sends a couple of porters to drive it back. Even a couple hundred miles on a car won’t be significant. However, I wouldn’t want them putting a couple hundred miles on it from driving from out of state.

I wouldn’t sign anything until I saw the car in person and wouldn’t leave any money down.

First question...Are you set on this particular manufacturer/model car? If 'Yes', move on.
Second question...Do you have a great credit score and funding/financing arranged for the purchase? If 'Yes', move on.
Third question...Do you have any reservations about buying from this particular dealer? If 'No', move on.

If you made it through the aforementioned questions, then I would suggestion a small deposit (~$500) is appropriate to have the dealer swap occur. That agreement would not however be a purchase contract, but rather, a simple receipt of payment made detailing what the payment was for. The dealer has a document for this purpose. The dealer will push to insure that payment is non-refundable, you can decide if you want to push for it to be otherwise.

When the car arrives, look it over, drive it, and make up your mind. Then you can sit down with the sales manager and negotiate an acceptable contract.

Do NOT sign contract or put small deposit before you see the car. I did not and it worked out for the best. Bad experience doing that. A dealer got a new car for me one time like this deal. It showed up with nearly 400 miles and a 1" gouge in a lower panel. Of course they did not say anything about those kind of miles or the gouge when they called me to pick it up a week later. I refused the car. Dealer got all bent out of shape. Tried to intimidate me with legal action

I've done this kind of deal several times and never had a problem with it. I think in each case, I provided a deposit which was fully refundable.

Dealer trade. Happens all the time.

quote:

Originally posted by 45_Auto:
I don't buy or sign any contract on a vehicle unless:
1- I drive the actual vehicle I am purchasing.
2- Order one the way I want it.

Add to driving- drive on bad roads, look for rattles, squeaks. Also avoid my mistake by test driving in winter and not testing out the a/c. Come summer it was barely adequate. Newer models improved but didn't help in my case

I tried to do this once 18 years ago. Wilde Dodge in Waukesha, WI took my $500 deposit and told me I'd have my truck in a week. After a month and a half went by and multiple excuses from them I asked for my deposit back. It took another two weeks to get my deposit back. I then called the Dodge dealer in Madison that Wilde was supposedly doing the trade with and made them an offer. I had my truck in a day.

After that, I only buy vehicles the dealer actually has and will even fly to the dealer that has the right vehicle.

I don't remember the exact sequence, but 15 years ago I was negotiating on a new Ford Ranger. We hit a wall where neither was budging, I logically said I know for a fact I can get it at X price because I saw it advertised elsewhere. They asked to see the ad, I showed them. Turns out, the other dealer just wanted to move that 1 particular truck. They transferred it over, I bought it.

I would just go to the dealer with the car you want.

I work as a porter for a dealer and he makes several dealer trades every day. I often go 125 to 150 miles to a dealer to make the trade. Usually the trades are with larger dealers that have a larger inventory.

Typically I drive the exact car that is being traded for, just a different color.

Generally, it costs money to get a car from another dealer. They have to tow it to the dealership, owe the other dealer a favor, and don't get as good of a price on it. So usually they won't do it unless they have a deal.

Usually, the buyer agrees on the vehicle, makes a deal with the dealer he is dealing with agreeing on price and so forth, then signs a buyers order. BUT, you don't sign the acceptance papers until you see and test drive the vehicle they acquired for you. Without the acceptance signed and money changing hands and final paperwork signed, you should be protected. So provided that's in there, you should make an agreement and give a deposit before the car ever leaves the other dealers inventory.

quote:

Originally posted by maxwayne:
I work as a porter for a dealer and he makes several dealer trades every day. I often go 125 to 150 miles to a dealer to make the trade. Usually the trades are with larger dealers that have a larger inventory.

Typically I drive the exact car that is being traded for, just a different color.

Yep, dealer trades are common practice.
Farthest we had:
End of model year, we had the only white diamond Tahoe LTZ left (apparently). Dealer in Wisconsin trailered a suburban down to trade it.

We had trade drivers make 4 hr drives (1 way). Once they took a Corvette from Houston to Austin & brought back another (trim/color difference).

I don't see any reason why you should have to put down any deposit or sign anything prior to being able to inspect the inbound vehicle; unless it happens to be an obscure (hard/slow sell) vehicle/trim.

Ive done it several times and don't ever recall signing a contract before. I might have, but I knew what I wanted and if was unsat in any way I wouldn't accept it. Dealer trades are common on common vehicles.

Thanks guys. Car is nothing special. Camry of select color and options. Relatively dime a dozen.

Will request the car without any obligation. If not willing, I can drive to other dealerships or just wait for stock. Trying to keep money in the county but open to alternatives.

Searching for our last car we ran into a number of dealers that didn’t have the van we wanted to see. Always, we were told they could bring one over if we signed a contract. Eventually we settled on the van we wanted, then eliminated the dealerships.
Still, I felt that I neeeded a shower after dealing with the salesmen.

For new cars, dealer trades are fine, and you should not have to pay a deposit in my opinion, which is of course worth what you paid for it. We purchased my wife's Toyota Highlander in 2015 (new design year) through the Costco program from a local dealer. Got the price we were willing to pay for the model and options we wanted and were sent to a local dealer to finalize options. They did not have the color my wife wanted in stock or coming in the next month, so they traded with another dealer for their incoming vehicle. We got exactly what we wanted, at a price we were willing to pay and less than what I likely would have been willing to finagle on my own. No money or contractual obligation actually changed hands prior to us being fully satisfied (having test driven our actual car when it was delivered to the lot). While buying a brand new vehicle is not my typical route, in this case it worked out for the best (1yr old models were selling for within $5k of the new models, competing vehicles with the same features were much more expensive - used or new).