Bought floor stock Prado on the weekend but dealer says it's now sold - what to do?

[MDS69 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close MDS69]

If it is only a week or two at the most then chaulk it up to experience and wait for the car. Once you get behind the wheel you will forget all about the pre-sales experience.
If they can't guarantee two weeks maximum in writing with a sweetener for stuffing you around then walk away.
There are people who waited over 3 months for their Prado and over 5 months for the new Ford Ranger so two weeks is not the end of the world.

[wooley Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close wooley]

Yes, they actually have breached a few laws there. Once under contract the vehicle in question has been sold. You cannot sell the same vehicle twice. The ball is in your court and they should bend over backwards to help you now. Unless they are pretty stupid. The principal of the dealership is the go to talk to about this. Record your conversations and let him or her know which you have to by law anyway, about the recording that is.
The Roo.

The same vehicle hasn't been sold twice though... there is no vehicle identification on the contract. Only a verbal statement that that was the vehicle.

[Max Member Find all posts View Profile Close Max]

Same thing happened when we bought my wife's last car, signed the contract and paid a deposit on Saturday and come Monday the car wasn't available. Salesman spun some BS about inventory controller blah blah...but...they could deliver in 6 weeks. Told them we weren't interested and deposit was refunded without question. We found another dealer who would match the price, gave him the deposit over the phone and she had her car in a few days.

Sounds like you haven't asked them to can the contract yet and I'm sure you won't have any trouble if you decide to call their bluff.

[petcar1 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close petcar1]

Shoddy bastards :-)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[150gxl Member Find all posts View Profile Close 150gxl]

Once you get behind the wheel you will forget all about the pre-sales experience.

There are people who waited over 3 months for their Prado and over 5 months for the new Ford Ranger........

Well, I'll NEVER forget the experience....told it would be delivered in 6 to 8 wks....then waiting 5 months and THEN they tried to screw another $3k out of me with phone calls from the salesman, then the Sales Manager, then someone claiming to be the dealership manager!!!!

This is the 24 brand new car I've bought over the years and have NEVER had such outrageous dealings. Oh, what a feeling!!!

Are you in Brisbane Samester?

[keencdk Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close keencdk]

I had a similar experience with a popular Toyota dealership in Brisbane. I put a $1000 deposit down for a Landcruiser 76 series, after being told there was an 8-10 week wait. I made them give me the vehicle tracking details. After 3 months my vehicle was still showing as queued awaiting a production date. I went in to see them and told them it wasn't acceptable and I wanted my deposit back. At first they were hesitant to give me my deposit back and cancel the order, however they then looked up the details and told me that the price from Toyota to them was going up by about $1000 which they would have to pass on, and that the QLD government had added some kind of green levy to new registrations of V8's and I would also have to pay that. I stood my ground and told them that if I bought the vehicle it would be for the contracted price, and that we had a verbal contract witnessed by my partner that they would deliver the car within 10 weeks. The guy backed down and cancelled the contract, and reckoned it was made easier because of the pricing changes. When I bought my Prado I went back to said dealership and used their vehicles for test driving the 150 GXL and the FJ Cruiser then bought elsewhere, from a guy who said he wasn't even allowed to write contracts for an FJ Cruiser as they were at least 4 months wait for delivery. The "other" dealership was saying they could order one and have it in less than 3 months for me...

[rhs58 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close rhs58]

Roo
No matter which thread ... I love your posts.
Seems to me you not only know your stuff, but you're a Bit of a redneck as well.
Keep it up!
Ron

[charlie Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close charlie]

Dealers!!!!
If you ever want to watch a dealer squirm, turn the contract over and go through the fine print point by point. Its been written to give the dealer every advantage and remove all possible rights from you. In WA they usually contain gems like ( and I'm paraphasing)
"The price we agreed today is the only the price today, we may vary it for a number of reasons"
If they claim your car is in country then cross it off.
"We can substitute the car with a similar product."
Get the salesman to sign a brochure listing the options for a particular "these will be the options included"
because on that brochure it will say..... delivered car may be different. Chrysler pulled that one on me.
You have too laugh.
When we bought a voyager years ago my wife came to the dealer evey time.
On the initial discussions dealer came up with a base price very different to advertized, but I had the ad in the car.
Once you sign, the dealer goes from hard negotiator to trying to make you feel good about your deal.
This salemen went to an adjacent booth and talked to his mate about this guy has screwed him to the wall and the sales manager was going to give him a kicking over it. I could just picture him cupped hands making sure his voice carried to us. After we left my wife said she felt bad about the salesmans predicament. reminded her that he tried to screw us for $4000 when we walked in, then it was all OK
Bottom line a dealer won't write a bad deal for them, go hard.
Unfortunately if the cars are being sold before they arrive in Oz you are not in a strong negotiating position with respect to price.
Still like my Prado

[samester Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close samester]

Thanks again for all of your thoughts and feedback - time for an update!

I called said dealer shortly after posting and calmly told them that I'd ordered the floor stock for immediate delivery and informed them that they'd done the old switcheroo - I firmly but politely informed them of my expectations, no threats or irrational behaviour, I just let them know that I wanted written confirmation of a vehicle and delivery etc. I spoke with the salesman, their manager and the chap that runs the place to let them know of my thoughts.

If written confirmation wasn't forthcoming, I could have taken the contract elsewhere and probably had a competitor match it so whilst I was annoyed, there were options.

To cut a long story short, two days later received written confirmation of the vehicle, five days later received the vehicle.

I called them often for updates, kept on top of them and went in personally mid week. I was skeptical so refrained from posting or saying anything because I didn't want to count my chickens!

Whilst they did their sneaky work to get the sale, they also came up with the goods when pushed.

Moral of the story: make sure you get the VIN on the contract if buying floor stock (imperative!) and a calm, rational discussion with everyone up the line to let them know of your feedback plus being proactive will probably get a reasonable outcome.

Now it's time to take it to 1500 rpm and see how much it rattles hahaha!!!

Cheers

[D4D Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D]

Great result, did you squeeze anything else out of the deal?

[samester Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close samester]

Great result, did you squeeze anything else out of the deal?

Haha - I tried and the dealer said he'd help me out if he couldn't deliver....unfortunately (or fortunately!) he delivered.

[yowie Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close yowie]

Not matter what he says to you, a car salesman will not be losing money on any deal. He will be making money somewhere along the line, although bullshitting his way through the deal to make you feel good.

[Max Member Find all posts View Profile Close Max]

Glad to hear they came to the party.

Car salesmen, real estate agents and untreated sewage...can't tell them apart most of the time

[D4D Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close D4D]

How do you know when they're not lying? They are not talking

[boomer Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close boomer]

Sad to say samester, you need to put this down to experience. You signed a contract to buy a car, but the contract didn't specify which car. Hopefully you will get one in a week or two, but the normal wait is about 3 months. Don't expect any great deals either. Put yourself in the dealers position - he can sell all the stock that Japan will give him and he has a 3 month waiting list. Would you drop the price or throw in sweeteners in that situation. Good deals can be had on Pajeros and Patrols but they're not Toyotas!!! Remember also that we are a very small part of Toyota's global market - that's part of the reason why we have to wait. But they're a great car and worth the wait!

Just read your update and what good news!! Suggests to me that they were probably telling the truth in the first place although the IT failure may more likely have been the salesman's failure in that he made a mistake. You took the right approach I think. Making a lot of noise in the showroom or making big threats rarely gets you anywhere. The staff will simply brand you as a "nutter". In my business, I have to deal with warranty issues on goods I've sold. If voices are raised or fists thumped on counters, I suddenly become very slow to get the faulty product back to the supplier and any chance of a "good will" replacement goes out the window. Mind you the customer who yelled and thumped goes away and tells his bogun mates that "I gave him a piece of my mind eic etc but little does he know what it really did!!

One more thing. Every car has a minimum selling price. The salesman knows the minimum price. He does not decide the price. In the case of used cars he gets what is commonly known as "overs" if he sells the car for above the minimum. When a car is in demand and short supply, the minimum price is the RRP. No deals.