Car sold out from under my SA. Anyone had this happen?

[KANdaddy]

So I have spent the better part of a few weeks working a great deal on a ZCP lease. Finally got everything squared away and was ready to drive to So Cal from the Bay Area tomorrow to take delivery. Then my SA calls me today around 5 and tells me that he had the day off yesterday and another SA sold MY car to someone else. WTF?! I thought we had a deal. I even offered to put a deposit down earlier but apparently they don't hold cars. He's offered another car in its place but I'm not really feeling the color.

So pissed rt now. Anyone else ever experienced this??

[EvilMiyagi]

Thats shitty practice tbh but as I'm from UK I'm not sure if thats standard practice?

Would you be happy to have the car wrapped to a colour of your choice? Maybe get them to wrap it at their expense to a colour of your liking?

EM

[M3PGH]

it can happen, big dealerships have couple of different teams working and two teams can be working on the same car at the same time
so things like this can happen, it is rare , but not possible
look around and I am sure you will find a better deal , you never know

[DJM4]

It's called sales agents fighting for commission.

[F80Dreamer]

Yes it’s happened to me before. I was negotiating for a few days on a car for my son and by the time I got there the car was sold by someone else. Total waste of my time.

[dongerkim]

My salesperson told me that my allocation was actually from someone else after I put the deposit down. Which also means I overpaid for the car

[jjrandorin]

Op its not "your car" until you actually take delivery. Couple things.

1. You say you were negotiating for "the better part of a few weeks". No idea where they started or where you ended up, but a "few weeks" negotiation from a dealership point of view is a "Pain in the Q#$!@#$ needy customer".

2. If a dealership has a policy of no deposits on cars on the lot, then they are telling you up front that the car is subject to sale.

3. "Driving down tomorrow" is "tomorrow" . They likely sold the car to someone who either paid more money, or was less a pain in their @#$@, or both.

Note, I am not saying you did anything wrong, and normally businesses that "make a deal" hold to it. With that being said, I would almost virtually guarantee that if your negotiation was " a few days" you would have that car now. If your negotiation took "a few weeks" they had NO confidence you were actually going to buy... so when your sales person was off, and someone else had a deal on the car, I bet the sales manager said "So and so has been working on that car for weeks, we got a buyer? Sell it, the other guy should have bought it faster".

[Ex_Stig]

I'm not supporting what they did, but from my very short stint as a car salesman I can tell you that they live by an interested omg motto.

"Buyers are liars"

I've never liked that phrase, but until you are on the lot signing the deal the car is not sold.

[KANdaddy]

Originally Posted by jjrandorin

Op its not "your car" until you actually take delivery. Couple things.

1. You say you were negotiating for "the better part of a few weeks". No idea where they started or where you ended up, but a "few weeks" negotiation from a dealership point of view is a "Pain in the Q#$!@#$ needy customer".

2. If a dealership has a policy of no deposits on cars on the lot, then they are telling you up front that the car is subject to sale.

3. "Driving down tomorrow" is "tomorrow" . They likely sold the car to someone who either paid more money, or was less a pain in their @#$@, or both.

Note, I am not saying you did anything wrong, and normally businesses that "make a deal" hold to it. With that being said, I would almost virtually guarantee that if your negotiation was " a few days" you would have that car now. If your negotiation took "a few weeks" they had NO confidence you were actually going to buy... so when your sales person was off, and someone else had a deal on the car, I bet the sales manager said "So and so has been working on that car for weeks, we got a buyer? Sell it, the other guy should have bought it faster".

Great advice. I guess I aggagerated by saying a few weeks. It’s been less than two on and off and only because I don’t live in the area. We actually came to an agreement on price fairly quickly, within a day or two. I just couldn’t make it down faster.

[jjrandorin]

Originally Posted by KANdaddy

Great advice. I guess I aggagerated by saying a few weeks. It’s been less than two on and off and only because I don’t live in the area. We actually came to an agreement on price fairly quickly, within a day or two. I just couldn’t make it down faster.

Thats quite a bit different (coming to an agreement in a couple days, but scheduling being the issue).

Still can happen, obviously, but if you made an agreement a week and half ago to come down today, then its a pretty crappy thing to do to you. Still happens though.

Sales managers want cars sold "now" so if they have a person who is "check in hand" most will not wait for someone else who is coming "later" unless the salesperson tells them " I KNOW so and so is coming, they are good for it, they are a repeat customer, etc etc".

If you order a car thats different, but cant order an M3 right now. Hindsight is 20 20 but if you find yourself in this situation again, I would stress to them you are good for it and try to get there in a few days if possible, or have them ship it.

[itrocks4u]

I think them not letting you put a deposit down was a flag that even though you've been offered a pricing, they were open to other offers as well, and likely got one better than yours.

Otherwise putting a $2K or $3K non-refundable deposit is a good indication that you are a serious buyer.

Is it fair to say that you weren't 100% sure either?

[KANdaddy]

Originally Posted by itrocks4u

Is it fair to say that you weren't 100% sure either?

I had some delays going back/forth with my wife but nothing more than a half day. As of Monday the car was still available, we had an offer sheet and I had let him know my plans to come down and take delivery. He had me fill the credit app which was approved in less than 5 min and I thought all that we had left to do was meet up. Oh well....its just a car. Sure I would have loved to get it and I'm more disappointed of how I lost it, not that I lost it.

[nioh_lbbm2]

Originally Posted by KANdaddy

I had some delays going back/forth with my wife but nothing more than a half day. As of Monday the car was still available, we had an offer sheet and I had let him know my plans to come down and take delivery. He had me fill the credit app which was approved in less than 5 min and I thought all that we had left to do was meet up. Oh well....its just a car. Sure I would have loved to get it and I'm more disappointed of how I lost it, not that I lost it.

Even though they said no down payment for holds (which is a red flag for me) they did run your credit which should have told the SA that you were serious. Now that you mentioned that part of the story you should name and shame the dealer/SA

[danchee]

Wow! _After_ they ran your credit? That is utter bullshit. Your credit score has taken a hit without actually completing a loan. That really sucks.

[FriedPiston]

It's not uncommon for dealers to send the Bill of Sale and finance documents via overnight delivery. Out of town buyers do this all the time... OP, knowing what you know now, I'm sure you won't let something like this slip through your fingers again.

The dealer is by no means in the wrong here. You just need to take control of the situation in your favor as much as possible. Don't rely on the CA to be able to hold things for you, especially without a deposit or pending sale verification.

[instarand]

Originally Posted by KANdaddy

So I have spent the better part of a few weeks working a great deal on a ZCP lease. Finally got everything squared away and was ready to drive to So Cal from the Bay Area tomorrow to take delivery. Then my SA calls me today around 5 and tells me that he had the day off yesterday and another SA sold MY car to someone else. WTF?! I thought we had a deal. I even offered to put a deposit down earlier but apparently they don't hold cars. He's offered another car in its place but I'm not really feeling the color.

So pissed rt now. Anyone else ever experienced this??

That does stink. Sorry it happened. However, look at it from the opposite perspective. Imagine you were searching hard for a car and finally found the one. You ran into the dealership immediately, slapped down the credit app and signed the deal on the spot after only moments of negotiating. Would you feel bad for the other person (or persons) that have been spending days or weeks mulling it over?

[KANdaddy]

Originally Posted by nars3000

It's not uncommon for dealers to send the Bill of Sale and finance documents via overnight delivery. Out of town buyers do this all the time... OP, knowing what you know now, I'm sure you won't let something like this slip through your fingers again.

The dealer is by no means in the wrong here. You just need to take control of the situation in your favor as much as possible. Don't rely on the CA to be able to hold things for you, especially without a deposit or pending sale verification.

I asked him a couple times if we could complete some aspect of paperwork before I came down and he said he couldn't. Even asked if they had a sister store near me where I would be happy to go and take care of everything and then go meet him to get the car. I guess I was too trusting.

I won't say who he is or where he works b/c that's not my style.

[MaynardZed]

You live and learn
Don’t count your chickens until they’re hatched
Better luck next time
Buyer beware
If it’s too good to be true, it probably is
Early bird gets the worm


Almost every cliche you can think of can fit into this scenario

[BBONG]

Just think of is not mean to be. I am pretty sure when is your time come, whatever you do the car will be yours. Also hey you might get better deal for the next one. You just never know.

[FriedPiston]

Originally Posted by KANdaddy

I asked him a couple times if we could complete some aspect of paperwork before I came down and he said he couldn't. Even asked if they had a sister store near me where I would be happy to go and take care of everything and then go meet him to get the car. I guess I was too trusting.

I won't say who he is or where he works b/c that's not my style.

You either had a bad CA, or the deal was too good to be true that they were simply yanking your balls with the numbers. Next time a CA tells you they can't do anything, especially something that involves finalizing a deal, ask to speak to their superior to get a second opinion from someone with authority on the matter.

Perhaps this experience was meant to be, as it may lead to an even better deal... but only after you leave a much deserved negative feedback about how the CA poorly handled the sales agreement. Like others have mentioned, you took a 5 point hit on your credit score, which will take two years to recover. Whether it's your style or not, it wouldn't be wise to let something like this go lightly.

[damnitBobby]

There is a reason they are called stealerships. But honestly if they told you from the beginning they don’t hold cars then you shouldn’t be so surprised?

There are still plenty of F80’s around the US. Shop around.

[jjrandorin]

Originally Posted by nars3000

You either had a bad CA, or the deal was too good to be true that they were simply yanking your balls with the numbers. Next time a CA tells you they can't do anything, especially something that involves finalizing a deal, ask to speak to their superior to get a second opinion from someone with authority on the matter.

Perhaps this experience was meant to be, as it may lead to an even better deal... but only after you leave a much deserved negative feedback about how the CA poorly handled the sales agreement. Like others have mentioned, you took a 5 point hit on your credit score, which will take two years to recover. Whether it's your style or not, it wouldn't be wise to let something like this go lightly.

Unless someone is about to buy a house (or their credit is below 700) a 5 point hit on their credit score means nothing. There is more change than that in the normal month to month fluxuation in someones credit score that happens based on their credit card balances... even if they dont pay any interest on them because they pay them off.

You dont want to keep running credit checks repeatedly because it does ding you... but one or two (especialluy without actually opening an account, for a car purchase), will not matter unless one is right at one of the important "threshholds" like 740-735 (semi important), or 720-715 (important) or 700-695 (pretty darn important).

So, the credit hit could, or could not effect OP. I think more than a 5 point credit score drop, OP doesnt have the car they wanted... and has learned a pretty valuable lesson about "time is of the essence" when trying to buy a car you want on the lot. Dealers dont like to hold cars in general because people change their minds.

For every story we hear like this, there are 10 more that we dont hear about where someone changed their mind. Deposit or no, california doesnt really have something called a "non refundable deposit" (except in certain circumstances) so it doesnt matter to the dealer if OP put 2k or 4k or whatever down.. he could just ask for it back and they would have to give it.

That could be why they dont take deposits... they are pretty worthless here and basically can only show "intent" but must be given back if goods are not exchanged.

I would also hesitate in leaving a bad review for the dealership as it doesnt really do the OP any good other than trying to "get back at" him, and what does that serve?

Conversely, its entirely possible that the dealer could get / find another car like the one he wants, and if OP is not a !$!#@$@! about the situation, they might be encouraged to give him an even better deal than he was getting before, as an "we are sorry about last time".

its all in how one handles something like this. If I was OP, I would contact the CA and SM at the dealership via email, express my disappointment at having a "done deal that I was coming to pick up tomorrow sold before I could pick it up", and ask them to keep looking for a similar car and hopefully "you guys can help me get a fantastic deal on it".

something along those lines. Of course, this could be a situation where OP has decided he will never do business with them again, and thats ok too. I have stopped patrionizing businesses for FAR less than that, if I feel they actually wronged me.

only OP knows all the details of how this went down, its really none of our business. If I took a few weeks negotiating, I would feel this was my fault. If I took a couple days negotiating, came to an agreement that I would pick up on XXX date due to my schedule, they agreed, then they sold it anyway, then I would feel that was all their fault.