$5000 non-refundable deposit?

[blinkme323]

I have a local dealer that's willing to sell one of their confirmed CT4-V BW builds at MSRP. However, they want a "non-refundable" $5000 deposit and of course can't tell me even a general timeframe for when the cars might arrive (they literally said, "could be here tomorrow or could be here in six months"). That said, are the non-refundable deposit and the lack of any general timeframe normal?

*And just to add, I saw the confirmed build sheets, so I at least know those are legit

Thanks!

 

[Blackwing Bill]

My own car is showing 3800 produced on 1/27 and is still not here. I know my dealership is doing that for deposits. I can’t speak for other dealers but I’m not going to promise any dates when GM’s shipping/logistics of these is so crazy unpredictable right now. The alternative is to just wait for the car to be shown that it’s on the move before doing a deposit or just wait until it arrives at the dealer.

 

[rubberduck]

That seems a little steep. I paid a $1000 deposit for my 5BW order. I have no idea if it’s refundable or not. If I find another car first I don’t mind forfeiting the deposit. If it were me I would try to negotiate the deposit.

 

[shbox]

CT4-Vs are not that hard to get to demand a $5000 NR deposit. Sewell had 10 on the lot not too long ago.

 

[Blackwing Bill]

That’s where they determined they want the level of commitment. If you have 5 deposits at 5 different dealerships for $500 is it really a deposit/commitment at that point? If you are locking down a unit that can not be sold to anyone else i think that’s fair. You don’t have to lock it down either. You can just wait for it to come in.

 

[SIX 40]

Yeah, no. If it was a 5 you could be waiting a year. My mind changes too much to leave a $5k non-refundable deposit.

 

[Daijoubu]

Aren't non-refundable deposits illegal? Pretty sure that the rule stems from the Dale car back in the 70s.

 

[shiftdown]

I put a 5k non-refundable down for my C8 vette, but don't think I'd do the same thing again. Depending on how things work out, there's a lot of opportunities to change your mind while waiting.

 

[Blackwing Bill]

I mean ordering is a different story. Of course it’s refundable if there is no allocation yet. Once it’s placed though that’s you car. I’ve also declined taking a customer deposit if they weren’t 100%. I mean you know if you’re going to buy the car or not. I also don’t judge anyone for wanting to wait. You literally don’t have to place a deposit.

 

[SOP]

I had to place a refundable $5k deposit to secure the allocation. If it was non-refundable, it'd be a non-starter.

 

[Exia]

I've placed $1000 for my spot in line that sometimes would become $5000 when an allocation is received.

$5000 non refundable to wait in line for an allocation is a load of baloney and wouldn't hold up anywhere.

Now if they have an allocation and they want $5000 to place the order and you sign a bill of sale securing the car thats different.

 

[ericwilliamstevenson]

I paid 2000$ refundable to stand in line.. Not sure if they would have refunded after the car was built, but pretty sure they wouldn't have cried taking the car into inventory and slapping an ADM on top.

 

[Throat Yogurt]

I also have done a $2k refundable. I have an agreement with another dealer for a $500 refundable until they get an allocation, then increase to $2k. What dealership is this that wants $5k?