I give up - best way to get deposit back?

[Daijoubu]

I'm at 13 months wait, and car is still 2 weeks from being (hopefully) built. Buy something cheap-ish and fun that you can beat on and won't lose any value (probably go up) over the next 6 months. I bought a 4th gen Camaro SS in December, that I'll most likely make money on selling this summer.

 

[rubberduck]

Four months sitting outside, that’s more hours than my 2019 AMG has been outside my garage. This definitely gives me some pause what I would do if this happened to my pipe dream order. At some point how can they even claim this is a “new” vehicle.

The whole auto buying experience is such a disaster these days. I actually enjoyed the hunt and negotiating process. Pitting my wit and resolve against an opponent. Now I can’t even have that satisfaction. I’m only 3 months in, but have days where I feel like abandoning the sinking ship. Reading this forum and hearing about the woes of others is not helpful to my attitude.

If I wanted to walk away and get my deposit back, I would go in high to leave room to negotiate. Something like, the deposit back and they pay me $5K to walk away. Then negotiate down to $2K-$3K.

 

[SOP]

Four months sitting outside, that’s more hours than my 2019 AMG has been outside my garage. This definitely gives me some pause what I would do if this happened to my pipe dream order. At some point how can they even claim this is a “new” vehicle.

The whole auto buying experience is such a disaster these days. I actually enjoyed the hunt and negotiating process. Pitting my wit and resolve against an opponent. Now I can’t even have that satisfaction. I’m only 3 months in, but have days where I feel like abandoning the sinking ship. Reading this forum and hearing about the woes of others is not helpful to my attitude.

If I wanted to walk away and get my deposit back, I would go in high to leave room to negotiate. Something like, the deposit back and they pay me $5K to walk away. Then negotiate down to $2K-$3K.

All my cars also live in the garage. UV ages the paint, don't you know.

I miss those days also. Buying a car was a process I looked forward to. All the research, negotiations involved and finding that sweet deal. Now it's just "You'll pay us what we want, and you'll thank us. Oh by the way, the wait for a normal car is 6 months."

 

[arod221]

I hear you man, but it has been 7 months lol. When is enough?

I waited a year and 2 days for mine....absolutely love it!
It sat in the holding yard of death for a couple months after it was built as well.

 

[Quandary]

Don’t think anyone has mention it, but since late Jan, those undelivered cars have been exposed to extreme cold temps (<20F) a few times of which is not recommended for the equipped summer tires.
You better be inspecting those treads upon taking delivery. You know I will.

For those of us that live in the north whether the car is outside or in the garage the summer tires are still exposed to extreme cold.

 

[Daijoubu]

If I wanted to walk away and get my deposit back, I would go in high to leave room to negotiate. Something like, the deposit back and they pay me $5K to walk away. Then negotiate down to $2K-$3K.

Are you saying the DEALER should pay YOU the deposit back, PLUS 2-3k? This is a joke, right?

 

[Throat Yogurt]

If I wanted to walk away and get my deposit back, I would go in high to leave room to negotiate. Something like, the deposit back and they pay me $5K to walk away. Then negotiate down to $2K-$3K.

Pay you to walk away? I admire your optimism, but...good luck with that.

 

[rubberduck]

Pay you to walk away? I admire your optimism, but...good luck with that.

Why not? Dealers charging markups, why shouldn’t I? Might as well get some enjoyment out of the crappy situation. People that know me know I would actually try that. It’s a new world where the old rules no longer apply.

 

[1Evil55]

Any of you considering walking away from your order, someone else is saying thank YOU! Unless you're in a position that you need a car, strongly rethink before walking please. It is worth the wait.

 

[Daijoubu]

Why not? Dealers charging markups, why shouldn’t I? Might as well get some enjoyment out of the crappy situation. People that know me know I would actually try that. It’s a new world where the old rules no longer apply.

Yeah, it totally makes sense...if you don't really think about it. The dealership is just going to give you some money for a car they would probably rather sell to someone else at a markup anyway. Please report back with how much money the dealer decided to give you for absolutely no reason.

 

[1Evil55]

I was always told the only dumb questions are the ones that don't get asked. Maybe they have a leftover Citation they'll throw at you as a parting gift.

 

[Berserker]

4 months sitting in the lot of doom is much different than 4 months waiting for the order to be built. Environmental contamination, and the rest of the car is aging by the day.

I've been wondering about engine internals on these.

There's a lot of bare metal in there with little (if any) protection after 4 months.

 

[rubberduck]

If I wanted my deposit back why would I say, please give me my deposit back. That leaves me nowhere to go but down. Better to start with an off-the-wall offer and negotiate from there. The dealer's upside is that they will take the car and markup and make more money. Seems reasonable I should get a piece of the action. At a minimum it will give them some interesting water cooler discussion besides the usual look how I shafted my customer topics.

 

[jaroby3490]

Thanks for all of the responses here. I was able to get my deposit back today.

I know a lot of you balked at my reasoning, but having a 80k car sit out in the elements for four months with zero communication or eta is just unacceptable. Is what it is though, on to the next one. Best of luck to all of you!