Hey all,

I basically found an RX-8 I liked, went through the drill of nailing down a price, and put down a $2000 deposit. Then I went down to another dealer who agreed they would price match but with a brand new car (the exact same) instead of a demo.......

Any good ideas for trying to get a deposit back? I think if i show up and say "I found a better deal" they would be less likely to hand it back over!

 

if you put the deposit down using a credit card, then it's easy. Otherwise...

 

As long as you did not sign any other papers, you CAN get your deposit back, if its CC is easy, if u wrote them a check or cash ... you can still get it back, but 10 times longer.

Just tell them that you have some family emergency, I want my money back.

B4 I got my RX8 I put a deposit for a Scion xA (yeah laught all you want, but it was limited edition!) , then I saw the RX8 (mine now, Muhahahah), I fell in love @ the first sight. So I called the dude at Toyota up and tell him that it has been too long (I waited 2 months for that ****, still no VIN number) and tell him I want a refund.

IT took him 3 weeks b4 he refund me the money back to my credit card tho.

the dealership probably wrote you a piece of paper said that you put a deposit, it should say that you DO NOT have to buy the car on it somewhere, take the back out and read the fine prints.

 

Your money should be refundable unless you signed some type legal contract which states otherwise.

 

No contract, and yes it was credit card....

 

Yup. Unless you signed something, the deposit is considered a "good faith" agreement and is not a binding contract. They have to give it back, but like others have mentioned it's a pain in the *** - moreso if you paid cash or check, since you don't have the "muscle" of your credit card company behind you.

 

Yeah I just need a good excuse

 

Actually. sorry for scattering details throught this post, but I did sign a credit application. But I don't think that binds me to anything?

 

No. And you don't need any excuse to get your money back. In fact, your best bet is to tell them straight up that you have a better offer. They won't want to lose the sale, and will start offering more (either better pricing or 'free stuff')

 

+1

If they give you any crap about getting your money back you can call your CC company and have them deny the charge. There are plenty of consumer protections in this case, should they give you a hard time. Start out by telling them your better offer though, and see if they'll sweeten the pot for you.

 

Hey tell them upfront u found a better deal,any dealer with any sales smarts and in this changing economy will more than likely match the deal.

 

Good thing you got out of that!

Oh, it was a Limited Edition - nevermind...

 

I agree with this. Explain you got a price match, but on a new one and the dealer might drop the price down a couple thousand, though a brand new warranty isn't bad either

 

I'm curious as to why you put down a deposit for an RX-8? It's not like these cars are hard to come by and have to be pre-ordered. I thought most people just negotiate the price and buy it right then and there. Was it a dealer trader or something?

 

dont lie to them, many complain about dealers lying to them but dont see any wrong in the reverse. tell them the truth. you should have stopped shopping when you made a commitment. I have found in a long life that if your straight with people they usually will be the same with yo. good luck

 

true. but, in most cases, car salesmen do not qualify as people.

 

nope... i had one walk up to me and asked if i cut the springs.. LMAO

 

Huh? And all this time I thought I was a person...

As a car salesman, my advice to you is be straight with your salesperson.

If you really like the person you're working with (if they're any good), the best route would be to let him/her know, then thier dealer could dealer trade with the one with lower miles for the same car.

Meaning you buy the nicer car from the original person and avoid hurt feelings, lying, and you don't waste all the time and work the 1st salesperson spent making you want to buy an RX-8.

 

He was probably talking about the many other slime that are sales out there. You seem like a stand up person, though! Good to see one out there.

And what he said, by the way. They will probably work with you on it.

 

That was meant as a somewhat toungue in cheek comment.

You'll be in trouble quick if you take things personally here. It's a general comment that, while unfair to ALL salesmen, is true of many.

Personally, I did a small "deposit" just to make one of the salesmen that called me daily (despite being told not to) shut the f8ck up about it. I would have had no problem telling them to credit it back to my card, since said salesman was obnoxious and rude enough to ignore my repeated requests to stop calling me at work.

So in my case I would not have thought twice about pulling that $$ right back because (and here's the tie-in to your . . . assumption and the basis for my response to Miker1's post) that salesman was not being a straight forward, regular guy. He was the quintessential sleeze-ball salesman. Perhaps that's why the OP did a deposit, perhaps not - we don't know.

 

No offense taken man

I know the stereotype. The cool thing is it makes me sell way more cars since people find our dealer's attitude and practices refreshing and buy from me over the competition .

 

Wait so you put a deposit down, jsu tso they would stop calling and then disputed the charge?

Please agian, it goes back to jsut being honest. This is exactly why people complin abotu salespople lying, because they get so conditioned to beign LIED TO that every oncde in a while, thye lie back. I will tell you without a DOUBT that the mojority of lying occurring in dealerships is coming form customers mouths. Occasionally poorly skilled salespeoipel "retaliate".

If you walk in and say you found a better deal, they will try and get you to find a better deal a ttheir store, but if they cannot, you will probably have a check mailed to you, at worst. BUt as mentioned before, that is kind of your fault anyway, as you put down a sign of committment, and are backing out of that.

As for the guy calling you at work, I'm sure he didn't want to,. his manager makes him, and he tries to keep his job. If you are honest, and tell him that you will NOT buy a car from him if he calls you at work again, he will finally have enough to stand on for his sales manaager, who is NOT speaking with you to back off. IT's easy for the disconnected person to keep pressing, while hard for the person that hears it on the phone every day.