Delivery delays (long)

[SoCal]

Try to mellow out a little. The contract has a June delivery date. July 15 is just two more weeks, and not an unreasonable additional time to wait for the seller's performance.

I know they told you to expect an earlier delivery, but no judge is going to get excited about a delivery two weeks after the contract date.

You should know that there is a difference between "canceling" a contract because you've changed your mind and "terminating" the contract due to seller's breach. If the delay goes a significant time beyond July 15, consider the latter.

You still would have to see Judge Wapner in small claims court to try to get your deposit back. No sure thing there, depending on what your contract says.

[donv]

Sympathize with your frustration. I went through a similar situation. While there is no excuse for the lack of communication from the dealer, there are things that affect production (in my case, it was a port fire where they loaded the cars on to the ship). Like you I ended up buying at a dealership that I would have avoided had I known more about them before, and the only updates I got were when I could catch them myself on the phone. However, at the end of the deal, I got the brand new car I wanted, made exactly the way I wanted, with nobody else having driven it, etc. The cars come filled with oil, etc. so you don't have to worry about that. Just be sure to do a thorough walk around on the car when you pick it up so you're comfortable with the condition before you pay and leave. Once you give them the big check, their incentive to make you happy really diminishes.

Hopefully you'll be driving the car in just a short period of time and this will all be just a memory... good luck!

[longislander1]

Great advice from both of you. Many thanks!

[longislander1]

Once the car's in my hands, I'll be more than happy to reveal the name. The funny thing is that this salesperson was the most accommodating among a number of Long Island dealers, even though I've had to initiate every single call to him since I put down my deposit.

Another dealership kept me waiting almost an hour for a pre-arranged (a week earlier!) test drive (as I'm standing there like a schmuck with checkbook in hand). I walked out. A second said they had a 987 S on the floor, but refused to do a test drive. A third said Saturdays were "inconvenient" for them and that I should come back during the week (when I work to pay for the Porsche).

Let's just say for now that if I had wanted to skip all of these dealers, I would have had to go to Manhattan or Riverhead next.

[SoCal]

Originally Posted by Rail26

My dealer "Isringhausen" from Springfield, IL provided the worst car buying experience I have ever had. The salesmen took 10 days to answer an email, the car arrived a month late (to Isring. credit, the factory did fall behind schedule) and the truck they put it on became stranded at a weight station because it didn't have some kind of safety equipment. HOWEVER, the moment "Lola" came off the truck it was all worth it!!! Hang in there, you have waited this long. Make sure you publish the name of the dealer on this forum and send a letter to the dealership. I plan on doing exactly the same thing. Don't buy from ISRINGHAUSEN in Springfield, IL. Spending that much money on a car I expect a higher level of customer service than I would buying a base model Saturn from a Saturn dealer right?

One more thing and this is just my humble opinion, I would not buy a showroom model that has been test driven. I remember my test drive and I definitely did not show any concern for the car. There is break-in procedures and I did not follow those guidelines. If you buy a car with 100 miles off the show room floor, just think how many people have completely flogged that car. If you look under "General Discussion" and "Break-in Procedures/Waxing" there is some good discussion on buying floor models. Good luck and keep the faith.

Not to be a contrarian, but I don't think the post above has supported a blanket condemnation of the Springfield dealership.

There are no facts showing any blame by the dealership regarding the delay in the delivery of the car -- rather, the dealership is absolved for the delivery delays. And when the car was delivered, everything was fine with the vehicle -- just as ordered.

So what if there was a delay in answering an e-mail? Do you know that the e-mail was read and then intentionally ignored? If it had been answered sooner, would you have received valuable information that you would have acted upon? If you don't get an answer to an e-mail as soon as you expect, pick up the phone and call.

Then you say you didn't show any concern for the vehicle on your test drive, as if that's not something to be ashamed of? If there is any blame for the dealership in your entire post, it is in their apparent failure to stop irresponsible people from mistreating their cars on test drives.

Sorry if I sound preachy, but that post struck me the wrong way.

[Rail26]

Hey no problem, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. That is the beauty of this type of forum! I will stick to my guns and caution against floor models though, not because of people like me, but because of everyone who tests drives the cars. The dealer drove the car a lot harder than I did. Secondly, I couldn't really call the dealer because I was stationed in Korea and had to rely on email as a means of communications. Finally, the factory ran behind (no problem), however I didn't know the car was going to be delivered late until I finally called a couple days before I came home. I was never kept informed of what was going on and that is my beef. When I have to write multiple emails and have my wife leave messages because there is no two way dialogue, then I definately have a problem with that. Just my opinion and an idea of the service I expect. Prior email a little harsh, probably, however customer service seems to be a thing of the past these days. I hope nobody shares the same experience that I did!

[longislander1]

I have to agree with Rail26 on this one. I made the sale easy for my dealership. I had already thoroughly researched the car and after a 15-minute test drive, I put down my deposit. You would think that for $60K, the salesman could have found the time to pick up the phone and let me know the status of the car. Porsche dealers don't sell so many cars in a month that they can't communicate with customers.

The dealer tries to absolve itself from any manufacturing delays, but I see the dealer and Porsche as one in the same. Porsche grants a license to sell the cars so both the manufacturer and dealer share responsibility for the way the customer is ultimately treated. If the car is delayed, the salesman should get on the phone (to Finland or Germany, if necessary) and find out what the heck is going on. Instead, I'm calling and messaging the PCNA regional manager and pushing her to get a status on the car. I'm doing the salesman's work and he's gonna get a fat commission for 15 minutes.

The PCNA rep says I should fill out the customer questionnaire and explain the whole experience. She said PCNA takes those "seriously." We'll see.

I'll keep you posted on how the delivery goes . . . whenever that happens!