What the dealer has been up to since my accepted offer
 

No wonder dealers are not well liked and people do not trust them. So I have been eyeing this 02 Boxster for 2-3 weeks now, it's been on the lot since Oct 23rd and cars have 30 days to sell then they head to auction. Go back 2 weeks ago and the car was $16,995 and "we have no room on this car at all." I go and look at it, love the color combo, options and miles but it's no garage queen. Needs a little TLC and bodywork (minimal) by rear tire. Offer 13K and obviously they decline. So a week later I take a better look at the car and figure between the work needed and the rear plastic needing replacing in a few months 14K is realistic not knowing they just lowered the price to 15995. They counter at 14850 and I accept. A day goes by and they call strongly suggest as deposit as they have several interested parties. Ironically even with all the communication with dealer they never ask for a deposit, actively have the car listed (don't blame them) and they continue to lower the price, now at 15500.

Bottom line is they are in no rush to take my deposit at 14850 because every 3rd day they lower the price of the car in an effort to get just a few more hundred than my offer. Kind of makes me want to lower my offer. Car goes to auction in a week....

Having worked at a dealership in my younger days - if you haven't given them a deposit, then you have no deal and they can do what they want. Money talks. If you want the car and have agreed on the price, get it in writing and put down a deposit.
Or - if you or you have a connection - wait for it to go to auction and bid on it there. Might end up with a steal of a deal.

I completely understand that there is no deal without a deposit. Just find it ironic that they were ready for a deposit and now are in no rush as they continue to lower the prices. Every time I reach out to the dealer they always reply with "let me get back to you tomorrow." Seriously, over a few hundred dollars they want to drag this out? My last conversation was about what time can I pick the car up this week and who to make the check out to. Oh well, being in sales I find it funny to observe their tactics. Not offended at all, just find it funny....and slightly slimy.

They likely don't have much room honestly, and can expect similar to your offer from auction, the way I see what's wrong with a business trying to turn a completely fair profit, I agree with your price point, but if someone is willing to pay more any right minded dealer would be more interested in that buyer.

dealers are seriously scum to deal with , show them no kindness what so ever . private sale is the only way to go .

Just honour the deal, if they accepted 14850. They are making money. Otherwise it would goto auction. If I were the dealer i would want it gone asap.

Hope to wrap this up tomorrow and get the deposit to them. Can't imagine them wanting to drag this out any longer. Depending on weather and work I should be able to have it home Wednesday or Thursday.

Jake you have a lot to learn. Your word is your bond, or at least that's what I grew up believing. He made a deal. They accepted his offer and the car is sold. Anything else is as shady and wrong as it gets. If they werent making a profit they wouldn't make the deal. They are engaging in incredibly poor business over a couple extra bucks. Greedy is putting it nicely. Yelp review this place and make sure others avoid. Hope you get your car.

Agreed except that people call businesses daily and make appointments or deals and are never heard from again. Hopefully they honour their commitment once a deposit is in their hands...

What I don't understand is this: if the OP and the dealer agreed upon a price, why hasn't he put down a deposit?

Right, and if the dealer was serious about business they'd have required a deposit and paperwork would've drawn up. Not a place that I would give my business to. I'd be looking into what auction its going to and be prepared to really make them pay for their mistake.

People back out of deals all the time. Having worked at a dealership, never once did the dealership ever back out of a signed deal, but lots of customers have. That's why dealerships require a deposit and something signed. It protects both the buyer and the seller.

False. A dealership is a business like every other business out there. Some are crappy, some are very good. At least with a dealership (in most places) there are avenues to file complaints. With a private sale, you're on your own.

Before I bought my car I was negotiating with another dealer. (Delray Beach Mazda) They had a nice Boxster that I was very interested in. I had a friend in the area go and do a quick inspection for me. (is about 5 hours from my house) Based on his report back to me I started negotiations. We arrived at a price and I gave a deposit via credit card over the phone. My friend went back to get the car and take it for a PPI. The car wasn't there. They had given it to another customer to take home for the evening. When this was reported back to me I was PISSED. They refunded my CC. I ended up two days later buying my car from Jim Ellis Porsche In Atlanta. (VERY NICE to deal with) I flew to Atlanta to pick up the car they even picked me up at the airport and had all my Florida license plate and registration taken care of. Anyway, I get back to Key West and the dealer in Delray is calling me asking if I'm interested in the car still. I negotiated with them back and forth for a couple of days got them about $1000 less than the first price we agreed on, then e-mailed them a picture of my new car and told them to EFFF off.

Ummm, no dealer can force anyone to sign anything. They can extend an agreement or verbal acceptance on a price or deal, but it's always up to the buyer to show up with cash. They have the pen and paper there when the buyer is done tire kicking, I can assure you. No dealer wants a car sitting on their lot 5 minutes longer than it needs to. Why would anyone assume different?

And OF COURSE the dealer will continue to drop the price until it sells. The fact they said they had no room to negotiate was likely week 1-3 or some guideline they have. Or, they lie. So what. You know they will make their money. If they have the car you have been wanting, why lose it over a grand or worse $500??

+1 Could not have said it better myself.

Timco, unless I read his post wrong, they agreed to a price and he offered to put down a deposit but they said dont worry about it and are being elusive about officially closing the deal. OP has tried calling to put down the deposit and they tell him it's ok, yet they still have his car listed. My comment was that they agreed on a price and paperwork and deposit should've been done. The fact the dealer didn't says to me they are trying to work this like an auction.

My impression is the car is local. So why deal with them over the phone? I'd get down there toot sweet and see if they take my down payment in person. While they're being a bit sketchy, the bottom line is there is no financial obligation in place for them to sell you the car. Put the phone down and pick up your keys.

Here's what the OP wrote:

It sounds as though they made the offer of 14850 over the phone, and he accepted. A day later he hadn't put a deposit on the car.

If you haven't put a deposit down, you haven't entered into a contract to buy the car. If you're not at contract, the dealer can continue to sell the car.

Or am I missing something?

Until money changes hands and you have a signed agreement there is no deal.

Not all dealers are bad. I recently bought a 04 996 Targa from a small dealer and her was a pleasure to deal with. He was 100 miles away and one weekend I drove up to look at the car and test drove it. A week later I decided I wanted the car. Didi the negotiating over the phone, gave them a deposit over the phone with a CC and arraigned for a local PPI at a P-car Indy .

Within an hour of running the credit card, they took the listing down from their website, Craigslist, cars.com and autotrader.

While tour dealer wasnt asking for a deposit, had you insisted on giving them one and got a written deal, it would have been different

I sold cars for a little while and one we had an agreement on the deal and a handshake at the table it was a deal, even if there was someone else in the showroom trying to make a deal on the same car for more money.

YMMV with car dealers, some are honest and some are not

The OP really have me confused.
The OP and Dealer agreed on a price but yet the OP did not go to the dealer and make a deposit. You don't need to wait for them to ask you for a deposit. If you want the car why don't you go over and give them the deposit and finalize the deal? It seems to me that you maybe holding out as well hoping for the price of the car to be lowered since the price have been going down as the days go by.

I'm from the west coast and bought a new car from this same dealer. I've had nothing but great experience with them and all communications was over the phone. During the viewing process they sent me pictures, detailed videos of the car inside and out. When we agreed on a price They sent me documents of the sale and I sent them a cashiers check. They even helped arrange shipment of the car directly to the front of my house.

The old "nah...don't worry about the deposit" move. Works every time.


Most brokers in my experience become very pound foolish over a few hundred bucks.
You build businesses on clientele not the last 0.5% of a deal. This dealer should know by now (if they bothered to "feel you out" like all good sales departments) that you have a history of regularly switching cars... which is exactly the kind of customer they like to have on an email list. If the sales manager knows what he's doing he can identify the difference between a repeat customer from a guy just passing through. Very dumb, because now even if you do buy the car you might not go there again or recommend them.

You may be right, but I haven't read anything from the OP which states that this is the case.

Now I'm confused. Reread the original post. From what I reread they suggested he put a deposit down and he hasn't. If this is the case then he's got no reason to complain, he's not serious enough. Agree with Timco they cant force you to come in and put a deposit down and dont think they should have to bully you into basically stealing what sounds like a very nice example of a 986s. Go put money down and sign the agreement before it gets away.

I think it's simple sales procedure. If you really want to lock down a sale you ask for the deposit or advise that unless there's a deposit we'll continue working the phones knowing they have x number of days before the flatbed comes to taker the car to auction. Sounds like these guys were playing both sides, lining up a stalking horse bid of sorts from the OP while leaving it up to him to show up with a cash deposit.
If that's the case I simply show up with the cash in hand. If they refuse me because there's another wishy washy bidder, I tell them my offer on my next visit will be x amount lower. I did this very thing once when the dealer tried to hit me with some dealer fees they didn't include in the negotiated price. They let me walk out and later accepted the offer (minus the dealer fee) over the phone to save face. LOL.

Well we really don't know since the OP was a bit unclear and hasn't posted an update.

Still here guys. Still waiting to hear back from the dealer regarding the "verbal" estimate they received from the auto body place. They were supposed to get me that info Friday evening and the last exchange was "we will reach out to you tomorrow."

This ^^^

If you want the car, go down and sign the papers, give your deposit, and buy the car. Everything else is just madness.

Just got an email from the dealer. They weren't able to get in touch with the auto body guy today....they will call me tomorrow.

My gut is telling me they are dragging this out hoping someone comes in and offers more than our verbal agreement. I'm playing this too seeing if the price drops. Although it needs a little work at $14850 I really can't complain.

Sometimes in my business we quote specific jobs/customers in a manner hoping we won't win the biz. In case we still get chosen, we'll implement a slow availability and delivery date to give them adequate time to re-think their choice [again and again]. Inevitably though if they still chose, we will move forward and complete 100%... but we made sure we're generously over compensated for the ensuing headaches.

;)

$14850 is a really good price for that car!

What difference does this make? Didn't you make the offer "as is"? What does the cost of the repair have to do with anything? Are you trying to get them to reduce the price by the amt of the repair? I don't remember you stating that in your 1st post.

I just want confirmation of the estimate to make sure it's actually $800 and not $2000.

Finally had a chance to call tonight but it was right before they closed. I offered CC for deposit but he said no worries and he will call me tomorrow...

At this point I'll probably just go and pick it up Tuesday or Wednesday.

Deposit has been given. Hope to get there today for the test drive. Nothing like testing out a Boxster when it's 28 outside.

It was 28 degrees when I bought mine. Dropped the top, cranked the heat, and drove it to see my wife at work. :)

What the dealer has been up to since my accepted offer
 

Tomorrow before noon will be test drive. If all goes well should be bringing it home tomorrow night.

No way I'm lowering the top. The plastic window would shatter!!