Anyone have a dealer try to back out of a deal on a factory ordered car with a $5,000 deposit held for almost 7 months while being told 8-12 weeks at time of order? The car arrived and they tried to mark up MBF rates over 50% claiming the car was a 2020 when ordered it was a 2019. The reason it was 2020 was because they waited 6 or 8 weeks to tell me that there were no more 2019’s being built. I said OK, 2020 then. There was no talk of any changes to the deal. They kept stringing the date out and 8-12 weeks turned into almost 7 months.
I’m new to the community, I ask because I’ve never seen something like this.
Unfortunately, I’m in the construction business so I can’t help much but If you’d like to I can run this by my cousin who is a finance manager for a Mercedes dealer in California.
If they are trying to back out and are giving you your money back, take it and run. Not sure why you would want to give your business to this dealer, they sound pretty ’y.
I agree, maybe you can share the details of your deal for others to weigh in on the deal itself. If the deal is weak, you may be better off walking away to structure a better deal.
In California, you cannot have a binding sales agreement on a car the dealer does not have in stock. As such, I am not sure what you could sue for, especially since the dealer apparently never obtained a 2019 model, which is what your deal was for.
As others have said, just get your $5,000 back, and move on to another dealer.
Interesting. Is this based on a law? Does that work both ways? It would seem that a factory order would mean it is “in their possession”? What about once they had it in their possession. The deal was in effect prior to that and and axknowledged once they received it? Any resource you have on this law? Thanks!!
Just a hypothetical, but any chance they did order your original car but sold it to someone else for better terms (to them) and that is what caused the delay and forced the current vehicle to be a 2020?
Your “deal” was for a MY 2019, which isn’t available anymore, so there’s no way they can honor that deal. Besides that, a deal isn’t official until signed and funded by the bank, so I highly doubt you can sue them for anything.
No. There’s lots if apologetic correspondence and reaffirmation of the deal by text and email. They confirmed we’d do the 2020. The 2019 order was placed 6 - 8 weeks before they said no 2019 are being built. They offered same deal on the 2020 in writing.
There’s lots of apologetic correspondence and reaffirmation of the deal by text and email. They confirmed we’d do the 2020. The 2019 order was placed 6 - 8 weeks before they said no 2019 are being built. They offered same deal on the 2020 in writing. And updated me continuously. The factory order was a very specific build. I’m looking for legal authority saying the deal isn’t enforceable.
Buyers screw over dealerships all the time without consequences. You unfortunately got screwed over by a dealership. I’d just move on. The only issue I see is the dealership holding your money for 7 months. Once they knew they couldn’t honor the deal they probably had an obligation to return the money promptly. I am not a California lawyer but that seems like the dealerships main transgression.
Edit: I guess the second question is did they take your deposit with the knowledge that the agreed upon deal was not possible and with the intent to renegotiate a second deal later. Again not a California lawyer but my understanding is California has some fraud in the inducement rules that are unusual. Even if they did, I still don’t think this is worth your time but if you can do the legal work yourself I also can’t see it being worth the dealerships legal costs fighting versus just giving you the deal on a 2020. Especially if the fraud knocks out the arbitration agreement.
You definitely aren’t the first to have a deal in writing, but dealers still changing the deals when going in to sign. If you think you can sue and win, good luck.
’y.