BMWDoug

This situation seems very odd to me. I would like opinions. I have been corresponding via email with a BMW Dealer about the purchase of a car. I gave an out the door price, the dealer said he would accept the offer. I had given the dealer the color combination I wanted and the options I wanted. The Dealer said he would sell the car at the price I stated, but wanted a deposit so he could locate the car.

I replied, I would gladly give a deposit if the Dealer guaranteed me that the exact car I wanted would be available. (I know sometimes certain Dealers will not give up certain cars in Dealer trades.) The Dealer wrote me back and said, "In life nothing is certain but death and taxes, I need a deposit to secure your car. I will have it in about 1 to 2 weeks." I wrote back and said, "I will gladly give a deposit, if you guarantee me that you can secure the exact car I want, with the exact options I want, at the exact price we discussed, and a 1 to 2 week time frame as you suggested. I want to know for certain the car is available."

The Dealer wrote back again, and said " I have explained myself, I need a deposit to continue, or we need to move on" I wrote back to the Dealer and said, "we need to move on. I all honesty I have never heard of anyone giving a deposit on a car or any tangible item without a guarantee that the item actually exists."

Does this Dealer seem shady?

Jeffs

In my opinion, yes he is shady. When I went to get my car, dealer told me that it might be hard to find a black sapphire 6-spd with full options and I had to wait 2-3 wks before he could locate the car. I did NOT put any deposits down. The only times I placed deposits were when I had to build my own car to my exact specifications which took 2 months....

katheikia

His request for a deposit is probably because your dealing with him via e-mail. The deposit is re-fundable so I dont see the problem. Maybe if you went in and talked to him in person, you could avoid the deposit. Try and look at it from his perspective: He has never met you. He has to locate the car, and then hope you will buy it. Maybe im wrong, I dont know, but since its refundable, in my book, no big deal.

BMWDoug

Well, the other two Dealers I worked with previously never asked for a deposit. They told me once they locate the car and talk to the other Dealer to see if the Dealer would trade the car, then they would need a deposit, which I thought was appropriate and ethical. In both of those cases, the Dealers were not able to get the other Dealer to trade the car. Both of these Dealers were great. In fact, the first Dealer referred me to the second Dealer when he could not get the car I wanted.

This new Dealer seems shady. A Dealer should be able to tell you if he/she can get the car before they ask for a deposit.

alexnyc

you should not have to put down deposit for him to locate the car,once he does locate it i guess it would be reasonable for him to ask for and required for you to put down deposit,in order for him to initiate the process of transferring the car from other dealer,at that point he obviously should provide you with something written listing options/color/etc.hope it helps

dgjk

This is a chicken and egg discussion. If this is a contract you both accept then he has to get the car as you want and you have to give him the deposit

Doesn't matter which order

If you give him the money and he does nto find the car as promised you get the money back

If he gets the car then you have to buy it

Don't know why the daler is being so persistant - maybe short on cash at the end of the month
maybe he has been screwed in the past

znod

I personally would not give a deposit on the basis of a verbal or an "email" contract. I would only give a deposit on the basis of a properly executed "written" contract. The dealer easily could have executed a "proper" contract, and it could have been overnighted back and forth to get the necessary signatures and for remittance of the deposit. Personally, I would prefer that the car be located before entering into the contract. Regardless, I would want the contract to stipulate that the dealer have only a set amount of time to locate and secure an acceptable car and that the deposit would be refunded immediate after the end of the time period if no car has been located and secured.

hoopsrob

He should be able to locate the car without a deposit.

I had given a dealer specs, he located the car and said he could get the other dealer to trade with him---then I gave him my deposit, and he couldn't get the other dealer to trade after all.

I decided to custom order my car and to do PCDelivery.

The dealer refunded my money---but only after I called him and requested it when the original charge showed up on my credit card statement.

But like someone has posted, it's kind of a chicken and egg thing. He doesn't want to spend time if you're not serious----but then, how much time does it really take to put the specs in the computer and look for a car that matches it? It doesn't appear that it would be a big deal for him.

kscarrol

Spend time, come on. The dealer can search onthe computer in minutes. Back in Dec 2003 when I ordered my car, the searched available inventory first, at no charge. When nothing could be found matching my specs, I was asked for a deposit before ordering my car.

Bimmer32

I personally would not give a deposit on the basis of a verbal or an "email" contract. I would only give a deposit on the basis of a properly executed "written" contract. The dealer easily could have executed a "proper" contract, and it could have been overnighted back and forth to get the necessary signatures and for remittance of the deposit. Personally, I would prefer that the car be located before entering into the contract. Regardless, I would want the contract to stipulate that the dealer have only a set amount of time to locate and secure an acceptable car and that the deposit would be refunded immediate after the end of the time period if no car has been located and secured.
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Simple question, simple advice, right on the dot. No contract, no deposit. Contract with open ends, no deposit.