pukka

I've preordered a few cars over the years from different car makers. In all but one case, I was required to pay up front and sign the dotted line before they processed my order. Money down was not an option - payment in full within 7-10 days of contract signing or order would be cancelled.


With BMW I didn't preorder the car, I preordered the production slot. In my case I gave my dealer a check for $300 which was held, but not cashed when I signed the contract. During my wait I had opportunites to move into an earlier production slot, which most likely became free due to someone else cancelling their preorder. Payment in full was required one week before the car was scheduled to be built.

Either way, when you preorder a car from the factory you have to be a serious buyer.

pukka

Unless the dealer has a very large inventory, all of their cars on the lot will have the "cookie cutter" options such as NAV, Cold Wxr Pkg, SAT Radio, and anything else that a high percentage of buyers would look for. The only way you are going to get a deal is if the cars just aren't selling.

Any car sales ad that that doesn't include or refer to a numeric value should be considered an advertising gimmick and get immediately trashed.

Petes550i

I've never heard of a dealer requiring someone to pay in full upfront or completing a deal on a car even before delivery. That's ridiculous! Usually when you order a car, you're only required to put down a deposit (around $1000) ....and usually that deposit is totally refundable. Early last year, I ordered a S4 and placed a $1000 deposit.....at the time of delivery, I changed my mind and cancelled and got my deposit back.

Signing a contract before taking delivery is asking to be screwed....the dealer in this case can do pretty much whatever he wants.

As a general rule, you should never ever place a deposit on anything without an unconditional refund.

kscarrol

Wow, I'm with Pete on this one. This is now my fifth car ordered from this dealer and I have never put more than a $1,000 down payment to order a car. Full payment up front is unbelievable in my opinion...

Gene

+2...

Petes550i

I don't think something like that is even legal, is it?

How can you pay upfront and sign a document for a car that's not even built and doesn't even have a VIN....and what about the title?


Sounds very fishy to me.

pukka

So all of you are basically saying that you can custom order a car with whatever options you want, have it built and shipped to the dealer, and the day you are supposed to pick up the keys just say you've changed your mind and walk out the door without it costing you one penny? Never happened to me before so I guess I learned something here.

As for signing a contract before taking delivery, the dealer has to build exactly what was ordered by the delivery date. During one purchase I got a call from the dealer saying the factory no longer painted cars in the particular color I ordered. Since this was after I made the payment, I mentioned that they were breaking a legal contract. I ended up settling for a $1,500 refund which I turned into additional options and still got to choose another color. I could have got a full refund.

pukka

It is legal. The Lexus LFA is a perfect example - and this is for a lease.

According to my bill of sale, BMW cashed my check the day a VIN was created for my 5er. It was placed in service about 10 days later and delivered to me in Stuttgart about a week after that.

Car manufacturers don't produce titles for new cars, they produce a certificate of origin. Either you or the dealer takes this document to the DMV and gets it transferred into a title.

Gene

I was agreeing about your earlier comment about payment in full required before acquisition, sounded as if you were implying the full purchase price was due, or did you mean just acquisition fees?

and yes, you can walk away from an order at anytime, no matter what, they're going to sell that car regardless....

rsyed

In Austria, you can NEVER order a car without a deposit. BAsically you order a car, you pay a deposit of 10-20%. ANd if you cancel during the 8-10 weeks you wait for the car, you say good bye to your deposit. Oh ja - full payment due a week before delivery!!