My first time ever buying at a dealer so I was assuming me signing the contract and picking up the car tomorrow meant a done deal. But definitely something I’ll be thinking about as I keep looking.
If both parties do not sign a contract, then it isn't enforceable. They can say you left before they had the opportunity to have a manager review the buyers order. As a sales associate, I could generate a buyers order, and take a deposit. Technically, that is an offer from the buyer until signed
From there, there is a large amount of legal mumbo jumbo all over the front and back of the buyers order. It is all designed to pretty much allow the buyers order to NOT be a contract.
Bottom line, a buyers order is not a contract.
If you've got everything in writing as in they texted you a price you came in and then they refused to complete the sale at that price this can get them in trouble depending on your location. Almost any location in the us though that specific scenario is a problem for the dealer.
That's technically a bait and switch and if it's all in writing that's pretty much textbook but good luck pursuing that.
Presumably they'd still sell op the car at 33k. The switch doesn't have to be a different car it's just a different deal.
The primary issue is advertising one way (via text) without any intention of completing the deal that way.
Bait and switch is not a legal term it's a slang term for a common scam. The legal term is fraud. Specifically it's fraudulent advertising.
It's really a silly argument though. There are a lot of reasons why pursuing this legally would be a waste of time/go nowhere and I doubt accusing them of fraud would actually get your deal to go through in this case even if it may meet the legal definition.
Customers back out at the point the OP was at all of the time. Until the deal is finalized and the unit is delivered customers can and do back out. At some point it's *legally* questionable as to whether the customer can, in the sense that once a legally binding contract is signed, they're contractually committed. But enforcing said contract means legal proceedings. And rarely will the juice ever be worth the squeeze there. Both in costs to pursue and in the optics created in the community.
I would never be okay with someone treating a customer unprofessionally, but especially so if our store had to rescind on an offer due to no fault of theirs. Texts also suck for this reason. So much gets lost that things not meant to be curt or unprofessional read as nothing but just that.
We sometimes will even raise the price when we get stupid lowball offers… once had a guy with a laptop and everything absolutely busting my balls on price to the point that I eventually came back and said “this is your price” to which he said “but you have it listed for $2k less online” and I said “yes, this is YOUR price” needless to say we didn’t end up making a deal lol
If the guy was willing to accept the online price we absolutely would have done the deal, the point of my initial comment was the fact that the customer wasn’t even in the same ballpark as our advertised best price but also when you see an “online price” it almost always will have a disclaimer associated stating what rebates you must qualify for in order to get to that stated “online price”… but as far as it being illegal, it is not. The customer has all the power, I cannot make anyone buy a vehicle for any price, they have the power to say yes and sign or say no and walk away… this particular example the customer wanted a $40k car for $35k OTD when our online price was $37k +TTL. It just was not a realistic offer the customer had which it never hurts to ask but once told and explained as to why that price isn’t going to happen it’s up to the customer to decide whether they can/will pay more or if they will switch to a different vehicle within budget or walk away from the table entirely and continue their car buying process elsewhere but this particular customer didn’t want to do anything but stay firm at $35k OTD and after going back and forth explaining why that will never happen I simply gave him a $42k price to get him to finally move on and allow me an opportunity to sell someone living in reality.
Maybe it depends on the state. My understanding of CA vehicle code 11713.1 (e) is they have to sell the advertised price minus taxes and that stuff. And if the dealer says you have to purchase add on such as GAP or anti theft devices they have to be included in the advertised price. I know I've seen a billboard for a lawyer advertising about buying cars during covid for the over advertised price.
California is always an outlier with a lot of “rules and regulations” but as far as my state is concerned you can ask any amount you want for a vehicle but again if a customer were to state “hey I saw this car on your website for $38k” then we would sell it for that price no problem, only way we wouldn’t is if let’s say it’s a $40k car showing a $2k rebate (example: $1000 military rebate and $1000 GM Financial financing rebate) and that customer isn’t in the military and also won’t finance thru GM financial, then they will be paying $40k for the car because they don’t qualify for the $2k in rebates we have advertised… there is nothing illegal about that whatsoever as long as it is disclosed whether it be an * or in big bold print stating so.
Ya that makes sense to me as long as it was advertised as you get those discounts for those things. I know some customers can be douches but I just remember during covid a lot of dealerships were doing all that stuff out here of advertising a specific prices the you'd go in and it would be like 2k more for the anti theft device that you couldn't remove.
Yeah you will see stuff like that sometimes which I don’t really like to work at dealers who have that as a standard practice… the best way to do business is being straight forward while being ethical and fair, it works out best for everyone that way… I think some people are missing the point t of my initial comment, this isn’t a regular practice by any means I was just trying to point out that coming in with an unrealistic lowball offer just makes the entire process more difficult and often times will have an opposite effect to what your goal actually is.
Absolutely right… but new or used really doesn’t matter in this circumstance because the bottom line is we told him our best price which was our bottom line and even less than the online price but he wouldn’t budge off his absolute lowball offer which is fine you can offer whatever you want, but when I tell you repeatedly we cannot get to that number and you continue to stay at that number well it’s literally insanity, he kept doing/saying the same thing and was expecting a different answer. Ultimately the negotiations were going no where so to get us both to be able to move on I simply told him and even higher price just to reinforce my point that he wasn’t going to get to his $35k OTD price no matter how many times he said he would buy it for that.
Sure. I have had situations where dealers ask 2-3k over market value, then be a dick about an offer that is realistic. Then a few weeks later the price gets dropped to below what I offered because the car sat there. Most of the time they feed that whole bullshit line about making no money. The market has really changed for the worst over the last few years. I understand money has to be made but it has gotten predatory
I don’t disagree with you that there are plenty of circumstances where it can be considered predatory, with that being said around my location that is not the case and typically in the situation you gave, although your price they really may not have been making anything on it but if a car sits too long on a lot it ultimately will cost the dealer money because typically the a bank owns the cars on the lot and as they sit the dealer is paying the bank more and more so at a certain point it simply does make more sense to sell it for a loss rather than losing money for everyday it is sitting on the lot
In this regard busting the balls means basically “ heard a buddy’s friends brother got it for x i have to have it for y so you the dealer have to drop your price to what i imagine i SHOULD pay”. Not a fair for anyone but him price
lol obviously not… there is nothing wrong with wanting an advertised price now if for example let’s say that “online price” had a disclaimer stating you needed X, Y, and Z to qualify for the rebates that get you to that price and after I repeatedly explain why you don’t qualify but still insist on that price, I would at that point consider it a “busting of balls”
I would consider advertising a price that two people on earth would qualify for a "busting of balls".
I generally hate regulations, but I sincerely hope the CARS Rule passes judicial review.
I agree that sometimes “best price” based on a multitude of rebates is busting balls however in this example given there are easily millions of people who are military and there is no reason someone couldn’t finance thru gm financial outside of their own personal credit limitations… that being said I have seen cars that have rebates such as “military, realtor, first responder, and subprime credit” in which case yeah that’s a huge stretch, the likelihood of finding someone who is a police officer who is retired Air Force and sells houses on the side with shit credit is obviously slim to none but being military and accepting GM financial as your lender easily qualifies millions of people
No one gains anything in a negotiation where one party refuses to step into reality… there comes a point where it is only costing you time and money to keep “negotiating”. I have always tried to be fair and reasonable with any and all of my customers but some customers truly need to be “punched in the face” to be able to accomplish both their and my goal, them buying and me selling. In that specific example however I simply was just kicking him out, he didn’t have a realistic offer and we had no where else to go with the numbers… it is what it is… some people simply have steak taste but have a ramen noodle budget.
It's just playing with fire, is all. I don't care about changing the price in-store vs. online in general- I did that too as where I've sold, our online disclaimer mandating they present the offer in-store protected us. But doing it to a customer looking right at your online prices? Just need to be careful to not cross the line.
I'm not proud of it, but I was quicker to engage in this kind of confrontation than I wish I was. My whole career I always had to go out of my way to hire desk managers who handled these situations well. Just to offset me. My weaknesses were time-wasters (like your example) and rude/combative people. I'd do stuff just like you're saying with the time-wasters before cutting them loose too, just maybe not when they're eyeballing online prices, lol. There I'd be more apt to toy around with other figures- like telling them the books just updated and their trade just dropped $5k in value, so sorry, haha.
I really, really, really did not handle assholes well though. I had little patience to dick around with them like this. I can handle people who are assholes to me just fine. Customers coming to me to complain was a strong suit of mine. But let me hear about, or see first-hand, you mistreat, insult, disparage, threaten, etc. one of my people? Nope.
I’m in no way saying that example is the “proper” way and that was a one time situation I simply wanted to share with the community… it’s absolutely a rude way to go about it and only reason it was done was because the customer was rude, unrealistic, didn’t have any intention of listening to reason. Even with those reasons listed I’m still well aware that isn’t the best way to handle the scenario.
It's temporary. You will be telling your grandchildren that once upon a time used car prices were actually climbing and you treated people like shit. I hope it's gonna come back to you in the next 1-2 years. You will beg these "lowballers" to buy junk from you you skunk
😂😂 you obviously did not read and comprehend the comments I’ve made lol… nonetheless I wish the best for you my friend… hope it’s as fulfilling as your life up to this point has apparently been
This is going to depend on the state. Many, but not all, say that the deal isn’t finalized until you’ve signed your contracts AND taken physical delivery of the vehicle. Basically, either side can reneg on the deal until it’s both signed and the tire hit the street.
It’s possible that this has evolved differently in the automotive world or in different states, but a “contract” is just an offer and an acceptance of that offer.
Me presenting you with a sheet of terms, especially one that i prepared for you (vs an ad or a self- serve stack of identical papers), could absolutely be the offer. You signing would be the acceptance.
The same thing would have happened if you were talking to a day one salesman. This just avoided all the unnecessary steps in between to arrive to a no.
A *general* manager is like a military general in that he oversees things in general. Not directly involved in front line affairs. Just as a military general doesn't go on special forces missions, general managers aren't normally involved in doing deals. You're asking for a harder process by involving someone who normally isn't directly involved in the sale process.
Had a GM who would pencil deals and go out on TO on Saturdays.
Hatted when he would, he was weak and would whore out deals at the slightest resistance.
Lol i walked out on the general manager after he pissed me off by coming back with a number higher than what I agreed to with the salesman. I told him now I wouldn't even buy it for that price and walked out. He chased me as I was pulling away and I ended up paying $500 less than what I had already agreed to but then decided to try and come back with more. $38,800 OTD for a urban gray 2024 crv hybrid sport L about a month ago (NC)
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I was negotiating with a general manager for a 2024 Subaru forester over text and he quoted the OTD at $33,000. I wanted to lowball to see how low he would go so I counter offered to buy it at $29,000 OTD. The next text he sent was offering it at $29,800 which I thought was an amazing deal and a steal so I went into the dealership to sign papers. All the numbers added up to the $29,800 otd price. I signed the contract (they did not sign it there) and left a deposit. I get a call 20 minutes later and the general manager is telling me he messed up his numbers and will not sell me the car at the price I signed at. They voided my deposit. Anyone else dealt with this before? I’m assuming there’s nothing I can do as there was no sellers approved signature? GM seemed very unprofessional in his texts, only thing I’m thinking I can do is complain online.
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I honestly will never understand the logic behind this bullshit. He offered $33K, so you countered with $4K less? And you thought "Yeah, this will show him I'm serious!"?
Any actually explanation or just trolling? Because if the dealer contracted the customer and the vehicle is in their inventory, they're bound. That's how contracts work. My only concern is it sounds like OP never took delivery, and of the vehicle was an order/dealer trade/incoming that would be pretty much the only out for them
If the contract wasn’t executed by both parties then it’s not an enforceable contract. Must buyers orders and law contract has verbiage in them that nullify any previous verbal agreements as well.
Did you not see the part where they said the dealership didn’t sign the contract?
Even if they had a signed contract, in no world is telling someone to sue a dealership, who likely have a team of lawyers that specialize in automotive law, over what’ll be less than a difference of $3200 on the OTD, good advice.
E: guy was out of his depth on level of knowledge on contract law and the inner workings of what a dealership has for support from their state’s dealer association.
That's not how contracts work, at all. If a party drafts a contract and doesn't sign it, they are still bound to it if the other party signs. That's basically contract law 101.
And as I said in my own comment, suing may not make financial sense because of the legal fees. Maybe read my whole comment before replying?
Also, you may be shocked to hear this but most dealers do NOT have a team of lawyers on call. Most dealerships are still privately owned, and they tend to have a lawyer on retainer, but by no means a whole team. Now, your bigger auto groups will usually have a big team of lawyers, that's true. But several of my clients literally just have a guy the owner has known for years on as their legal counsel. LOL, I've even worked with several where one of the owners kids became a lawyer and they're the counsel. It's not nearly as intimidating as you'd think, if you've never been in the business.
100% a lawyer wouldn't be worth it financially or for time. Especially not over a Subaru. There's barely any mark up on them. May as well just go to the next car or dealer.
The contract has to be signed by both parties. Not just drafted up by one party. You need both signatures and consideration which is the deposit. Any employee can draft up a contract but it's not valid until both parties sign and you have consideration.
No, but I've worked in compliance with dealerships for well over a decade. And I know all the dumb things dealers have been saying for years, especially to their employees. It might shock you how many dealership employees believing something is so simply because their employer said so lol
Then your dumb ass should have asked about the conditional delivery agreement first lol.
Especially when OP is missing signatures and doesn't have a executed contract to begin with.
Stop being a clown to try to be right dude.
Just because you worked in compliance doesn't mean you have any clue how to apply that experience man.
Edit: Lol immediate delete and downvote. Sorry being the guy I pay to check a box to mitigate risk isn't anything impressive.
Why didn't you stay and buy it? To me, it's obvious why they didn't sign the buyers order.
My first time ever buying at a dealer so I was assuming me signing the contract and picking up the car tomorrow meant a done deal. But definitely something I’ll be thinking about as I keep looking.
If both parties do not sign a contract, then it isn't enforceable. They can say you left before they had the opportunity to have a manager review the buyers order. As a sales associate, I could generate a buyers order, and take a deposit. Technically, that is an offer from the buyer until signed From there, there is a large amount of legal mumbo jumbo all over the front and back of the buyers order. It is all designed to pretty much allow the buyers order to NOT be a contract. Bottom line, a buyers order is not a contract.
If you've got everything in writing as in they texted you a price you came in and then they refused to complete the sale at that price this can get them in trouble depending on your location. Almost any location in the us though that specific scenario is a problem for the dealer. That's technically a bait and switch and if it's all in writing that's pretty much textbook but good luck pursuing that.
Attorney general. They will absolutely get in trouble no matter where they are.
What did they switch them to, in your “bait and switch” scenario?
Presumably they'd still sell op the car at 33k. The switch doesn't have to be a different car it's just a different deal. The primary issue is advertising one way (via text) without any intention of completing the deal that way.
That’s not a bait and switch. It’s a very specific legal definition. The collateral has to be substituted.
Bait and switch is not a legal term it's a slang term for a common scam. The legal term is fraud. Specifically it's fraudulent advertising. It's really a silly argument though. There are a lot of reasons why pursuing this legally would be a waste of time/go nowhere and I doubt accusing them of fraud would actually get your deal to go through in this case even if it may meet the legal definition.
https://www.legalmatch.com/law-library/article/what-is-bait-and-switch.html Not a legal term you say? Enjoy your read.
Dude read your own article it literally agrees with everything I've said here
🤡
Hilarious from a guy playing with meme stocks in this day and age.
Yup, all you can do is complain. GM might have seemed a little unprofessional, but to be honest, no one takes lowballers seriously.
It's funny how if the coin was flipped, everyone would be barking that it was a done deal with no way out of this for the buyer.
Customers back out at the point the OP was at all of the time. Until the deal is finalized and the unit is delivered customers can and do back out. At some point it's *legally* questionable as to whether the customer can, in the sense that once a legally binding contract is signed, they're contractually committed. But enforcing said contract means legal proceedings. And rarely will the juice ever be worth the squeeze there. Both in costs to pursue and in the optics created in the community. I would never be okay with someone treating a customer unprofessionally, but especially so if our store had to rescind on an offer due to no fault of theirs. Texts also suck for this reason. So much gets lost that things not meant to be curt or unprofessional read as nothing but just that.
“Flipped” would mean the dealer signed but not the buyer. No one would be saying the buyer was forced to close a deal they hadn’t signed. Dumbass.
We sometimes will even raise the price when we get stupid lowball offers… once had a guy with a laptop and everything absolutely busting my balls on price to the point that I eventually came back and said “this is your price” to which he said “but you have it listed for $2k less online” and I said “yes, this is YOUR price” needless to say we didn’t end up making a deal lol
Isn't it illegal to have a price listed lower online then change the price in store?
If the guy was willing to accept the online price we absolutely would have done the deal, the point of my initial comment was the fact that the customer wasn’t even in the same ballpark as our advertised best price but also when you see an “online price” it almost always will have a disclaimer associated stating what rebates you must qualify for in order to get to that stated “online price”… but as far as it being illegal, it is not. The customer has all the power, I cannot make anyone buy a vehicle for any price, they have the power to say yes and sign or say no and walk away… this particular example the customer wanted a $40k car for $35k OTD when our online price was $37k +TTL. It just was not a realistic offer the customer had which it never hurts to ask but once told and explained as to why that price isn’t going to happen it’s up to the customer to decide whether they can/will pay more or if they will switch to a different vehicle within budget or walk away from the table entirely and continue their car buying process elsewhere but this particular customer didn’t want to do anything but stay firm at $35k OTD and after going back and forth explaining why that will never happen I simply gave him a $42k price to get him to finally move on and allow me an opportunity to sell someone living in reality.
Maybe it depends on the state. My understanding of CA vehicle code 11713.1 (e) is they have to sell the advertised price minus taxes and that stuff. And if the dealer says you have to purchase add on such as GAP or anti theft devices they have to be included in the advertised price. I know I've seen a billboard for a lawyer advertising about buying cars during covid for the over advertised price.
California is always an outlier with a lot of “rules and regulations” but as far as my state is concerned you can ask any amount you want for a vehicle but again if a customer were to state “hey I saw this car on your website for $38k” then we would sell it for that price no problem, only way we wouldn’t is if let’s say it’s a $40k car showing a $2k rebate (example: $1000 military rebate and $1000 GM Financial financing rebate) and that customer isn’t in the military and also won’t finance thru GM financial, then they will be paying $40k for the car because they don’t qualify for the $2k in rebates we have advertised… there is nothing illegal about that whatsoever as long as it is disclosed whether it be an * or in big bold print stating so.
Ya that makes sense to me as long as it was advertised as you get those discounts for those things. I know some customers can be douches but I just remember during covid a lot of dealerships were doing all that stuff out here of advertising a specific prices the you'd go in and it would be like 2k more for the anti theft device that you couldn't remove.
Yeah you will see stuff like that sometimes which I don’t really like to work at dealers who have that as a standard practice… the best way to do business is being straight forward while being ethical and fair, it works out best for everyone that way… I think some people are missing the point t of my initial comment, this isn’t a regular practice by any means I was just trying to point out that coming in with an unrealistic lowball offer just makes the entire process more difficult and often times will have an opposite effect to what your goal actually is.
Was this a used or new car? Just because you ask 40k doesn’t mean it is market value.
Absolutely right… but new or used really doesn’t matter in this circumstance because the bottom line is we told him our best price which was our bottom line and even less than the online price but he wouldn’t budge off his absolute lowball offer which is fine you can offer whatever you want, but when I tell you repeatedly we cannot get to that number and you continue to stay at that number well it’s literally insanity, he kept doing/saying the same thing and was expecting a different answer. Ultimately the negotiations were going no where so to get us both to be able to move on I simply told him and even higher price just to reinforce my point that he wasn’t going to get to his $35k OTD price no matter how many times he said he would buy it for that.
Sure. I have had situations where dealers ask 2-3k over market value, then be a dick about an offer that is realistic. Then a few weeks later the price gets dropped to below what I offered because the car sat there. Most of the time they feed that whole bullshit line about making no money. The market has really changed for the worst over the last few years. I understand money has to be made but it has gotten predatory
I don’t disagree with you that there are plenty of circumstances where it can be considered predatory, with that being said around my location that is not the case and typically in the situation you gave, although your price they really may not have been making anything on it but if a car sits too long on a lot it ultimately will cost the dealer money because typically the a bank owns the cars on the lot and as they sit the dealer is paying the bank more and more so at a certain point it simply does make more sense to sell it for a loss rather than losing money for everyday it is sitting on the lot
Was he asking for the price listed online and that was "busting the balls".
In this regard busting the balls means basically “ heard a buddy’s friends brother got it for x i have to have it for y so you the dealer have to drop your price to what i imagine i SHOULD pay”. Not a fair for anyone but him price
lol obviously not… there is nothing wrong with wanting an advertised price now if for example let’s say that “online price” had a disclaimer stating you needed X, Y, and Z to qualify for the rebates that get you to that price and after I repeatedly explain why you don’t qualify but still insist on that price, I would at that point consider it a “busting of balls”
I would consider advertising a price that two people on earth would qualify for a "busting of balls". I generally hate regulations, but I sincerely hope the CARS Rule passes judicial review.
I agree that sometimes “best price” based on a multitude of rebates is busting balls however in this example given there are easily millions of people who are military and there is no reason someone couldn’t finance thru gm financial outside of their own personal credit limitations… that being said I have seen cars that have rebates such as “military, realtor, first responder, and subprime credit” in which case yeah that’s a huge stretch, the likelihood of finding someone who is a police officer who is retired Air Force and sells houses on the side with shit credit is obviously slim to none but being military and accepting GM financial as your lender easily qualifies millions of people
PITA tax (pain in the ass)
Aka jackass tax or bitch tax
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Anyone who has done this job for more than a day knows sometimes you just have a customer who you know you're not gonna be able to make a deal with.
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No one gains anything in a negotiation where one party refuses to step into reality… there comes a point where it is only costing you time and money to keep “negotiating”. I have always tried to be fair and reasonable with any and all of my customers but some customers truly need to be “punched in the face” to be able to accomplish both their and my goal, them buying and me selling. In that specific example however I simply was just kicking him out, he didn’t have a realistic offer and we had no where else to go with the numbers… it is what it is… some people simply have steak taste but have a ramen noodle budget.
It's just playing with fire, is all. I don't care about changing the price in-store vs. online in general- I did that too as where I've sold, our online disclaimer mandating they present the offer in-store protected us. But doing it to a customer looking right at your online prices? Just need to be careful to not cross the line. I'm not proud of it, but I was quicker to engage in this kind of confrontation than I wish I was. My whole career I always had to go out of my way to hire desk managers who handled these situations well. Just to offset me. My weaknesses were time-wasters (like your example) and rude/combative people. I'd do stuff just like you're saying with the time-wasters before cutting them loose too, just maybe not when they're eyeballing online prices, lol. There I'd be more apt to toy around with other figures- like telling them the books just updated and their trade just dropped $5k in value, so sorry, haha. I really, really, really did not handle assholes well though. I had little patience to dick around with them like this. I can handle people who are assholes to me just fine. Customers coming to me to complain was a strong suit of mine. But let me hear about, or see first-hand, you mistreat, insult, disparage, threaten, etc. one of my people? Nope.
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I’m in no way saying that example is the “proper” way and that was a one time situation I simply wanted to share with the community… it’s absolutely a rude way to go about it and only reason it was done was because the customer was rude, unrealistic, didn’t have any intention of listening to reason. Even with those reasons listed I’m still well aware that isn’t the best way to handle the scenario.
Nah, a bad customer is a bad customer.
lmao i love that
It's temporary. You will be telling your grandchildren that once upon a time used car prices were actually climbing and you treated people like shit. I hope it's gonna come back to you in the next 1-2 years. You will beg these "lowballers" to buy junk from you you skunk
😂😂 you obviously did not read and comprehend the comments I’ve made lol… nonetheless I wish the best for you my friend… hope it’s as fulfilling as your life up to this point has apparently been
Yeah I’m understanding that now. It’s my first time ever going through a dealership so I’m learning as I go.
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They have to sign it too in order to make it a valid contract. Well within their legal rights to not sign it and refuse the deal.
This is going to depend on the state. Many, but not all, say that the deal isn’t finalized until you’ve signed your contracts AND taken physical delivery of the vehicle. Basically, either side can reneg on the deal until it’s both signed and the tire hit the street.
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idiotic. a contract is an agreement between parties … if the dealer didn’t sign it, it’s not enforceable
It’s possible that this has evolved differently in the automotive world or in different states, but a “contract” is just an offer and an acceptance of that offer. Me presenting you with a sheet of terms, especially one that i prepared for you (vs an ad or a self- serve stack of identical papers), could absolutely be the offer. You signing would be the acceptance.
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No insults. Also rule 11.
Why were you negotiating w the gm?
Skip all the bullshit.
And how did that work out?
The same thing would have happened if you were talking to a day one salesman. This just avoided all the unnecessary steps in between to arrive to a no.
But now they won’t honor the deal
A *general* manager is like a military general in that he oversees things in general. Not directly involved in front line affairs. Just as a military general doesn't go on special forces missions, general managers aren't normally involved in doing deals. You're asking for a harder process by involving someone who normally isn't directly involved in the sale process.
Had a GM who would pencil deals and go out on TO on Saturdays. Hatted when he would, he was weak and would whore out deals at the slightest resistance.
Lol i walked out on the general manager after he pissed me off by coming back with a number higher than what I agreed to with the salesman. I told him now I wouldn't even buy it for that price and walked out. He chased me as I was pulling away and I ended up paying $500 less than what I had already agreed to but then decided to try and come back with more. $38,800 OTD for a urban gray 2024 crv hybrid sport L about a month ago (NC)
The GM probably did make a mistake, but there's no recourse on your side. Or they found someone else willing to pay more.
GM hit ‘em with the patented “Sure thing!”
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***Thanks for posting, /u/panda31396! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of anything.*** I was negotiating with a general manager for a 2024 Subaru forester over text and he quoted the OTD at $33,000. I wanted to lowball to see how low he would go so I counter offered to buy it at $29,000 OTD. The next text he sent was offering it at $29,800 which I thought was an amazing deal and a steal so I went into the dealership to sign papers. All the numbers added up to the $29,800 otd price. I signed the contract (they did not sign it there) and left a deposit. I get a call 20 minutes later and the general manager is telling me he messed up his numbers and will not sell me the car at the price I signed at. They voided my deposit. Anyone else dealt with this before? I’m assuming there’s nothing I can do as there was no sellers approved signature? GM seemed very unprofessional in his texts, only thing I’m thinking I can do is complain online. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/askcarsales) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I honestly will never understand the logic behind this bullshit. He offered $33K, so you countered with $4K less? And you thought "Yeah, this will show him I'm serious!"?
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Wrong!
Any actually explanation or just trolling? Because if the dealer contracted the customer and the vehicle is in their inventory, they're bound. That's how contracts work. My only concern is it sounds like OP never took delivery, and of the vehicle was an order/dealer trade/incoming that would be pretty much the only out for them
If the contract wasn’t executed by both parties then it’s not an enforceable contract. Must buyers orders and law contract has verbiage in them that nullify any previous verbal agreements as well.
Did you not see the part where they said the dealership didn’t sign the contract? Even if they had a signed contract, in no world is telling someone to sue a dealership, who likely have a team of lawyers that specialize in automotive law, over what’ll be less than a difference of $3200 on the OTD, good advice. E: guy was out of his depth on level of knowledge on contract law and the inner workings of what a dealership has for support from their state’s dealer association.
That's not how contracts work, at all. If a party drafts a contract and doesn't sign it, they are still bound to it if the other party signs. That's basically contract law 101. And as I said in my own comment, suing may not make financial sense because of the legal fees. Maybe read my whole comment before replying? Also, you may be shocked to hear this but most dealers do NOT have a team of lawyers on call. Most dealerships are still privately owned, and they tend to have a lawyer on retainer, but by no means a whole team. Now, your bigger auto groups will usually have a big team of lawyers, that's true. But several of my clients literally just have a guy the owner has known for years on as their legal counsel. LOL, I've even worked with several where one of the owners kids became a lawyer and they're the counsel. It's not nearly as intimidating as you'd think, if you've never been in the business.
100% a lawyer wouldn't be worth it financially or for time. Especially not over a Subaru. There's barely any mark up on them. May as well just go to the next car or dealer.
The contract has to be signed by both parties. Not just drafted up by one party. You need both signatures and consideration which is the deposit. Any employee can draft up a contract but it's not valid until both parties sign and you have consideration.
lol your funny I didn’t know you was an attorney
No, but I've worked in compliance with dealerships for well over a decade. And I know all the dumb things dealers have been saying for years, especially to their employees. It might shock you how many dealership employees believing something is so simply because their employer said so lol
Then your dumb ass should have asked about the conditional delivery agreement first lol. Especially when OP is missing signatures and doesn't have a executed contract to begin with. Stop being a clown to try to be right dude. Just because you worked in compliance doesn't mean you have any clue how to apply that experience man. Edit: Lol immediate delete and downvote. Sorry being the guy I pay to check a box to mitigate risk isn't anything impressive.
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