Just got off the phone with my GF. In early August she put a deposit on a Toyota Avalon Ltd that was scheduled to be built in a couple weeks. It got pushed back a couple of times and finally arrived today. She expected to pay msrp with no dealing. Sticker of the car is $43600. On her way to the dealer she called about the price and was told it was just under $50k. So they are jacking the price up over $6k. She told them forget it. Her 15 Avalon has 50k on it and runs great. She wanted a new one when she found out this was the last year. She just needs a transmission fluid change and she should be good to go. I guess since this big dealer only gets a few cars at a time, they will get $50k for an Avalon. This is not the time to buy a car!!
New car gouging
- Thread starter loneryder
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Doesn't she have a contract or deal? If she ordered and paid a deposit, I'd think there was a specific deal.
Probably not worth the hassle, so yeah, I agree with walking away.
This will not last forever, so the tables will turn again in the car market. How soon is anyone's guess.
Did they jack up the price or did the $44k MSRP become $50 after tax, tag, and doc?
I'm no car salesman or lawyer, but I bet there is something in the contract saying the dealer has a right to cancel or change the price for any reason. Supply and demand dictates the car will probably sell to someone else, but unless she is willing to fork over an extra $6k then she is smart to pass. Make sure she gets her deposit back. Unfortunately if its in the contract she signed and they say no return on deposit she may be out of luck. Very important to read those contracts. Car salesman aren't your friend...
I would understand no return on deposit if you back out of the fixed deal and the pre-orderd car is built and arrives with your name on it, but I would think that if the price changes you should have the right to say no deal and get your deposit back. Otherwise that would be ripe with abuse. I'd tell a dealer to pound sand if they said no refund on deposit if they decide to change the price - no way I would sign that. I'd have to imagine there are state laws against that. See what the contract says.
I would understand no return on deposit if you back out of the fixed deal and the pre-orderd car is built and arrives with your name on it, but I would think that if the price changes you should have the right to say no deal and get your deposit back. Otherwise that would be ripe with abuse. I'd tell a dealer to pound sand if they said no refund on deposit if they decide to change the price - no way I would sign that. I'd have to imagine there are state laws against that. See what the contract says.
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50K on her current Avalon is nothing. Those are 300K cars easy.
If she wants the new car, I woud talk to the dealer. And not some flunky sales guy; you gotta get to a decision maker.
Heck, for that money, she needs to get a Lexus.
Any dealer that operates that way will never get my business.
Good luck.
If she wants the new car, I woud talk to the dealer. And not some flunky sales guy; you gotta get to a decision maker.
Heck, for that money, she needs to get a Lexus.
Any dealer that operates that way will never get my business.
Good luck.
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To me this was a good thing. No need for her to get into car payments. I hope she literally verbatim told that stealership to F off. Tell her to keep on enjoying her beautiful 15 model
.Think I would be consulting a lawyer if it was me-but they probably put some weasel small print in it. A call to the local news media might be a good idea too, sounds like a possible story. "Stealership" strikes again-and a woman with money is their favorite target!!
There wasn't a signed contract because they had no vin number at the time. And they had no real idea when it would be manufactured. This is a huge Toyota dealer that had 14 new cars to sell on the day we were there. But they had a full complement of sales people which I didn't understand. They didn't have any used cars either. Are dealers getting money from the govt. like the airlines are?
She wasn't going to finance it but I agree. I would think the Lexus dealers aren't getting any more cars and are probably doing the same thing. I'm sure they will sell it because it is in No Va. where most people are overpaid and have lot's of money. She and I won't forget this.
Even with no written purchase contract, I'd still report the slug dealership to the state attorney general's office. There are sanctions for this type of business practice.
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This was probably a lucky break. A low mileage 5 year old Avalon is to die for. She gets to keep a great one owner car, one with a known history at that.
It'll keep her going for 5 more years easily (10 more years with occasional maintenance).
It'll keep her going for 5 more years easily (10 more years with occasional maintenance).
If the purchase price and VIN were not on a signed purchase order, I don’t think the customer has any recourse.
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Unfortunately you'd end up paying much more in attorney and court fees than it'd be worth.
It is totally not. A few months ago, my lovely wife wanted a Kia Telluride. Three different dealers didn't even try to hide that they were not letting the cars go for less than 12,000 dollars over sticker. We had just finished using an 09 Sorento. It had a dohc v6 that needed timing chains and rubbing blocks. It runs fine but the CEL is on so it won't pass inspection. My wife's a diabolical genius. She wouldn't let me fix the Sorento with 300 dollars worth of parts so we'd be against the wall to get a new car. Long story short, I opened the hood on the Telluride after hearing what it cost and saw a V6 with the EXACT same architecture as in the 09 Sorento. I put my foot down and said absolutely not.
She said but the Telluride is number 1 in safety. I googled the top ten safest cars and the Chevy Traverse was number 2. I said here ya go. It isn't going to burst into flames as you drive it. We got a fair deal on a 2021 Traverse.
If you are still interested, check your local Lexus dealers. Lexus plays a different game. At least around here, they will not go over MSRP. They want happy, repeat customers. Their money makers are RX and NX; the sedans not so much. Ya never know.
Good luck.
Yeah, agree, doesn’t matter if the dealer is 100% in the right.
This person was under the impression it was her car for a certain price.
That is the problem now a days, people don’t bother to break businesses chops when they feel they have been unfairly treated.
I got news for you, if enough people complain at least you know you are costing that dealer way more then the profit margin on that car by filing complaints be it the BBB and anyone else that you can.
Dealers arms car companies know what they do, when you expose them don’t think for a second that they are happy about it.
They rather you just go away
As of 3 years ago, my grandparents had 367k mi and O issue's from their early 2000s Avalon.
A lot of people aren’t willing to put in the work it takes to negotiate for a good price on a vehicle.
And the result is what you have now - dealers taking advantage, because they know that what PT Barnum said is true - “There’s a sucker born every minute.”
And the result is what you have now - dealers taking advantage, because they know that what PT Barnum said is true - “There’s a sucker born every minute.”
That's not what this is about. They don't have any cars to sell and when they get one in, they gouge people on the price. People will remember this stuff.
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