You're going to LOVE this CPO buying experience
 

crosspost with AZ
Hi-

As you know, I have been in the hunt for an S4 for some time. Well, after working the numbers (for a week) on a fully loaded, IDEALLY CONFIGURED, low mileage CPO S4 I finally pulled the trigger today. In fact I put down a $2500 deposit just after lunch so the sales guy and I could figure out how to do the out-of-state transaction. A few hours later we figured out the process and when the sales guy went to draw up the papers with the odometer reading, he called me with some frustrating news.

He told me the car had been taken by another customer, over night, unbeknownst to him. I had him put the sales manager on the phone, and asked the sales manager to promise me he would be selling me the car as soon as it was returned. The sales manager said he could not. He said it was an honest mistake... the car had been taken in the morning... everything should be fine... but would not guarantee he would sell me the car. When I pushed him he did say "what if they offer me full price".

Net-net, they have my deposit (and I have a picture of the form and the receipt), and I won't know until tomorrow morning if the car is mine.

I feel like we had a promise for a promise. What are my rights? Recourse? What would you do?

Discuss...

Sue them for millions for breach, and get an RS5 or RS7 instead when you win the case.

Sounds like a perfect plan B.
:D

I know that you've been looking for a while, but I would have a real hard time trusting that dealership on anything they said at this point. You had a deposit on the car and for them to throw "what if they offer full price" at you is total B S. Honest mistake, yes they happen, but to not honor your deposit is crappy customer service IMO. I know I'd take my business elsewhere, but I can also tell that you don't want to loose this one. Good luck

Before you do anything, check your buy order. Is there anything there that states the dealer can unilaterally cancel the agreement? If so, other than getting your deposit back, you're probably out of luck. (It's pretty common for this to be included in any car buy order agreement for either party to cancel without prejudice).

If there is no "escape clause" and it looks like this one is going to fall through, tell the GM that you're going to call AOA and lodge a complaint. Dealers hate getting bad marks from customers as it counts against them in various ways with the AOA. Second, tell him your going to lodge a dispute with the BBB. Finally, you can call an atty. to send them a demand letter requiring the dealer to find you another like car for the agreed upon price.

If you decide to file a lawsuit, be prepared for it to take at least two years or more to come to trial and incur expenses on your part. Again, read your buy order carefully before considering this avenue.

Or, you could get your deposit back and just walk away and go elsewhere, never to do business with that dealer again. Regardless, if the dealer decides to sell the car to someone else, once a sales agreement is finalized and executed with another party, unfortunately, that particular car is out of the picture.

But in this situation are you really a "customer" (in the way their rating system works) ?

To me, if you leave a deposit on a car, you are a customer

Sure. If Audi misses a sale due to dealer misbehavior or anything that reflects negatively on the brand, they pay attention. Whether or not it helps the OP with his situation is another story.

How about working out an alternate solution like meeting them halfway on the price difference with a brand new, similarly equipped car. Of course you would start the discussion with your disappointment in them and the options of going to AoA and BBB.

He s keeping pretty quiet and hasn't updated us...