OT: car buying weirdness and question

Ok, so I put a small deposit on a new car with the Honda dealership that I have used since 1984.  The problem is that they only had the car I want in black and the Prelude I am selling that I have been driving for the past 15 years is black, and I was REALLY hoping to get a red one.  Another local dealership has one in red, but I bought one car from them in 1995 and we had issues so I swore I would never buy from them again.  I put the deposit on the black one because it was the only other manual transmission one in the entire Dayton and a northern Cincinnati area.  (Apparently, for reasons beyond my personal comprehension, most people buying a car with a V6 engine want an automatic {what a waste of almost 300 horsepower!})  The "evil" dealership and the "good" dealership do not trade cars, so that isn't an option.  Anyway, after thinking about it for a day, I REALLY want a red one.  I get REALLY excited about having one in red, but the excitement of getting one in black wore off in 24 hours. If I am going to spend THAT much money, I want to be REALLY excited about it,  I will lose my deposit if I don't buy the lack one and hat dealership cannot get a red one from somewhere outside our area, but I would rather forfeit that money and get the color that I really, really want.

Now for the question.  I mentioned to the dealer that I would likely want to add the guards to prevent door dings, but that I wanted to see them actually on a car (rather than in a brochure picture) and needed to see the final numbers on the car once they and evaluated my Civic trade-in.  He informed me today (after finding out that I really wanted them to see if hey could get me a red car) that the body shop had already installed them and that he hoped that adding them wasn't going to impact his ability to use the car to trade for another one.  Now, why would he go ahead and tell them to add the door guards before they had even appraised my Civic let alone him telling me how much the door guards cost and having me sign a contract??  Now, maybe they DIDN'T do it and he was using that to try to get me to purchase the black car anyway, but even assuming that they did install them, if he had them add it before having a contract signed, then IMO that is HIS fault, not mine.  My deposit turns out to be exactly the same as the alleged cost of the door guards... So if I forfeit my deposit they aren't out any money... But I am kind of annoyed that, even if I end up with that car, he added them before I could see what they look like and how much they cost.

Do other people see this differently?  Just hoping for some feedback before I take my Civic in tomorrow morning to get the trade-in appraisal.  (I have an appt at the "evil" dealership 2 hours later to get them to appraise the Civic; they have already agreed to match the purchase price given to me by the other dealer.)

Lora

I don't think the dealer should ave added anything to the car, unless it was in a signed contract! Sounds hinky to me.
I think you should go for a red one. You sound much more excited about it and if you're spending a lot of $$ for a new car, it should be the one you really want. How you go about that, however, I have no idea. Good luck!!!

In my opinion, you should get what you WANT.  So that would be the RED one at the evil dealership.  We have stopped being loyal to dealerships as they aren't as loyal to me as I would think.

I researching our last new vehicle, we priced many and when we finally picked the one we wanted the dealer gave us his final figure.  Then we heard of a dealership in another city with the same vehicle,  and we phoned and we saved 1000.00 and they delivered it for free.

When we called the dealer here to tell him we found another vehicle, he had the nerve to tell us that we should have come back to him with that new price and he would have matched it.  Duh...what was that all about..

So get what you want. I find making these kind of purchases very stressful, which leads me to eating...lol

I gave the good dealership until Wednesday to get a deal for a red one, and after that I will go to the evil dealership and buy theirs.

Lora

I hope they figure something out for you.  You being the customer - they should be doing everything they can to get you what you want.  And that guy should never have put the door guards on before you signed anything... BAD move on his part..

April

I have no loyalty to dealerships when it comes to buying a car, I have purchased my last 3 car on the internet, so I get the best possible deal. The closer dealership will still have to do any warranty work, which they should be happy to do, since the factory pays them to do it.  ( I do not buy brand new cars, however, I look for the car I want used with very low, under 20,000 miles)  I try to find more than one of the same/similar car, then play the dealers off of each other to get the price down.  I don't understand why you can't get your deposit back?  I would go into the dealership and throw a fit about the whole thing, including the salesman installing something on the car without your approval, until they did give my money back.

Yes, I will have the car serviced at the preferred dealership no matter who I buy the car from.  I just didn't want to buy from a dealership that was very shady when I purchased a Del Sol form them many years ago.  But, if it means that is the only way to get the car I want, I will do it.

 

Lora

I had a 1994 Del Sol!!  Bright red and I LOVED that car!! 

Mine was a red 1994 VTEC model (bigger engine, wider back end), and I loved it too.  160 HP engine in that little car made it FLY!  Mine had a bunch of very small stone chips on the lower hood, though (part of the issue with the dealer) and developed a mysterious electrical problem that stranded me three times in 4 weeks after I had it almost 4 years... so I traded it in on my beloved Prelude.  I have a VERY low tolerance for car trouble, so that was the end of my patience with the Del Sol no matter how much I loved taking the top off, putting my hair in a ponytail, and turning the radio up!

Lora

As for doing work on your car without permission, wrong any way you look at it...they took advantage of the situation and that would be the last time I would do business there!

As for the vehicle you want in the color you want they have several options including ordering one from the factory. I have worked in a dealership in the past and we brought cars in from all over the northeast if a customer wanted it! You might pay list or close to list as there could be added dealer expenses but you cando it. Your commentary makes me feel like they did not want to bother going an extra step for a loyal customer...that tells me it is time to find a new dealership.

My last truck came in from over 300 miles so that I could have what I wanted...don't compromise on something you will spend several years in just because it is all that is in stock...

Good luck at the evil dealership and do not forget to also talk to the service folks about their part in the sales follow up and how they will take care of you in the future!