Sorry for the long story...

Ok so I've researched this to death and after the test drive wanted to go with the Versa. I went to my bank and took out a loan and did all the required stuff so i can proclaim "cash" down when I go to buy the car. I go to the first dealership and they're like "well we have to do a lot of searching for the car you want" Ok. I get it. This thing is in high demand. I tell the salesguy that i want a SL model, any color, CVT and if he can find one with the satllite and sunroof great.... I put a security deposit down and off I go. First thing that crossed my mind was that the guy didn't give me an exact price for a car since he didn't know the options... I understand that too but hey at least give me a ballpark number. So i let a day pass by and i go to another dealership. They offer me a car for 16800 with the otpions I wanted. I say great here's my deposit let me know when you move it from your other lot to this one and I'll go pick it up. Last night i go to the origianl dealership to get my security deposit back and I'm told "we need your credit reciept or the pruchase order" Hmm well the reciept is in limbo since I can't find it and the purchase order is with the salesguy. Now I'm pissed that i gotta go through a hassle to get my deposit back So today I'm going to talk to the sales guy (he was off that night) and demand my money back .This should be fun to say the least....

If it was on a credit card, you can just call your company an issue a chargeback, if all else fails.

you have no idea how similar your case is to mine. the sad thing is, u told them u want any color, and they still told u its gonna take a while finding it! i told my dealership that i specifically want black, and he said im too picky and that its best if i give him some more colors to work with, i told him im investing 20,000 into my frist car and i want the color that i like. He told me to pay a 1000 dollar deposit and give him 3 days to search for the car, i told him im not in a hurry, if i have to wait 3 months for the car with the color i want, i will.

One question, why do you want a car with any color? dont u want a color that u like? are u in that much of a hurry that ur willing to drive like a red or a blue or a silver or a color u dont like? btw how did u get the sunroof option, i thought it wasnt available yet until the sport package comes out.

That is why I don't give any dealership money. Some have requested money before giving a price. I pretty much told them to take a long hike off a short pier!! They are in business to make money but not give potential customers greif. Everyone needs to realize that as a customer, we have the power over the dealer, not the other way around.

If you are talking about not leaving any deposit when ordering a car, i must say that you don't have many chances to get what you want because dealer is always leaning towards the client who pays more...so yes you have the "control" of the situation but you get the car after everybody else.

I experienced the same thing because honestly, leaving a deposit even with a receipt is not something that comes naturally...

Ordering a car is one thing. Yes, if I am ordering, I leave a deposit. But some salesman want a "good faith" money before going to ask the boss for the bottom line. That ain't happening here. Give me a price and I will let you know if I want it. Of course, this is my first dealings with anything other than Ford in a while. The Honda experience was a challenge until we got up and headed for the door. So, yes, I will leave money if ordering a car but not just to find out the lowest price or for someone to locate a car. With today's computers, locating a car is not that hard of a job.

If he gives you a receipt and says that it is refundable i don't see any problem. He will add the money you paid to the total final price of the car.

Meanwhile you are showing off that you are interested and he might actually do something about it.

you need to do more research.i don't mean to be rude but you just weren't thinking.you gave a deposit without even asking how much it was.

locating the car isn't hard at all, but they'll ****ing charge you an arm and a leg for the "shipping" fee.

there was a guy who bought a car at a dealership awhile ago.he didn't like the deal he got but bought the car anyways.then he crashed it into the dealership within a few hours of purchasing the car and put it on fire burning the car and dealership.after he got out on bail, he took a plane somewhere and committed suicide in the planes restroom.

that's just stupid.like what electech said, you have power over the dealer, so if you don't like something, do something about it (like leave NOT burn the place down).

if they're not giving you your money back, that's not right.you SHOULD be get your money back, call the police and make a big deal about it.

I called up different dealership, walked into one - all of these in L.A. I think because it's a big city, they are more busy, and it shows. The one I walked into made me wait, even if I had an appointment, and then as I walked out, passed me to another, who told me things that weren't accurate, and couldn't even price out a sports package I wanted to order, making me wait a long while. I walked out because I felt they didn't deserve the sale. They seem to play a game to see how much you want the car by how long you're willing to wait for them - get coffee, take a smoke, call up their friends, do chit-chat over the water cooler, get a haircut and a pedicure - before they come and talk to you.

Call up a dealership that's within a 100 - 150 mile radius of a major city, and you'll be surprised the day-and-night difference the service you get. In fact, I just placed a deposit with one - and the sales rep was doing the right thing talking with me. She even went to the lot to verify that the Versa S indeed doesn't come with fog lights, even though Nissan's website (try configuring your own Versa S), says that fog lights are included.

BTW, I had a good experience with the parts people in the dealership in the past,as I have a 92 Pathfinder, and that good experience is a memorable one that I called them for my car.

It's not always a feast at these dealerships. When famine strikes, you'll know who's getting the business.

Sahandman wrote:One question, why do you want a car with any color? dont u want a color that u like? are u in that much of a hurry that ur willing to drive like a red or a blue or a silver or a color u dont like?

For some of us, it just doesn't matter. I've owned two red cars, two blue ones, a purple one, and orange one, a black one, two green ones, a "burnt umber", and a yellow one. In most cases, the deal/equipment on a particular car was what mattered.

You can get a better deal on a car the dealership has sitting on its lot than one scheduled to come in several weeks hence. The dealerships don't own the cars outright; they have to pay interest on them. Every day a car is unsold is money out of their pocket, and if they can sell you one off the lot, the hemmoraging stops.

In my case, I test-drove the Versa, Yaris, and Fit, and decided on the Versa. The salesman checked his sheet, and told me the car was $18,000. I told him I'd give him $16,500.

The salesman was pretty young...I don't know how much experience he had. But he just seemed absolutely stunned that I made a counteroffer. He hardly seemed to know what to do next. But I suggested that he take the offer to his sales manager. He asked if I was ready to buy that day, and I said, "yes."

He came back a few minutes later with a counteroffer for $16,900, and I took it.

In this case, the car was red, and was the only Versa they had. Strangely enough, we'd test-drove a Yaris and a Fit earlier that day, and in both cases, red was the only color THEY had.

Of course, I'm not in the targeted market for cars like the Versa...I'm an old fudd, and my priorities in car-shopping are reliability and roominess (I'm a 98th percentile in size). Features come next, with styling and color well down the list. Younger folks see things differently. :-)

BTW, if you really want to get the inside scoop on car shopping, get the book "Don't Get Taken Every Time". by Remar Sutton.

Ron

penpen-commander wrote:locating the car isn't hard at all, but they'll ****ing charge you an arm and a leg for the "shipping" fee.

They shouldn't.

Back in 2004, I bought my WRX brand-new at $100 over invoice, and it was a factory order. I paid the same $550 destination that everyone else pays, but I would've paid that if I'd bought one that was sitting on the lot.

I will never purchase a new car that isn't a factory order. I don't want anything that has been sitting on a dealer lot, who knows what they've done to it. I was at the dealership when the truck carrying my car arrived. I didn't let them touch it at all, except to do whatever prep they do with the fuse box. I didn't want them slapping pinstripes on it or some damn fool thing like that.

Wow , quite a lot of posts on this. I also see that my experiance is familiar to many of you. Well, last night right before i'm about to leave I get a call from the salesman telling me that the car will come with CVT and the Conv. package. I tell him that's fine but whats the final price. He tells me that the car is 15,700 with 1300 in taxes... That's much ... much less than the dealership with the better service. I could haggle the whole thing to death i'm sure for at least another 500 min but I think I'm going with this deal since I need a car ASAP. I'll post pictures when i get it.

Sahandman, just like rwanttaja stated. The color doesn't matter to me so much as options and price.

thanks everyone for the stroies and responses.

muskrat wrote: He tells me that the car is 15,700 with 1300 in taxes... That's much ... much less than the dealership with the better service.

That's at least $300 under invoice. Did you get that in writing? :-)

Its unfortunate that you are unhappy with the dealership. I am the manager of a nissan dealership in NY and i can tell you that selling a versa right now is pretty simple.They are going for list price as supply are very low. Its also a brand new product on the market that is better than anything in its class, thats what most of my customers are telling me.However the versa has very little markup in it anyways so if a dealer sells you one at list they are not going to retire on it. Also in order for us to get a different color if a customer desires that, We have to trade a versa to the other dealer to acquire it. So at this point theres really not a whole lot of negotiations going on with the versa. Right now i don't have a single versa in stock i don't even have one to show someone. I do have 3 coming in anyday now. But one is already spoken for and we have about 10 appts to see the other 2. Its nice to see that Nissan is developing excellant products that will maintain resale value and take us into the future. But if you think the versa is great, wait till the new sentra comes out around october.

i've been with Nissan since 1987 on the sales side not the mechanical side. But if anyone has a question feel free to ask me. Thanks Doug

rwanttaja wrote:and decided on the Versa. The salesman checked his sheet, and told me the car was $18,000. I told him I'd give him $16,500...

He came back a few minutes later with a counteroffer for $16,900, and I took it.

Is that price in Canadian$? Or is the car loaded? The only way I could find a sticker with $18k was to have an SL, CVT, Conv Package, Sunroof, Sat Rad, ABS, audio upgrade.

What was the actual configuration you got?
Modified by voltronguy at 10:26 AM 8/17/2006

voltronguy wrote:
Is that price in Canadian$? Or is the car loaded? The only way I could find a sticker with $18k was to have an SL, CVT, Sunroof, Sat Rad, ABS, audio upgrade.

What was the actual configuration you got?

When my wife and I went window shoping last weekend, we found that 2 dealerships here were marking up the Versa over MSRP by adding pinstriping and other highly inflated "Dealer added" stuff.

One actually have an SL, CVT w/ convienience for $18,300 before taxes. I forget prices, but scotchguard, pinstriping, and automate were listed as options. Dealers stance was, someone will buy it. I get the Nissan partner discount, but it doesnt apply to dealer added options.

voltronguy wrote:Is that price in Canadian$? Or is the car loaded? The only way I could find a sticker with $18k was to have an SL, CVT, Conv Package, Sunroof, Sat Rad, ABS, audio upgrade.

SL with CVT, including destination charge, sales tax, and "Dealer Marketing fee". Got rid of the latter.

Ron

gr81 wrote:One actually have an SL, CVT w/ convienience for $18,300 before taxes. I forget prices, but scotchguard, pinstriping, and automate were listed as options. Dealers stance was, someone will buy it.

That is insane! But he is right, someone will buy it.

rwanttaja wrote:SL with CVT, including destination charge, sales tax, and "Dealer Marketing fee". Got rid of the latter.

Ron

You got that out the door for $16,900? What did that make your actual purchase price? Sounds like you got a great deal.

It's good to see a dealer on here. Thanks for the post. I have never paid sticker for a vehicle but in the case of the Versa, you are correct in there is not much markup. It looks to be around $700 or so. What I have trouble with is some unscrupolous dealers adding a bunch of crap at the dealership and charging thousands more for it. They can keep the car when they do that. Unfortunately, a lot of folks will buy it and complain the whole time they own the car about how they got done wrong. Well, if people would refuse to buy it, that would change. Paying sticker or just a little under is one thing, getting ripped for thousands over MSRP is just the buyers fault!

1

muskrat wrote:Wow , quite a lot of posts on this. I also see that my experiance is familiar to many of you. Well, last night right before i'm about to leave I get a call from the salesman telling me that the car will come with CVT and the Conv. package. I tell him that's fine but whats the final price. He tells me that the car is 15,700 with 1300 in taxes... That's much ... much less than the dealership with the better service. I could haggle the whole thing to death i'm sure for at least another 500 min but I think I'm going with this deal since I need a car ASAP. I'll post pictures when i get it.

Sahandman, just like rwanttaja stated. The color doesn't matter to me so much as options and price.

thanks everyone for the stroies and responses.

15700 + tax is about 500 below cost something sounds fishy. Are you sure you are talking about a sl with conv. they may be making money elsewhere on the deal are you financing ?

I didn't think much of it since I looked at other prices on the website. Since two persons have mentioned it I'm now wondering. I went to this dealership as part of a plan offered by my credit union. The payment is therefore cash. i'm not buying any ext warr. or other stuff so if they plan to make it up on that they're sorely mistaken. Also, when he told me he was getting the car he was going to charge 500 above list for the cost of getting it delievered..... now I'm confused as to where the profit is going to come from. Although it could be part of the deal with the credit union and he's getting a kickback for referrals. He told me that i wouldn't get a better deal anywhere else and maybe that's why they're not really working to get my car fast enough?

electech wrote:It's good to see a dealer on here. Thanks for the post. I have never paid sticker for a vehicle but in the case of the Versa, you are correct in there is not much markup. It looks to be around $700 or so. What I have trouble with is some unscrupolous dealers adding a bunch of crap at the dealership and charging thousands more for it. They can keep the car when they do that. Unfortunately, a lot of folks will buy it and complain the whole time they own the car about how they got done wrong. Well, if people would refuse to buy it, that would change. Paying sticker or just a little under is one thing, getting ripped for thousands over MSRP is just the buyers fault!

Very true if anyone remembers the pt cruiser craze people paid 5k over msrp and now chryslers giving em away

muskrat wrote:I didn't think much of it since I looked at other prices on the website. Since two persons have mentioned it I'm now wondering. I went to this dealership as part of a plan offered by my credit union. The payment is therefore cash. i'm not buying any ext warr. or other stuff so if they plan to make it up on that they're sorely mistaken. Also, when he told me he was getting the car he was going to charge 500 above list for the cost of getting it delievered..... now I'm confused as to where the profit is going to come from. Although it could be part of the deal with the credit union and he's getting a kickback for referrals. He told me that i wouldn't get a better deal anywhere else and maybe that's why they're not really working to get my car fast enough?

if your dealing with nissan 112 i can help you. I know everyone there. If you want to drive to utica NY which is 280 miles i can get you one. Email me at [email protected] with a phone number if you need help.

Well the guy told me 48 hours as of yesterday so if I don't hear anything by tomorrow night i'll just do that. Thanks for the offer

Ok, I'm PO'd. I call today to go down and pick up my car. They tell me that the salesguy is at a swap. Ok, I'll leave a message. 3 hours later I call again, this time I'm told he is out on the floor and is not at his desk. Ok, now I'm ticked off. I ask for a manager and I tell him that this is ridiculus and that i want my deposit back. He tells me that the store policy is to have the person speak to the sales rep to get the refund. He also tells me that the salesguy called in sick today and there is no paperwork for the car on his desk. Now i have no faith in this place and will refuse to do business there. Good thing my company has a legal plan... will update the result tomorrow.

Contact me if you want a car ,and don't want any hassles.

Does Nissan not have a inventory list of cars that are available in districts around the usa? Toyota does. Dealers can see what is available up to six weeks into the future. It lists VIN numbers, options, colors and prices. When I looked at the Yaris hatch the dealer pulled up all the cars that would be shipped into the south east USA district. I was wanting a specific color and options. We saw the color I wanted but none of the coming cars had the options I wanted. He said I could check back in and we would look each week or I could put in a order. He said he was sorry that orders from Toyota can take up to six months to get. He was very nice and went out of his way. He wasn't making any money on me but spent time with me. Also, is the Nissan web site right that I can NOT get ABS with the conv. package?

at this point, sadly, ABS is not available with the convenience package. From what I've heard, they may be available together starting in 2008. But that was rumor.