We got an ok deal on the vehicle, but only because we qualify for supplier pricing through the companies we work for and that is something we can get at just about all of the dealerships in the Charlotte area.
So I spoke with the dealer this morning. They are going to make it right and apologized for selling us a demo. They have a new car being brought to the dealership tomorrow and will make the swap as soon as they have it. I’m really happy they are going to make it right and a lesson learned.
Good for them. You should tell this story to your neighbors and always finish with the trade for a real new car. The dealer deserves credit for admitting to the confusion and their willingness to make you a happy customer.
Glad they are making it right. On second thought, it sounded like they tried to unload a car on you. Personally, I wouldn’t want a new car with more than 10-15 miles on it from tranport and moving it around the lot. 100 miles to me for a new car would be a deal breaker.
I would safely bet that this real new car is not part of an even swap. If the contracts were picked apart you would probably find you’re paying some extra although in my opinion a real new car should be more than a demonstrator.
Allowing them to do the financing and not reading contracts before signing them can leave someone way up the creek…
I’ll let you guys know how the swap goes tomorrow. They have been really apologetic so far. They even asked of we were still happy with the color, or if we wanted a different one. The back up camera went completely blue screen today and stopped working. I’m going to keep a pre typed out message on my cell to immediately send out to my social media circle if things start going south. I find a lot of business will react to a threat of bad social media.
It’s entirely possible the dealer did nothing wrong and is just saying and doing what they can to pacify a customer.
The customer may have assumed the car was brand spanking new. The customer made numerous references to not thinking in a time of high stress, heat of the moment, not reading the paperwork, never paid attention to the odometer, etc, etc, etc.
That word “assumed” can lead to a lot of things and I think it’s a bit premature to have a pre-typed derogatory message waiting in the wings to banty about on Facebook and Twitter.
Guess this will get me in hot water, but maybe concentrating more on the signed contract and less on Facebook/Twitter would smooth things out in the future…
It only takes a second to type the message and I don’t plan to use it, but I do like to keep some extra coal for my fire when I need it. It is pre typed so that I CAN focus on the sale this time.
There should be some truth from the dealers when they are pushing a used demo on you. Never once was it mentioned. It’s a bait and switch to put a sign out advertising NEW cars for X price, then to show up with a used car at the closing table. That’s the definition of Bait and Switch. I don’t know if you have been in one of the new Grand Cherokee, but the screen behind the steering wheel is a computer screen with many layers. To get to the odometer, you may have to flip through a few screen, which can be difficult if it’s your first time playing with it. We should have looked through the paperwork at the end, but like I said before, we had been shopping for around 12 hours that day, had only eaten a small lunch and the dealer really wanted the sale that day, being the end of the month. It seemed like we had good rapport and we had discussed everything prior to the papers being brought out. Clearly, we had missed one conversation. Even if you don’t side with me, I know and the dealer knows, what was done was not right and they have agreed to fix it.
I agree with @ok4450 here. The reason is that I sometimes accompany an uncle of mine who works for a large auto dealership in my area (they sell both Ford & GM vehicles). I drive back a brand new vehicle for the dealership when they need a certain make and model delivered in a hurry for a customer. I have driven back several hundred miles on occasion. If the customer doesn’t buy the vehicle for some reason or another…the dealership still has to sell the vehicle to someone eventually.
In addition…new cars are sometimes loaned out to VIP’s when they are in the area for the Special Olympics or a golf tournament. That adds miles to a new car. I’m not saying that the dealer should not be up front with the added miles but it’s still a new car until it’s been registered in my book.
All went well. Made the trade and there was not adjustment to the price or terms. 141 miles on this one after bringing it up from another dealership. Fuel economy is better and it smells newer. Really happy it all worked out and a lesson well learned. I would be more than happy to provide positive feedback to anyone shopping for a Jeep in the area, although I might still suggest checking the millage. : )
You got lucky. “I didn’t bother to check the odometer or read the paperwork?” That would be a textbook failure of “due diligence,” and even if you got had, you got had, fair and square.
Generally, one should only come out with guns blazin’ when you’re clearly in the right, and meekly ask for help when not. You came out agressively, despite not having a legal leg to stand on.
It worked out well for you, but I wouldn’t recommend it as general practice.
It’s worked out well as to putting you behind the wheel of another similar vehicle. Whether this car is a financial good deal or not depends upon what the contract states.
Don’t feel too bad, I had a dealership try to sell a demo car with over 19 THOUSAND miles on it, saying it could be titled as a new car. Thankfully, I had just called them to ask about the car on their website; that was the only interaction I had with that dealership