Can I ask the dealer to deliver the new car to my house?

When I purchased our Sequioa back in 2003, I negotiated the purchase with the internet manager entirely over the phone. She delivered the vehicle to my home and had another salesperson follow her for her ride back to the store. After inspecting our new vehicle carefully, we signed the papers. In hindsight, I should have test driven it as well. Luckily, there were no issues. It was a stress-free and very fast transaction.

We placed a refundable security deposit of $500.

 

I guess it could be possible. Would probably depend on the dealership policy. Never hurts to ask though.

 

You can ask for anything. The issue is what the answer might be.

A big reason a dealer doesn't want to deliver a car to your home is that there are two negotiations. You know about the one with the salesman (and maybe his boss who may double team you). But after you've agreed to everything, there's still the guy in finance. Part of his job is to sell you a service agreement, in house financing, maybe even some extra dealer installed options. If you take delivery at home, all the finance guy gets is the paperwork that your salesman hands him as a done deal.

Go for it. Sounds to me like a better situation for you.

 

There are dealers who do complimentary delivery (up to 100 miles), usually at combined Lexus/Toyota franchises with an Internet sales team.

I had Longo Toyota deliver my car to the house. Never stepped a foot in the dealership. I'd do it again.

 

Of course they do (within reasonable distance). Actually they offered to drive to my house and have my wife to test drive the car, my wife was not with me when I negotiate the deal with them. But maybe just me, I prefer not to have them come to my house.

 

Bingo, they already know where you live even they don't come to your house but to invite them inside of your home is to welcome the potential of a future home invasion robbery, especially with the person comes along just to give the salesman a ride back to the dealership. More than likely that other person is a porter or somebody low on the totem pole for the dealership. It happens in Southern California more often than not and you can never trust who you invite inside of your house.

 

The dealer I got my Prius at (Toyota Sunnyvale) offers this as a standard practice--within a certain distance (can't remember distance).

 

If you're that paranoid, you can do the paperwork in front of the house, or even on the roof or hood of your newly delivered car. Takes 5 minutes top (if you don't take your time reading the fine print). Everything is pre-printed/entered and you just sign.

The delivery guy checked our driver licenses using a backlight (and even showed us how to identify fake licenses). Turned out Longo Toyota/Lexus lost a couple Lexus due to home delivery fraud.

 

Paranoid? Perhaps so... Overly cautious? Absolutely

I'll use another example...I sell stuff that I don't use anymore on Craigslist when it is too large and costly to ship on eBay. I NEVER meet anybody at my house, always at a public place like a gas station or supermarket parking lot.

 

I would not want anybody driving my new car during it's break-in period. Also, the more you ask for in any transaction, the more you are likely to pay to close the transaction.

 

Perhaps that's true if you ask just any dealer to voluntarily deliver the car, but it's a little concern if the dealer does complimentary home delivery as a business model. They're certainly not going to risk a bad reputation nor are they going to send someone too low on the totem pole. After all, Longo Lexus/Toyota lost a couple Lexus due to home delivery fraud.

 

By all means ask. I think it is entirely reasonable if arranged ahead of time. As previously stated be sure to inspect the car inside and out and go for a test drive before you sign the papers. I ordered my Prius last June when they were hard to come by and was required to put a $1000 deposit on it. Be sure you put any deposit on a credit card, that way if it falls through you have a much better chance of recovering your money.

Don't buy a service agreement or an extended warranty. You have three years to decide if you want the warranty and if you do you can buy the Toyota Platinum version here for a lot less money than dealers charge. Service agreements are not good for the customer, just the dealer, avoid them.

 

Just because your paranoid doesn't mean that "they" are not out to get you, or that they are poisoning the water.

But seriously, I dislike dealership people as much as the next guy, but they are not vampires. At least I hope not.:spy:

 

It doesn't seem like a reasonable request for most sales. Regardless of how you pay for the car, the dealership will want to run a credit check, run the DMV paperwork, and to enter information into their computer system. They also want to introduce you toe the service manager so they get a favorable score when you are asked this question in Toyota, post sale, satisfaction survey. I'm sure that the dealership could find ways to do these things without you in the sales office, but it would require some extra work and inconvenience for them. If it is not too far, I imagine the dealership might be willing to give you a ride to their location when you're ready to finish your paperwork and pickup your new baby.

 

I believe it is better to handle the transaction on their property. Inspect the car in the sunlight on their lot. Don't like what you see or how the car handles on the test drive? Don't sign. Yes, it's a PITA to have to make several trips. It'll be a much bigger PITA making those trips AFTER accepting delivery as you may have to rely on their goodwill for a repair. (Was that scrape there when you bought the car or did it happen in your custody?)