Another board member is having trouble with a dealer trying to overcharge or cancel his order. One of the pretexts for cancelling is that he didn't pay the $500 deposit. I think most dealers didn't bother with the deposit. Let's find out.
I voted yes, but... my dealership took my credit card number in November when I preordered but didn't process the card and take my money until March (which I thought was nice - they didn't collect free interest on my $500). In the end though, I had the deposit refunded due to it being missed as a credit on sales contract at purchase time.
Not sure how I would answer the poll. My dealer took a $500 personal check, but promised to not deposit it, and they returned it to me uncashed when the sale closed. I believe nonrefundable deposits on cars are prohibited under California law, which makes deposits kind of pointless here.
I did not leave them the $500 deposit, then again, this is the fourth Prius and fifth Toyota we bought from this dealer. They also took my personal check on Saturday as well (for the balance due on my PiP, after trading in the 2010), I guess they figure they can trust me after 11 years of dealings. Great dealer BTW, Toyota of Braintree
My dealer, PC Certified, collected a $500 deposit on the phone via credit card on pre-order day Nov. 17. They sent me this nice note a day later:
Under the terms and conditions on the ordering website, step 3 explains that the purchaser is required to place a $500 refundable deposit, and under what conditions that refund will be made.
I supplied Pat Coleman (of Jim Coleman MD) with my CC# (I asked if he wanted it, he did not ask me) but they never charged it, so I put "no."
Yes, it feels kind of strange to hand a personal check for 40-some-odd thousand dollars to a dealer and drive away with a new car. But they HAD run a credit check, even though I was not financing with them. My dealer agreed that the deposit was pretty much meaningless in California, since you can cancel the order for any reason (or none at all) and get the deposit back.
My dealer did take a deposit on my credit card, processed it, and originally neglected to subtract it from the final amount due. It took a gentle reminder to have them subtract it. Richard
In California they give you a title showing them as a lienholder, even if you paid in full. Once the check has cleared they reregister it. So they can repossess the car if the check bounces. At least that's what happened all the other times I bought a car. (Edit: the title, not the bounce.) Has anyone tried to pay by credit card to get the miles? I assume that because of the substantial extra cost to the dealer they don't let you do it.
The check was for about $20,600 or so (balance was the 2010 trade in), no, in MA, the title takes weeks to get from the RMV, and they have their own RMV mini branch at the dealer, they actually did the plate transfer for me. I've just been a regular customer for 11 years, and the check was from Fidelity Investments, they didn't seem very concerned. When I bought my 2010 from them (2 1/2 years ago), I used "bill pay" to pay them with a Fidelity check last time as well. The owner came out and thanked me (probably not too many people have bought 4 Prius's from them)
Holy Cr... that's a lot of DMV hassle to make a new title. We just wait an ample time for the check to clear, but lots of my buyers also knew that sending me proof that the check cleared also sped things up.
But can they write a check and then drive right off? If so, what does their registration and title say? Or don't they get the title until after the check clears?
When we bought a Honda Pilot a couple of years ago, the Honda dealearship also let us drive off after handing them a personal check, just like the Toyota dealership did for the PiP. Maybe the credit report satisfied them? There was nothing funny (like a temporary lien) on the registration, which the Toyota dealer directly handled. They didn't do the registration until after the check cleared, which was the next day.
