A sinking feeling in my stomach

[marnepup]

Yippee! And Ah, $$^$%^!!!

Brampton shipped my car on the 19th. I suppose it probably takes a couple of weeks to get to Georgia...but two months?

On the one hand, I'll be able to take delivery pretty much immediately when I get home Yippee!)...but on the other hand, the car's going to be on the dealer's lot till then (Ah, $$^$%^!!!)

So....if I was a car dealer, and I had an SRT8 on my lot that I was trying to sell, and another one that was sold by someone else and drop-shipped to my lot (meaning I might make a hundred bucks in the deal), and a customer came in wanting a test drive, what would I do?

That's right! I'd give him the keys to the one I have no stake in!



I've emailed the dealer to instruct him:

1. No test drives
2. No stickers
3. No front license plate bracket

Doubt it'll do much good...it'll have a dealer advertisement in the front bracket, a dealer sticker on the trunk lid, and 60 brutally abusive miles on the odometer...anyone know a good lawyer?

I do have a hole card. My fiancee's got a friend who lives about 5 miles from the dealership...I'll have her take a picture of the odometer reading the day the car gets there...a picture where you can see out the windshield to establish that the picture is indeed on their lot, not something off the internet.

[sjz]

Originally Posted by marnepup

Yippee! And Ah, $$^$%^!!!

Brampton shipped my car on the 19th. I suppose it probably takes a couple of weeks to get to Georgia...but two months?

On the one hand, I'll be able to take delivery pretty much immediately when I get home Yippee!)...but on the other hand, the car's going to be on the dealer's lot till then (Ah, $$^$%^!!!)

So....if I was a car dealer, and I had an SRT8 on my lot that I was trying to sell, and another one that was sold by someone else and drop-shipped to my lot (meaning I might make a hundred bucks in the deal), and a customer came in wanting a test drive, what would I do?

That's right! I'd give him the keys to the one I have no stake in!



I've emailed the dealer to instruct him:

1. No test drives
2. No stickers
3. No front license plate bracket

Doubt it'll do much good...it'll have a dealer advertisement in the front bracket, a dealer sticker on the trunk lid, and 60 brutally abusive miles on the odometer...anyone know a good lawyer?

I do have a hole card. My fiancee's got a friend who lives about 5 miles from the dealership...I'll have her take a picture of the odometer reading the day the car gets there...a picture where you can see out the windshield to establish that the picture is indeed on their lot, not something off the internet.

Here's hoping that the dealer honors your wishes; don't automatically think he won't. Did you get a reply to your email? As far as taking a picture, don't forget that the key has to be "on" for the digital miles to display.
Is it possible for someone else to pick the car up for you (and do the paperwork) when it comes in, and store it at a safe location? Maybe you can sign papers via a FAX machine?
Just take care of yourself over there (Iraq), and you'll be crusin' with a great rig in a couple of months.
Good luck!
-Steve

[Irwin]

Originally Posted by sjz

Here's hoping that the dealer honors your wishes; don't automatically think he won't. Did you get a reply to your email? As far as taking a picture, don't forget that the key has to be "on" for the digital miles to display.
Is it possible for someone else to pick the car up for you (and do the paperwork) when it comes in, and store it at a safe location? Maybe you can sign papers via a FAX machine?
Just take care of yourself over there (Iraq), and you'll be crusin' with a great rig in a couple of months.
Good luck!
-Steve

I have the "C" not the SRT C and just opening the door without the key in the ignition, the odometer lights up.

[Mr. Redbird]

Originally Posted by marnepup

Yippee! And Ah, $$^$%^!!!

Brampton shipped my car on the 19th. I suppose it probably takes a couple of weeks to get to Georgia...but two months?

On the one hand, I'll be able to take delivery pretty much immediately when I get home Yippee!)...but on the other hand, the car's going to be on the dealer's lot till then (Ah, $$^$%^!!!)

So....if I was a car dealer, and I had an SRT8 on my lot that I was trying to sell, and another one that was sold by someone else and drop-shipped to my lot (meaning I might make a hundred bucks in the deal), and a customer came in wanting a test drive, what would I do?

That's right! I'd give him the keys to the one I have no stake in!



I've emailed the dealer to instruct him:

1. No test drives
2. No stickers
3. No front license plate bracket

Doubt it'll do much good...it'll have a dealer advertisement in the front bracket, a dealer sticker on the trunk lid, and 60 brutally abusive miles on the odometer...anyone know a good lawyer?

I do have a hole card. My fiancee's got a friend who lives about 5 miles from the dealership...I'll have her take a picture of the odometer reading the day the car gets there...a picture where you can see out the windshield to establish that the picture is indeed on their lot, not something off the internet.

See if you can get someone to pick it up and store it indoors somewhere. You don't want your (unwaxed) SRT8 sitting in the Georgia sun/rain/etc for 2 months.

[Belmont CJ]

Originally Posted by marnepup

Yippee! And Ah, $$^$%^!!!



Doubt it'll do much good...it'll have a dealer advertisement in the front bracket, a dealer sticker on the trunk lid, and 60 brutally abusive miles on the odometer...anyone know a good lawyer?

internet.

The more time i spend here, the more i get the impression that you guys have either vey little trust in your dealers, or some really s*^tty sales staff.

Be wary of noting the milage though. I'm new to the whole Chrysler thing but i know that all Vauxhalls can have their Odometer's reset up to 100 miles. i.e we can cover 99 miles in your brand new car, plug in the diag kit and reset the odo to zero. This will work only the once but does mean your 60 tough miles could be 160....

[sjz]

Originally Posted by Irwin

I have the "C" not the SRT C and just opening the door without the key in the ignition, the odometer lights up.

Right you are, Irwin! Thanks for jogging my memory.
My point, 'tho, was it's more than just pointing the camera thru the passenger window at the odometer.
-Steve

[WildTurkey]

marnepup - I agree with sjz, but I think you did the right thing laying the ground rules with the dealer. A call (or reply email from the dealer) should be all you need to keep your car pristine. I've been really impressed with my dealer - you can tell that these guys love this car as much as we do!

[marnepup]

Thanks, guys. It's only been a few hours, but no response to my email, yet. I wouldn't be so worried if I was actually buying the car from these guys. I'm buying it from a company that only deals with military overseas...and has no lots of their own, so they have to have agreements with dealerships around the country to have us take delivery reasonably close to wherever we're from (two hours dive is reasonable, right?).

My problem is that the dealer who's holding the car has no stake in it. I'd suggest that he stick it in the showroom, but he has an SRT8 of his own, so maybe not. Also, mine's not fully loaded (no nav, sunroof, or rear DVD), so it's not the best for showing anyway.

And it's not as bad as two months, really. Gonna be more like three weeks. I'll be around new year's when it arrives (the later, the better, hehehe), and the scheduled day for me to pick it up is 10 February, as long as it's paid for, I can prolly get it any time I want...like as soon as I have the mundane details of, I dunno, finding a place to live and moving in, out of the way.

Once the car is there, I'll probably tell them I'm sending someone over (by name) to get a photo of the odo. Can they only reset to zero, or can they reset to any number? I'm glad they can only do it once....gives me the idea to send her back to check after about 10 days...enough time for them to drive her, but not soon enough for them to think I might get home.

Anyway, I've already explained to them that I have no reason to distrust them in particular, it's just that my dad sold cars in DC for a few months, so I've heard all the worst things some car dealers might do, and none of the good ones. So they shouldn't take any of this as a personal affront.

~shrug~ It's just business, protecting my $47k (after taxes'n'such) investment!

[kevenj]

My GOD! Nothing bad has happened and you are already looking for a lawyer?

The dealer I used to work for would take EXTRA CARE with a car that was already sold, didn't belong to us, etc. etc.... but yes I know you are right that not all dealers are reputable.

2 options:

(1) This would be my preference- - Have a trusted friend or family member inspect the car, and if all is good, have all the paper work sent to you (FedEx or however you get stuff in Iraq if that's even possible) and go ahead and purchase the car NOW, then have your friend get it the hell outa there and store it someplace safe.

(2) If it's not possible to have the paperwork sent to you in Iraq, then don't sign anything until get there and inspect it yourself; if it's got miles on it or is damaged, don't buy it!


The dealership I worked for did most of it's business with customers from at least several hundred miles away (we were selling 1,000 vehicles a month located in a town of 2400 residents) and we did lot's of "mail outs" where we would FedEx all the paperwork to the customer and they would FedEx everything back to us with their signatures. Many times by the time a customer actually flew in to pick up their car or truck, they had already owned it for several weeks, and those vehicles WERE NOT to be test driven, period. The only miles put on them were necessary, such as the initial PDI inspection, and being driven from the storage lot down to the detail area the day before the customer was due to pick it up. We couldn't Fax documents since they were in fact legal contracts, had to be the original paperwork Sent to the customer to sign.

[Chryslertech203]

I can tell you are really excited about getting your new car. Do not get too excited.
Just e-mail them and ask them if they would take care of your car while you are away.
Do not be suprised that the millage is not "Zero". Chrysler selectivly roadtests some cars for quality assurance. Still your dealer will also have to preform the dealer PDI, and will have to drive it during the inspection. Still this usually is less than 10 miles.
It won't be long and you will have your new car. Good luck and enjoy it.