Updated: Dealership unable to find color of car agreed and embarrassed me

[ImJJ]

I bought a car late April - Nissan Versa from a Nissan dealership.

As agreed the dealer guarantees he can find a BLACK car prior to my current leased car expires on June 8th.

However he just called me that he will not be able to find a car and talks me into getting a RED car, which I refused but he just kept going at it!

So is there anything that I can bargain to compensate? I am definitely not getting the RED and thinking of asking them to give me a temporary car until they can find me the BLACK one!! Too much to ask?

I am going to the dealership this afternoon after work, any input prior to that will be greatly appreciated!

Edited: took out the dealership's name, wasn't trying to "trash" the dealership.

Updated @ 5:10pm
Long story warning!! And might be boring too!!

OK I went to the Nissan dealer as the salesperson requested me to take a look at the red Versa.

I went in at 3pm, found it too girly and refused.

Salesperson tries to talk me into downgrading the model, which I refused again.
Then he asked me if I'll be interested in other cars, I said no thank you.

Then I requested for a refund, he said OK and ask me to sit and wait because his manager is chatting with another manager.

After about 20 minutes later, he asks for the credit card and receipt. But I headed there straight from work so didn't have the receipt so he told me to go in again tomorrow. I told him I will be back in 15 minutes.

So I went home and returned in 15 minutes, then he was gone (I'm alittle pissed now at this point).

They told another sales manager to step in to do the refund.
But the sales manager told me to wait again.

30 minutes after...he comes out and said ya Black Versa is very hard to find blah blah blah.
Then I explained to him that the salesperson who dealt with me "guaranteed" he will have one available by June 9th. And I asked if they realized I suffer 400 dollars loss coz I could have gotten another dealer to pay my last lease payment with Mazda to get into a new car quicker + the loss from getting off work early.

He said "WELL YOU CAN STILL ASK FOR 400 DOLLARS DISCOUNT WITH THAT DEALERSHIP"
Then he and 3 other salesperson & receptionist all laughed.

I was truly mad at this point, but I still try to be polite although I could feel my face was turning red.

Then the manager passed the file to another sales manager, and have him to perform the refund for me. So...I could've gotten the refund through THAT manager who was available all during this time...
What was the wait about again?

As I gotten the refund receipt I stared at it for 5 seconds...then said "That's it?"
The 2nd manager said "Yes"..."No sorries or anything?" and I walked out the door.

They did not apologize during the whole process and they had plenty of chances as I sat there and waited for almost a hour.

Again, just like to share this experience with you guys not trying to trash the dealer!
If you guys aren't interested in the story then I apologize for the time taken to read the whole post.
I'M SORRY!

See...Sorry is such an easy thing to say but makes ppl feel that much better!!

[mr_raider]

Your options are to accept the car, or cancel the transaction and obtain a full refund.

[ephemera]

Demand a full refund and I bet he will have a black car in no time!

[rems]

I say make him get it. If he can't say goodbye and go to a different dealership saying that one offered you $XXXX for a black one and for them to match it.

[skanji]

what's stopping the dealer from getting the red one and painting it black?

[gfong]

Depending where you are, go to another dealer and ask them to search for a black car with the options that you are looking for. I did this and it worked to my advantage. I was looking for a Yellow car and the first dealer stated that there were none available (left) I went to another dealer and they found one. Get the dealer sheet from the salesmen and than take it back to the original dealer. They can than get the car. Give it a try. Now if the other dealer says no black cars, than you have to decide what colour would work out best. IMO it sounds like the red car is close and the dealer does not have to "work" or travel far to get it. Remember on a dealer trade the dealer has to pay the labour to get the car and also has to purchase the car from the dealer that has the car.Good luck.

[Jeff-TheBiz]

If he can't get a black one, what makes you think another dealer can? I would have to assume that they should have exhausted all dealer trade options.

If you don't want the red one, ask for your deposit back and take your business elsewhere, but I am not sure how much that will help you get a black one.

[gilboman]

if there really isnt a black one to be had, which is entirely possible. it wont be different at any other dealer.

you can a) get deposit back and move on or b) ask them for a bigger discount on a versa you want that they have on their lot.

[pintobean]

Hey OP - I was in this exact same situation 8 years ago.

I had signed a purchase agreement to trade in my existing car and buy a blue VW Golf from a dealer in Georgetown. Everything was signed and we had a binding contract.

Then a few days later my dealer called and said that he couldn't find a blue Golf, and he offered me a green one instead. He said that it would take a long time to get a blue one since it would have to be custom ordered from the factory. I said no thanks to the green Golf and said that I'd wait for a blue one. He tried to scare me by saying that it could take 6 months to arrive. I said that was fine with me because I already owned the car I was trading in and therefore didn't have to make any payments on it. I also reminded the dealer that I was still driving the trade-in car, and as the mileage on that car went up, the less he would be able to sell it for at auction.

Not surprisingly, he called me back a few hours later and said that he had managed to find a blue Golf in Thunder Bay. He said that he was undertaking a big expense to have it delivered to him, and he asked me to pay for part of that expense. I refused and cited the contract, which didn't say anything about me having to pay extra for delivery.

A couple of days later he called and said that the car had arrived and he had a problem. He said that it had an upgraded radio in it which cost an extra $500. He asked me to pay $250 for it. Once again I refused. I told him to either give it to me for free or to take it out and replace it with a stock radio from another Golf that was on his lot. He tried to argue this with me, but I stood firm, and in the end I got the upgraded radio for free.

I should point out that the reason I played hardball with the dealer is because he tried to screw me on the purchase price, and almost succeeded, until I discovered Car Cost Canada and obtained the dealer invoice price. Then I used that to bargain him all the way down to $500 over his invoice price, and because they were clearing out the 2000 models of the Golf at the time, he accepted my offer.

Anyways, let's look back at your situation...your dealer is trying to tell you that he can't find a black Nissan Versa. Think about that for a minute. Isn't black one of the most popular colours for cars these days? How on earth can this guy not find a black Versa?

If I were you, I'd follow the advice given by others here and do some of your own research - visit another dealer and get them to see if they can find you a black Versa. Then use that to your advantage.

Good luck.

[BartBandy]

I think the course of action is clear: Trash the dealership online.

Oh wait....you've already done that.

Then call up another local Nissan dealer and ask if any black Versa equipped the way you want exists in the area. Salesmen LOVE to answer these sorts of questions.

If one exists, take the info to your dealer and make him look like an idiot by pointing out how you found one and he couldn't.

If one does not exist, you're SOL and you need to re-evaluate.

Common sense FTW.

[ImJJ]

I think the sales already asked couple other dealers to provide them with the car and he failed.

Maybe I'll try calling other dealers without visiting to ask b/c simply too much energy and they very likely will say yes to me until after I sign the paper, which leads into the exact same position that I am in right now.

After review your posts and talking to a friend, seems like dropping the deal will be my option...man how much I want to sue them for the amount of time and work spent on getting the deal and how much time will be spent to get another car prior to my current lease ends lmao!!

Restarting the car hunting journey all over again.

[Tomy]

i heard that different dealership owners have different stocks..

so if dealership A doesn't have it, it doesn't mean dealership B doesn't...


that's how I got my car in white.. the dealers said they can't find it after i signed it, i told them to i'm getting the full refund and they started giving me the crap about deposits aren't refundable... after making a scene, they returned my deposit and i went to another dealerhsip and got my car.. apparently the whole Ontario doesn't have it... yet, i managed to get my car in my colour for 200$ less too!

so my suggestion: go online, find the dealership phone #, call them with the original price u guys agreed, ask them to match it and confirm the colour of the car.. and it's that easy.. 30 minutes max.

[thephenom]

i heard that different dealership owners have different stocks..

so if dealership A doesn't have it, it doesn't mean dealership B doesn't...


that's how I got my car in white.. the dealers said they can't find it after i signed it, i told them to i'm getting the full refund and they started giving me the crap about deposits aren't refundable... after making a scene, they returned my deposit and i went to another dealerhsip and got my car.. apparently the whole Ontario doesn't have it... yet, i managed to get my car in my colour for 200$ less too!

so my suggestion: go online, find the dealership phone #, call them with the original price u guys agreed, ask them to match it and confirm the colour of the car.. and it's that easy.. 30 minutes max.
QFT

The power of the interweb. Tell them you'll put down a deposit right the way to hold that car if they agree to the price.

[The_Professor]

Exactly. If your dealer doesn't have the black and can't locate one does NOT mean that another local dealer won't have access to one. They don't all share inventory.

Tell them you're going to back out of the deal and they'll either find one or offer another colour with some sort of incentive.

[VivienM]

It's very well hidden on their web site, but Nissan DOES have online inventory, FYI.

Go to the "build your Nissan" thing and build the car with whatever features you want. Then click on "locate dealer"; it will prompt you for your postal code or a dealer name, and then it will tell you all of a dealer's inventory in a given model, sorted by how closely it matches the car your built.

[ImJJ]

It's very well hidden on their web site, but Nissan DOES have online inventory, FYI.

Go to the "build your Nissan" thing and build the car with whatever features you want. Then click on "locate dealer"; it will prompt you for your postal code or a dealer name, and then it will tell you all of a dealer's inventory in a given model, sorted by how closely it matches the car your built.

Cool I just tried, and the dealer where I made the purchase appeared to be on the list...

Now either they are lying so they can clean the REDs in their stock or the database is out of date.

[Jeff-TheBiz]

Then I explained to him that the salesperson who dealt with me "guaranteed" he will have one available by June 9th. And I asked if they realized I suffer 400 dollars loss coz I could have gotten another dealer to pay my last lease payment with Mazda to get into a new car quicker + the loss from getting off work early.


Is Black okay??

Call me. :)

[ephemera]

I am glad you got your money back. You shouldn't have to put up with that crap! With that kind of cash I would have been screaming my head off.