Renault

So, recently I was contacted by one of the dealers that I have a deposit on that there should be a car for me coming this March. I live in CA and the dealer is in AZ. I was told over the phone that it is at MSPR with no dealer markup, addons, or ADM. I want to take this with good faith, with a car that practically sells itself, I wouldn't be subject to a fly out to AZ and then be hit with extra fees and I'm stranded in another state with no choice but to eat travel costs back or pay some hidden cost scam. Now I have no reason to feel this way, the sales person I spoke with over the phone has been one of the most pleasant experiences I've had so far with any Lexus sales person. I've also checked google and yelp reviews and this sales person has good reviews, although there were some bad ones about their service center... but that's separate since I don't live around there. But I naturally have a paranoid and cautious personality. Is there anything I should ask for in writing or email that wouldn't come off as me being distrusting or offending them, but also ensure that I don't get fleeced? Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks!

ScytheDC

If it’s a car you placed an order for and put a deposit down on, dealers usually won’t mark those cars up. Did they give you a cost break down before you left your deposit? That’s usually what they will honor.

In that scenario, the car was ordered for you with the intention of you buying it. That’s why they ask for a deposit - to ensure that you’ll come pick up the car when it’s ready. If you ditch it, it’s all your loss. They’ll keep your deposit and then mark up the car for a disgusting profit. If you show up, they can offload the car in minimal time, make some money, and send a happy customer on their way to spread the word. It makes no big difference to them. The car will sell, either to you or someone else later. They’d rather have for sure cash now than bet on a marked up sale later, or trying to surprise and swindle you.

You can just let them know your situation and ask for reassurance that you’ll get it at sticker ( or whatever was agreed upon deposit). Do this over email so it’s in writing and I’m sure it will go well.

macmaster

I did exactly this and can tell you more and give you advice. I’m out now and don’t have time right now. Will talk to you later for sure

TimboIS

No to state the obvious… have them to send you a copy of the contract FIRST.

Answer

I'm also in the process of buying an out of state car (although i'm in Canada, similar process).

Most dealers are good and will work things out for you. For sure it's more stressful than walking into your local dealer and leaving with a car, shipping and remote stuff is involved in all this and for me, that the most stressful part.

I have the chance to have wthrman2 who is not too far from the dealer I'm buying from and he's been a great help! He even offered to go inspect the car before shipping, he's awesome! So that does help to get some stress off my shoulders, but still, I'll sleep way better when my car will be in my garage!!

500's at MSRP are kinda rare in the US, so if you want the car and have to chance to get one, i'd say go for it!

macmaster

I'm from CA and was just as nervous as you when I bought mine from Santa Fe. The key is communication. Between texting and emails, you should already have plenty of written documentation of the agreed upon price. I was also worried about losing $$$ on this deal if it fell through. But I really shouldn't have worried much. For example, the car insurance I bought to begin day of pick-up could've been easily canceled. The cashier's check I got for my deposit could've been returned to the bank. And I even purchased the plane tickets 24 hours before my flight left, so I was in the cancellation window if the deal fell through before I left. The only thing that would've still sucked is I would've had my credit pulled for nothing, but that's very minor.

Here's some of the texts we had the day before I left. As you can see, I was still nervous, but my salesman was very reassuring. I never did get a copy of the contract before I left and I don't think you will either. The docs and final numbers he refers to was only was sent a single sheet of paper with my estimated finance charges, tax, registration fee, OTD price, etc etc.

What have they given you so far in terms of documentation? Are you financing or paying cash? Do they have a porter to pick you up from the airport?






Overall it was a great experience, until I got the CEL. LOL then it was another 48 hours of torture. Then they fixed it faster than I expected. A roller coaster of emotions. I think I lost a lot of weight that week before and somehow managed to gain back an appetite during the weekend, thanks to that yummy Santa Fe mexican food.

wthrman2

I agree fully with what you said - There is no doubt that buying a car at te dealer in your own town is far easier and less stressful HOWEVER, sometime it is not always doable due to limited availability (as in your case). I have always purchased my car out of my own province (equivalent to a State in the US) because my dealer was in my former town and there is a family connection with the dealer. Dealers know their stuff and will ensure that all the paperwork and all you need is provided but as Answer said, sometime it can be stressful buy a car sight unseen and such.

Answer - It is MY PLEASURE going to the dealer and check the car for you and facilitate anything you need, this is what forum friends do and I am SUPER happy that you were able to get one, especially the highly coveted Launch Edition!!

Renault

Thank you everyone for your input, I did the majority of this via phone so I don't have much in way of writing other than him saying the car will be for me. I think I'll talk to him more this week by text for an OTD and some other things as suggested in the thread. And Macmaster I was just gonna Uber from the airport to the dealer but maybe I should ask if they can arrange a pickup. Strangely I didn't even think of that. This thread has helped calm my mind a bit as it seems out of state buys happen often enough and most the time go without a hitch.

wthrman2

^^ I am confident all with go well, sure it seems a bit overwhelming and such, but this happens a lot and dealers (good ones) will know what to do and how to look after you

zman21

I bought mine fully remote out of state too, all the same concerns. I had the car shipped to me even. I never laid eyes on it until it showed up in my driveway. I think the main thing is going with a dealer that has a good reputation and handles a decent amount of remote/out of market sales. In my case, I was following a recommendation by someone on the Lexus subreddit who purchased remote from the same dealer and said it was great.

Make sure any contact you initiated matches phone numbers, names, titles, e-mail listed on the dealer's website. When they pull your credit it should come up with the dealer's name and address. You should sign up for some sort of credit monitoring service or something. Experian has a 14 day free trial service. As I was setting up the wire for my down payment, my credit union was able to see the name and address attached to the account number the dealer gave me. All matched. For me, I was really nervous wiring a rather large sum of money to someone I had only spoken to on the phone.

The biggest hassle I've had was just waiting on my registration and title work. I found out that most dealers use a 3rd party service to handle all of the out of state registration. I finally got a notice today that the 3rd party service had sent the documents to my state's DMV. It took about 5 weeks and I had to get another temporary out of state tag overnighted by the dealer. I can't wait to argue with the DMV this week about paying penalty interest on the tag because I'm 2 weeks late.

V8ISGreat

So did you ever purchase the vehicle?

Renault

Comes in the 14th, I got a invoice texted to me so I'm pretty sure I'm good. Only thing is, there are a couple dealer things they added on but it's less than 1k so it's small potato's IMO. Like the lit up Lexus illuminated door sills and all weather mats. Either way compared to the CA dealers it's been a pleasure and I'll deal with the like 600 to 700 of things I probably wouldn't have optioned. I'll keep you all updated once I get it!

I woulda put up a stink if it was one of those bogus Perma plate add-ons or anti theft device things, but the illuminated door sills might be cool, or I'm sure I'll convince myself of that eventually, hah

V8ISGreat

Ideally you would have a signed buyer’s agreement before you make the trip. Unfortunately an invoice is not binding. I just wanted to comment because I live in Phoenix, and in general the market seems to follow what happens in California, with big city prices, dealer shenanigans, mandatory addons and lots of markup. I had to buy my last new car from a Midwest dealer and have it shipped here. All the paperwork was done via FedEx.

is500le

How much over MSRP did you have to pay?

macmaster

You don't sign anything before you make the trip. You have to trust their word.