Jay writes in with a question: how do you get back your deposit from a car dealership when a deal goes sour? The salesman jacked up the price after an initial negotiation, and now won’t refund the deposit: “He said we’d be surprised at what he can make up to keep the deposit.”
Hi Consumerist,
I’ve been reading your website for quite a while and need some help for my brother. He went to Bay Ridge Nissan in Brooklyn, NY to lease a Nissan Pathfinder. He negotiated the deal to 311 a month and 1200 out of pocket costs. When I went with him to the dealership on Wednesday to pick up the car and sign the paperwork, the numbers were all changed. They added a bunch of fees, including a mysterious prep fee. After much negotiating, we decided not to buy the vehicle. My brother had left a $500 deposit earlier, and they said he would get it back.
Today, the salesman called and begged him to come take the car. After he said no, the salesman said he’s not getting his deposit back. The salesman also intercepts any phone calls to the manager and says we must only speak to his manager and his manager will be in tomorrow. He said we’d be surprised at what he can make up to keep the deposit. I’m wondering what to do to get the deposit back.
Jay, your brother is going to have to do an end-run around this scammer to reach the manager—we suggest finding new ways to contact him, whether it’s by having a wife or girlfriend call with a made-up story or staking the place out for a few days to figure out when he’s there and then intercepting him in person. (Btw, have you seen this page of contact information?) It probably isn’t worth it, though: there’s always a chance he’s as corrupt as his employees, and you’ll just be prolonging the inevitable. Instead, you might want to read our post “How To Kick A Scammy Car Dealer In The Nuts” for tips on how to make the rogue salesman’s behavior a financial liability for the dealership.
Your other recourse is to take the dealership to small claims court, where you stand a good chance of getting back your money.
Whatever you decide to do, you should also report the dealership to the New York Attorney General’s office via their complaint form, and while you’re there read up on their advice and warnings for car buyers in New York.
“How To Kick A Scammy Car Dealer In The Nuts”
“Suing Big Companies In Small Claims Court Is Fun And Easy”
“How To Take Your Case To Small Claims Court”
“Consumer Issues” [NYSOAG ]
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My brother worked as a car dealer for years. Each place does buisness slightly differently, and while dealerships and salesmen are always competitive it sounds like the dealership you went to is down right cut-throat.
I’ve honestly never heard of any salesmen intercepting phonecalls to a manager before, and the fact that he’s called up begging you to come in for the car is another sign he’s not doing well.
I went to the website of this nissan dealer, and got a little information you may want to try this before going any further.
Call the main bay ridge nissan dealer number and ask to speak with Manny Licitra (General Manager) or Jonathan Pearlmutter (General Sales Manager). If they ask who is calling tell them “An unhappy customer” and leave it at that until you actually get one of these men on the phone. And certianly don’t say what salesmen your calling about. Once you get them on the phone explain your situation.
Also many car dealers these days have a guy who works to garuentee people have good sales experiances. They all have different titles but if you ask the person who patches calls you might be able to get ahold of him as well.
You’ll need to be very persistant in order to get your deposit back. In fact it is more likely that they will offer to knock down the price of the car as well as remove all fees than it is for them to give you the deposit back. But if you press them real hard for the money you will get it back.
As for “Making stuff up to keep the deposit” well that’s just a lie. He is taking advantage of the fact that you’ve left money there in order to twist your arm and force you into a lease you do not want.
I’m sure you’ve learned this already but still…you should never leave a deposit with a car dealer until all papers are signed.
@GearheadGeek: D’oh! RTFA carefully. I missed the word “lease” until I saw it in someone’s comment, so never mind my ranting about “get the price first.”
Similar issue when we bought a toybox from Mike Thompson RV in Fountain Valley, CA. I was at fault here too. We went looking for a 2007 Fleetwood HyperLite and ended up working out a deal on a Keystone toybox. Turns out the Keystone toybox had a much heavier tongue weight and even though our truck could handle the weight, Keystone themselves claimed they don’t recommend any of their trailers for my truck (’06 Nissan Titan.)
I had only put down a $2000 deposit and called that following Tuesday (gave deposit on Sunday, talked to Keystone on Monday.)
MT RV really wanted the sale but knew I was not going to buy the Keystone. So they really worked the price of the HyperLite to just a $2000 over the price of the Keystone to keep me as a customer. I actually saved about $2300 by going this route vs. haggling over the trailer in the first place!
The key to getting MT RV to cooperate was the fact that I used a credit card for a deposit. If it was cash I probably would have had to really fight and the minute I got it, I certainly would have went elsewhere.
This way *everyone* wins. I got a better deal than I would have just a few days before during their big sale and the dealer still made money because trailer mark-ups are worst that Monster cable mark-ups!
Now a re-hash on my Nissan experience… Two dealerships, both contacted by e-mail for quotes on a 2006 Nissan Titan back in 03/2006. San Louis Obispo Nissan and Santa Barbara Nissan.
The gal with SLO Nissan played all the games, wouldn’t give me price, wanted me to come in or call.
The guy with SB Nissan asked what I wanted and quoted exactly what I wanted.
The gal with SLO Nissan quoted me for a fully loaded LE 4X4 crew cab even though I had not told her I may be interested.
SB Nissan waited until I asked for options, gave a price then found the one truck I wanted (200 miles away at Fontana Nissan)
SLO Nissan finally gave me a quote that was a few bucks cheaper than SB Nissan after I told her she did nothing but waste my time and I will drive further down the road to buy from SB Nissan.
SB Nissan asked for a deposit at first but after speaking with the sales guy about payment options, he just agreed to bring the truck up on my word… the truck arrive in the evening, I looked it over and it was exactly what I wanted.
It took about an hour to do the paperwork, which was exactly what I was told over the phone. I wrote a check and SB Nissan didn’t even take a credit report (didn’t even ask for my SSN) so I know they didn’t check after I left.
It was by far the best experience I ever had at a dealership…
Easy solution. Pick up a nice big banner and a friend. Sit right in front of the dealership with the banner. “Ask me about / dishonest business practices!”
Have a nice picture of a RAT on the banner.
Make the dealership PAY you to go away.
Ask me about (sales person’s name) it should read… sorry
@Lo-Pan: re: alerting the local media
My first thought was, “The problem solver segment on the 11 o’clock would eat this shit up!” But then I realized car dealerships are a HUGE source of ad revenue for local affiliates. I wonder if they would have the balls to bite the hand that feeds them.
Just so you know, that misterious “car prep fee” is a very expensive car wash.
Ask him what is to stop someone from wandering through (or, if it is fenced, past) their lot at night spraying paint remover into the air.
If he has not called you, I suggest you give
General Manager Manny Licitra (Phone: (718) 238-8000)
a call. Please update us on the status.
When I read this story I gave the dealership a call to inform Manny, The General Manager, about your problem. He said he was not aware of your problem and my impression is that he wants to do the right thing and he stated that they always give back deposits.
Car sales is a greasy, greasy business. Even when you get a good deal you get ripped off somehow. Greasy stuff.
Administrative Contact :
Bay Ridge Automotive Group
marco.sorgi@bramcorp.net
6410 6th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11220
US
Phone: (718) 439-4530
Technical Contact :
Michael J Motto Internet
support@mjmi.com
719 Raritan Rd
Clark, NJ 07066
US
Phone: 732-382-4000
Fax: 732-382-4000
Instead of negotiating to $311.00 a month, he should have negotiated on the price of the car, then get the monthly payment based on price, term and interest rate.
I went with a friend of mine to buy a new beamer and it was supposed to be a roughly 30,000 loan over 5 years with 5,000 down at 5% interest. Then the guy asks how much can you afford to pay per month? I said give me the monthly payment based on those terms. He never did so we left. The guy just did not get it that we knew he was trying to scam us.
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