[melgish]

Dealer #2: "We've stopped taking additional orders on the first wait list, but we have a second list of people who are willing to pay $3000 over MSRP to get their car sooner".

Assuming people on the first waiting list put down a deposit, this is criminal behavior. You might want to remind them of this.

 

[melgish]

It's probably not criminal. Just vile, immoral, and disgusting. Most dishonest commercial activity is perfectly legal. Legal is not the same as right, and illegal is not the same as wrong. Examples abound.

With the exchange of money (depost) it becomes an implied contract.

If the dealer takes your depost and later decides to sell *your* Prius to someone else for a higher profit, they are in breach of that contract, and can be held accountable in a civil court.

If the dealer takes your deposit with no intention of honoring a waiting list, then they are commiting fraud and the can be held accountable in a criminal court.

The difficulty in either example is proving to a court that the dealer actually sold *your* Prius to someone else. A slimy dealear can earn quite a profit sliding around behind the burden of proof.

 

[melgish]

What you say is true only if there is actually a contract. Does the dealer describe how his list works? If not, there is no contract. A list is just a list. Does he tell you, "The 27th Prius that comes in is yours."? Probably not, because maybe the 27th Prius is an AF and you wanted a BC. The mere fact that he accepted your refundable deposit is not a contract unless there is a clear understanding of what the dealer is promising you.

But there is an implied contract. Once the dealer accepts your money and places you on 'a waiting list', at the very least, it is understood that if you are in 'position 1' then the very next Prius that meets your order requirements MUST be offered to you BEFORE it can be offered to anyone else. I suppose it can be argued that there's alot of open room for what happens when a Prius comes in that doesn't meet the order of the guy in position 1, but it can be generally accepted that before it could be offered to anyone NOT on the list, that one of the following *should* happen.

1. It should be offered to the first guy in the list
2. It should be offered to the first guy who ordered that specific model, color and package.

I don't think either of these cases are the topic of this discussion. vegas1 and others are talking about a dealer that gets a "Seaside Pearl #9" and sells it to the guy standing in the showroom for $5000 over MSRP, BEFORE going to the office and checking the list. The dealer who does this, KNOWING that there is quite possibly, someone already waiting for the extact vehicle. The fact that a list exists at the dealership, and that people have given money to be placed on it makes this kind of behavior either a criminal act, or at the very least a breach of the implied contract described above.

But again, unless you pull in everyone to whom the dealer's sold a Prius to since you placed yourself on the list, and have them speak under oath that they were not on the list before you were, this becomes a very difficult situation to prove in a court of law. AND even if you could prove it, you wouldn't be any closer to owning one than you are now. The judge can't rule a Prius into existance, (if only it were that easy ) and would most likely order the dealer to return your deposit, with interest and possibly court costs, and suggest you find another dealer.