I want to order a Prius. The saleman says I have to leave a $1000 deposit to order. I told him that was too much , because him dosen't know when the car will be delivered. I would like to know what other people have left as a deposit on their order.
What are the advantages of using a credit card? We used one but I noticed that everyone over on the Yahoo list used checks.Soyboy said:When I ordered my '04 Prius in September, my dealer asked for a fully refundable $100 deposit. $1000 is really excessive to me. Whatever you do, make sure you leave the deposit with a credit card.
I doubt that amt had anything to do with speed of delivery. If you were willing to pay over MSRP you might get a quicker delivery from a less than ethical salesperson. I put my $500 down and mine will be here in 2wks - I ordered last month. There are tons of examples of $500 deposits on Yahoo and some got there car within 1 week and others wil have to wait many months.gbergman said:I'm not a previous Toyota owner and was told by others that I didn't have a chance. But, I put down $2,500 and specified "BC in any color I could get". Maybe that's why I'm now driving my "Tideland Pearl"? I may never know but, I have friends with $80,000+ new Cadillacs, Mercedes, & Jaguars and who do you think is getting all the attention.
With a credit card you have recourse if you change your mind and you're doing business with an unethical dealer. If they try to pull a fast one on you and say they get to keep all or part of the deposit, you can dispute the charge with your credit card company. As long as you have paperwork showing a fully refundable deposit, they'll be on your side. If you pay by check, you'd likely have to jump through many more hoops to get your deposit back.bttmama said:What are the advantages of using a credit card? We used one but I noticed that everyone over on the Yahoo list used checks.
Exaclty! When I leased my Corolla 3 years ago I walked out of 2 dealers before finding one who was honest and didn't try pulling any BS. When I called him in September and told him I wanted the Prius, the first question he asked was when my current lease expires. When I told him September 27th, the next thing he said was that the Prius won't be in before mid October, but he'd arrange to have a loaner ready for me when I drop off the Corolla. Sure enough it was ready, and I drove it until the Prius came in on October 25th. When I bought the Prius there was no markup from MSRP and no extra fees that so many other dealers try to tack on. And never any pressure for anything. There's no substitute for that kind of service.Mabosa said:Better to work with a dealer who considers a long-term relationship more important than fast profit (if you can find such dealers . .)