"Subaru seems to have lost your car"
 

So about a month ago I placed a deposit with my local dealer to hold a Galaxy Blue BRZ due to arrive 9/30. I walked out that day with VIN in hand. So I called a few days before the car was supposed to arrive to make sure everything was on track and they said nothing has changed on their end and the car should be in on the 30th (yesterday). So on the 30th I get a call around 3:00 (I planned to pick the car up after work) and it is my salesman. He says that he got a call saying that the delivery truck the car was on was running late and that it may not be delivered before the dealer closed that night. I was disappointed but I said that was fine and I would pick up the car the next day (Today).

So I get off work today and call the dealer and I am told that my car is in, but they weren't able to PDI it so it couldn't be sold. Again, I was disappointed, but I had some alternate plans for the night so I wasn't too upset and I said I'd come by tomorrow after work to get the car. About an hour later I get a call from my salesman again. He said he went to go double check what was going on with the car and that the car that he saw come in was actually not my car (VINs dont match). Further, my car hasn't come in at all. So he checked the status and apparently Subaru has no record of the car after it was checked in at port. According to him, Subaru has lost the car and the dealer is now in contact with higher ups to track it down.

Does this even happen? Anyone at a dealer want to punch in my VIN and check the status?

I have a feeling your dealer sold the car to someone else... could be by accident.

Tell them that you sold your daily driver already in preparation and they owe you a loaner BRZ. Otherwise I'm thinking they owe you a discount on the next one unless they can "find" your car. Hey, they put you between a rock and a hard spot, right? :-)

Possible.. but I've had the VIN for a month. If they 'find' the car but it has a different VIN, or they say they can't find it but they dealer traded for a different one then I would start to think there was a very real chance that happened. Also I would be pissed.


They know my daily driver situation. Although if they try to sell me a different car I may hold out for a discount. If it actually was a mistake I don't mind, but if it was a mistake then they will find the car with the VIN I have a deposit on.

There is a chance they could have sold to someone else at which point go buy from another dealer and make sure to let them know that you won't waste your time going back to that dealership ever again.

Oh and see if the brz that came in has the vin that was reserved for you, go unanounced and walk the lot.

I just checked their online inventory and it doesn't show any GBS in stock or in transit.

If it was a car that was ordered or reserved more than likely they wouldn't bother putting it online since its pretty much sold already the dealership I worked for certainly doesn't

Sounds really shady. I am with the others in thinking the dealer may have sold it to someone else. I would start looking around at other dealers and have a backup plan in case your dealer "cannot find the car".

ten characters

Sounds to me like they sold it to someone else by accident. But I can't say for certain; call the SoA hotline and make an inquiry. If the dealer is pulling something shady they'll end up taking heat for it from both you and Subaru in the end.

Just called the SOA customer service line. They say they have no record of that VIN in their system. Unfortunately, I didn't think to ask if cars are removed from the system when they are sold. They are opening a case to look into it and will call me back within 5 business days. I would hope this would be sorted by then.

Make sure to get the good mats and mudflats for your trouble..

I wanna know what happens next.., but no one thought maybe these guys may have gotten mixxed up between letters or numbers? I would of asked to personally see the car that was shipped. I would of been pretty upset too.. I hope they figure out what happened and you get your BRZ very soon!

SOA is clueless. No help at all in my case. They told me my car was in transit, yet the car didn't arrive for another three months. I think your car isn't even built yet.
Mine only took seven months once ordered!

Would running the VIN through Carfax pull up some sort of information, or is it too soon? Just a thought.

I can track an iPad or iPhone as it gets built in China and sent out for shipping in the US, but SOA can't track a $28K car???

Real sorry OP hope everything works out for you.

If this happened to me I would be like

Attachment 52772

This made me LOL IRL YOLO BRBBQ

Ugh.. Subaru... Worst customer service... EVER

Its a 2013. If it's not built by not I don't think it would ever be built.

I don't think they have me the wrong VIN because I checked it in the VIN decoder and it seems right. The only potential spot for error would be in the serial number.

If you don't use this opportunity to pursue a good discount on a BRZ, then you should also not pursue any career in sales. :)

Here's the first words I would use when I speak with the General Manager and nobody other than the GM.

"Look, I'm really upset. The whole point of putting down a deposit as a consumer is to reserve something. Not only are you holding my money while I have nothing to show for it, but now you're wasting my time and I feel like I'm being yanked around, and that's not a feeling I appreciate. I accept that people make mistakes, it happens, but what determines their quality is not that absence of mistakes but how they are corrected. I'm willing to overlook and forgive this mistake if you can offer me a discount on a car that justifies the time I have wasted in this, and it has been a lot of time from my perspective. I would like a minimum of $2k off the purchase price I've previously agreed to otherwise I'd like my deposit back immediately, before I leave today so that I can give my tens of thousands of dollars to a dealership that will treat it and me with the appropriate amount of respect."


I did a similar thing when I bought my FRS. I specifically noted I did not want the "port installed options" which were like an extra $1k or so. I specifically documented that. When my car showed up it had the options on it (like the Scion rear bumper applique). They told me they cannot discount the car because of "Pure Pricing". I said, "well then, I don't see any other option than this... You can give me $1000 more for my trade in than we previously agreed to and I will overlook this mistake and take the car." Had I not known someone who had the ear of the GM, I probably would have not got the extra money for the trade in and I would have left there with my deposit and given my money to another dealership. It's a $25k car from a dealership, not a little fly by night parking lot sales group. If they can't respect your bottom line then absolutely, under no condition should you respect theirs.

If Subaru says they have no record of that VIN number, then I'd have to ask the GM just where did they get that VIN from. Someone somewhere pulled a boner and you are now getting the run around. I can still get info on cars built 40+ years ago and they are telling you they have no record of that VIN number.................uh, 2+2 isn't adding up to 4 if you get my drift.

If that happened to me after waiting 4 months for mine I would of ripped that dealership a new one.:mad0260:

I would be taking time off of work making sure they make things right. I wouldn't leave without being compensated for my time wasted.

u/Josh - Hate to be the bearer of bad news but seeing as how the VIN disappeared from the system, something happened to the car while in transit. It was not sold to someone else, or delivered to another dealer or the VIN would still show in the system.

This doesn't happen very often, but the same thing happened to my In-laws, they special ordered a 2012 Outback, got the VIN and estimated delivery date. I tracked the car for them every step of the way. 3 Days before the estimated delivery date it completely disappeared from the system...found out later when it was being unloaded from the train it fell off the ramp...no really, it fell off, rolled over and was damaged beyond repair.

SOA did end up rushing another Outback to us with the same color/options, etc., but it took about two weeks additional.

This is truly out of your dealerships control, let them work to resolve it. Your dealer needs to call their distribution rep, they will know what happened...

Sounds like a scary mystery story to me. If they can't find it then just order another one, hopefully it won't be lost this time.

I found your car.............

Attachment 52809

Oh.....what.........wait........oh, that's not your car? Sorry.........

Are you certain that the GBS BRZ that finally DID arrive is not yours? Maybe that's the car intended for you, but they just noted the incorrect VIN on your paperwork when you placed your deposit.

Have they sold that BRZ that just came in?

If they sold the car intended for you, through a "clerical error," then you have a bargaining advantage. Although, it's getting late to get a new 2013 model, I'd think. Maybe a discount on a new 2014 is in order?

The 2014 will be worth more on resale a few years down the road, probably more than the discount on a 2013 today. I'd get the 2014, myself. YMMV of course, especially if you had your heart set on the Galaxy Blue.

Should have bought from Clint...


But seriously, definitely try and get a major discount because thats horseshitt.
That's not how you do business. If my business were to make a mistake, I would do everything I could to make it up to them so they dont have a single bad thing to say about my dealership.

Well, if the car was damaged in transit, it is not really the dealers fault. Granted, they should be bending over backwards to find him a new GBS..

Thats what I meant. Dealer should be calling him giving him updates on how their going to go about handling this so he doesnt feel left in the dust.

Basically he wants answers... and the dealer doesnt have them, which is the problem since they have $2k of his.

Just spoke with my salesman. Apparently the car was put on the wrong truck but is somewhere in Arizona. They are working on pinpointing it and he is going to update me in the morning.

Good to hear. Shipping snafus suck but they can happen.

That sound like a movie I've seen but with a car

http://www.tadl.org/sites/default/fi...rd%20bound.jpg

Repost, but more emphatic

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FGUYi_s7tb...res_my_car.jpg

I think this basically sums it up:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T2GmGSNvaM"]Seinfeld - The Car Reservation - YouTube[/ame]

At least your getting it, but now hopefully its in perfect condition still.. Those truck guys randomly dont care about their job. Do they ever get fined for dropping cars or getting damage on them? It's bs.

Glad to hear that they at least "know" where you car is. But like everyone else was saying, get something out of it, waiting this long is not except able.

I'd definitely ask them to throw in a key-chain for your troubles lol

Glad they found your car

Nick C.

UPDATE: The car was delivered to another dealer in Phoenix. I'll be picking it up tonight.

Well when you go pick it up kick the truck drivers ass for f'n up you special moment.