The Ethics of Multiple Pre-Orders
 

I have been told that it could be as late as August for my BRZ pre-order to be fulfilled. There is another dealership nearby that I did not know about when I first pre-ordered that is getting far more BRZs in. Is it ethical to put a pre-order in at this other dealership and buy from whoever gets the car in first?

They will sell all the cars they get for at least MSRP. I wouldn't feel bad doing it.

Exactly what I came here to say. It's not like you're trying to order a puke green Honda Accord Crosstour with a manual trasmission. They're going to be able to sell the car. I've been trying to track down a SWP Manual Premium BRZ, and everytime I find one, I end up being less than a week late to buy it. These cars aren't going to just sit on the lots.

Don't feel bad in shopping around and placing pre-orders in 2, heck even 10 dealers. Like what Mitch says, this car is IN DEMAND. Every dealer will sell every single car. Don't be afraid to cancel.

I have 2 pre-order deposits myself, one for Subaru and another for Scion. I specifically stated when I made my deposit that I can possibly back out, no questions asked. Both dealers agreed to this. Fully refundable deposits of course.

Ethically it would.

^ what they said, don't feel bad about it. In the end, your money will go to someones' pay roll/bonus, feeding their family and children. In return you get the car you want, satisfactioin and enjoyment. win-win.

Feel better now?

I wouldn't feel bad, one of the dealers here said there was no pressure putting down a deposit because I can easily back away as he will have no problem selling it to someone else.

If you don't have any relationship established with the dealership (I'm assuming you don't), I'd make sure the terms will be the same or better at the new dealer, place a pre-order with them, and pull the one at the former dealer. If you know for sure they'll have what you want sooner at the second one, why string along the first one? There could be someone else out there waiting for one...

I wouldn't feel bad at all. I'm in the same scenario where I have a chance to purchase a vehicle probably coming in next week versus waiting until August. I'm going to cancel my original pre-order and just grab the car which is available.

One of the guts around here Marloon had something like 6 different preorders so IRS not a big deal at all

Yeah, I had multiple orders in before I got my car. I placed an order in April, picked up an abandoned pre-order in early May, and then had a dealer email me specifically to offer me the car that I ended up getting. The dealerships I was working with before will have no problems selling the cars I backed out on, so I'm not worried at all. Plus, it puts a few hundred bucks back in my pocket from the refunded deposits.

Going to threadjack a bit here, have a question about a multi-pre-order situation.

I found out last week that the dealer I placed my order with two months ago didn't actually get my order in for their allocation for the year (I'm either 6 or 7 of 5) even though they told me when I put my deposit down that they hadn't sold all of their slots yet. My salesman told me that SOA may reallocate since some dealers haven't sold out, but not wanting to rely on that I started calling around to other dealers. I found one not too far away that had 2 slots left, so I went over immediately and put down another deposit.

This morning I get an email from the second dealer asking me if I've cancelled my other order yet because "the second one will hang up". Is he stong-arming me or is that actually how SOA's order system works?

You should have the freedom to purchase 2 cars if you want. I assume you told the 2nd dealer that you still have a deposit with the 1st dealer? He's probably just using that info against you, so that they can have your sale exclusively.

what does this mean? They're bluffing and using false info to scare you into submission.

Tell them you're keeping that spot for a friend at the 1st dealer. if they insist on bullshitting you about how you can't have 2 deposits (which is not true, many forum members have placed multiple deposits), then tell them "I want to buy 2 cars and have contact scion headquarters to confirm i'm allowed to, despite the limited availability"

Or, just walk away. Don't let them fuck with you. whoever holds the money is the boss.

Alrighty, thanks. I called SOA this morning to ask about this situation, but the guy I talked to didn't know for sure and will have to talk to distributors and get back to me. I'm not cancelling anything until I hear from corporate that I need to.