Quote:
Originally Posted by einzlr
That's what they're all telling me too (both Subaru and Scion). The best they can offer is you can put down a refundable deposit (typically $500 or $1000) and get on their wait list. When a car comes in, they call the people on their wait list (I assume in order of signing up) and then you can test drive the car with right of first refusal.
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That's how I got mine. I called an out of town dealer and they told me that they were receiving a car like I wanted in about three weeks. After being assured a deposit was refundable I put a credit card deposit on the car. A few weeks later when they called me and told me the car was in I drove the 100+ miles to the dealership, saw it, liked it, drove it, still liked it, got a fair trade for my Miata and drove the FR-S home.
A follow up thought here. When I made the deposit I wasn't sure whether I'd be there the day it came in or not. It's possible it could have sat there for a few days before I got to the dealership. Because of that possibility I had an understanding with the dealership that no one else was to road test the car or even set in it except employees of the dealership and only then if they were doing something for my benefit. My point is that the deposit on a car will surely guarantee you a test drive and first right of refusal. Without a deposit I can understand where most of the cars coming into the dealerships are already spoken, just as mine was, and if the potential buyers are half on the ball they would have the same understanding that no one else was to test drive their cars.