chuck

I ordered an R/T three months ago. The car has been built, left the factory and is at a holding facility. A truck is on it's way to load the car and then depart for the dealer. It should arrive in the next few days. Sadly, my excitement has been crushed. Here's the situation:
There were three incentives at the time:
1-Employee Pricing
2-Auto show rebate ($500)
3-O% financing with $1000 bonus cash
The dealer told me today the first two items are "Sold Order Protected" but the third is not due to bankruptcy and Chrysler Financial no longer exists. I wanted to pay in full, but ironically they didn't want you to if you wanted the $1000 off. The only way to pay in full and get the discount would be to pay through a credit union, which I don't have.
I'm not someone to pay one penny above the price agreed upon. I will be calling and emailing Chrysler telling them they are in no position to screw over customers at a time like this, especially over $1000 for preexisting order agreements while they struggle with a multi-billion debt. They should cherish their customers and do everything to keep them, not piss them off and alienate them. I'll offer to pay in full if they honor the $1000 bucks and see if they want a sale or to be stuck with another car on the lot having to find a new customer. I guess I'll have to look for another car if they want to be stubborn jerks.

BLK 6050

Sounds like” bend-over financing” (and I don’t mean trying to help). I would stick to my guns if I were you, as a deal is a deal and if the dealership’s word is no good….why do business with them. I would try elevating it to the District Manager level (then higher if need be), as it helped my parents many years ago while trying to deal with the dealer they took their Oldsmobile to for servicing. It may help, or it may just become a writing exercise…but it’s worth a try. I still find it unbelievable that Chrysler dealers would continue to act in this manner while the home office is sinking deeper and deeper in red ink.
It seems as if Chrysler has failed to learn that it is their loyal past customers that have kept them in business all these years, and are their best bet to continue into the future…but, it’s the PT Cruiser story all over again…
(Fool me once shame on me, fool me twice shame on me…)

Dads R/T

They should honor their agreements with you but dont think the car will be looking long for a buyer long, maybe a day or so and there goes your car! If you want what you ordered, I would take it, after all you get employee price. But I know that wasn't the deal. Depends on how bad you want what you custom ordered! Read other threads, some are paying way over to get one.

germansheperd

Your already getting employee pricing WTF else do you want? if CFC doesnt exist how is it the dealers fault that you dont get the extra 1000.? Maybe you shouldve done a dealertrade and gotten a car that way so you wouldve gotten the CFC 1000. In my 10 yrs in the car business i tell people and sometimes they think its BS 'part of getting a good deal is knowing when to take it' It amazes me how may crybabies there are in this country today.They want to write letters/lawsuits/complain. Let me break it to you like this if you cant afford 33k,you cant afford 32k.

chuck

Boy have you got nerve! "WTF else do you want?" How about Dodge not trying to rip me off by $1000! Not the dealers fault? It's not mine either. I'm not paying for Chrysler's poor management of their company to the point where they were forced to file for bankruptcy. "Crybabies" and "if can't afford 33k you can't afford 32k"? Well, since you don't seem to think $1000 is a big deal, you can pay it for me! Affordability is not the point when a company is trying to screw you over. It's not as if I was just taking a salesman's word on it which I would never do. The $1000 cash bonus was "Sold Order Protected" to be paid by Chrysler who should be stuck with it, not me or the dealer. With the billions they spend and continue to beg the government for (which is really our tax dollars), $1000 to them is nothing. Do you think if I went to Dodge and told them I'm in financial ruin and will now pay $1000 less than what I originally agreed to they would go along with it? Of course not! Sure isn't the way to treat customers, and only lead them to buy from a competitor.

chuck

Thanks Dads. You're right about it being a risk when you stand your ground. On one hand, the car is very appealing and there are people who just don't care much about pricing and buying from a bankrupt company. On the other, it is well known the company is a mess and buying anything from them carries it's own risks. I doubt the showrooms are bustling with activity. Some of the rebates they're offering for other models show their desperation for customers. I called the rebate center and they said the district manager at the regional business center can sometimes do an overwrite or policy adjustment. I've already left a message with the district manager so we'll see.

germansheperd

Sounds like you really need to buy a Prius-they are all whiners like you. Toyota dealers arent hurting,dealerships are bustling and the next thing you'll bitch about is fuel economy when gas goes back to $3-4 a gallon.

chuck

German:
You're another obnoxious member so I won't waste much time with you. When a deal is made and incentives are Sold Order Protected, the company is responsible for the agreement. If they go back on it, that's up to them, but they'll lose customers. It's not the customer's problem if they go bankrupt and can take their business to a competitor who will not try to raise the price after a deal is agreed upon. Since a $1000 isn't a lot of money to you and someone is being a "whiner" who is "bitching" when the company reneges on a deal, then you pay the $1000.

Axel

Well, I'm kind of mixed on this one. I would be upset about the $1,000 also, but at the same time you are getting the employee discount. That's a deal in itself. As mentioned above, there are many people who didn't get the employee pricing and missed out. I got lucky. Timing is sometimes everything.

Now on the flip side of this, if you were to go bankrupt and have a credit card company on your butt, back before Bush, you would be able to say goodbye to all of that debt no matter what you owed. You still can now, but it takes a lot more effort. That's what's going on here, they are still giving you deals, so working with you, but they aren't able to give you the full deal even though they are bankrupt. Overall that's not to bad of a deal.

Now the credit union is definitely an option. If you don't want to do that, then I say at that point that's your choice and you have no one to blame but yourself. You don't need anything special these days like you have in the past to join a credit union. You can usually open a savings account and throw about $25, more or less depending on the credit union, into it, or pay a member fee, sometimes both, and they'll finance the vehicle for you.

In my opinion, if this is something that you don't want to do because Chrysler promised this to you and it's to inconvenient, or whatever the case may be, then maybe it really isn't the car for you.

Just to give you a heads up though, was just at one of the Camaro grand reveal ordeals they were doing and it sounds that they are going to be just as bad as Dodge dealers. A salesman there said that they will probably be marking up the Camaro's $10k just like the Challengers. And here I thought Chevy wasn't going to bring themselves down to the same level. I guess money talks.

Thor77

Chuck, it sounds to me like it is the principle more than the money that is leading you to consider cancelling the order. If you will always feel like you were screwed on the deal, it will tarnish the ownership experience a little bit.

Axel had great advice about joining a credit union, which is usually pretty easy to do.

If that is not an option, maybe a manager can do something to meet you halfway. "So sorry, Mr. Chuck, the government made GMAC take over Chrysler Financial, so they can't give you the deal that they had been offering, please select $500 worth of dealer accessories for your new car, and we will give them to you on the house." Or something like that.

If you can get enough of a gesture from them to make you feel respected, take the deal because you're getting the car well below MSRP, and probably not far from invoice.