Warning: Chesrown Chevrolet and Buying a Car on eBay

Cash in hand always wins the day. Happened to me when I bought my first engagement ring. Had it all picked out, but had to hit the bank to get the cash. They suggested applying for credit, which I refused because I had the cash and was too young to establish good credit. So I scheduled to pick it up the following morning.

When I got there, the ring was gone. The store owner had a successful guy with cash interested in the ring, versus a kid with questionable credit and a promise of cash. I was pissed, but who could blame him. He didn't even have my contact info, just a handshake. (cellphones were still a dream) So he apologized, and offered me a deal on a similar ring, which made me happy because I got a slightly better ring for the same price. (had he refused, he would have saved me the headache of my first marriage, so I did lose out in the end)

I understand the whole "cash in hand" thing, but the seller offers a car up at auction. Then he states the terms of his auction. Unless his terms say "you aren't really buying this car, but simply playing a 7 day long game to get in line to look at it" then it's a crappy move on the dealer. He said 24 hours, he should have given 24 hours.
Maybe Barrett Jackson should do this. Once the gavel falls, they should allow others to come up and buy the car that was already won, and essentially purchased.

DrBoost wrote: I understand the whole "cash in hand" thing, but the seller offers a car up at auction. Then he states the terms of his auction. Unless his terms say "you aren't really buying this car, but simply playing a 7 day long game to get in line to look at it" then it's a crappy move on the dealer. He said 24 hours, he should have given 24 hours. Maybe Barrett Jackson should do this. Once the gavel falls, they should allow others to come up and buy the car that was already won, and essentially purchased.

I agree with this, if the dealer stated 24 hours then good, bad, or indifferent they should have waited 24 hours. The OP got screwed plain and simple the thing that sucks is there is basically no recourse

Rather than "screwed," I would say they were "inconvenienced and disappointed." "Screwed" would be if there was some sort of tangible loss beyond hope for a convenient deal.

Cash>Word

Core problem with this thread has nothing to do with buying a car.

2 people had a disagreement. They both have (slightly) different versions. They can choose to shake hands and do the best they can...

BUT,

One of them decided to start a smear campaign. The intent of this thread, judging by the title, was to harm the dealer. The OP wanted everyone in internet land to know what a scumbag this dealer was, and hoped to hurt him.

That sucks.

I am hearing the dealer confess that he may not have done the right thing, but he was faced with a difficult decision.

I am also hearing the OP basically whining and saying, "Bite me, this is your fault".

Newsflash: Apparently neither one of you particularly likes Ebay and it's policies.

You guys can choose to end this well, or you can choose to to blame the other guy.

If it was me, I would call the dealer and buy him lunch. Maybe I'd get a good deal on the next "perfect car" to come along.

But the smear campaign doesn't impress me one bit.

DrBoost wrote: I understand the whole "cash in hand" thing, but the seller offers a car up at auction. Then he states the terms of his auction. Unless his terms say "you aren't really buying this car, but simply playing a 7 day long game to get in line to look at it" then it's a crappy move on the dealer. He said 24 hours, he should have given 24 hours. Maybe Barrett Jackson should do this. Once the gavel falls, they should allow others to come up and buy the car that was already won, and essentially purchased.

Gotta agree with this. If it weren't for the 24 hour waiting period, I could agree cash in hand > bytes on the web...but they broke their own terms.

SVreX wrote: Core problem with this thread has nothing to do with buying a car. 2 people had a disagreement. They both have (slightly) different versions. They can choose to shake hands and do the best they can... BUT, One of them decided to start a smear campaign. The intent of this thread, judging by the title, was to harm the dealer. The OP wanted everyone in internet land to know what a scumbag this dealer was, and hoped to hurt him. That sucks. I am hearing the dealer confess that he may not have done the right thing, but he was faced with a difficult decision. I am also hearing the OP basically whining and saying, "Bite me, this is your fault". Newsflash: Apparently neither one of you particularly likes Ebay and it's policies. You guys can choose to end this well, or you can choose to to blame the other guy. If it was me, I would call the dealer and buy him lunch. Maybe I'd get a good deal on the next "perfect car" to come along. But the smear campaign doesn't impress me one bit.

Bingo.

Trans_Maro wrote: Someone piss in your cornflakes this morning?

spitfirebill wrote:

Trans_Maro wrote: Having been berkeleyed by deadbeat bidding on my own cars on eBay. Whoever puts cash in my hand first is the new owner. Looks like that is what happened here as well.

Then stay off of ebay.

Nope, I had a waffle this morning, piss free. Just some free advice if you get screwed a lot by deadbeat bidders. Not meant to be ugly. Someone piss in your cornflakes?

SVreX hit the nail on the head.

this isn't the same as the Honda dealership/service dept. rant a while back

DaveV wrote: The auction ended at 7:04pm Tuesday night. At 10:30am Wednesday morning I called the dealership to work out picking up my car.

15 hours 26 minutes < 24 hours

Any time I go to look/buy at a car from a dealer I expect to argue, fight, get scammed, screwed, and leave pissed off.

If those are my expectations I am never disappointed.

DrBoost wrote: I understand the whole "cash in hand" thing, but the seller offers a car up at auction. Then he states the terms of his auction. Unless his terms say "you aren't really buying this car, but simply playing a 7 day long game to get in line to look at it" then it's a crappy move on the dealer. He said 24 hours, he should have given 24 hours.

I can't say it any clearer than this.

A mountain out of a molehill. Move on already and find another car. There are a metric E36 M3 ton of mini coopers out there and that was not the best in the universe.

Anyway the original ones were way quicker and probably more reliable.

In reply to Datsun1500:

They did not. The terms say the buyer must contact the dealer within 24 hours. It does not say the dealer must hold the car for 24 hours

Really? You are standing by that? So the auction was never about the car, nor were the terms in your opinion. They were about a phone call? Wait 15 days and be the high bidder, all for the privilege of contacting the dealer? But not about the car- because they sold it- maybe a call to talk about the weather?

While I applaud the dealer for at least acknowledging that it was not the best way to handle the situation, you realize that all he really said was "My bad, sorry about that. Better luck next time." While that may be better then nothing, it did not remedy the situation nor ensure that it won't happen again. A better response would have been, "I apologize for the situation. I'll see what I can do to locate a similar car. I'll let my sales guys know to wait the full 24hrs. next time."

Remember that this is a dealer, not a private seller on Craigslist. He's going to sell more cars, and depends on his reputation. The car was on auction for 15 days, they were not going to have to shutter the dealership if it sat for another 24hrs. Isn't anyone curious what the car sold for? Anyone believe it was lower then the auction price?

I don't have a dog in this fight, so in the grand scheme of things I don't care. But I'll say this.
The dealer said the buyer must contact them within 24 hours. That implies that the car is held, but only for 24 hours. If you don't get your but in gear you will lose the car.
Here's a scenario. They sent an e-mail at roughly 8 PM. Let's say the buyer works 3rd shift. He's just left for work to start his 9 PM shift. He get's home at 7 am (8 hours work, 1 hour lunch, 2 hours travel time). He needs just a little shut-eye before he gets up to start the business of his day. When he wakes up the car is sold. THAT is why the dealer would have done well to uphold the terms of agreement THEY WROTE.
The end result? The dealer made a buck, good for them. The buyer lost the opportunity to buy a car he wanted, but didn't lose any money. Stinks, but he's a big boy, he'll be ok. The silver lining? He didn't have to deal with a dealer that obviously has little regard for the customer.

Boost_Crazy wrote: Remember that this is a dealer, not a private seller on Craigslist. He's going to sell more cars, and depends on his reputation.

Wrong. This is where people always get confused. Unless you live in a town of 300, there are always more suckers that don't know or care about your reputation then there are people who heard how good you are at screwing them. Hell, even in a town of 300, if you're the only game within 300 miles I bet you could STILL stay in business. I worked in the shop at dealerships for 18 years. If you think they give a rats ass about reputation, you are sorely mistaken.

In reply to Junkyard_Dog:

There is a phrase that separates a well run business with a poorly run business. It's called lost sales. A well run business is just as concerned about how many people that are not buying from as they are with those that are. Poor performance and a bad reputation may not drive anyone out of business in this day in age, as the bar is set pretty low. But it definitely affects sales. How many lost sales are acceptable, and how many closed deals is enough? Not until I run out of cars to sell if it's my business. This dealer says he moves 300 cars a month, so they must be doing some things right. But could it be 350? 400?

Boost_Crazy wrote: In reply to Datsun1500: Wait 15 days and be the high bidder, all for the privilege of contacting the dealer? But not about the car- because they sold it- maybe a call to talk about the weather?

maybe I'm missing something … this was a car for sale by a dealer (I'm assuming it was clearly stated that it was a dealer) does anyone think that the car was going to just sit on their lot and wait for the 15 day auction to be completed ? if a customer had come on the lot anytime during the auction and offered enough $$, I'm sure the dealer would have sold in immediately

what was there to keep the OP from seeing the ebay listing and then contacting the dealer, buying the car, and driving away happy ?

other than hoping to "steal" the car .. price wise …

lesson here … if you see something you want, buy it, don't dither around …. I'm betting there was a buy it now box to click on (Beer Baron, that was for you LOL)

and as others have said … that can't be the only "fish" in the sea

jstein77 wrote:

Bababooey wrote: That's nothing. The sales manager for Upstate Toyota in Batavia NY took my keys...

"Took" your keys? No, you gave them your keys.

Maybe one day you'll be able to afford a new car and stop shopping on craigslist.

I think the best thing the OP could have done was go to the dealer ASAP to buy the car once he knew it existed. I understand why he didn't however. He thought that the eBay auction actually meant something. What we've learned is that the eBay auction is worthless when buying from a dealer.

My experiences with even the best dealerships have been painful. The BS they feed you is enough to make you shudder. My favorite dealer tactic is to advertise a popular car (say EVO, STI, etc.) at a ridiculously low price. You call the dealer in excitement for the "sales manager" to say "hmmm, I'm not sure if we still have that one. Let me get your name and number and I will call you back." Three minutes pass, they call back to say, "sorry, we just sold it. But I do have a 2005 Camry automatic that's a four-door, basically the exact car as that EVO. I can cut you a good deal." Meanwhile, you get 5 calls a day from the dealer for craptastic cars that you don't care about.

What a fun pissing match this is. Maybe some of you guys are going to the wrong types of dealerships. My experiences by in large have not been as painful as many of you describe. Yes, there were a few bumps in the road along the way, but nothing crazy. Personally, I call a dealer before I walk in the door and level set as to what the expectations are, what I'm looking for, etc...and it seems to work quite well. I just bought my Prius from a Toyota dealer 10 days ago. It was a very pleasant experience.

The worst experience I had at a dealer was at least 5 years ago. I was bringing my wife's car as a possible trade in. I gave them the keys to it to evaluate while I test drove another car. When the test drive was over, the dealer refused to return the keys to my wife's car unless I sat down and talked financing and numbers with them. In summary, my response was "I'll count to 10...if the keys aren't in my hands, the police will be called". I had the keys immediately and walked out the door. That was followed by a call from the dealership owner with an apology. But that was only once, and I've had lots of much more positive experiences than negative.

In this case, what's the end goal for the OP besides to vent frustration? The MINI isn't a 1 of 4 ever built exotic. Voice your frustration with the dealership in a private converstation with them and move on. Quite frankly, if it was me, I would have just voiced my very clear disatisfaction with the decision they made and tried to use it as leverage to get a good deal on a car they may have (or have them find me one).

Boost_Crazy wrote: In reply to Datsun1500:

They did not. The terms say the buyer must contact the dealer within 24 hours. It does not say the dealer must hold the car for 24 hours

Really? You are standing by that? So the auction was never about the car, nor were the terms in your opinion. They were about a phone call? Wait 15 days and be the high bidder, all for the privilege of contacting the dealer? But not about the car- because they sold it- maybe a call to talk about the weather?

Was gonna say pretty much the same thing. If you were the dealership's lawyer in court, you could be a sleazeball and argue that the 24 hours is really only about a phone call. But let's not pretend it's not about paying for the car and therefore the dealer should hold the car for that 24 hours.

Datsun1500 wrote: If the OP came on here and said he won a car on Ebay, changed his mind, and the dealer was holding him to the deal, everyone would be saying "screw the dealer" Ya can't have it both ways.

Presumptions ENGAGE!

Good grief.

Some of you absolutely refuse to hear anything other than what you want to hear.

Ad says, "Buyer must call within 24 hours", and you hear, "Dealer will hold car for 24 hours". It simply doesn't say that.

This may explain why so many of you claim bad experiences with dealers. You hear what you want to hear, then gripe about the dealer when he fails to meet your imaginary expectations.

Was it potentially misleading? Of course it was. It's advertising, for crying out loud.

News flash: Dealers encourage you to hear want you want to hear, you won't gain a ton of friends by sharing Coca Cola, and Axe soap won't get you laid.

You can turn it into a positive relationship withth dealer, or you can bitch about it on the internet. Your call... Oh, never mind. Choice is made.

If nothing else, it raises awareness of the different selling practices in place at E-bay. It's good to know that buying a car is different than baseball cards.