Dodge warning customers against its own dealers(!)

[Pajamarama]

http://money.cnn.com/2015/03/03/autos/dodge-dealers/index.html

Dodge said the dealers are possibly doing something unethical and illegal.

The car company said a "small number" of dealers are taking multiple deposits for the 2015 Dodge Challenger and Charger SRT Hellcat models, even though their customers might have to wait months for their cars, if they get them at all.

"An isolated number of dealers have taken a far greater number of orders than they could reasonably expect to fulfill under the ...allocation system," said a statement from Dodge, a unit of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCAM).

 

[VNTS]

Yawn

Anyone with an ounce of brains who wants a hellcat probably does their due dilligence and insists on a refundable deposit and asks for a VON in their system.

 

[Pajamarama]

Originally Posted By: VNTS
Yawn

Anyone with an ounce of brains who wants a hellcat probably does their due dilligence and insists on a refundable deposit and asks for a VON in their system.

Sorry, VON?

 

[mrsilv04]

Dodge could put an end to this if they really wanted to.

Instead, they turned it into a cheap and shallow opportunity for their marketing/PR department.

 

[eljefino]

Furbies are in short supply this Xmas!!!

 

[demarpaint]

I'm not the least bit surprised. Like someone else said, yawn!

 

[javacontour]

Originally Posted By: Pajamarama
Sorry, VON?

Possibly a Vehicle Order Number or similar?

 

[Tdbo]

Originally Posted By: VNTS
Yawn

Anyone with an ounce of brains who wants a hellcat probably does their due dilligence and insists on a refundable deposit and asks for a VON in their system.

Agreed. In writing as well.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Dodge could put an end to this if they really wanted to.

Instead, they turned it into a cheap and shallow opportunity for their marketing/PR department.

Judgement was reached a bit too soon.

Hellcat engines are hand assembled individually, and run in for 3 hours EACH! This will be an extremely limited production vehicle.

All stealerships do this. Chevy gouges for its Hi Po cars, Ford gouges for its, too.

Back in 2005 I shopped all over the southeast for my 300C SRT8. They were being made 3 at a time and only 264 were produced in 05 at all. I had 3 deposits in at 3 different dealers. I had no problems getting my money back from anybody, but I waited until August for a car....

 

[OneEyeJack]

It's difficult to turn down cash that's dropped in your lap. This would be especially true considering the person likely to drop cash on a deposit for such a specialty car may be a fickle person with little or no brand or dealership loyalty. The dealer is taking his best shot at a one time sale. It's a sure bet that the dealer will return the deposit upon failure to deliver the vehicle and even then the dealer has another shot at a sale for some other vehicle. What's not to like about all that?

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Buy a 60's or 70's classic muscle and forget these newer cars. Restorate!

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Dodge could put an end to this if they really wanted to.

Instead, they turned it into a cheap and shallow opportunity for their marketing/PR department.

I disagree. There are various laws in various states that mandate that auto manufacturers sell through a dealer network that they can neither significantly control, regulate, nor own. When the dealer network is shady, it reflects badly on the carmaker, but there's very little the carmaker can do other than gripe or handle customer complaints through their own 1-800 numbers.

Tesla is a good example of a company not wanting to suffer through that system, and as a result its kinda hard to actually buy a Tesla some places (like here in Texas). If some public shaming by Chrysler cleans up (notoriously bad) practices by some of the dealers that sell their products, good on 'em.

 

[VNTS]

Originally Posted By: Pajamarama
Sorry, VON?

Vehichle Order Number.

Dealer and Insiders on many of the forums can go into the VOTS Vehcihle Order Tracking System and check the status of the car.

Basically if a dealer takes your deposit on a Hellcat, one can follow up on the status and easily tell if they are being hoodwinked.

Also Chrysler cannot control what Dealers do, because of Franchise laws.

Where Chysler has screwed up, they allocated based on past SRT and Dodge sales, so small dealers will have difficult time getting any. IMHO they should of allocated on first come first serve on sold orders, and anyone who has bought a mopar of any kind last 10 yrs gets bumped up the chain, ie reward customers who are loyal and kick the one trick ponys to the back of the line!