Update on my van purchase:
Before signing up dealer told me he had a van in Perth, went through the negotiation with two dealers for the best deal, original Dealer I contacted matched the other Dealer's price so I signed up with him.
Delivery date was to be the 15/01/07 subject to finance. Advised the Dealer that finance was approved 08/01/07. Dealer stated the van was booked in to have the window tinting fitted on the 12/01/07 in the morning and it would be ready that afternoon.
I called on the 12/01/07 to check if the delivery was still OK. This is where the fun started. The Dealer was away on a course so could not be contacted.
The receptionist told me there had been a delay in the boat arriving. "Boat, but the van was in Perth, what boat" I asked. Oh, she says, so it was. I'll get the Dealer to call on Monday.
Monday 15/01/07, no call. I called, again the dealer was not there so I spoke to another salesman who, after checking, advised that the van was having the Aussie spec stereo fitted and would be ready for transport in 2.5 hours and would require a pre delivery check and clean so would not arrive until the following day.
16/01/07 no call so I called after lunch and spoke to the Sales Manager who told me that Suzuki do not complete orders until the finance is approved so it was my fault for the delay as I was only advising of the approval today.
I made him contact the original Dealer to confirm this was given on the 08/01/07. Once confirmed the Sales Manager told me the van was going through customs and would be delivered on the 19/01/07.
When I said it needs to be as my wife needs to start work on the 22/01/07 he replied that it was out of his control and up to Customs but it would be ready.
I called on the morning of the 19/01/07 and spoke to the original Dealer who advised that due to a miscommunication our van had not yet been to Customs as the guy who delivers all new cars to Dealerships, Customs and workshops had been on holiday for two weeks and forgot to include our van's details and hence the van in the first, second or third deliveries made in the last week. Was advised it would be delivered now on the 22/01/07.
I said it was not good enough, in the end he took $500 off the deal to sweeten it a bit.
22 - 23 & 24/01/07 No call so I called each day. Dealer stated that Customs had not released the van and there was nothing he could do to speed it up.
Yesterday I asked him to check anyway and he said he would and call back.
He called back and spoke to my wife and said unfortunately it would not be delivered until mid next week.
So I called another Dealer and confirmed that they had a van that could be picked up today if needed. I then called Suzuki Australia and got them to fax the details of our van's arrival in Australia. Guess what, it arrived in Australia on the 12/01/07.
So I called the Dealer and said the deal was off. He immediately said if I reneged on the deal I would be liable for the full purchase price as it was a legally binding contract. I told him that the Dealer's obligation was to meet the conditions of the contract or it would be deemed null and void. He agreed.
I then reminded him that as per the contract under special conditons I had made him put the delivery date as the 15/01/07 therefore he did not meet his obligations. He waffled something about goodwill and said he would have his lawyer call me.
His lawyer called and was just very aggresive right from the start telling me what I was liable for and how much it would cost in legal fees blah blah blah.
When he finished I asked what version of events he had been told and he repeated all as above other than the story about the radio. I asked him if he was sure it was correct. He said of course I am, I have a signed statement here with me. I asked for his fax number and told him I would fax a copy of the info from Suzuki and also a copy of the legal requirements regarding Motor vehicle contracts so he could confirm the contract was in fact voided by the Dealer and asked if he knew the meaning of misrepresentation in rgard to contracts?. He hung up in disgust.
I kid you not the Dealer called within five minutes to tell me he had my van coming down on the 25/01/07 today by 5.00pm. He actually told me the Lawyer called him and told him he needed to get the van to me ASAP.
Last bit I promise. We had just left home (4.20pm) to get there by five and he called back. As it is a long weekend the truck with our van was delayed in traffic and would not arrive until 5.30pm. By that time all the workshop staff should have left and the guy who agreed to stay back to help had to leave at 5.00pm.
I nearly laughed as he was stressing so much his voice was failing. Yes I felt bad afterward.
Yay this is the end: The Dealer himself and two guys from the workshop are working tomorrow (double time for the two guys) to have the van ready at 8:30am Saturday. They are not allowed to deliver the car tomorrow being a public holiday. The best part is the price is now $17000 as an offer on their part to make up for lost income this week. No window tint though which doesn't matter as we can get it done at a good price anyway.
So there it is, buying a new car is so simple.
Edit: I should have mentioned that my brother is a Lawyer and provided his assistance.