[sinopath]

About a year ago I made a mistake of signing a lease deal at a local BMW dealer, and made another mistake of backing off within 24h before delivery. It was mostly financial stress combined with buyers remorse, I left 2000+ deposit behind, the dealer offered that I could use the deposit towards another car within a year. After several months I ended up buying a BMW I really liked from another dealer. Now that the 1 year grace period is about to expire, and I certainly am not gonna buy another BMW, I wonder if it is possible to use the deposit towards parts (specifically, MPPSK) from the first dealer. Any suggestions how I should approach the first dealer? Thanks

Update: I contacted the SA, he replied that as per dealership regulations, the deposits can only be used towards vehicle purchases, if I bring a friend to buy a car, he can use my deposit too. I asked him why cannot use the money to buy parts, since it's also a business, he went silent.

Update2: Encouraged by a local member, I called the general manager in the store, he was busy so I left a voice mail explaining the situation. And he called my number 30m later! He was super cool, asked my name, what me current car is, and who my SA was, and said "I'll see what I can do". An hour later, the SA texted me "My boss agreed to you using the deposit to buy parts. Now you can go and shop for parts".

[rlmesq]

Originally Posted by sinopath

About a year ago I made a mistake of signing a lease deal at a local BMW dealer, and made another mistake of backing off within 24h before delivery. It was mostly financial stress combined with buyers remorse, I left 2000+ deposit behind, the dealer offered that I could use the deposit towards another car within a year. After several months I ended up buying a BMW I really liked from another dealer. Now that the 1 year grace period is about to expire, and I certainly am not gonna buy another BMW, I wonder if it is possible to use the deposit towards parts (specifically, MPPSK) from the first dealer. Any suggestions how I should approach the first dealer? Thanks

"Hey, I put down a deposit on a lease a year ago, but didn't end up getting the car. You were really cool to give me a one year grace period to apply it to a different car, but the exact car I wanted showed up at a different dealer. Is it possible to use that deposit toward parts, specifically MPPSK, instead?

[sinopath]

Originally Posted by rlmesq

"Hey, I put down a deposit on a lease a year ago, but didn't end up getting the car. You were really cool to give me a one year grace period to apply it to a different car, but the exact car I wanted showed up at a different dealer. Is it possible to use that deposit toward parts, specifically MPPSK, instead?

Can't tell if you are being sarcastic, but thanks.

[TheBingoBalls]

It will vary by dealer on how your deposit is handled but assuming you didn't back out of the deal after PDI and detailing was performed on the car you were supposed to pick up, the deposit should fine to use anywhere at the dealership. Again, the way these are handled will vary from dealer to dealer so you will have to inquire.

[sinopath]

Originally Posted by TheBingoBalls

It will vary by dealer on how your deposit is handled but assuming you didn't back out of the deal after PDI and detailing was performed on the car you were supposed to pick up, the deposit should fine to use anywhere at the dealership. Again, the way these are handled will vary from dealer to dealer so you will have to inquire.

Thanks, I guess I'm just not prepared how to deal with them saying no. I backed out of the deal within 24h, which falls under BC's cool-down period law, however I signed waiver of that right on my lease so I didn't ask for a refund. The car was an employee lease used by their service manager, there was another customer bidding for the car so I assume they sold the car to the other customer right away.

[TheBingoBalls]

Originally Posted by sinopath

Thanks, I guess I'm just not prepared how to deal with them saying no. I backed out of the deal within 24h, which falls under BC's cool-down period law, however I signed waiver of that right on my lease so I didn't ask for a refund. The car was an employee lease used by their service manager, there was another customer bidding for the car so I assume they sold the car to the other customer right away.

Again, depending on whether or not they went ahead and prepped the vehicle, your deposit may or not be there to be used but if you had a manager saying your deposit is still good if you come back with x months, you should be entitled to it to spend at the dealership - it doesn't necessarily belong to the new car department.

[sinopath]

Update: I contacted the SA, he replied that as per dealership regulations, the deposits can only be used towards vehicle purchases, if I bring a friend to buy a car, he can use my deposit too. I asked him why cannot use the money to buy parts, since it's also a business, he went silent.

[Bongoxxx]

Originally Posted by sinopath

Update: I contacted the SA, he replied that as per dealership regulations, the deposits can only be used towards vehicle purchases, if I bring a friend to buy a car, he can use my deposit too. I asked him why cannot use the money to buy parts, since it's also a business, he went silent.

Possibly the new car sales and parts and service departments are all separate businesses. A lot of dealers set them up separately for various reasons including insurance and liability.

[sinopath]

I called BMW Canada, they say they don't have control over sales. And I called BCVSA, they said if you had signed a deposit agreement then the dealer have the right to keep the deposit.

So, I'm SOL.

[sinopath]

Update2: Encouraged by a local member, I called the general manager in the store, he was busy so I left a voice mail explaining the situation. And he called my number 30m later! He was super cool, asked my name, what my current car is, and who my SA was, and said "I'll see what I can do". An hour later, the SA texted me "My boss agreed to you using the deposit to buy parts. Now you can go and shop for parts".

[TheBingoBalls]

Originally Posted by sinopath

Update2: Encouraged by a local member, I called the general manager in the store, he was busy so I left a voice mail explaining the situation. And he called my number 30m later! He was super cool, asked my name, what my current car is, and who my SA was, and said "I'll see what I can do". An hour later, the SA texted me "My boss agreed to you using the deposit to buy parts. Now you can go and shop for parts".

Based on how easy and quick the response was, this should've been the outcome from the start - didn't look like your deposit was used to source or prep the car you wanted to buy because if it was, it would have been just as easy for the GM to say "deposit was used to dealer trade or prep your car".

[sinopath]

Originally Posted by TheBingoBalls

Based on how easy and quick the response was, this should've been the outcome from the start - didn't look like your deposit was used to source or prep the car you wanted to buy because if it was, it would have been just as easy for the GM to say "deposit was used to dealer trade or prep your car".

Just ordered the MPPSK parts with the deposit.

I think the initial push-back might have come solely from the sales guy. He told bluntly it's the regulation of the company, when I nicely asked him if he could talk to the manager, he didn't reply. But when the GM agreed and called me, he asked who my SA was, it was the SA that informed me his boss had agreed to use the deposit towards parts an hour later. Last week when I told the parts department I have store credit available, they also asked me to contact my SA to speak to them. My SA only asked what my cell phone number was but didn't update me on the progress. When I checked with the parts department two days later, they told me the fund had been transferred.

So my guess was the SA got to pocket my deposit, but the GM made him pay for my parts. From the attitudes of his texts, I can tell he was very reluctant about the whole process.

As for why it was so easy for the GM to agree. One possible contributor may be the fact he'd just gotten promoted to VP a week before.

Although feeling snubbed by the SA, I kinda feel sorry to him, for bailing out and for all the running-around. I want to bring him business in the future when the virus thing subsides, but fear retaliations at the same time

[sinopath]

Update: MPPSK installed to my car yesterday, glad I put an end to this.