Some of you may have been following my saga "buying my first evora". About a month ago, I found the perfect car ... but on the day the transporter was to pick it up, some yahoo at the dealership wrecked it.
The search started anew
After a month of search and negotiating I found another great car. A 2012 with just 250 miles on it sitting at the Lotus dealership just 50 miles from me. See pic below. Amethyst Grey, loaded with everything including suede, IPS (for wifey) and the price ... I was buying it for $55K. Yesterday was pick up day ... but ... I received a email:
I really didn’t want to give you this information in an email but I also understand that returning a phone call in the middle of a work day can be difficult. Let me first say that this is not a sales game or any kind of deception on my behalf. The facts are when I went out to check the vehicle for the original window sticker per your request I found water in the vehicle’s passenger side floor board, and not just a little bit of water. The carpets are soaked to the point that when I put my hand on them water rises up out of it like a sponge. I do not know how long it has been there or how bad it has been in the past but it’s bad now. As I’m sure you can appreciate water in cars is something we take very seriously. Looking closer it does not appear that the window was down or that there is an obvious operating issue with the car, which frankly is more disturbing.
I hope that you can appreciate the fact that as a dealership, and personally, we are not comfortable selling a vehicle in this condition. Again let me assure you that I’m not playing any games here, we’ve removed the vehicle from online listings and have pulled it off the line….it is not going to be sold by Southpointe. I feel bad because I know buying a car is a journey and having that journey come to an abrupt and sudden end in this manner is not pleasant. If there is anything I can do for you please let me know. In no way is this email intended to be a substitute for a phone call, if you would like to speak about it I am at the store all day. Please accept my apologies and I again hope that you see we are simply trying to do the right thing here."
AWWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHH ... the search starts again.
The vin number on the car is: SCCLMDTC4CHA10276
Imagine my pain, after agreeing on a price, getting the finance done, scheduling a pick-up date ... and then getting that email
Only problem would be that the dealer didn't notice it and who knows how long the car was standing outside.
