Your car arrives with $1200 clear bra. What do you do?
After months of waiting by the phone, you get that giddy call from the dealer.. "Your car is here!"
You break the laws of man and physics to speed to the dealership. Your car is parked in front, fresh off the truck. But wait.. what's this? a $1200 Option on the sticker price for "Protective Film Coating"! Your new "MSRP" is $41,980.
Do you...
You break the laws of man and physics to speed to the dealership. Your car is parked in front, fresh off the truck. But wait.. what's this? a $1200 Option on the sticker price for "Protective Film Coating"! Your new "MSRP" is $41,980.
Do you...
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They'd have to leave it on there and suck up the cost. Our order forms are legally binding contracts. Mine has everything listed that I'm going to get. If they added that without telling me it's their loss. And that's something you can take to court. Just don't toss your orders away, not that anyone has.
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It's a good point -- it really does depend on your order contract.amcmahon said:
I checked mine, and it's not that specific... not even close. You probably have a very generous contract that protects you from price increases. The contracts I've seen mostly protect the dealership from having to make any commitment. Tons of fine print, none in my favor.
If Lotus names a suggested price for the film (which they will), a dealership might even argue that the "MSRP" term is still correct.
I'm not even a Devil's Advocate here, but since Later Apex mentioned film *was* being applied before any July 15 deliveries, it does make one wonder who ordered them that way and how we would deal with it.
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I'd think "thank god, they got it right!" I have been worried that the opposite would happen and after asking and asking and asking, my car would show up without it or even worse, the dealer "tried" to put it on themselves. being an early car, I'd hate to be their testor car.
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Just a point of clarification, my source does not know how many cars are being done, just that some cars will be done in port before going to the dealer. This could be 1 car or 35 for all I know and I don't think he knows either until July 9th. If he communicates something earlier to me I'll let you know what I hear. I just don't want people panicing that ALL cars are going to be done or something because I've received no indication to that effect, only that "some" cars are being done. As someone pointed out, these could all be dealer demo cars being done and not any customer cars. I am also of the opinion that no way will it cost $1200, maybe 1/2 that at best... of course that's just an educated guess on my part, I've not seen any pricing and none has been communicated to me either.Ground Loop said:It's a good point -- it really does depend on your order contract.
I checked mine, and it's not that specific... not even close. You probably have a very generous contract that protects you from price increases. The contracts I've seen mostly protect the dealership from having to make any commitment. Tons of fine print, none in my favor.
If Lotus names a suggested price for the film (which they will), a dealership might even argue that the "MSRP" term is still correct.
I'm not even a Devil's Advocate here, but since Later Apex mentioned film *was* being applied before any July 15 deliveries, it does make one wonder who ordered them that way and how we would deal with it.
Oral agreements can be just as strong as written one's. If the time they specified is when the car comes and they call you on it to pick it up they're going to be hard pressed to not give it to you then.atyclb said:
Actually that doesn't even matter because you'll be able to get the cars VIN before it gets here. So if the VIN matches and they add it it's their loss. Besides, I don't think they're going to hassle too much over a $600 job. Yes, mine cost $600 which is about what you should be paying for clear bra. $1200 is insane.
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...or maybe they're just putting it on demos?
Oh, sorry - what am I thinking? It is clear that we're all DOOMED!!! <just teasing>
Oh, sorry - what am I thinking? It is clear that we're all DOOMED!!! <just teasing>
I tell them "you frickin a-holes" and then pay the 1200.00 and drive home...wouldnt be worth my time to try to get them to peel it off cause if they did, I know they would peel off the paint or ruin the car some other way.... Then you would wait another 2 wks before you get the car and in the meantime, the kid that works there just put 50 hard miles on the car before break in..get my point???...
There are bigger things in this world to sweat than that imho.
. Then you would wait another 2 wks before you get the car and in the meantime, the kid that works there just put 50 hard miles on the car before break in..get my point???...There are bigger things in this world to sweat than that imho.
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It is a good number. There is some mention of possibly a cheaper option with less parts.Genjuro said:
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did someone say they're going to put the bra on all the cars without asking us?
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No. It was just something that someone thought when it was mentioned that the film installer is scheduled to put film on some cars soon, and nobody has been called by their dealers to ask if we want film.OneFastMiata said:
A simpler theory would be that the installer is doing the dealer demo cars.
The question is, will we who are getting early cars, get a call from the dealer asking us which options we would like? Seems to be getting late in the game for that.
In my experience contracts to purchase cars are generally on a standardized form. My memory is that certain disclosures are required under either State or Federal law and I have never seen a contract that didn't clearly call out the details of what is being purchased. If your contract is anything less than that you should research this in detail as I suspect you will find it is required (not so for the deposit).
In other words the law would not obligate you to pay for the bra and I suspect the decision as to whether it needed to be removed would be yours, not the dealers (if you wanted it you could maintain that removing it would potentially cause damage and if you didn't you could maintain the car needed to be deliver, without damage as ordered).
Assuming either the contract calls out the price (which mine certainly does) of the car and what options, if any, you purchased plus a total price that would almost certainly be legally binding. Certainly it would be binding if the dealer voluntarily put some option on and then attempted to tell you you had to pay for it. However it is possible that the contract provides for a pass through of a price increase under certain conditions. But if that was not specifically included then I would think the contract would be binding at the prices listed.
As manufacturers love to remind us dealers are NOT agents of the manufacturer. They are independent business that purchase cars and resell them. So whatever the contract says is generally binding, except to the extend that if violates some law.
So read your contract very, very carefully (preferably next time before you sign it). If you believe it is clear that you agreed to purchase the car at a set price and there is no pass through clause or the equivalent I would simply transfer good funds (preferably by wire directly to the dealers bank account) and show up to pick up the car. If they refused to give you the Certificate of Origin you could allege breach of contract and demand damages or even go for a restraining order preventing them from selling the car and demand specific performance (money isn't good enough you want the car).
They could of course simply refuse to deliver it but I suspect if you are on solid ground in how you interpreted the sales contract they would be concerned (rightfully) about punative damages and would quickly cave.
Because there have been scams involving just these sort of add ons in the industry the laws tend to be very pro-consumer. Frankly I am surprised that Lotus would permit such a thing. Since these cars are built to order they might have liability if they knowingly accepted an order for a vehicle and added and required payment for unordered options. Such behavior would certainly be civil and might even amount to criminal fraud.
Is this just conjecture or are you aware of this actually going on?
In other words the law would not obligate you to pay for the bra and I suspect the decision as to whether it needed to be removed would be yours, not the dealers (if you wanted it you could maintain that removing it would potentially cause damage and if you didn't you could maintain the car needed to be deliver, without damage as ordered).
Assuming either the contract calls out the price (which mine certainly does) of the car and what options, if any, you purchased plus a total price that would almost certainly be legally binding. Certainly it would be binding if the dealer voluntarily put some option on and then attempted to tell you you had to pay for it. However it is possible that the contract provides for a pass through of a price increase under certain conditions. But if that was not specifically included then I would think the contract would be binding at the prices listed.
As manufacturers love to remind us dealers are NOT agents of the manufacturer. They are independent business that purchase cars and resell them. So whatever the contract says is generally binding, except to the extend that if violates some law.
So read your contract very, very carefully (preferably next time before you sign it). If you believe it is clear that you agreed to purchase the car at a set price and there is no pass through clause or the equivalent I would simply transfer good funds (preferably by wire directly to the dealers bank account) and show up to pick up the car. If they refused to give you the Certificate of Origin you could allege breach of contract and demand damages or even go for a restraining order preventing them from selling the car and demand specific performance (money isn't good enough you want the car).
They could of course simply refuse to deliver it but I suspect if you are on solid ground in how you interpreted the sales contract they would be concerned (rightfully) about punative damages and would quickly cave.
Because there have been scams involving just these sort of add ons in the industry the laws tend to be very pro-consumer. Frankly I am surprised that Lotus would permit such a thing. Since these cars are built to order they might have liability if they knowingly accepted an order for a vehicle and added and required payment for unordered options. Such behavior would certainly be civil and might even amount to criminal fraud.
Is this just conjecture or are you aware of this actually going on?
I can understand that some may not want the $1,200 clear bra... but considering that I would want it and, since it's applied by the manufacturer at the port, I would expect it to be covered under the vehicle's warranty also. As such, I would have no problem paying the $1,200 for the clear bra.
Bob
Bob
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Oh, it's entirely idle conjecture and breathless nail-biting.Edelman said:
I do know that my "contract" is nothing of the sort -- it's more a receipt for a deposit. Either party can back out, prices may vary, all rights reserved, close cover before striking. I wouldn't have a leg to stand on if the dealer decided to change the price.
There's a rumor that film is being applied to (some?) cars July 9, before the option to order film is actually available to customers. That gives us some new scenarios to speculate over.
You're in a desert, walking along in the sand when all of a sudden you look down and see a...
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