New car delivered but........

in_my_bumble_opinion

......in the wrong colour!

Just looking for a bit of general advice really.

Phoned last week by dealer and told our new car (ordered several months ago) had arrived and was ready to be collected. They went over the details of the car on the phone and it became clear they had ordered the wrong colour. They recognised the mistake was on their part and after a bit of confusion/discussion it was agreed I would anyway come in anyway for a look. Went in and I am really not keen on the (wrong) colour, without going into detail it's right at the other end of the colour scale from what I ordered. They kind of hoped I would take it but I was not keen. A bit more discussion, etc, and I said I might take it if the price of the paint were removed....which I felt at the time was a really fair offer on my part. They had a mini conference and returned to offer me a tiny amount off which I turned down. Their senior sales manager was away on the day I was in and the way it was left was the he would take a look when he got back and be in touch. Heard nothing from them since. Been some major events in the family over the last few days so the situation has not been foremost in my mind but I guess it needs dealt with so just looking for a bit of advice?

For clarity, I have no issues with the dealer/salespeople other than the above, by which I mean they seem a good bunch and our interactions have always been pleasant. My paperwork, emails and indeed their own system all confirm the colour I ordered, it's just human error....but how to make ir right? I suspect they would have to reorder and this would involve waiting till next year for my car, which gives us some unwanted headaches about what we will drive until then. Also, the car in question has increased in price 2 or 3 times since my original order date though, so who pays for that part? 

Any suggestions how to proceed?

HampshireH

You have paid a lot of money for a car you wanted. I would be insisting on walking away with what I ordered or a full refund if you are not happy with what's offered 

onashoestring

Given that the price of the car has increased- the garage will have no problem in selling it on . Which doesn’t put you in a strong position for getting much more than the small discount they have offered.

You need to ask them what your options are as they have made this error - have they actually offered you the option of waiting for the car in the correct colour .

Then you can decide- what is most important to you , having a car now ( wrong colour ) getting your money back , waiting for correct colour car ( if they are offering that option ) 

Have you looked into how much you could get for the car if you accepted it and sold it on ? 

Bigwheels1111

You have 2 choices in the matter really.
Take a discount and the car.
Or get refund and wait 6-12 months for another to be ordered at a higher price.

Dealer is happier if you say no, they can sell the car for more than you will pay for it.
Its not right but that’s the way it is at the moment.

Goudy

Dealers have been passing on these price increases that occur between order and delivery, this forum has had a few posts relating to this recently but only the dealership can really tell you.

Though this isn't quite the same thing, you would be placing a new order so will most likely be at the current price.

As for the car that's already delivered the dealership shouldn't have much trouble selling it on for full price, as you know there's often a lengthy lead time these days on new cars, so you can see their reluctance to discount it too much.

You might have a better chance of negotiating on something like a service plan rather than the invoice price.
This will allow the dealer to immediately balance there books with the manufacturer/importer for the vehicle that's already been delivered and let them spread out the "discount" for their mistake over a couple of years.

All you can do it try to see what they will offer you and if it's acceptable or not.
It's an unfortunate mistake but their hand is quite strong, if you cancel they won't be stuck with it for long.

MX5huggy

I would take the car probably. Ask for something that costs them less than it’s worth to you. Free service pack, GAP insurance. 

iwb100

What’s the car? I’d look on auto trader and see whether there are other new in stock options. Some cars have some around the country others do not. Unless you’ve added a lot of optional extras of course….

But yeah what’s the car…are there any other ones in stock anywhere…if not then the decision is as above. Take it or wait again. I’d take it if that was the option. 

molerat

Gone are the days of cheap pre reg cars - my £30.7K list car cost me £20.3 K at 2 weeks old 8 miles on the clock still with the plastic on the seats when I viewed it.  Now someone will bite their hand off at pennies below list. You have little leverage, you need a car more than they need to sell one to you.

Flight3287462

molerat said:

Gone are the days of cheap pre reg cars - my £30.7K list car cost me £20.3 K at 2 weeks old 8 miles on the clock still with the plastic on the seats when I viewed it.  Now someone will bite their hand off at pennies below list. You have little leverage, you need a car more than they need to sell one to you.

It's worse than that they will pay over the odds to have a car now.  In fact I doubt there are any pre-reg cars in the country just now.

EssexHebridean

If you can deal with the issues caused by the wait, then your best best financially would be to smile nicely, say "No thanks, I'll have the car I ordered, at the price we agreed thanks" then stand back and wait to see what the deal is - but do be prepared that they could call your bluff and say yes, fine. A lot depends on whether you could learn to live with the colour I'd say - if you could, AND you could manage the additional wait, then you're in a far better bargaining position. 

 I had a similar situation with my last brand new from the factory car some years ago - I was buying one from stock, all agreed, paperwork done and chunky deposit paid. The following day I got a call from the dealer, terribly apologetic to tell me that unfortunately the car they'd agreed to sell me had been sold to someone else in error. He was a little surprise when my reaction was "Oh dear...so what are you doing about that then?" A few seconds of silence followed before he said that they could refund me...to which my reply was no thanks, I'd agreed that they would sell me a car, so I'd like them to honour that. "Ummm...OK....give us a few minutes and we'll call you back" half an hour or so later and a call to say that they'd found a car in the next model up to the one I'd ordered that could be done for the agreed date - "but there is an additional cost" err no, not to me there's not, thank you! another short silence, then an agreement that yes, they would cover the financial difference. Best bit was that the replacement car was actually in a colour I preferred - so I well and truly got lucky!  The main luck though was that this was at a time when they were actively keen to get shot of pre-reg's - rather than now where as said above there probably aren't many - if any - about. 

henry24

What is the car and what's the colour?