Dealer lying about the car not being delivered by Porsche

[gnop1950]

I have to agree that this is completely different from my experience. TYD showed it delivered so I texted my SA and asked him to send some pictures. I received the pictures about 5 minutes later. Of course, he cautioned me that it might be a couple of days before PDI and Tint were completed but he would text call as soon as he had a firm delivery date. Which he did the next day.

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[f10tt]

I have been patiently waiting for my Taycan for >6mo. On Friday (6/3) TYD showed that the car was delivered at the dealer. I called my SA to schedule delivery and ask if the car arrived there. He said car is not there yet, and he will give me a call whenever the car got to them.

Today (Saturday 6/4) morning I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I would drive by the dealership. I saw my car (confirmed via VIN), still wrapped in the protective sheet from the factory. At that point I haven’t received any communication from the dealer.

A few minutes ago, I gave them a call again, only for the SA to tell me that the car isn’t there (!!!). I asked him if he was sure since TYD shows it there, and he said no car yet.

I do not understand why is this person lying to me. Is this incompetence or something more sinister going on? How should I deal with this? I am paying a lot of $$$ for this car, but this is beyond what I would have expected!

I have the car already in the Porsche App too (via an invite from Porsche).

One thing I've learned is that most SA's are not competent. He's not lying to you, he's just an idiot.

 

[Hirschaj]

I’m just wondering what you think the agenda of this nefarious sales associate might be.

 

[kokos]

I’m just wondering what you think the agenda of this nefarious sales associate might be.

Honestly I was not expecting such a bad customer service. That was the biggest shock. As to the agenda I am not sure, I can speculate but they all stem from the fact that he wasn’t truthful about the state of the car.

 

[soul.electrified]

Are there different 'levels' of sales advisors? E.g. what is the difference between a "Porsche Pro" and a "Porsche Brand Ambassador"? I know that there is a distinction when it comes to service advisors (eg gold-, silver-, bronze-, classic- certified), but am wondering whether there is a similar distinction amongst SAs...

 

[satchurator]

I’m just wondering what you think the agenda of this nefarious sales associate might be.

One hypothetical scenario: OP made deposit and has purchase contract at MSRP. SA sees opportunity to sell to someone else at MSRP plus markup. Purchase contract typically would have a ‘buyer takes delivery’ time limit. If SA had plausible deniability, could blame a mix up over OP delivery timeout and could shrug off a more profitable sale to another buyer.

 

[Archimedes]

On the second call why didn’t you let him know you had visited and saw the car there? Why create more drama?

The salesman simply didn’t know it was there and/or was too lazy to check. The simple solution was to just let him know you checked on it physically.

 

[kokos]

On the second call why didn’t you let him know you had visited and saw the car there? Why create more drama?

The salesman simply didn’t know it was there and/or was too lazy to check. The simple solution was to just let him know you checked on it physically.

You are right; in retrospect, I should have opened with that. I just was not expecting the response, hence was taken aback. I don’t know why are we are justifying the laziness/incompetence/etc, especially from a premium brand dealer. I digress.

 

[Skilly]

not that it's an excuse, but is the car 'complete' and can be prepared for delivery?

There are a lot of cars that shipped to the dealer absent of small parts that make them unsellable to the end user. That might also prevent them from marking it with a delivered status in their systems.

 

[Archimedes]

You are right; in retrospect, I should have opened with that. I just was not expecting the response, hence was taken aback. I don’t know why are we are justifying the laziness/incompetence/etc, especially from a premium brand dealer. I digress.

I don’t think anyone is trying to justify it. Rather just stating reality. It also could have just been an honest mistake. But either way, I think most people would just try to solve the problem versus trying to make a big deal out of it.

 

[Hirschaj]

Honestly I was not expecting such a bad customer service. That was the biggest shock.

Yep, some of these folks are really bad at their jobs.

 

[WattTurbo]

One hypothetical scenario: OP made deposit and has purchase contract at MSRP. SA sees opportunity to sell to someone else at MSRP plus markup. Purchase contract typically would have a ‘buyer takes delivery’ time limit. If SA had plausible deniability, could blame a mix up over OP delivery timeout and could shrug off a more profitable sale to another buyer.

Did you guys actually got a purchase contract? I only got a receipt from the credit card machine like you’d get from a grocery store. This was the case for all 3 deposits made at a Porsche dealer. This last time I was very nervous they would change the agreed upon price when I went to pick up the Taycan, but they stuck to their words and even kept the discount they had promised me.

 

[kokos]

Did you guys actually got a purchase contract? I only got a receipt from the credit card machine like you’d get from a grocery store. This was the case for all 3 deposits made at a Porsche dealer. This last time I was very nervous they would change the agreed upon price when I went to pick up the Taycan, but they stuck to their words and even kept the discount they had promised me.

What I have from them is:
- The configuration of the car (which is pretty much a print-out from the website)
- The Porsche confirmation of a Customer Configured car, with the commission number assigned to me
- A signed quote for the car (based on the config above) from the sales manager at MSRP plus taxes, and reg. fees.
- Receipts for my non-refundable deposit (10k$) plus the trade-in (~54k$).

So not a purchase contract, but sufficient documentation to provide a paperwork trail.

 

[WattTurbo]

What I have from them is:
- The configuration of the car (which is pretty much a print-out from the website)
- The Porsche confirmation of a Customer Configured car, with the commission number assigned to me
- A signed quote for the car (based on the config above) from the sales manager at MSRP plus taxes, and reg. fees.
- Receipts for my non-refundable deposit (10k$) plus the trade-in (~54k$).

So not a purchase contract, but sufficient documentation to provide a paperwork trail.

I’d consider the 3rd item on your list to be a contract. I got 1, 2, and 4 from your list minus the trade in. I think you’re set

 

[OTPSkipper]

This person didn’t tell me “i am not sure”. He told me explicitly the car isn’t there (and insisted). Furthermore, it’s a small parking lot, only two new cars. He didn’t need to go hunting across a lot of cars, and they do PDI on-site. I would have been OK with a “sorry was busy, didn’t check” or a “not sure, but I will check soon”.

My guess is that it is standard procedure to lie about cars arriving on Friday because the people to prep the car are not available on weekends. If the car is there, then you have to explain why the customer can’t have it, which could be awkward for a demanding/insensitive customer.

I got a simizlAr treatment but my car showed up on Wednesday, so they had time to prep it before the weekend. But they still didn’t tell me when it arrived. They waited till it was ready before they called me. I’m going to talk to mySA about it. I don’t like getting lumped in with the demanding customers.

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