Car arrived, but dealer is cancelling the sale?

[johnschlemmer]

So, I ordered my GTS 7-8 months ago. The car arrived at the dealer, and I got a call saying they can no longer complete the sale. Im a WA resident, purchasing a car from an IL dealer. They agreed this could work if I would take delivery in IL, as long as I’d finance the car so they’d get more money / points / whatever it is they get through finance. This was all agreed upon verbally, in addition to signing the purchase order. Today, they’re telling me that I cannot complete the purchase unless I register the car in IL.

I offered another solution - I have family in IL, and I would register the car under two owners, with an IL address. Downside is I cannot finance this way, because the finance address needs to be at the same address as registration. I’m asking now to see if I can pay cash… They said they’d get back to me on a final decision, but the car was already removed from my account so I’m getting a bit worried.

Is this legal? Do you think they found some excuse to cancel my order so they can sell it at a higher markup? What should I do? Should I call Porsche NA? They’ve been good to work with up until this point so I’m definitely concerned about this last minute gotcha.

EDIT: this might work out, there was a concern about finance being a different address than registration, and they’re trying to make it work. If it works, then they really weren’t trying to flip the car and there must have been something else higher up stopping them. If not, we’ll, you’ll hear about it either way!

FINAL UPDATE: I was able to pay cash, take delivery and register all in IL.They made it work! Yay!

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[B61]

What’s going on???
Just recently, we were already disscousing a case when dealer said that car is not arrived…while it‘s been there…. You are 2nd one with even worse situation….who’ll be next???

 

[WattTurbo]

That's absolutely not right. Was there a signed contract? If the buyer were to back out, the deposit would have been held right? So, if the seller backs out, then you'd think there would be some kind of consequences as well. Very sorry for your situation OP!

 

[smohr33]

Unless you have a signed purchase agreement you are SOL. Even then, unless you feel like getting litigious you're probably screwed.

PCNA won't care, dealers are private businesses and can transact as they see fit.

Dirty move but seems it worked out in your favor since you started a thread two weeks ago about not wanting to take the car...

 

[TaycanHero]

So, I ordered my GTS 7-8 months ago. The car arrived at the dealer, and I got a call saying they can no longer complete the sale. Im a WA resident, purchasing a car from an IL dealer. They agreed this could work if I would take delivery in IL, as long as I’d finance the car so they’d get more money / points / whatever it is they get through finance (yeah, I know, this should have been the first sign of a shady dealer). This was all agreed upon verbally, in addition to signing the purchase order. Today, they’re telling me that I cannot complete the purchase unless I register the car in IL.

I offered another solution - I have family in IL, and I would register the car under two owners, with an IL address. Downside is I cannot finance this way, so I’d need to pay cash. Once again the dealer is refusing.

They said they’d get back to me on a final decision but the car was already removed from my account.

Is this legal? What I imagine they’re doing is they found some excuse to cancel my order so they can sell it at a higher markup to another buyer considering how in demand these are. What should I do? Should I call Porsche NA? Seems super shady.

Perhaps they read your thread the other week about hesitating and decided you'd not be that disappointed, or maybe even relieved, should the purchase not go through?

Huge demand for even family runabouts. The luxury sector will be cut throat if they think they can get away with it.

I suspect these threads are trawled by dealers.

 

[wurzitup]

This can't be right. I would raise holy hell with both dealer but more so with PCNA.
Did they know you were out of state to begin with when they took your deposit? What about cars that get delivered to PECLA from an out of state dealer- the paperwork and financing is done through that dealer, no?
I would not let this go- super shady and they are trying to flip your car for $15K more.

 

[McgR]

Or maybe someone read your earlier post, did some research and contacted the dealer? Not too many official Porsche dealers in IL I presume. The first page of the buildsheat you added has a code on the bottom of the page. Shouldn’t be to hard to find this specific order and car.
Stil a bad action of the dealer. Good luck. I hope you can solve it.

 

[RingoDingo]

Or maybe someone read your earlier post, did some research and contacted the dealer? Not too many official Porsche dealers in IL I presume. The first page of the buildsheat you added has a code on the bottom of the page. Shouldn’t be to hard to find this specific order and car.
Stil a bad action of the dealer. Good luck. I hope you can solve it.

Oh man that would be cold... but credit to the enterprising allocation thief for being cold blooded, I guess?

I think in another thread OP said it was Lincolnwood.

 

[Archimedes]

So, I ordered my GTS 7-8 months ago. The car arrived at the dealer, and I got a call saying they can no longer complete the sale. Im a WA resident, purchasing a car from an IL dealer. They agreed this could work if I would take delivery in IL, as long as I’d finance the car so they’d get more money / points / whatever it is they get through finance (yeah, I know, this should have been the first sign of a shady dealer). This was all agreed upon verbally, in addition to signing the purchase order. Today, they’re telling me that I cannot complete the purchase unless I register the car in IL.

Sorry, but what did you assume 'take delivery in Illinois' would mean? Typically, that means, the sale is completed in Illinois and the car is registered there. Did they previously tell you different? Do you have that in writing? Have you looked into what the Illinois law is relative to whatever document both parties have signed?

 

[hitmonlee]

I ordered my 2021 Macan GTS from an IL dealer as a CA resident and took delivery in Dec 2021 (I had it shipped cross country). Market wasn't as crazy as now but was still pretty hot and they actually honored the 8% discount they initially promised! I also didn't have to register the car in IL but did finance through them.

I'm actually wondering if your dealer is the same as mine. AFAIK there're only a few big dealers in IL. If so it's possible you just had a really greedy salesman. Maybe reach out to the GM?

 

[KensingtonPark]

Unfortunately, this one sounds like two parties who were talking past each other a little bit:

1. Dealer says "take delivery in IL" and assumes that the out-of-state buyer understands that it means registering the car in IL first.
2. Buyer hears "take delivery in IL" and assumes that it merely means that it must be physically accepted by someone in IL, not registered.

Neither is "bad" in any way, but there was clearly never a meeting of the minds on the details. The dealer needs to make money, and its financing people are likely only licensed to finance in IL (for "delivery in IL").

I would have proposed that the OP register the car in his/her name at their IL family's address and complete the sale. I suspect that they are refusing the "two owners" proposal, not the cash proposal. Even so, I am not clear why they would not allow you to finance the car with a different address than on your drivers license, since many people with second homes in a non-home state do this. Drop the "two owners" proposal (which sounds weird even to me) and propose getting the deal done in this fashion. Then you can move the car to your home from IL and transfer the registration and change your address with the financing company. If you're really grumpy, pay off the loan immediately and deprive them of their interest payments.

 

[TaycanHero]

Oh man that would be cold... but credit to the enterprising allocation thief for being cold blooded, I guess?

I think in another thread OP said it was Lincolnwood.

This seems the most plausible theory. It seems those hesitant should perhaps keep it to themselves and speak to friends/family rather than mention anything here.

Were I desperate for a GTS and happy to stump up over MSRP for it, I 100% would be trawling forums like this seeing what people post... And then get in touch with the dealer. It's a win-win for buyer and seller at that point, while the original buyer hasn't lost anything if they were hesitating - they've arguably been handed a lifeline.

I've previously done the reverse, using enthusiast forums to subtly post about something I was selling on a marketplace relevant to the very thing the forum was about... To then see said item sold within days at a very juicy price, where it had been sat there for weeks with no interest at all.

 

[maddie]

This is terrible. I think complaining is must. They are definitely trying to sell at a higher offer. Shame the dealer on the forums. See if anyone in the forums know the key guy at that dealership. You can then talk to him. Sometimes, that helps. But this is so screwed ! All this wait and only to learn that your car is no longer yours.

 

[Bresdo1962]

There are not many dealerships in IL where I am currently living and waiting on my GTS to arrive next month. May I ask which dealership so I can be prepared for some monkey biz?

 

[DerekS]

There are not many dealerships in IL where I am currently living and waiting on my GTS to arrive next month. May I ask which dealership so I can be prepared for some monkey biz?

If I were you I'd point your dealer to this thread right now and express concern about getting a similar run-around from them.

If it happens to the be the same dealer as OP perhaps they will back off on their BS.

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