This goes out to anyone in Canada, but if NE1 NEwhere else knows PLZ feel free to help

First, I wanna say that i got really F$#%ed with this preorder i made for my RX-8. I made it a year ago and left a suspiciously minimalistic deposic of 100 CAD (!) CONDITIONAL UPON TEST DRIVE, then the Dealer told me he'd call as soon as they come in.

Now i start seeing the damn things on the road and i'm still not getting any word from the dealer so i call them and ... guess what? THERE'S NO TRACE OF MY FRIGGIN ORDER!

I pretty much wanted to insure i would get the chance to test drive it before deciding to buy it, but now it seemed i wouldn't get the chance! What was worse, i may not see my C note without going through a small claims court! So i went to talk to the dealer, show him my client copy of the contract, stapled to the business card of the agent who was, it seemed, fired months after the contract was made, and he seems eager to rectify the error, "ill make a new contract and build you a customized rx-8, just gimme another $900 deposit, non refundable".

I couldnt' believe it.

Why the hell should i wait even longer to get my car now you've screwed up my order, and why is the deposit non refundable in case i did not like the test drive? More importantly, WHY IN GOD'S GOOD NAME SHOULD I HAVE TO ORDER IT WITHOUT TEST DRIVING IT AND SLAM MY BACK AGAINST THE WALL WILLINGLY ESPECIALLY AFTER THEY SCREWED MY ORDER UP IN THE FIRST PLACE??????

The dealers response to this was that it is a special car and i'm not by anymeans valuable to him as a customer, if he wants to sell it, he could easily find a market of blind mazda rotary nuts to buy his stock out.

So i opted to take my money back, i'm gonna consider calling around to see if anyone ELSE is getting non-presold rx-8's so i can drive them , but before i do,

MY QUESTIONS TO YOU:

Did any of you get to test drive the car BEFORE commiting to purchase it? did it take connections, being an @$$hole, or a tipoff to do so?? Or is EVERYBODY putting in one large to get the car no questions asked?

And what do you make of the breach of contract? can i do something legally about it? should i forget it? What are my rights here???

Im really lost, this is the first car i was really serious about buying and this dealer's really turning me off to it. :confused: somebody please help me out?

I had to put $1000 down to test drive the car, COMPLETELY refundable. I also had to have approved financing etc.

I can understand one angle from the dealer side they can't just let any joe drive it, it would rack up miles too fast.

One dealer asked for $3000, I told him to stick it.

Yup, you got screwage!

My deposit was refundable, ($1k Canbucks), and when they told me the price was MSRP + $2400, I 'refundabled' it.

Went to a better dealer (for a better deal!)

Now the PROUD owner of the shiniest Red/Red in Alberta!

Keep shopping, you will find what you want - and don't forget to finish the paperwork by taking the first dealer to small claims court anyway, the satisfaction is in the details!

Post us with your results..........
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doc

Tell your Dealer that they have two options, either give you your $100 back right away OR give you a Test drive and then you will decide whether to put down the $900 non refundable ordering fee.

If I was you, I would just try anything in power to just get my $100 dollars back, (you have all the paper works to back this up so you have no worries) and go to another dealership. I really don't think I would want to deal with them anymore after all of these crap.

Good luck buddy.

I also put down $1000 which was refundable and paid full MSRP for mt RX-8.

RX-pecting, I'm also in Montreal. I'm using Mazda 220 on Boul. des Sources. I put $500 down for the pre-order (in February), which is COMPLETELY refundable, contingent on my final approval once the car comes in (test drive, test fit for my 6'3" frame, etc.). Not only that, but I told him that it was also contingent on my obtaining eligibility for a company car, because it will be my employer who pays the lease. I also told him that the cost had to be under the vehicle expense limit, and that I didn't know what that limit will be because I hadn't gotten my promotion yet.

My dealer had no problem with all those conditions, said that if I don't want the car, I'll get back my deposit and the car will go to the next person on the waiting list or to a walk-in buyer. The car was due for mid-June delivery but now his best guess is 5 days from now. It turned out that my cost limit was 38K, and with the taxes & delivery & whatever, the RX-8 came to 38,200 CDN. So I had to pay $200 out of my own pocket, which is, essentially, nothing.

I really feel that your dealership should have followed up on their (fired) salesman's work, including placing your pre-order in a timely manner! I wonder how many deposits he collected (and pocketed?) before leaving Mazda. My advice? Switch to Mazda 220. My salesman is on vacation but somebody there should be able to help you.

I'm not in Canada, but being mistreated like that probably isn't a problem that respects national borders....

I was able to test drive the car without even asking to do so - after we looked at it for ten minutes, asking a lot of questions and, I suppose, looking serious enough to this particular dealer, he pretty much implored us to take a test drive.

Ironically, we had been looking at it just for fun, but now, we're getting one!

More ironically, we're NOT getting it at that dealer, because they charge a multi-thousand dollar markup, and we found another dealer not so far away with NO markup above MSRP.

I spent a lot of time online and on the phone with dealers in various areas and even other states, and there was a tremendous variance in what they considered "customer service." Some treated me as an expendable customer ("if you don't like it, I'll just sell it to someone else), and one (who I'm using), treated me like a person.

I think it's a combination of luck and perserverence to find a dealer you want to use.

Finally, I second the opinion to go ahead to small claims court, as long as the court fees won't be even more than $100 CDN... Usually, I think it's so much trouble and expense for them to show up and defend themselves when they're on the WRONG side, they'll just settle.

Good luck!!!!