Hi,
I ordered my LEAF early last week. At that time, a few of my closest dealers could no longer be selected, so I chose Liberty Import Center in Libertyville. They had quoted me MSRP and everything seemed to be OK. (Actually they quoted my a 2011 way under MSRP per email at first, but that was an "automatically generated" email without merit).
I finally managed to get my contact at Liberty, Jeff Bogdala, on the phone earlier this week and he claimed that I hadn't in fact ordered a LEAF, that there was nothing he could see that indicated I had ordered. I would have to print out my order confirmation and come to the dealership. He then called back a few minutes later to say that he had found my order. However, I would need to come in to sign some paperwork and pay a $500 non-refundable ordering deposit for the order to go forward. He implied that the car had not in fact been ordered. I called Nissan and they knew nothing about ordering deposits. They called Liberty for me, and then let me know that this was a dealer requirement that had nothing to do with them.
Can the dealer really hold up my order? I am scheduled to test drive the LEAF later this month in Chicago and I don't want to spend the $500 before I have actually had a chance to see the car. Also, I dislike this dealer practice in general and I am thinking of voting with my feet. Jeff seems to finish every second sentence with "my friend", which makes me think that he is a true car salesman that might be trouble later on as well. On the other hand, I don't want to loose my order and I suspect that even fewer dealerships around here will be able to take an order by now.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
EDIT (8/20/11): After some push back, the dealership apologized and waived the deposit.
I ordered my LEAF early last week. At that time, a few of my closest dealers could no longer be selected, so I chose Liberty Import Center in Libertyville. They had quoted me MSRP and everything seemed to be OK. (Actually they quoted my a 2011 way under MSRP per email at first, but that was an "automatically generated" email without merit).
I finally managed to get my contact at Liberty, Jeff Bogdala, on the phone earlier this week and he claimed that I hadn't in fact ordered a LEAF, that there was nothing he could see that indicated I had ordered. I would have to print out my order confirmation and come to the dealership. He then called back a few minutes later to say that he had found my order. However, I would need to come in to sign some paperwork and pay a $500 non-refundable ordering deposit for the order to go forward. He implied that the car had not in fact been ordered. I called Nissan and they knew nothing about ordering deposits. They called Liberty for me, and then let me know that this was a dealer requirement that had nothing to do with them.
Can the dealer really hold up my order? I am scheduled to test drive the LEAF later this month in Chicago and I don't want to spend the $500 before I have actually had a chance to see the car. Also, I dislike this dealer practice in general and I am thinking of voting with my feet. Jeff seems to finish every second sentence with "my friend", which makes me think that he is a true car salesman that might be trouble later on as well. On the other hand, I don't want to loose my order and I suspect that even fewer dealerships around here will be able to take an order by now.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
EDIT (8/20/11): After some push back, the dealership apologized and waived the deposit.