Learn me: Fly and Drive in 2024

I've narrowed down my search for a replacement for the totaled sequoia to a 2017+ Porsche Cayenne e-hybrid.  Preferably with dark exterior, premium plus package and spider wheels. 
 

I found one in Hilton Head earlier this month at a cadillac dealer that fit almost every box except that it had been involved in a fender bender and they were waiting on an appointment at Porsche to have the stereo repaired.  Fine, I said I'd line up my financing and did.  I told the salesperson, who I had emailed back and forth with that I'd like to buy the car.  We settled on numbers and despite the $850 doc fee- I agree to buy the car. On Saturday the 27th the car came back from the porsche dealer, I agree to fly up next saturday morning and offer to send in a refundable deposit.  

No go.  The dealer was insistent that I send in a non refundable $2,000 deposit.  I offered to send in $2,000 and have $250 be non refundable, but the salesperson, or dealer, didn't move.  So I pass on the car.  This vehicle was $35,000 out the door- it's not like I'm having them hold a 100k car for me.  I realize that perhaps this is an end of the month thing- but still.  I have financing in hand, for that car and I was happy to send them documentation.  

Is a non refundable deposit standard practice now? My last fly and drive was in 2006 when I bought a Honda Passport off of ebay and then flew from Tallahassee fl to Pittsburg to pick it up.  

I'm talking to another dealer in charlotte about one that has adaptive cruise as well as copper wheels (love that!) but they want to add on a $900 dealer package that has tire and rim protection- that seems really stupid.  

Please help.  Am I just not the right guy to do a fly and drive? Was this dealer being weird? Thanks for listening to me whine. 

Always look at the reviews available.

I personally think and believe, since you're not a local, they can bend you over a barrel. Additionally it would be great to know how long it's been on the lot and given it's used what is on the uci ro of what they did and didn't fix.

If it doesn't give warm fuzzy feelings, keep looking. Plane tickets are cheap in the grand scope.

Yeah, berkeley that guy. $2k buys at least a few plane tickets. I'd tell him to non-refundably eat my ass.

If they take plastic you can always charge back if its not as described regardless of the "refundable" status or not.   

That sounds like the same kind of tactics that I walked into at a fly by night dealer outside of DC. Everything looked great and I got there and the truck did not meet my expectations. I thought I would have the option to walk at that point and be out the flight, I didn't have that option (my fault, I didn't read properly). 
I would run for the hills, that sounds sketchy. 

In reply to grover :

Is the one at the Hilton Head dealership still there?  
How much of a commitment is it for you to arrive on the doorsteps of the Hilton dealer during business hours.  

Do you like the car enough to arrive and walk in like a local to buy it?  Of course, if it doesn't appear to be the car you want you can just walk.  Seems that it's about a 6 hour drive for you to get to Hilton Head.  Given that you might walk, if it were me, I would drive a fwd car to get to HH.  then, if you do purchase the Cayenne, I would recommend renting a Uhaul tow dolly and using the Cayenne to tow home your fwd car.  

I guess this a 2-3 day commitment.  A long way to "shop for a car" but reduced risk other than the loss of 3 days and a few hotel room nights ($300)  

How much tow weight is a Cayenne rated for?  If the rating is over 5k# than Uhaul will likely rent you a full car hauler if you do not have a fwd car at your disposal. 

I'd walk on a non refundable deposit. Another option is to pay for a remote PPI. Such as- https://lemonsquad.com/ (never used them, just an example) Then you can sign paperwork and just fly in to pick it up.

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I can kinda see where the dealer is coming from. He doesn't know the OP from Adam, and holding the car on a deposit for a deal that may or may not come together means that they probably expect to get compensated if the deal falls through. Someone might walk in tomorrow and buy the Cayenne if it wasn't held for grover, and the dealer wants some downside/risk protection here.

Heck, I ask for non-refundable deposits from most non-GRMers if they want me to hold a vehicle for the exact reason that we all know we'll be dealing with a bunch of looky lous and people who never show up and then demand the deposit back.

In reply to BoxheadTim :

That assumes a used car dealer isn't a thief. I mean I guess they are out there but odds are against it in my experience. 

In reply to BoxheadTim :

He already attempted a negotiation to give them the 2k and accept a 250$ loss as nonrefundable..... that's way more than I would have done. I've had vehicles held for not much more than my word over the phone.

Personally, to find the vehicle you want, as described above, your going to have to search where the money is: Atlanta, Nashville, southern Florida east coast, Tampa, Houston....

I would not give a non-refundable deposit that is higher than a roundtrip ticket. 

In reply to John Welsh :

The ehybrid is rated to 7700- which honestly surprises the tar out of me.  I am driving a tiny 98 ford ranger single cab.....but uhaul car haulers are heavy and I don't really want to tow with this first trip.  If it was a truck or the diesel I'd 100% tow my transit vehicle back.  

In reply to theruleslawyer :

That's a great idea and I'd feel better about that than asking someone here to go.  

In reply to Ranger50 :

I'm in Jupiter so we have lots around here....just haven't found the year, spec, and price I'm looking for.  Thankfully I have a car to drive until I find the one I want.  

In reply to 93gsxturbo :

Intersting....I wonder how pissed amex would be about that. Kindof goes against the way I do business even if they were shady.  

In reply to Ranger50 :

The hilton head one had been on the lot since DEC 1st! 

Many thanks y'all. In some ways this made 100% sense to me as Tim said- but I also was trying to act in good faith with them.  Heck, I didn't really even try and push them off their opening price.  

Glad to know that this isn't standard practice now.  

I found a White one in Melbourne, may go look at it.  Higher miles than I'd like and it's freaking white....but maybe I'll be wow'd.  At the least I need to drive the hybrid drivetrain before I fly to buy one.  I've only driven a regular S so far.  

In reply to grover :

Used tend to get 90days vs new at 30.

I don't get the eHybrid.  It doesn't do the hybrid thing well at all and performance isn't as good as the turbo.  The diesel does the economy thing much better, is more reliable and easier to live with

I don't understand: what risk is the dealership trying to mitigate by requiring a large, non-refundable deposit?  Are they worried the OP isn't serious?  I think buying a plane ticket indicates commitment.  I think the OP would want to put down a >refundable< deposit to hold the car.  But a non-refundable deposit on a vehicle they buyer hasn't even seen?  On a vehicle that has been in an accident?  Something smells rotten here and it isn't the buyer.

My first thought is someone already offered the dealer more money and they want to tank the deal with the OP.

In reply to docwyte :

14 miles electric in the morning....if you just run around town it seems pretty great. I also live in a place that is rarely cold so that helps. 0-60 in 5.4 is not bad and the hybrids got a different transfer case than the problematic one on some of the other Cayenne models. We'll see how it ends up- but given I work from home and most of my driving are 10 mile round trips- I seem to fit the use case. 
the turbo doesn't interest me at all but I did consider the diesel- Costco doesn't sell diesel though. 

In reply to DWNSHFT :

I bought a truck in Indianapolis- when I sent a screenshot of my one way SWA ticket I bought they knew I was serious and sent me the contract and loan information via FedEx.  

In reply to Datsun240ZGuy :

Makes sense. That was not an option for me. 
 

on another note- where does the rust area start? Virginia? 

AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:

Yeah, berkeley that guy. $2k buys at least a few plane tickets. I'd tell him to non-refundably eat my ass.

yeah that sounds like more trouble than its worth. I ordered a 65k dollar truck for 200 dollar refundable payment at my local ram dealer so its time to play the escalation game. talk to his boss

grover said:

In reply to 93gsxturbo :

Intersting....I wonder how pissed amex would be about that. Kindof goes against the way I do business even if they were shady.  

If you have an account in good standing and you have the documentation - not a phone call he-said-she-said situation - Amex would go to bat for you.  

Have them write up something that the vehicle is as described, cover all your bases, then give them a deposit.  If this is not true when you get there, they did not uphold their end of the deal.  Document, Document, Document.

The good news is when you ask them to document everything and they ghost you, the problem goes away and you can move on without worrying about what you missed out on.

When I bought my Land Cruiser I called the saleslady and she gave me a very good description even including some minor scratches (very minor).  The vehicle was in better shape than described.  This was at Toyota dealership though.  Flew in with my wife and a cashiers check and drove it home.