Through "build your own" I see that the Preferred AWD version has a base sticker of $1,400 more than the Preferred FWD.
You must have had a pretty large perceived discount.
Through "build your own" I see that the Preferred AWD version has a base sticker of $1,400 more than the Preferred FWD.
You must have had a pretty large perceived discount.
not financed... nothing we have from them states drive type.
the window sticker was not removed by us, it was folded and given to us.
if you look carefully at corner of window sticker it has perforations... not sure what that means.
we have continued agreement from the sales person that it was to be awd.
Top line MSRP for an AWD with Preferred package should be $26600 before options and destination, vs. $25,200 for a FWD with Preferred if Oregon pricing matches Ohio pricing from Mazda.
I recommend getting onsite of a Mazda Dealership tomorrow to get some photos of what the full sticker should look like.
Does the natural state sticker have any accommodation for perforation? This alone may constitute alteration.
Though, this has not yet completed your burden of proof that it was altered pre-delivery and not post-delivery.
oldeskewltoy said:not financed... nothing we have from them states drive type.
the window sticker was not removed by us, it was folded and given to us.
if you look carefully at corner of window sticker it has perforations... not sure what that means.
we have continued agreement from the sales person that it was to be awd.
The problem is the signed paperwork shows you bought x car for y price. That is the contract. The Costco email, window sticker, and sales person statements will not overwrite that. That is the final contract, it will trump any other correspondence.
It sucks and I am not trying to be harsh, but you’re basically stuck with "I agreed to buy this car, but I really wanted that one". The cars have an AWD badge on the trunk if they are AWD so the dealer can claim you knew, sticker or not.
John Welsh said:I recommend getting onsite of a Mazda Dealership tomorrow to get some photos of what the full sticker should look like.
Does the natural state sticker have any accommodation for perforation? This alone may constitute alteration.
Though, this has not yet completed your burden of proof that it was altered pre-delivery and not post-delivery.
They all are cut at the corner in order to fit in the window.
In reply to Steve_Jones :
Cut? Or folded? Because they clearly have more printing in that corner.
Why are you all obsessed about the window sticker? It has a VIN on it. Call Mazda USA, they’ll tell you everything you need to know about the VIN. And check that it matches the car.
Escalate this with both Costco and the dealership. This has the potential for very bad press for one or both, and as soon as someone with decision making abilities is involved the right decision will be made.
AngryCorvair said:In reply to Steve_Jones :
Cut? Or folded? Because they clearly have more printing in that corner.
The corner is perforated and is removed when attached to the car at the factory. The missing print is PKG. the label needs that corner to feed through the printer
Old room-mate has I believe the GMC version of the Suburban.
Pretty much the same thing happened to him IIRC. Found out when he went to change the tires.
Apparently they replaced it pretty pronto. Background in law enforcement and he's not too patient about something like that.
I'm also pretty sure it was even a used vehicle too which but it might have been certified. 
Problem is, you can’t trust the dealer people that you get handed off to. I requested info on a 4x4 Tacoma, and the moron at the dealer sends me a bunch of 2wd options with low prices to get me into the dealership so they can either sell me something I don’t want or pull the swap.
That sounds like a nightmare scenario. The way I understand it, that purchase contract is going to say that you agreed to everything in it and that any verbal or written statements that are outside the four corners of the document are of absolutely no consequence. That contract will specify the car that they sold you by VIN and unless the car you drove home does not match the one described in the purchase contract, their legal position will be that regardless of whatever anyone says anyone said, you signed a contract to purchase the vehicle that you drove home and that you had the opportunity to inspect the car before signing that contract. My bet is that your only hope for relief is that someone - likely Costco - can persuade the dealership to act against their own interests in this particular transaction and un-do it somehow but that is going to entail a great deal of cost on the dealer's part. Hopefully, Costco sends them a lot of customers and has some weight to throw around.
In reply to John Welsh :
Back when i was working at a dealership, we used to pull the window stickers when the vehicles were cleaned for delivery. Never had an issue. Some other manager was hired who knew of the laws behind it and he FREAKED when he found out we had been pulling the stickers. After that they were left up to be removed by the customer or with the customer present.
You dodged a bullet. Installing AWD is an awful thing to do to a car.
I hope you can come to a successful resolution.
What's the VIN for the car you originally agreed to buy?
Can you find a window sticker for the same car without the edge altered ?
and what is the Vin code for AWD and FWD
Good luck
I had a similar thing happen back in the day with a Chrysler Minivan. Didn't know that I had the wrong motor till I got my first oil change. The dealership flat-out wouldn't work with me on it. In the social media age I cannot imagine that happening again.
Kreb said:I had a similar thing happen back in the day with a Chrysler Minivan. Didn't know that I had the wrong motor till I got my first oil change. The dealership flat-out wouldn't work with me on it. In the social media age I cannot imagine that happening again.
Unfortunately, I'm not so sure. Because just to be contrarian there will be plenty of people of who will do the "didn't you read the contract" point of view.
The dealership (sales manager involved) is having a meeting this morning with the dealership principal.... we await word...........
It appears that there was, and still is an inventory problem. Mazda USA says this dealer has a car(the exact car we want), but the dealerships online inventory doesn't seem to have it??????
TJL said:In reply to John Welsh :
Back when i was working at a dealership, we used to pull the window stickers when the vehicles were cleaned for delivery. Never had an issue. Some other manager was hired who knew of the laws behind it and he FREAKED when he found out we had been pulling the stickers. After that they were left up to be removed by the customer or with the customer present.
We have always pulled them, because if we don't then customer's pitch a fit because they have to get it off and clean the window, and quite a few of them are too dumb/afraid/lazy/something to even remove the temporary registration and install their own registration sticker or put air in their tires
z31maniac said:Kreb said:I had a similar thing happen back in the day with a Chrysler Minivan. Didn't know that I had the wrong motor till I got my first oil change. The dealership flat-out wouldn't work with me on it. In the social media age I cannot imagine that happening again.
Unfortunately, I'm not so sure. Because just to be contrarian there will be plenty of people of who will do the "didn't you read the contract" point of view.
I don't think that is being contrarian so much as being someone who understands how a contract works... If it was on purpose it's certainly not ethical or moral and if it was accidental then it would certainly be the ethical and moral thing to do to offer to correct the mistake at their own cost. But, by the letter of the contract I don't think they would be under any legal obligation to do anything. In both of these cases, the purchaser worked under the assumption that the seller was giving them the product that they expected and signed a contract saying that what they drove home is what they wanted to buy.
All that said, I would certainly prefer to do business with a company that acts ethically and will do what they can to correct their mistakes. And if they stand by the whole "you signed it, you're stuck with it" thing, I think that's pretty sleazy and awful. But the best case scenario here is that both parties made a mistake: the seller put the wrong car on the contract and the buyer failed to inspect the goods before accepting delivery.
I worked with a young guy back in the day that bought his mom a used Jeep Cherokee in the dead of winter only to discover on the first hot day the car didn’t have air conditioning.
He felt they should have told him and I stated he didn’t ask so they didn’t really deceive him. Funny E36 M3 though
oldeskewltoy said:Mazda USA says this dealer has a car(the exact car we want), but the dealerships online inventory doesn't seem to have it??????
Familiar? It's probably hard to read the serial numbers off the fax.
USe the search inventory function on the Mazda website and it will give you the exact VIN that your dealership has in stock. Or, at least the vin that the inventory thinks they have in stock. A quick drive to the lot after housrs should also aid you in finding this VIN
Of course, if you prove that they have it on site, this still does not compel the dealership to have to "eat it."
$10 says that Costco will make this right for you if the dealer doesn't. Regardless of what you paid, your agreement with Costco will be honored by them one way or another.
I am curious though, do the VIN numbers match on the car, title, purchase agreement, BOS, and Costco documentation?
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