Frustration with Nissan stealer (dealer)

As some of you may have seen in my intro thread I've just signed for a 2007 Navara ST-X, that was last Saturday.

The saleman (Nissan) and I shook on an agreed price and he agreed to throw in a hard tonneau to sweeten the deal. Throughout negotiations he mentioned that the tonneau was around $2.5K brand new and that it would needed to be painted/fitted of which they would absorb the cost of.

I specifically asked him if the sports bars would remain and he said yes, so I double checked the pictures on Nissan.com and noticed they were three separate pieces, so all good.

He agreed to call me on Monday to confirm the order and arrangement of the tonneau. No call. I called on Tuesday and he said he was sick. Fair enough. He agreed to call Thursday. No call. I called Thursday at 17:00 and he apologised for failing to call.

He mentioned that 'we' have an issue and that the tonneau they ordered would not allow me to keep the sports bar.

I asked why and he said something along the lines of: "The non-Nissan tonneau we ordered won't fit without removing the sports bar".
To which my reply was: "Why are you using a non-Nissan item?".

He basically said that if they were to supply me a genuine Nissan tonneau they make a loss on my purchase of the car since it would cost them something like $3.5K to source, paint and fit one.

I replied stating that 'they' had an issue and not me.

My issue is that the whole time we were negotiating they were planning on selling me a non-genuine Nissan item. I am furious!!

Now my contact basically states "supply with hard tonneau cover". No where does it state that it must be genuine, however dealing with a Nissan dealership I should be able to safely assume that were going to supply me with a standard Nissan product, right?

They were supposed to call today, which they didn't. I have refrained from calling as I don't think I could be as polite as I wished to be.

I'd like everyone's opinion on my position and my possible play.

Are dealers allowed to back out of a deal after signing? (I know we have a cooling period)
Am I safe in assuming 'supply with hard tonneau cover' means a genuine Nissan item?
How expensive is a brand new genuine tonneau exactly?

Thanks in advance
Eugene

Mate talk to the dealer principle, tell him what the salesman promised you, especially the bit about the sports bar staying on. I wouldn't care whether it was nissan or aftermarket, but if he told you the sports bar will stay then he must supply the one that allows it to!

I agree with Matt. The agreement is for a hard lid and sports bar. Not one or the other.

It does not sound like they want your money. There are plenty of navara's for sale - Tell em to f off and go elsewhere.
If they will not "look after" you before purchase, imagine the after sales service if you have any problems.
I think unless the contract states "hard lid with sports bar" or "nissan hard lid" they will supply the cheapest thing they can - they are a car dealer after all....

As much as it sucks to get treated like that unless it is in writing Nissan don't have to adhere to it. There is room on all new car contracts for extra and room to write down exactly what those extras are and without those words unfortunately they can back out of any verbal agreement they might have made.

Same thing goes for leaving parts on, if he said the sports bars stays then get it in writing otherwise they can back out saying that the fitment of your agreed items don't allow the parts to stay and as the sports bar is in no way a safety item you'll find it hard to convince them to come to your party.

There is no requirement that Nissan fit anything genuine to your car unless genuine is written down, most people who want specialty extras will ensure brand names are written on the contract (i.e.Cooper tyres or the like) but it pays to get it done the other way if genuine parts are what you want. I even went as far as ensuring my dealer wrote "full tank of Diesel" so they couldn't use some lame arse excuse that "full tank of fuel" usually referred to unleaded or some other such excuse that got them out of 80 litres of diesel.

Going at them hard and suggesting you want to cancel the deal will usually get them on the back foot and they may start suggesting that such deals can't be broken because of the way they are written (Subaru tried this on me over a transmission cooler) but if they can't supply you the vehicle you want then you can worm out of the deal, but once again without it in writing it's easier for the dealer than it is you.

Go hard!!!

Thanks guys, it sucks as an unsuspecting buyer. I mean in all honesty if you are talking to a Nissan dealer and buying a Nissan Navara you would expect to be getting a Nissan hard tonneau.

If the case came down to listing specifics in the contract then I'd be there all day listing out all the details. Sucks!!

I'm going down in person to sort it out tomorrow. Certainly not a good start to ownership.
I'm taking the gentle approach at the moment as I think pushing them will resort in me losing, but when the crunch hits I'll definitely go at them hard.

Going easy as a first attempt is always a good move. Since it appears you don't have it in writing that the cover must be genuine if they seem to be playing with you and not giving you the deal you want because it will cost them too much offer them 1/3 of the cost of the genuine cover. Sure it sucks that you have to pay a bit more but we all know dealer prices are so over inflated even on non genuine parts that offering them as little as a 1/3 might just get them to play ball because they've made up some of the shortfall they claim is in the hit they take if the deal is done with genuine parts.

Also when it comes to such stupid deals remember each department in a dealership is essentially different and the new car dealer will be more prepared to bargain on you with inflated parts prices or even merchandise than he will be to bargain on the sale price because the sale price comes of his figures the parts and merchandise come out of a different budget. He's still got to keep unity in the dealership but you'll get more out of them when you're not taking his families last meal away from them but cutting his departments profits.

Like me I got suckered into paying $460 for central locking on the D22 that at the time I assumed would have been a Nissan item.
Nope - turns out to be a a cheap chinese piece of rubbish that works sporadically. I could have paid $100 for it down at SCA.
Live and learn

Walk away from the deal if you are not going to get what you want.

Eugene

By no means I am a lawyer, but if you agreed to purchased the vehicle with the sports bar already clearly fitted and they agreed to throw in a hard lid as a deal sweetner then removing the sports bar is a breach of contract. As the vehicle they intend to deliver you is in fact not the vehicle you agreed to purchase.

so I revert back to my earlier post. Go hard - but don't be rude or agressive.

Good luck!!

Gus

my hard cover

sorry to hear about your predicament....i just brought a hard top with my navara and a genuine one at that...i got it for $2250...they are pulling your leg pretty hard mate......doesn't sound fair to me....i hope it works out for you

Thanks for the advice guys, I appreciate it. I spoke with the principal dealer and he said that he would look into it and would try his best to get me a genuine tonneau as part of our deal.

Just don't back down mate, but as the others have said, be polite.

I believe you should have a 30 day cooling off period when purchasing a new car? Perhaps play that card?

I agree that you are quite within your rights to assume it would be genuine Nissan, and don't let them cry poor, that's a massive load of crap.

Principal dealer gave me a call this afternoon, the car will be ready tomorrow for pick up with a genuine hard tonneau. Apparently they made a loss on my purchase hence the reason for them being unhappy.
Will post pics ASAP

Eug said:

Apparently they made a loss on my purchase hence the reason for them being unhappy.

Click to expand...

They always say that!!

Good work Eugene,you must have laughed on the inside when they whinged they weren't happy with the deal.
Make sure it still has a gearbox in it before you sign the dotted line.lol.

Eug said:

Apparently they made a loss on my purchase hence the reason for them being unhappy.

Click to expand...

Car dealers (and those Egyptian rug sellers) are the only business' in the world who can run by selling everything at a loss. I can't remember one dealer not trying that line or something similar on me when I've brought a new car. But then I guess if we let on too much that we buyers don't actually believe their bullshit stories they'd probably all have to start being honest and open and that wouldn't help anyone.

Hope all goes well with the purchase

haha i agree with those rug sellers. rugs-a-million are always having a 'closing down' sale.

anyway, good news. i picked up the car yesterday afternoon!! genuine tonneau and all.

the dealers weren't too happy with me but i know i got an awesome deal. just going to have to recover financially and get into some courses as well as planning my mod list.

cheers all for your feedback

Good to hear mate.

There is a Rug joint in Newcastle that has a closing down sale every weekend.

Dave.

Eugene

Congrats!

You can buy us all a beer some day as payment for our advice

Gus