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I sure wouldn't be comfortable with some random person driving 50 miles in my brand new car. I'd go pick it up myself.
It's not some random person, it's an employee of a dealership - they drive vehicles between dealerships all the time. Not to mention this is a car sitting on a dealer lot, which could easily have been driven more than 50 miles by all kinds of random people if it was taken for test drives.
I bought a new Honda almost a month ago. The local DMV called earlier this week that they finally have the paperwork on it in and I can can come down and take care of that when I get a chance.
Just got a call from the dealership that I need to return the car to them. As in give it back. They had 2 2017 white Accords on the lot and say they gave me the wrong one. They want to swap out the cars. The contract has the other car's VIN number on it and so does the DMV paperwork...I just checked the VIN & it does not match. When I called my insurance company last month I took the VIN off the contract rather than off the car so I never noticed it. Supposedly the cars are identical.
Since the dealer is an hour away they're going to drive the other car over and swap them out here.
I expect that the real reason they really want this vehicle back is that if they just change the paperwork, the other car is still going to show as sold and they'll have to take a real bath on it and sell it as used since it has been registered...no?
For my trouble they're offering me 4 free oil changes (synthetic oil so it would cost me in the neighborhood of $80 each if I have it changed locally)...but I have to drive 50 miles each way for them..
Sounds like an honest mistake. Now you can get the same car and erase the miles you've already driven so I'd go ahead with the swap.
Instead of the oil changes ask them to add an extended warranty of some sort, powertrain or maybe extending the bumper to bumper by another year or two. Just make sure these are Honda factory warranties and not some aftermarket third-party plan.
The dealer sent the salesman to drive the second Honda over to me. I asked him who gets the blame on this one and he said it was the sales manager's fault -- he was supposed to check the VIN number but that didn't happen. I would not have driven an hour each way to swap the vehicles; but they offered to drive it here before I could tell them I wouldn't do it. The sales guy verified that they couldn't sell it (the car on the lot) as a new vehicle if I hadn't swapped them since the paperwork had been sent in to the DMV.
I didn't take a test drive when I originally bought it. We also have a 2014 Accord and it is essentially the same car.
The two white Accords are both the base models with nothing added on so the stickers were the same on both - $23,990. The only difference was that the original had gold striping and the 2nd car has black striping. So there was no problem with their being anything missing on the second car.
The only odd thing was that he drove over the second car with no dealer plate or temporary tag. We moved the temp tag over to the 2nd car (since the VIN number now matches) and he drove the original car back to the dealership the same way. He said they don't care in their county but they would give him a problem if he happened to get stopped in this county for having no tag..
For God's sake DRIVE the fifty freakin' miles and get the new car.
Take a friend or spouse.
DRIVE the replacement car at low speeds and highway.
Make sure that you are getting a NEW car. Never titled. Make them do a Carfax OR view the Certificate of Origin (the paper before a car is titled).
Do check with the DMV and you may have to pay all sorts of taxes and registration fees all over again. In some states there are 3 sales taxes. Town, County, and state. Best to get your ducks in order.
The VIN now matches the original paperwork so there aren't any taxes or registration due again. The paperwork did make it to the local DMV office a few days ago. They did call to say they had it & I could come in to get the registration, etc. I don't believe that on any of the past new car purchases that a DMV employee actually went out to the car to check the VIN number. So it would have gone unnoticed if I had taken the car in to them last week.
It is a moot point. You bought the other car. They have essentially been letting you use the car in your possession as a trial. It is to your advantage to make the exchange no matter what.
oops-did not read that last page where it is now a done deal
I sure wouldn't be comfortable with some random person driving 50 miles in my brand new car. I'd go pick it up myself.
Are you kidding, dealers swap cars every day. Western NJ to Long Island, upstate NY, Hudson Valley, etc. My retired friend is a swap driver for a local dealer, he's always busy; just last week drove a new pickup from central PA to Eastern NY. My last new vehicle was driven 210 miles to me because they didn't have the title paperwork (MCO/MSO) available the day I went to pick it up.
If I were the OP I would take the deal for the synthetic oil changes and not be a ball breaker, maybe ask for one additional. The Accord only calls for syn-blend, full synthetic is a hefty up charge.
50 miles?
Good grief! Here in Montana there are people who drive further than that to get to the grocery store or post office.
Just go do the swap.
LOL.. keep in mind everyone adapts to their environment. Some people live in dense metro areas or cities where they don't have to travel very far to get to everything, like my father. To them a 50 mile drive seems like a big deal and they complain about it.
For me, a 60 mile drive is par for the course if I want to enjoy a nice meal and bike ride in Sioux Falls, and I think nothing of it. Of course population density is lower and I cruise at 85 with little traffic. That's a lot different than 50 miles of stop and go traffic with lots of stopsigns or stoplights in between.
Here is the concern, if you drive the car back to the dealership, you are driving an unregistered, uninsured vehicle. You said yourself that the DMV had the 'other' VIN and you gave the VIN to your insurance using the contract. If you were to be pulled over, or in an accident, you would have a big mess on your hands. Let them drive the new vehicle to you.
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