[Bob]

The vin in the ad matches the vin on the ID4 order website for my order. This is crazy.
The dealership and VW help sites are all closed (Sunday, here). I only saw it
by accident. This is Leith Volkswagon, Cary NC. If they sell a car I ordered a year ago,
what can I do about it?

I did leave a message on the website, in a chat window. I asked if the window was a robot or a
human, and she said human. I also texted the general manager.

Any other suggestions?

 

[wtatun]

Really not yours till paid for and titled to you. I’d advertise any car I had coming in also; never know when a deal will fall through.

 

[Trekkie]

speaking from experience with that dealer specifically you can go through the entire motion of 'buying' the car online only to find out nothing happened and the ID.4's on their website aren't for sale.

 

[Don]

Are you in North Carolina? Would this dealer be the one you would take delivery from on the car you ordered? I seriously hope a call to them first thing Monday morning will clear up this mix-up to your satisfaction. I hope it is an honest mistake, quickly resolved

Don

 

[ericy]

The vin in the ad matches the vin on the ID4 order website for my order. This is crazy.
The dealership and VW help sites are all closed (Sunday, here). I only saw it
by accident. This is Leith Volkswagon, Cary NC. If they sell a car I ordered a year ago,
what can I do about it?

I did leave a message on the website, in a chat window. I asked if the window was a robot or a
human, and she said human. I also texted the general manager.

Any other suggestions?

It actually sounds kind of normal. VW adds the cars to dealer inventory before the cars even hit the dealer lot. Within a day or two it will arrive at the dealer, get prepped and be ready for you to pickup.

If some other person called in about it, they would almost certainly be told the car wasn't available.

 

[unwiredben]

For my local VW dealer, they listed a bunch of ID.4s back before I bought mine, but with a disclaimer that they may be units with a pending reservation. I think their inventory management system will just automatically move a received vehicle to the "for sale" section, even if someone has first refusal rights.

 

[Trekkie]

I'm in Wake Forest, about six miles from them. they had two ID.4s on their 'for sale' page, I ordered one of them, got through financing and everything online. They then contacted me via email and kinda hand waved a lot about it, and then when I went in they let me test drive a first edition that had a few thousand miles on it.

 

[krusshall]

By default all cars seem to get “listed” even though there’s a pending sale. The system probably does it automatically.

 

[Bob]

I just got a text back from the general manager. He says the car is still with the transporter and not yet at the dealer. He ackowledged that I have a reservation, and the car won't be sold out from under me. Whew! It seems like that would not advertise a reserved car, unless I turned it down at the dealership.

 

[Nai3t]

Agree with some of the comments above. My FE was somebody else's order. The first time I called this particular dealer, they gave me the "all of the ID.4s we have listed are pre-orders / sold" and they tried to get my contact info. Don't stress about it or bother trying to get them to pull the ad. Selling cars is what they do.

 

[mlsstl]

The OP's situation is normal. My car was listed on the dealer's web site before it arrived. However, they held it for me. If I recall correctly, I had 5 business days after it arrived to complete my purchase before it would be available to other buyers. The purchase went through without any issues.

 

[ixlr08]

I just got a text back from the general manager. He says the car is still with the transporter and not yet at the dealer. He ackowledged that I have a reservation, and the car won't be sold out from under me. Whew! It seems like that would not advertise a reserved car, unless I turned it down at the dealership.

As ERICY said, VW puts the cars on the dealerships website before they hit the dealers lot. A hint that it is not on the dealers lot is there is no picture of actual vehicle. According to one dealership manager I talked with, the dealership doesn't control what VW puts on their website, they also don't control when VW takes a vehicle off their website.

 

[ericy]

As ERICY said, VW puts the cars on the dealerships website before they hit the dealers lot. A hint that it is not on the dealers lot is there is no picture of actual vehicle. According to one dealership manager I talked with, the dealership doesn't control what VW puts on their website, they also don't control when VW takes a vehicle off their website.

I think that's most of it - you notice that different dealers web sites all have the same look and deal, so individual dealers each don't need a webmaster. That being said, there has to be a way for individual dealers to do some config (used cars, car photos, staff photos, etc). The chat bot is kind of weird - sometimes it is a human at the dealership (sometimes the receptionist), and when the dealership is closed, then there is an AI bot of some sort that takes over which appears to mainly just take messages.

 

[branden]

This is normal but unbelievably infuriating for shopping for a car.

 

[Nai3t]

...According to one dealership manager I talked with, the dealership doesn't control what VW puts on their website, they also don't control when VW takes a vehicle off their website.

I don't know if I buy that. I see a lot of variability in the information provided in those pre-arrival ads, some have stock photos, some contain additional information others don't, and some have dealer inventory numbers. In fact, the one I bought was still in "pre-stock" ad form and contained errors in the description that I don't think a VW automated system could make. Because -- you know -- VW does software so well. :/

 

[BlueDH]

This is normal but unbelievably infuriating for shopping for a car.

When I bought my Jetta hybrid in 2013, I had everything all settled and the car was being transferred from NJ to MD.
Then it was listed on the dealership website the night of the transfer for 1k less than my deal 😳.
Went in to buy the Jetta hybrid the next day, I presented the website ad and walked out 1k richer. I could tell the salesman was pi$$ed off.
Back then Jetta hybrids weren't moving off dealership lots. I'm sure the dealership still made money.
Of course I was happy, I got the Jetta hybrid in the color I wanted. Sometimes things work out for the buyer 😁.

 

[mochalatte]

I think I might have played a roll in someone getting a car with a different VIN than they expected. When I visited the dealer (also in the RTP area) and pointed my finger at a Moongray Pro saying, that's the exact one I was looking for, the manager came back a bit later and said, the bad news is that's someone's order, but the good news is that I've already found another one just like it that I can have here within the week.

Then he came back a bit later saying, actually we will sell you that one. Turns out the guy is out of town for a couple of weeks and so why don't you take the one that's here and we will give the other guy the one that's coming.

Mind you, all that happened before I had joined this forum and I had no idea folks might be getting their VIN numbers ahead of time.

 

[Huey52]

Every VW AG vehicle I've ordered was similarly up on a dealer's webpage at a point but was in fact held for me. No worries.
As others have said it's there to promote marketing 'buzz' and just in case a pre-order deal falls thru. They're in the business of selling vehicles after all.
But I can empathize that it is a bit unnerving to see 'your' car For Sale.

I just got a text back from the general manager. He says the car is still with the transporter and not yet at the dealer. He ackowledged that I have a reservation, and the car won't be sold out from under me. Whew! It seems like that would not advertise a reserved car, unless I turned it down at the dealership.

 

[Bob]

It occurs to me that this advertising does alert possible buyers that could step in if I decline the car. One effect of that is to reduce my negotiating ability with the dealer. If another buyer is interested, even after seeing the dealer full price, then the ability for me to decline add-ons like doc fees is reduced. (I don't blame other buyers for being interested.)

 

[Spin]

It occurs to me that this advertising does alert possible buyers that could step in if I decline the car. One effect of that is to reduce my negotiating ability with the dealer. If another buyer is interested, even after seeing the dealer full price, then the ability for me to decline add-ons like doc fees is reduced. (I don't blame other buyers for being interested.)

Unfortunately, that is the reality of trying to purchase a vehicle that is in short supply or trying to be one of the first to get a newly released vehicle. I felt lucky to get a FE in March for MSRP with no dealer add-ons.