Going thru an internet sales manager at my local dealer has netted me a pretty good deal. 1000 under invoice minus incentives. This would be on a 04.5 3500 quad 4x4slt swb. The only thing is the dealer says I have to put down about 1000cash to get the deal started. Is this normal? I haven't placed the order yet and he gave me a copy of the buildout sheet and it says I have until May 14th and final buildout of July 16th. He also says we may not be able to get the deal done if Dodge's production is full before I order and I'd have to wait for an 05 order date of July26th and I'd have no incentives. Is this guy legit?
btw - glad to have found this site... you guys are great.. a world of knowledge here...Tony

 

I purchased my truck off the lot yesterday at $400 minus the incentives so you are getting a good deal. I started looking at trucks in March and the incentives totaled $3500. In April the incentives dropped to $2500. He may be right since Dodge may not offer any incentives on the 05s when they first come out. I can see where they might not offer any incentives from day one but add them later on in the model run.

I shopped dealer inventories on the Dodge web site and found just what I wanted within 50 miles of home. Unless you want something out of the ordinary you may be able to find one on the lot and get the dealer incentives offered today.

 

A good dealer will never ask you to put anything down. In case they screw up the order, it's a PIA to get your deposit back. Trust me - see my sig. I had to get a lawyer to call the dealer to get back my deposit on the Ford order - incidently they sent me a 2004 truck with a leftover 2003 non-upgraded engine.

If they want a deposit, I say go somewhere else. JMHO. It may be law elsewhere - I can't speak intelligently on that because I don't know for sure, but here in Alberta, dealers don't need to get a deposit, just the bad ones ask for it, it seems.

Stupid me to order a Ford in the first place. We have the new 6.0L as work supplied trucks now - they pull a trailer great at high RPM on the highway, but get into low RPM bush towing.....and crap....did I mention they're crap? Oh Ya, they're crap!



I found a good DC dealer. I ordered a 2004 DRW in September with nothing down. The truck came in delayed from the time I needed it and I ended up being 900 mi away and was going to be away at work for months. When the fleet mgr called that it was in, he understood that I couldn't take delivery because of work. He had no problem selling it and offered the same deal when I'd be back near home. We discussed the topic when I got back, and now we're just waiting to see about a real crew cab for 2005. Great ol' feller - I guarantee you I'll be dealing with him as soon as I know what's happening with the cab config for 2005.

 

A deposit is normal and actually required to get the Sold Order Protection from DC. I got mine for $1000 under invoice plus incentives and that dealer isn't doing it anymore. A $500 deposit on a Credit Card should be more than enough to hold your truck. Before you give them any money make sure he writes down your deal including ALL of the fees and signs it. And don't let them add another $700 in bogus fees to wipe out your discount. When I was going through this exercise many dealers said they would give 1K under but added back that much in fees. My total fees were $70. Good luck.

 

Hey Festus,

Did your dealer say he thought the 2005's would come in with the full size Crew Cabs?

Just curious because I'm waiting until next Oct. to order and am interested in the true four full size door copy if I can get it.

Thanks.

DT.

 

I had to put down $250 on it. Dealer was a jerk, didn't actually order truck until check cleared the bank.

 

I had to put a $1K down to order my truck. I bought it at invoice minus $3500 in incentives and rebates.
Dealer told me it was necessary , but they did order it the next day...didn't have to wait till the check cleared or nothing...
This was back in early Oct. on the 305/555 04's.
Boss

 

I ordered from two different dealers this year without any deposit .... ( This is in Calif.)

The dealer dosen't get billed until the truck is shipped or sometime around then.... so I'm sure any deposit that a dealer asks for, goes to the dealer, NOT Chrysler!

Also, when the dealer places an order, its no guarantee that Dodge will accept or build the truck... for some folks D1 status has taken months!!!

In fact one of the dealers told me later, (when I asked why he hadn't required a deposit), that in California the dealers have to give the deposit back if the customer dosen't take delivery of the vehicle... so he dosen't even bother asking for one anymore.

(Of course this may be different in another state as far as a dealer having to give a deposit back!)

As far as Sold Order Protection.... Ksadz are you sure? Cause one of my dealers assured me that it did apply, even without a deposit...(of course I never tested that out as I turned the truck down when it arrived.)

Anyhow...Good Luck with what ever you decide to do, but I think your going to find its cutting it a little close to order an 04 & may have to end up waiting for an 05!!!
(And my understanding is that, there is NO sold order protection if you place an early order for a next year model...as the price hasn't been set yet.)

Good Luck! Defdog2

 

Here's what happened. I ordered my truck when they were offering $2000 rebate/0% interest. When the truck arrived that incentive wasn't available anymore. Sold Order Protection kicks in, right?

Well I used a credit card for the deposit and the dealer never charged it.

Well the SOP fine print from DC says that the customer has to have placed a deposit with the order. I didn't know that and the dealer didn't either. Actually they never heard of SOP.

So we had to "fix" it for DC. Things worked out thanks to a creative dealer.

 

Ksadz, thats good info to know about Sold Order Protection, only applies if you put a deposit down....

I didn't know that and when the truck I did buy had a $161 increase, (I had no deposit on this order either), I decided not to argue when the dealer told me that SOP didn't apply.

(He never said why & I just figured he didn't want to do the paperwork. The truck was perfect & I was too busy making sure I got the invoice deal I was promised to fight over the $161.)

Interesting to note however that BOTH trucks I ordered without any deposit... both were still built with my name on the build sheets & Monroney stickers, along with being listed as sold orders!

So I'm still not sure that Chrysler has any idea whether or not the dealer got any kind of a deposit!!!!

 

Well I'm glad to know he wasn't toying with me about the deposit but it sure worried me when he didn't know about the 2500 incentive. He insisted it didn't apply to the diesel. I insisted otherwise. He walked over to another salesmen and I heard him ask about the incentives which the other guy said applied to all trucks except the srt-10. Go figure... another sales guy that knows next to nothing about what their selling. It really worries me that I'll have to check on every single dotted "i" in every piece of paperwork involved.
Thanks again for the advice... hopefully I'll soon be waiting for a big bad cummins...T

 

put 500 on the credit card that way if there is a problem you can get your money back . it is a lot harder if you give them a check. and dont belive them if they say they will not cash it

 

you're right, defdog2.

DC doesn't know what the dealers are doing and the dealers don't know half the stuff we know about the vehicles and their own programs. However if DC were to audit a certain order in the future regarding SOP, deposits, etc i'm pretty sure they would pass.

 

I have ordered 4 new Dodges and have always gotten the SOP and have never put down a dime.........

Guess it just depends on your dealer.