Be careful with deposits Mark Dodge

[TexasJeeper]

Let me start off by saying part of this is my fault/I should have known better.

Ordered a 2023 4xe with Mark Dodge in Lake Charles, LA on 3/3 with a non-refundable 1000 deposit. Order didn't get confirmed until 3/28, well after MY23 ordering closed. Now looking at the features of MY24, resale value on the MY23's will be going down, tax credit is losing $3750 before my order comes in, etc I inquired about moving my deposit to a MY24. Nope, can't do it, even though I would still be buying a vehicle from them. I can maybe see part of this if it was a regular year order but this was a very one off kind of short ordering year. It's not even a vehicle that would be hard to sell, it's a 4xe wrangler.

Long story short, be careful putting down deposits with them. If something comes up you won't get it back. On top of that they said "we will be heavily discounting MY24's when prices come out." Like I would want to still do business with them if they kept my $1000. Yes, it was a non-refundable deposit but sometimes you can do some things to keep the customer and still make a sale.

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[azwjowner]

I'm not sharing your outrage. Sorry that you wanted to cancel your order after ordering and get a refund of a non-refundable deposit. Sell the 2023 and order a 2024.

Mark Dodge's business model is a massive amount of custom sales, not inventory, so they can't just sell canceled orders on the lot that easily.

 

[rcadden]

Man I'd be more concerned with why an order that you placed on the 3rd wasn't confirmed until the freakin 28th. What on earth were they doing for a solid month?

Do you actually have a VIN yet? My understanding is that if a VIN hasn't been assigned, you can still change your order.

But you're right - it would be good business for them to let you re-apply your deposit to a new order, provided your existing order hasn't come in, etc. It's not like it costs them anything to do so (and as you pointed out, they'll "get" a 2023 4xe that they can put on the lot and probably sell at full price anyways).

I'm sure you have reasons for going with that dealer, but if you're able to get your $1K back, or decide to just cut your losses, I'd highly, highly recommend Gupton Motors up in Tennessee. Smooth as silk purchase, plus you get to start your new Jeep relationship with a great roadtrip home from Nashville.

 

[John VonJeep]

Yeah, it’s definitely hinky that the order wasn’t confirmed until 25 days after the deposit was made. I think they should make this right and slide you into a 2024 because that’s what good businesses do. Am I super duper outraged? No. But on balance, they could certainly do more to make this right just as a matter of principle.

 

[TexasJeeper]

I'm not sharing your outrage. Sorry that you wanted to cancel your order after ordering and get a refund of a non-refundable deposit. Sell the 2023 and order a 2024.

Mark Dodge's business model is a massive amount of custom sales, not inventory, so they can't just sell canceled orders on the lot that easily.

I’ve been to the lot, they have plenty of lot vehicles. They also only have 1 4xe on the lot currently. You would think they might want more to sell.

 

[TexasJeeper]

Man I'd be more concerned with why an order that you placed on the 3rd wasn't confirmed until the freakin 28th. What on earth were they doing for a solid month?

Do you actually have a VIN yet? My understanding is that if a VIN hasn't been assigned, you can still change your order.

But you're right - it would be good business for them to let you re-apply your deposit to a new order, provided your existing order hasn't come in, etc. It's not like it costs them anything to do so (and as you pointed out, they'll "get" a 2023 4xe that they can put on the lot and probably sell at full price anyways).

I'm sure you have reasons for going with that dealer, but if you're able to get your $1K back, or decide to just cut your losses, I'd highly, highly recommend Gupton Motors up in Tennessee. Smooth as silk purchase, plus you get to start your new Jeep relationship with a great roadtrip home from Nashville.

I got a VIN on 3/29. On the confirmed status, I’m guessing they didn’t have any allocations and just didn’t tell me when I placed the order.

 

[Shark01]

Let me start off by saying part of this is my fault/I should have known better.

Ordered a 2023 4xe with Mark Dodge in Lake Charles, LA on 3/3 with a non-refundable 1000 deposit. Order didn't get confirmed until 3/28, well after MY23 ordering closed. Now looking at the features of MY24, resale value on the MY23's will be going down, tax credit is losing $3750 before my order comes in, etc I inquired about moving my deposit to a MY24. Nope, can't do it, even though I would still be buying a vehicle from them. I can maybe see part of this if it was a regular year order but this was a very one off kind of short ordering year. It's not even a vehicle that would be hard to sell, it's a 4xe wrangler.

Long story short, be careful putting down deposits with them. If something comes up you won't get it back. On top of that they said "we will be heavily discounting MY24's when prices come out." Like I would want to still do business with them if they kept my $1000. Yes, it was a non-refundable deposit but sometimes you can do some things to keep the customer and still make a sale.

You knew what the terms were going in, and I assume you knew the tax credit was being reduced. That is the price you need to be willing to pay to get discounted units. Now you need to weigh those things against the 2024 features you want, and see where the value is.

 

[TexasJeeper]

You knew what the terms were going in, and I assume you knew the tax credit was being reduced. That is the price you need to be willing to pay to get discounted units. Now you need to weigh those things against the 2024 features you want, and see where the value is.

I didn’t know the tax credit was going away/changed/reduced. The rule up until now was also if you ordered by such date you were “grandfathered” but that verbiage was not added to the new rules.
On the deposit, sure, rules are rules right. You don’t think there should be any bending of rules given this years weird cutoffs and ordering system? Hard businessman.

 

[Jeepznthingz]

If getting the 24 over the 23 is more important, then I’d go ahead and order the 24. Count it as a lesson learned. For me, personally, I prefer the 23 over the 24. But, that’s just me, and I’m weird. Lol.

 

[jromanmd]

Non refundable deposit? I would have ran out of that dealer like a bandit. Plenty of dealers will give you the deposit back if something happens.

I agree, it is your fault.

 

[TexasJeeper]

Non refundable deposit? I would have ran out of that dealer like a bandit. Plenty of dealers will give you the deposit back if something happens.

I agree, it is your fault.

Hey, I admitted that I should have known better. But lots of dealers will still give deposit back, some after the vehicle sells. I named this dealership because they are on the below invoice dealer list and ppl need to know they are not that friendly when it comes to deposit. Don’t be me, buyer beware.

 

[Ratbert]

Hey, I admitted that I should have known better. But lots of dealers will still give deposit back, some after the vehicle sells. I named this dealership because they are on the below invoice dealer list and ppl need to know they are not that friendly when it comes to deposit. Don’t be me, buyer beware.

They're on the list with a bold "no" in that column. The other options are "yes" and "after sold". You'd hope that "after sold" would be the default.

Unfortunately many of the dealerships on the list are a flat out "no".

 

[redbeard]

I ordered through another well known, volume discount dealer. It's been a pleasant experience too, aside from the long wait but that's not the dealer's fault.

3 weeks in to my order, I needed to make a change as the color I truly wanted returned, and was fully prepared to eat the deposit. Instead, they allowed me to cancel my initial order, and proceed with a new order, transferring the deposit to the new order. The dealership only canceled the first order from my name, and the Jeep I initially ordered was actually delivered a few weeks ago. They'll have no problem selling it, either. I never saw it on their website, so it may have been re-sold before it was received.

It was a small gesture on their behalf, but a huge gesture to me. If the time ever comes where I need to order another Jeep, I'll certainly be going back to this same dealer, despite being nearly 700 miles away.

If you had to eat the initial deposit to get what you truly want, you'd probably still come out ahead since you are using a discounting dealership. Certainly would be less to eat the initial deposit than it would be to take the hit on depreciation of the 2023 if you proceeded and then decided later you really wanted a 2024 model. Just some thoughts to consider.

 

[TX_Ovrlnd]

Everyone I worked with at Mark Dodge were great, except the finance guy. You knew the rules about the deposit going in, tough pill to swallow but go for the MY24.

 

[Beachcomber72]

Let me start off by saying part of this is my fault/I should have known better.

Ordered a 2023 4xe with Mark Dodge in Lake Charles, LA on 3/3 with a non-refundable 1000 deposit. Order didn't get confirmed until 3/28, well after MY23 ordering closed. Now looking at the features of MY24, resale value on the MY23's will be going down, tax credit is losing $3750 before my order comes in, etc I inquired about moving my deposit to a MY24. Nope, can't do it, even though I would still be buying a vehicle from them. I can maybe see part of this if it was a regular year order but this was a very one off kind of short ordering year. It's not even a vehicle that would be hard to sell, it's a 4xe wrangler.

Long story short, be careful putting down deposits with them. If something comes up you won't get it back. On top of that they said "we will be heavily discounting MY24's when prices come out." Like I would want to still do business with them if they kept my $1000. Yes, it was a non-refundable deposit but sometimes you can do some things to keep the customer and still make a sale.

I’d greatly fight them on the deposit refund issue.
https://law.justia.com/codes/louisiana/2014/code-revisedstatutes/title-32/rs-32-796

Also read this as it more so pertains to your $1000 amount.
https://www.findlaw.com/legalblogs/law-and-life/can-i-get-my-deposit-back-on-a-new-or-used-car/

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