CONTEXT: 2023 / 2024 MY Range Rover's that are on the lot (prepurchased or customer builds that were refused at delivery) in Houston / Texas market seem to have somewhere between $10k-$20K "market adjustment" on top of MSRP. Factory order timeframes vary from 6 months to 18+ months depending on which dealer you're asking.
SCENARIO: Sales inquiry with dealer, In stock inventory refused due to market adjustment, Factory order offered as alternative. Agreement/understanding of purchase price = MSRP was reached with sales rep. Factory order/build placed with dealer, $5,000.00 deposit paid to dealer. Vehicle arrives to dealer and sales manager sends sale docs with $20K market adjustment included, fails to deduct the $5K deposit on vehicle order. Now sales mgr stating that all Range Rovers whether ordered or in stock inventory are subject to $20K market adjustment.
I'm aware that the only foolproof backup would have been a fleshed out bill of sale at MSRP. However, it seemed like the sales rep's explicit statement of understanding regarding the purchase pricing would be adequate at the time.
Does this seem like deceptive/fraudulent business tactic or is this a typical bait/switch that is without recourse?

Both?
So nothing in writing when you negotiated the deal before deposit?

Without any sort of guarantee in writing that states the price, what do you expect your recourse to be?

If fools are still paying the "market adjusted" price, I'm sure they'd love for you to walk away so they can sell your vehicle for $10-20k more than you are willing to pay. Its certainly deceptive, but I don't know that you'd be able to prove anything legally actionable with respect to fraud.

Don't trust a car salesman.

I bought a high demand vehicle from a salesman on this board. I placed the order early enough in the pandemic so that huge markups were not yet the norm.

I did have everything in writing and they honored the deal with no issues. I was told that if I didn't pick up the truck in a week, they'd refund my deposit and sell it with a markup to someone else. They had 6 offers to buy it on the day it hit the lot.

Get your $5k back and order from sewell in dallas or austin

I'm doing damage control on the back end here and trying to help triage the situation. Apparently we thought we had it in writing but can't track it down now. I agree that car salesman should never be trusted. (No offense to those who can be).

Seriously, fight them hard on getting your deposit returned, then go buy a more reliable vehicle. I don't have any official stats, but I gotta believe a new Range Rover depreciates like a falling rock.

Buck Turgidson said:

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Seriously, fight them hard on getting your deposit returned, then go buy a more reliable vehicle. I don't have any official stats, but I gotta believe a new Range Rover depreciates like a falling rock.

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A falling rock, wrapped in 20 large, that lands in a raging fire.

If you do not buy the vehicle, the dealer cannot keep the deposit. Doing so is illegal in Texas. If they try, sue them, you'll likely get enough back to cover the markup.

TMoney2007 said:

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Without any sort of guarantee in writing that states the price, what do you expect your recourse to be?

If fools are still paying the "market adjusted" price, I'm sure they'd love for you to walk away so they can sell your vehicle for $10-20k more than you are willing to pay. Its certainly deceptive, but I don't know that you'd be able to prove anything legally actionable with respect to fraud.

Don't trust a car salesman.

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Yup.