I bought a RX350 with everything I like. Got a pretty good deal. Had all the VIP treatment from the dealership as one could expect from a Lexus dealership. Tinted the windows. Took the car home. Registered and got plate. Bought insurance. Took family out on road trips. Really enjoy the ride & the experience. That went on for two months.

End of the story? Oh No!

Nine weeks after I took the car, the Sales person called me to deliver a disturbing news: They gave me the wrong car.

To make a long and complex story short, the VIN number they used to register my car and everything else I did after that which had anything to do with the VIN number, such as my insurance, was of a car identical to mine. That car was still sitting on their lot!

They asked me to come over to the dealership to redo all the paperwork with the correct VIN number of the car I took. Before I went, I called my insurance company and they said I didn't have any coverage on the car I was driving for two months since I bought insurance for another VIN. You can imagine how upset I was at that point. If I shoud have an accident during that period, that was a big chunk of money out of the pocket.

When I arrived at the dealership furious, they proposed another solution: to switch car so they wouldn't have to change the paperwork. Since the car is identical to my car, and it had only 13 miles on it, I agreed to their proposal to swap cars. They delivered the new car and took the first car back.

Oh, I forgot to mention they tinted the windows on the second car for free and paid me $1000.00 for my troubles with all the appropriate apologies.

I must say that was a big time screw-up on their part, but the recovery was very nice. Very nice indeed.

 

Wow! I never heard a dealer story like that. Sounds like you made out pretty well!

 

Wow, that was a silly mistake, but I'm glad that it turned out ok. Maybe you can call it an extended test drive.

 

Crazy as it sounds, that's something I always check on a new car - does the VIN on the car match the paperwork? You've justified my paranoia!

Glad it turned out OK and nothing bad happened during the nine weeks.

 

stuff like that happens. infrequently, but it does happen. it usually gets caught within a week, if not days of it happening, too. 9 weeks? never heard of it being that long before! glad it all turned out well for you

 

So they took back your very used car and swapped it out?

IMO you didn't have much to be upset about. If you had wrecked the car it would have been covered by the dealer's insurance.

 

Spent 30 years in Insurance claims. Any responsible insurer would have covered you once the explanation was verified.
The courts would force any irresponsible insurer to pay up quickly. There has to be some good faith and you did nothing wrong. Suggest you consider a different insurer when they display an attitude like that.

 

I always check the VIN on my cars when buying. I don't assume anything.

 

I was thinking about your situation and if that is the official position of the insurance company that means you are due a refund, since they were not insuring anything.

 

For what it's worth, that's a generous and creative solution to a paperwork problem.

And had you been in an accident during that period, your carrier would have had to cover it, as there was an agreement between the parties to pay the premium and provide the coverage. The statement that there was no coverage shocks me, and my initial response, and I seem to be not alone, would be to immediately ask for a refund of the premiums allocated to those months. Fat chance in getting that back!

Still, you came out ahead on that deal.

 

What do you expect? "Yes Mr Sagdiyev, if you get into an accident with the car that is not on your policy, which you did not instruct us to insure, which we had no knowledge of its existence even, we will make sure to insure you" Of course what you said is valid, but they would determine that after the fact.

And you are not acting in good faith after reporting this to your insurance if you did not report the correct vehicle at that time, you would have been fully aware that the vehicle you are driving was not covered by the insurance, look the paperwork is already binding, you could have gone to the dealer and "stolen" the car legally because it did infact belong to you.

 

1st thing I did when I got home!

 

thats crazy. how to do you miss something like that?

 

wow, you came out on top there. Rarely happens now a days.