OK, so here''s the latest. The damaged dealership called me back this AM to say 2 things:
1) on their own after I called on Friday & left a message for my original salesman to call me back when he gets in on Monday because I want a better deal, before he called me he went ahead & ordered another car JUST like the one I originally ordered and he says that when it gets in, if I want it, I can have it for MSRP - $1000 (thus matching the 2nd dealer). He said that the manager of the dealer called Chrysler this AM and "expedited" it and he gave me the VON
2) he said that the manager also called Chrysler and "raised cane" (I like how they try to make you think they''re really going all out, haha) about where the trunk lid & spoiler are for the damaged one. He CLAIMS Chrysler said that they''ll be here in 2-3 days (interesting, as for 2 weeks they couldn''t tell me anything and now that I''ve threatened to walk, a day estimate suddenly comes) and that they would get the car painted & ready for delivery in another 2 days. When that one is ready, they''ll call me & let me come down & look at it and if I like the way it looks, a) they''ll offer me a LIFETIME warranty on the new parts including that the paint holds up with no problems including matching and b) they''ll offer it to me at "more than $1000 off" but that I''ll have to work out exactly how much off with the manager the day that I would come inspect the car when it''s ready to go.
SO, at least I''ve got options:
1) wait for the new one @ $1000 off my original deal
2) look at the fixed up damaged one (which presumably will be fixed before the new one arrives) @ something over $1000 off & a lifetime trunk lid & spoiler paint warranty
3) try to get the cross town dealer to go lower than $1000 off MSRP on a new one that they''d order.
(I''ll definitely try #3 and as far as 1) and 2) there''s nothing to do but wait.
Now that I have a VON, is the only way to track it by calling the India line? (it was so nice when I had the VIN of the damaged one before it arrived, as that made it so eay to track!)
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2009 RT ordered 7/8/8, arrived damaged 8/29/8 :( 2009 RT reordered 9/15/8, picked up on 10/14/8 :)
I''d say that now, your choice depends entirely on how quickly you want a car. Personally, I''d probably go with getting the damaged one fixed, since that''s a reasonable offer on the dealer''s part. Of course, I''d never sell the Challenger, so the damage showing up in its records wouldn''t be a real concern to me. Realistically, if you keep any car long enough, it''s most likely going to get damaged somehow and will have to be fixed. I know some people would be really bothered by having a car that''s been repaired, but as long as they do a good job on it, it wouldn''t bother me having a car that''s been fixed.
It''ll be interesting to see the diff in times. The damaged one from day I put $1000 to the day the guy backed it off the carrier into a pole (that still hurts!) was 6 weeks. It''s now been sitting 2 weeks waiting for parts (which is already 1/3 of its build time). Damaged dealership is saying "only 2-3 more days until parts arrive" while the crosstown guy says the parts aren''t even orderable yet. I have to believe the answer is somewhere in between the two. How long it''ll take to build & deliver the new one, I haven''t a clue (even if I could just get a VIN # & a time range when the build will take place, that would probably be good enough for me). On the other hand, if the damaged one is fixed before the new one arrives AND if it looks OK (with its "lifetime" paint warranty backing it up) and the guy will know a chunk of change off greater than the $1000, then that could be interesting. Yet, it would be nice to never worry about having my eyes roving around looking to see if there''s any paint mismatching yet as the years go by.
Damage showing up in its records is not a concern for me either. I''m not even sure where it would show up (the Dodge Challenger VIN registry doesn''t show any Dodge records and the dealer claims that since the car has not been titled, it will not show up in Carfax either. Can anyone think of another place the damage could be reported?
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2009 RT ordered 7/8/8, arrived damaged 8/29/8 :( 2009 RT reordered 9/15/8, picked up on 10/14/8 :)
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RE: Should I take the damaged one or reorder? - 
