THPorsche

my dealer asked for $2000 (refundable) when I ordered my car.

geoff w

My dealer didn't ask for any deposit. Cayenne S March build date planned. MSRP around $76K. But we've bought 2 Porsches there before and they won't have any problem selling the vehicle as configured if we back out (highly unlikely).

9974G

My dealer asked for $1000, which I had them charge to my credit card. This was on a factory order.

doctorpcar

Its easy to sue. The credit hit shows up and without a signed release they would be liable. This is not hard to enforce at all, its not a police issue.

911Dave

Then how do all the major banks get away with doing it thousands of times a day without the individuals' knowledge? Do you think Chase, Citibank, etc. as well as the CRA's would risk billions in a class action suit by doing something clearly illegal? No way. There is nothing illegal about obtaining a person's credit score as long as it's for a legitimate purpose.

doctorpcar

Because those inquiries *don't* affect your credit. I am speaking specifically to "hard hits", an inquiry for someone seeking credit. Banks can do it because they have a shared system and access, you also have a way to opt out of such inquiries. A car dealer doing it illegally without consent would result in a "hard hit" and be illegal and easy to win damages on, in fact it would likely result in a letter of correction very soon after the inquiry was found.

Likemystoppie?

ahh, correct correct!! Only if it's a case of fraud, I believe.

Sadly, a good friend of mine had his identity stolen and he's still not recovered. I had this client come in today and said he's not financed anything in the last 10 years, pays cash for everything b/c he doesn't want the Federal Government having any control or anyone else over his finances. -He has a point, albeit paranoid one. but true.


Oh, btw we ask for a BAZILLION DOLLARS for a deposit.

MichaelL

Put up $5K for a made to order of $105K.

911Dave

You are incorrect. A dealer's inquiry doesn't impact your credit score any more than a bank or an insurance company's inquiry does. The only inquiries that impact your score are inquiries that YOU INITIATE in an application for credit.

doctorpcar

What exactly is your point? Why exactly would a bank do a credit check other than to give you money? And when exactly can they do this other then when you initiate an app for credit?

Any time you seek money through your credit, in the form of a loan of any type, lease included, you take a hit on your credit. The score may not change if you don't do it often, or if you bunch them up. The credit scoring algorithm at FICO (the only score that matters) will assume that a bunch of inquiries of the same type is you shopping for a good interest rate and count it only as one.

I don't know why there is so much misinformation out here on this thread. I can assure you that if you go into a dealer tomorrow and ask them to run a credit check for the purpose of financing or leasing, and check your credit within a week, you will find it on at least one of the agency lists.

Anyone who thinks otherwise is in for a disappointments. The only credit check that doesn't hurt you is one you do yourself or one cc companies do on their own to send you offers.

Edgy01

When I went in to special order my car (MSRP over $135k) they asked for $1000,--put on a credit card. (About 6 months earlier another salesman from the same dealership told me the deposit would be $5000). Sometime during my lengthy ordering process (which ran for many months) they ran my credit. (Discovered one day by getting my yearly credit report). My salesman told me later of a customer of theirs who didn't want his credit run. The customer told them to instead call his banker. The banker told them as long as the check was $25,000,000 or less it would be fine. The customer kept his credit from being queried, and like I did, paid cash for the car.

greenhouse

it's illegal to run your credit without your authorization. I don't know if it's possible with just a DL, but with a name address and the right DB access it's certainly conceivable.

mauijim

Yes, they do a credit check to give you money, but they do it whenever they like. I get offers for credit from some bank or another on a daily basis - they offer this credit based on my credit score. I did not initiate this credit check and I did not apply for credit. Furthermore, verbal consent is sufficient for a bank to run a credit check when you apply for credit, a signature is not required.

911Dave is correct: You get dinged only when YOU INITIATE the app for credit, but many diverse types of financial institutions access credit reports on a regular basis without your consent. There is some regulation, but not much - this is a business to service financial institutions that pay for access to credit info.

doctorpcar

Read back on this thread, I have never said anything that conflicts with what you just wrote. A bank that runs credit to send you offers is not an inquiry. Any inquiry from a car dealer is an inquiry for credit. What other kind of inquiry can there be from a car dealer? That is what most of the disagreement on this thread is about.

mitch236

I can't believe how far this thread has gone. Porsche owners are amongst the wealthiest people in America and so few understand how the FICO score works. You need to educate yourself. Go to myfico.com (or some similar site) and start reading. Most sites also have forums but just like Rennlist, read with a degree of skepticisim.

You should check your report at least yearly. Be meticulous. Have mistakes corrected or removed. Learn how the FICO works. Learn how to manipulate it. BTW, don't trust those outfits that claim to remove negative items from your report. They can't unless it didn't belong there in the first place. What they will do (and you can do this yourself) is negotiate the removal or downgrading of negative items by offering to pay the debt.