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Auto Damage My Responsibility?

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tjldaily311

Junior Member
I recently bought a car. drove off the lot (Used Car)... During the time I had the car (1st day unfortunately) I had collision damage to the car. I filed a claim with my insurance... Now the dealership says they need the car back! They tell me the lender doesn't want to finance me! I will now take the car off the insurance. Is the damage my responsibility? I never owned the vehicle and now they say, because of their bad dealings with the lender they worked with, that I can't have the car. :mad:

I believe it should be their responsibility to fix it, since they did bad dealings, allowing me to drive off the lot with a vehicle that was NOT being financed, yet they told me it was. Let me know what you think. Thanks.

Added Note: I returned the vehicle today and I was threatened that this salesperson was ready to report this mishap on my credit as a repossession and to ruin my credit to make it so I am unable to acquire a car in the future. This salesperson was acting so disrespectfully (probably 'cause he realizes this will land on his shoulders and have him be at fault) and unprofessionally. He did make the threats so I am now pursuing information both from public opinion and legal affiliates to be bet educated about the situation as possible.

T.

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Nevada
 
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Banned_Princess

Senior Member
I recently bought a car. drove off the lot (Used Car)... During the time I had the car (1st day unfortunately) I had collision damage to the car. I filed a claim with my insurance... Now the dealership says they need the car back! They tell me the lender doesn't want to finance me! I will now take the car off the insurance. Is the damage my responsibility? I never owned the vehicle and now they say, because of their bad dealings with the lender they worked with, that I can't have the car. :mad:

I believe it should be their responsibility to fix it, since they did bad dealings, allowing me to drive off the lot with a vehicle that was NOT being financed, yet they told me it was. Let me know what you think. Thanks.

Added Note: I returned the vehicle today and I was threatened that this salesperson was ready to report this mishap on my credit as a repossession and to ruin my credit to make it so I am unable to acquire a car in the future. This salesperson was acting so disrespectfully (probably 'cause he realizes this will land on his shoulders and have him be at fault) and unprofessionally. He did make the threats so I am now pursuing information both from public opinion and legal affiliates to be bet educated about the situation as possible.

T.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

how about you answer our question first.
 

tjldaily311

Junior Member
Are they responsible for the inconvenience they cause by telling me I had a car, allowing me to schedule for the full 3-person (family) schedule, and then telling me they need to take the car back because they are incompetent with their business deals?

I believe each and every document that myself and the co-signer signed is null and void once they told me to return the car. So no matter if those papers say that I am responsible for the car or not, or if their fine print has me being called the responsible one in this matter, would that not all be NULL and beside the fact?

I left out: This dealership had asked me to lie to the lender when/if they called, telling them a different place of residence, so not to show that I've only been in the area for a short amount of time. Also, they told me to change my address on my insurance, so if the lender/financier asked if the co-signed and I would both be in need of the vehicle the answer should be yes, and look as such on my insurance policy.

When this lender called for an interview (more like an interrogation) my co-signer said nothing but the truth. This put the deal in jeopardy, and ultimately ended the possibility of financing me.

I mention all of this because the practices of this dealership is sub-par at best. They need to learn that they can't go around making these promises to consumers when it's really just a loop hole and a lie to get their buyers in a car.

Is there any type of lawsuit that I will be able to bring against these people (FOR MONEY), if they go after me, like they threatened they would?

I don't think I owe them a dime, cause in the midst of their bad practices and false promises, I am stuck looking for another vehicle. So it definitely evens out.

And I know I'm not trying to "get out of it". If that were the case, I wouldn't have filed the claim under my insurance the morning after the accident happened. I am not telling them TAKE your vehicle back, with the damages, they are TAKING it back, and while they are taking my much needed, thought-to-be-mine car back, they must bare the burden, too.

Thank you for your response. Though, it seems not much time or effort was put into it. I will see what a lawyer has to say about it tomorrow and come back here to explain, for readers' entertainment.

Thanks.

-T.
 
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Who's Liable?

Senior Member
And I know I'm not trying to "get out of it".
Yes, you are...

You need to return the car in the same condition it was giving to you. The dealership was not in control of the vehicle at the time of the damage, you were. It does not matter if the financing fell through.

You will lose.
 

tjldaily311

Junior Member
Thank you for your opinions.

One last question:

Is it justified for a dealership to tell me I am going to be financed, to lie and adjust my answers to the lender when they interview me, draw up the paperwork, give me the keys to a vehicle, and then simply take it back a week later and say, "since you didn't do (lie) well in the interview, we have to take the car back."?
 

notmyj

Member
Thank you for your opinions.

One last question:

Is it justified for a dealership to tell me I am going to be financed, to lie and adjust my answers to the lender when they interview me, draw up the paperwork, give me the keys to a vehicle, and then simply take it back a week later and say, "since you didn't do (lie) well in the interview, we have to take the car back."?
I think you could file a complaint with the BBB, but I wouldnt think the situation would be much better than getting a preapproval for a mortgage on a house, making an offer and negotiating a deal with the seller only to have the loan fall through at closing because it wouldn't pass underwriting.

When I sold cars at a local new car dealer, we take the credit app, the sales manager would pull the aplicants credit report and based on what he saw, would send the app to certain banks. bad to fair credit would go to subprime lenders, good to excellent would go to prime lenders or manufacturer financing. The manager could make the deal with the caveat they could "sell the deal" to a bank. With bad or fair credit, the banks will manually review the credit report and make a decision. Often this could take a few days. If the deal couldn't get financed the car had to be returned.

I would recomend you stay away from shifty dealers such as the one you went to and research on credit repair/building. There alot of forums that can help you do this. Dont pay a company to do it as it will be money lost for little if any gain. I have fixed mine in the last year enough to see my credit scores jump over 100 points in 11 months. PM me for some details as I dont think im allowed to post links to other forums.
 

tammy8

Senior Member
Are they responsible for the inconvenience they cause by telling me I had a car, allowing me to schedule for the full 3-person (family) schedule, and then telling me they need to take the car back because they are incompetent with their business deals?

.
They are not responsible that your credit sucks. And your credit will suck more if you don't file a claim with your insurance company to repair the damages YOU caused. Oh wait, you probably didn't have insurance did you:rolleyes:??
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
He would have had insurance had he been able to go through with the purchase, but the company isn't going to cover a car he never owned.
 

notmyj

Member
He would have had insurance had he been able to go through with the purchase, but the company isn't going to cover a car he never owned.
If the OP had car insurance prior to the purchase, then they should be covered by the existing policy for a short period of time. I just checked my policy and it states that the current coverage will cover a new car for 30 days. However I must contact the ins co to list the new vehicle within the 30days.

Did the car leave the lot with new plates or dealer plates? Often dealers will send the car out with the new owner with dealer plates on it while they finalize the paper work. I have had go as long as 14 days. This may play a part in the insurance...Not entirely sure...
 

ecmst12

Senior Member
That only applies if the purchase goes through and you become the owner of the car AND you add the car within 30 days. If you never add the car, you don't get the initial 30 day coverage for free, and if you never own the car, you don't have insurable interest in it for your insurance to cover.

It's possible they will cover it as if it was a rental or a loaner (I forgot about that possibility), so OP should still talk to them. But he will still have to pay the deductible.
 

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