New car contract

[Jcadilli]

What is the name of your state? California
we are being asked to pay an additional $5700.00 for a balance owed on our trade-in that somehow did not get in the contract. we were contacted a month after the purchase, we cannot pay this amount so we requested our trade-in back. they want us to pay damages for the miles put on the new car(1600 miles). had they contacted us sooner there would be no damages, what are our rights?

 

[mobopp]

How did it not get in the contract?

was it supposed to be credited? by whom?

you did read your contract and signed it....so where is the $5700 hiding?

 

[Jcadilli]

It was my oversite-in the box stated payoff amount the dealer put N/A. I was under the assumption that they knew there was a balance owed because our registration which they had showed a lienholder, our credit report which they checked showed a balanced owed, I asked the loan officer who takes care of the lienholder and his reply was "we'll take care of all that". If they had put a $0.00 amount in the balanced owed box instead of N/A I would have questioned it. Now I feel like I'm in a no win situation, I either pay $5700.00 or an amount they have not given us yet for the damages of driving the vehicle for a month. (if we take our trade-in back) this is the other thing that is bothering me. if they had told us there was a problem with the contract a few days after signing there would be no damages on our part. Should I take this case to arbitration or am I wrong because I signed without an explanation about the trade-in value.

 

[Thomas234]

Did you finance the vehicle throught this dealership? If so, has the financing been assigned? In other words have you made your first car payment, or received your payment book or billing invoice from the lender?

The reason I ask is because I was in a similar type situation about a year ago myself. Two weeks after I bought a new car the Finance Manager called me to tell me I had to return to sign a new contract so they could change the interest rate from 2.9% (which had supposedly been an error) to 5.9%. My response was stick it you know where.

Nevertheless I contacted a consumer fraud attorney here in Illinois (CA law may be different?) to check on my options. He told me under no circumstances return to the dealership, and DO NOT sign a new contract. He also said they could demand that the car be returned and cancel the deal only if the financing still had not been assigned.

Therefore, as he explained, it the financing wasn't assigned and they demanded I return the car fine. But... they COULD NOT charge milage, wear & tear, costs to clean/wash the car, and they must return every penny of my down payment, or my trade-in. So I would suggest if you have begun making payments on the car, just wait them out. You do have a contract. If you wish to return the car per their demand, then make sure you get your trade back, and you pay them absolutely nothing on this deal. It sould be null and void as if it never occured.

Perhaps a California attorney can confirm if what the Illinois attorney told me applies in your state?

By the way... I got my car at the 2.9% rate.

 

[Jcadilli]

Thank you for your insite. We are meeting with the dealership tomorrow(per their request), so I haven't had any time to talk to a consumer fraud attorney. We have not made our first payment on the new car which is due March 16, I spoke with the finance company who says I have a 10 day grace period to work out the problem. My damages are now a late payment mark on my credit from the finance company on our old car. They never received a payment because we assumed the dealership was taking care of our trade-in. Once again thank you for your help.