What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
Hi everyone,
I purchased a vehicle in February of this year, and I've been taken for quite a ride since. I'm going to post a letter that I sent to the head of the dealership which kind of explains everything:
Mr Choi,
I purchased a 2009 Kia Rio LX on Feb. 22 2010 from All Star Kia in Pomona. After about four hours of haggling, I signed an initial contract and, in my naivety, believed that I had actually bought a vehicle. Almost a month passed, and I had received no calls from finance companies wishing to complete the deal. Instead I ended up with a glut of rejection letters from financial institutions, all sent to the wrong address, and in late March, I started receiving frantic phone calls from members of your sales team asking me for college graduation information. I provided them with everything they asked for, transcripts and certificate of completion, which they apparently used to string together a new deal. I received another letter almost immediately after talking with them, requesting that I make arrangements to return the vehicle. So, I returned to All Star Kia not really knowing what was happening- whether there was a new deal or if I was returning the car.
As it turns out, they had created a new contract that would only be a dollar more a month than I had agreed to. It had a slightly higher interest rate, but an in-house rebate was offsetting it. I signed this deal on March 20th.
Soon after the new deal was in place, I received a phone call from Kia finance (unaffiliated for the record) that everything was in order, and they were going to send out paperwork to get things finalized. Another three weeks passed, and I received no paperwork from them. I called All Star Kia to ask what had happened, and I was told that Kia finance had backed out of the deal. Highly suspicious at this point, I independently contacted Kia finance to ask what had happened. They told me that they had approved the loan, but that All Star Kia had failed to provide them with the paperwork needed to complete the deal.
I didn't hear from All Star Kia until July 16th after that. I was told to call Maggie because they had found financing through a bank that the San Bernardino branch uses. When I called, I was told Maggie wasn't in, and that I should contact Paul at the San Bernardino office. I called Paul and made an appointment for 1pm on Thursday, July 22 to sign a new contract.
On the day of the meeting, I called at 11am because I wanted Paul or someone else from finance to go over the contract specifics with me to make certain that it was along the same lines of the contracts that preceded it. I was told that Paul wouldn't be in until later. San Bernardino is an hour and a half drive for me, so I needed to make sure everything was in order before trekking out there. I called seven times during the day attempting to reach Paul and even specifying that I didn't need to speak to Paul and only required someone to go over my contract with me. No one seemed to have any information.
I finally reached Paul on the morning of Friday, July 23. He told me that the San Bernardino office didn't have my contract and that I'd have to speak to Maggie at the Pomona office. I found this fairly perplexing since I had scheduled a meeting with Paul in San Bernardino set up for the day prior, and he apparently didn't even have the contracts. Why would I have been driving to San Bernardino if that office didn't even have the contracts on the day I was set to sign them?
In summary, I signed contracts for this car in February and March, and it's now July, and I'm being asked to sign a third set of contracts that no one seems capable of providing information on. One thing that is absolutely certain is that I don't have to agree to new terms with All Star Kia. I've been reading a lot of information on auto dealer scams, and this has fit the archetype for a pretty common one:
From: Auto Dealership Scams
Number 10: "Yo Yo Sale"
Typical Scenario: You purchase a car and drive it home. The next day, you receive a call from the dealership, informing you that there is a problem with the financing and that you have to return to the dealership. When you return to the dealership, the salesperson states that you did not qualify for financing, but that they can still process the deal at a higher interest rate (or with a larger downpayment).
What you should do: · Most auto contracts are contingent upon the approval of financing, so the dealership can cancel the deal if the financing falls through. However, problems with financing should not lead to a renegotiating of the terms of the original contract. If you still want the car, get your own financing.
· Ask to speak with the finance company representative to clarify the nature of the problem.
· If the dealership insists on a higher interest rate or additional payments, walk away.
I will stand by our original agreement. If you can't get it financed, I will return the car. I'll insist on my down payment and trade vehicle (in operating condition) being returned if such is the case. I hope to work this out amicably, and to purchase the car as originally agreed upon. I'll be in touch later today, July 27th, by phone.
Jason Neas
After sending the letter, the dealership sent me the new terms they wanted me to agree to:
Jason,
Here is a summary of the new proposed deal per our discussion today:
Reduce the selling price to $15,100 and adjust the rebate to $2000 due to inavailability of college grad $400 rebate,you add an additional $1100 down for $2000 total which will bring the amount financed to $13,348.81 including the gap insurance as per the last contract,apr is 12.90 and payments are 304.67/mo for 60 months instead of 72. We will need current proof of income and residence and insurance as well as all the old documents. I hope this meets with your satisfaction and will await your reply. Thank you.
- They're asking me for a significantly higher down payment and want me to agree to an interest rate that that's going up from 11.6% to 12.9%. This is over five months after I thought I had bought the car at a fairly unreasonable rate to begin with.
My question is, if I decide to pull out of the deal, what am I entitled to? Can I get my initial down payment back even though I've been driving the car for so long? He admitted over the phone that they had let the deal sit for almost two months without doing anything about it, which isn't really my fault. I wanted to be paying off the car starting in March with the deal that I originally agreed upon. Any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Hi everyone,
I purchased a vehicle in February of this year, and I've been taken for quite a ride since. I'm going to post a letter that I sent to the head of the dealership which kind of explains everything:
Mr Choi,
I purchased a 2009 Kia Rio LX on Feb. 22 2010 from All Star Kia in Pomona. After about four hours of haggling, I signed an initial contract and, in my naivety, believed that I had actually bought a vehicle. Almost a month passed, and I had received no calls from finance companies wishing to complete the deal. Instead I ended up with a glut of rejection letters from financial institutions, all sent to the wrong address, and in late March, I started receiving frantic phone calls from members of your sales team asking me for college graduation information. I provided them with everything they asked for, transcripts and certificate of completion, which they apparently used to string together a new deal. I received another letter almost immediately after talking with them, requesting that I make arrangements to return the vehicle. So, I returned to All Star Kia not really knowing what was happening- whether there was a new deal or if I was returning the car.
As it turns out, they had created a new contract that would only be a dollar more a month than I had agreed to. It had a slightly higher interest rate, but an in-house rebate was offsetting it. I signed this deal on March 20th.
Soon after the new deal was in place, I received a phone call from Kia finance (unaffiliated for the record) that everything was in order, and they were going to send out paperwork to get things finalized. Another three weeks passed, and I received no paperwork from them. I called All Star Kia to ask what had happened, and I was told that Kia finance had backed out of the deal. Highly suspicious at this point, I independently contacted Kia finance to ask what had happened. They told me that they had approved the loan, but that All Star Kia had failed to provide them with the paperwork needed to complete the deal.
I didn't hear from All Star Kia until July 16th after that. I was told to call Maggie because they had found financing through a bank that the San Bernardino branch uses. When I called, I was told Maggie wasn't in, and that I should contact Paul at the San Bernardino office. I called Paul and made an appointment for 1pm on Thursday, July 22 to sign a new contract.
On the day of the meeting, I called at 11am because I wanted Paul or someone else from finance to go over the contract specifics with me to make certain that it was along the same lines of the contracts that preceded it. I was told that Paul wouldn't be in until later. San Bernardino is an hour and a half drive for me, so I needed to make sure everything was in order before trekking out there. I called seven times during the day attempting to reach Paul and even specifying that I didn't need to speak to Paul and only required someone to go over my contract with me. No one seemed to have any information.
I finally reached Paul on the morning of Friday, July 23. He told me that the San Bernardino office didn't have my contract and that I'd have to speak to Maggie at the Pomona office. I found this fairly perplexing since I had scheduled a meeting with Paul in San Bernardino set up for the day prior, and he apparently didn't even have the contracts. Why would I have been driving to San Bernardino if that office didn't even have the contracts on the day I was set to sign them?
In summary, I signed contracts for this car in February and March, and it's now July, and I'm being asked to sign a third set of contracts that no one seems capable of providing information on. One thing that is absolutely certain is that I don't have to agree to new terms with All Star Kia. I've been reading a lot of information on auto dealer scams, and this has fit the archetype for a pretty common one:
From: Auto Dealership Scams
Number 10: "Yo Yo Sale"
Typical Scenario: You purchase a car and drive it home. The next day, you receive a call from the dealership, informing you that there is a problem with the financing and that you have to return to the dealership. When you return to the dealership, the salesperson states that you did not qualify for financing, but that they can still process the deal at a higher interest rate (or with a larger downpayment).
What you should do: · Most auto contracts are contingent upon the approval of financing, so the dealership can cancel the deal if the financing falls through. However, problems with financing should not lead to a renegotiating of the terms of the original contract. If you still want the car, get your own financing.
· Ask to speak with the finance company representative to clarify the nature of the problem.
· If the dealership insists on a higher interest rate or additional payments, walk away.
I will stand by our original agreement. If you can't get it financed, I will return the car. I'll insist on my down payment and trade vehicle (in operating condition) being returned if such is the case. I hope to work this out amicably, and to purchase the car as originally agreed upon. I'll be in touch later today, July 27th, by phone.
Jason Neas
After sending the letter, the dealership sent me the new terms they wanted me to agree to:
Jason,
Here is a summary of the new proposed deal per our discussion today:
Reduce the selling price to $15,100 and adjust the rebate to $2000 due to inavailability of college grad $400 rebate,you add an additional $1100 down for $2000 total which will bring the amount financed to $13,348.81 including the gap insurance as per the last contract,apr is 12.90 and payments are 304.67/mo for 60 months instead of 72. We will need current proof of income and residence and insurance as well as all the old documents. I hope this meets with your satisfaction and will await your reply. Thank you.
- They're asking me for a significantly higher down payment and want me to agree to an interest rate that that's going up from 11.6% to 12.9%. This is over five months after I thought I had bought the car at a fairly unreasonable rate to begin with.
My question is, if I decide to pull out of the deal, what am I entitled to? Can I get my initial down payment back even though I've been driving the car for so long? He admitted over the phone that they had let the deal sit for almost two months without doing anything about it, which isn't really my fault. I wanted to be paying off the car starting in March with the deal that I originally agreed upon. Any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!