Car Dealer Fraud

[RRevak]

Did you pay more for the car than originally agreed?

 

[Stiper2]

So, you went in to buy a car for $25,000 (just picking a number out of the air) and you walked out buying a car for $25,000. Is that what you're saying?

ETA: Seriously?

Umm no, Not the case, there were several figures going back and forth, and trades to deal with.

 

[Zigner]

Bottom line. You went in thinking you were going to be paying $xxx. You left after agreeing to pay $xxx


Or, did you pay MORE than $xxx?


(Zigner, DDS)

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

It is the nature of the animal. I once purchased a new car and they tried switching the numbers on me. The F&I guy tried the "I'm sorry we really tried to get the stuff we said we would but this was the best we could do". I said "Oh okay, no problem. I'll go buy a car somewhere else." I stood up, left his office and started for the door. The salesman was running behind me "We already prepped the car and switched your license plates!!!" I stopped, looked back, smiled and said "That's okay, I'll drink a free cup off coffee while you switch them back to my old car". Miraculously, they managed to correct everything back to what was promised.

Thanks for sharing. The problem here is they said one thing, I left because they still hadn't discounted the car nor gave the additional items I had asked, but did attempt to keep me there by saying , salesman, I'll through this in, but we still left and told him t try a bit harder getting what we wanted. Then calling and they said he got the job done, payment where we wanted etc. Only to find out they said well we have to show that we sold those items. So I think we gave you more for your car to allow for those items you wanted. So they turn around and added the price of them back into the contract. Yes, our fault for not seeing that before we signed. We had trusted the sales person to be honest. Never disclosed to us when we signed the papers. Finance manager said he knew nothing of these accessories were to be included in the deal.
Should of just went home and stayed there.

 

[swalsh411]

A little off topic, but I am skeptical of any dealer's claim of the "best" price and I am also skeptical of a buyer who thinks they can "shop around" and save thousands of dollars and here's why. (this applies to new cars only).

All dealers buy their car from the manufacturer from the same price with the same incentives, hold backs, rebates etc. The profit margin difference between the lowest price store and the highest price store in any given Metro area is at most around 1.25%. If you are the lowest price always you won't make any money, and if you are the highest price always you won't have any customers. So therefore the profit margin spread on a 30,000 vehicle is, at most, about $400. Is it really worth it to spend hours or days driving around from dealer to dealer to save $400? It's not to me.

 

[RRevak]

I'm still waiting to find out of OP paid MORE or the same for the car.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Without getting to far into this. At the very end of model year, just a few weeks before the vehicles drop off the manufacturers web site, the manufacturer forces the dealers to buy unsold models. It gives them the vehicle with thousands of incentive dollars to dispose of the vehicle. If you analyze the vehicles in your region listed for sale, by finding the ones with the additional dollars factored in, you can determine a very good statistical analysis of the amount of additional hold-back involved. You then search out models in your travel range and determine if you desire one. Then call the dealer and negotiate a purchase price based on the alternative listed vehicle. You will need to provide a web site they can confirm the alternate dealers vehicle. If you are a professional negotiator you can already know exactly where to hit them with a price, trade in requirement etc... As long as you truly represent your trade that is. Once you come to an agreed price you get the names of the employees involved and go to test drive/purchase your vehicle. When they try to change the numbers on you (they always do), you go to the Manager, hit them with the facts, numbers agreed and your displeasure at their attempt to bait and switch. To achieve the best results you need to be an excellent salesperson, negotiator and statistician. The last one I bought had an MSRP of $43,400. Accounting for the "true" value of the trade, (they can inflate the trade in value to balance the holdback) I paid $25,500 for it.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Since I am sponsoring a new car buying blog tonight....

The best way to get these deals are to listen for these markdowns online. The last few I remember are the $10k Miev and Volt markdowns. You could buy a Miev for $20k and get a $7500 tax rebate. Another one to look for if you are not so focused on the concept of a bright shiny new car are post hail storm markdowns which can also reach $7k-$10k. If you want a specific model car, keep checking the rebates, then go to a "true" online "car" buying site and see what the best offers are on the equipped vehicle you want. You can take the bid kickbacks, go to those dealers web sites and see exactly what they are offering at the low price.