I bought a car with a small amount down. Two weeks after I took delivery of the car I get a call asking me to come back with my wife as they need me to sign the co-signer form for the financing application. Im a pretty honest guy so I am going to go back and do this but out of curiosity I have to ask… Is there a way that I can use this to NOT have to take the loan and keep the car? I fear they would some how find a way to reposess it on me if I failed to get the loan taken care of.
Anyone have a similar experience?
[b]It’s simple.
They own title to vehicle until it passes over to the lender who then owns title of the vehicle until it’s paid off. So, you don’t own the car. They do! And since you don’t own title to the vehicle, those that do can come and get their property back at anytime if you don’t meet the agreement!
How stupid are people?
Tester[/b]
Well, they would come and repossess the car since you technically don’t own it until it’s paid off.
Nice thought, but it doesn’t work that way.
-budd2049
Its worse that the above. You agreed to buy the car, financing is your problem, not theirs (read the fine print). If you don’t pay for it somehow, they can not only repossess it, they can sue you for breach of contract.
It’s worse than the above.
Why is it that no matter how many times you proofread your post, you only see the errors the moment its submitted. We need the edit feature>
OH, It’s even worse than the above. If they repo your car, they have the right to sell it at auction for WHATEVER it might bring, and sue you for whatever they don’t recoup in the process. I bought a fairly nice '96 Contour for $300 and a '93 Escort for $125 last month. Unfortunately someone will still be paying for those cars for a long time, but not getting to drive them. Wanna screw up your credit? Get a car repossessed.
As I said, I have every intention of straightening it all out but I was just curious as to how it would get played out.
Thank you everyone for your answers on this.
Tester : “How stupid are people”? I never had a doubt that NOT fulfilling my obligations would pay off in my favor but I was curious as to what would be the actions that would take place. Stupid is a little strong I think. 
Actually this little game is fairly common. Expect to see revised figures when you go back; and they won’t be downward more than likely.
Read through this and see if it applies in your case, especially no. 1.
http://www.carbuyingtips.com/scams.htm
Excellent reading OK. I’m printing it off so I can share it with my customers, many of whom have been taken advantage of down the street for years. I know this stuff goes on, but they don’t. Kinda makes me sick.
They “spotted” you the car. They knew you couldn’t pay for it at the time you supposedly ‘bought’ it.
They figure that, after 2 weeks, you’ll be so in love with the car (or dumb enough) that you’ll sign a new loan agreement for 20% (or more) interest.
Take the car back, give them the keys & say: “I don’t have a title, I don’t own the car. Your problem now. Unwind the deal.” If you traded a car in on this one, ask for it back. Don’t let them tell you that they ‘sold’ your trade in. It is BS.
Your credit may take a hit, but it is better than ending up with a car you can’t afford.
CNCOP:
I kept my old car ( its in the garage ) so I dont need to keep the new car. I can afford it but I have no intention of having the terms of financing changed on me.
I have to call the finance manager today ( He left me a message about it yesterday ) to straighten this out. They want my wife and I to come in to sign a cosigner paper that was missed. If it is just that then fine, but what if I find they are trying to change things on me?
This thread/question has taken an interesting spin.
I wish there was an edit feature…
I just read through ->http://www…/scams.htm
I havent been told that the financing fell through but just that the co-signer paper work was not signed. This dealership was trying to get me to buy down the financing rate by paying for things like window etching and such which I did not go for. I got the low rate that they tried to get me to buy down to by walking out and handing them back the keys to the car. They then offered the rate I was comfortable without having to take the window etching so I stayed, signed and took delivery of the car.
So if the financing hasnt gone through I have to either get my own financing ( which I dont believe is a problem ) or I am back at square one to either re-negotiate the financing with them OR figure out how to have them take the car back?
If they play games on the financing with me how easy is it for me to back out of the car purchase. As people have pointed out I dont have title to the car and I havent payed for it. My down payment was on a charge card that was well over a month ago.
Again… I wish there was an edit feature.
Sorry for replying to my own replys.
I charged the initial down payment for the car and then used a bank check to pay for the remaining down payment that I wanted to put down. That will make things more complicated if this deal goes bad and I try to return the car.
Any advice will help.
I would strongly suggest you and your wife take the paperwork and go out somewhere for a burger. Read it over thoroughly and make sure something in that fine print has not been changed.
An example of this could be some of those weekend “car shows” that you may see advertised, usually held at an expo center of some sort.
People work out deals on cars and sign some “prelimary paperwork”. When the paperwork is finished up at the dealer on Monday some of that fine print may have changed; such as interest rates, etc.
Another tactic is shoving 3 or 4 forms across the desk with the signature lines showing and the insinuation they all read the same. They may not even though they may all look like the same standard form. The bottom one (the real one) may have slightly different terms than the top one.
Do not get pressured into signing this form without going over the entire form.
First, are you talking about the SALES CONTRACT- the very long form with lots of copies or the form which gives the dealership authorization to check out the information you supplied ie: residence, lenght of time on job, etc… If you have both signed the sales contract, nothing can be changed. If your wife forgot to sign the release of information form the sale could be cancelled by the finance company, but that won’t happen. Just go in and have her sign it I know of what I speak: I worked for CitiCorp in the automotive investigation unit for a long time. gregory