New Car Dealer says they forgot to charge me tax

You guys are making me feel pretty smart for recommending the OP talk to a lawyer six days ago. :slight_smile:

@Whitey

Several of us suggested OP talk to a lawyer

I guess that means several of us are patting ourselves on the back . . .

LOL

@talos

thanks for the update

WAY TO GO!

Thanks, yes I read all the responses, I had friends and family also suggesting that route also, I just wanted to wait till push came to shove, and it unfortunately did.

If anyone wants to know, the dealership is Antioch Toyota. I would not recommend them even to stop to buy a candy bar…

I live in Los Angeles, so that dealer isn’t anywhere near me

So you got two years free maintenance with that car, I’m guessing you are not going to take it to them.

If they keep hassling you, consider going to the local district attorney. That won’t cost you anything.

reading reviews online for that dealership makes it look like a lot of others have had as much, if not more, trouble with them than you.

Congratulations talos.

It’s always best to take legal problems to lawyers. Far too many people ask folks like us or their friends instead and their problem grows bigger.

If you have any car problems, we’ll be happy to help.

Sincere best.

While the BBB is a toothless organization, one can get a feel for a business by noting how many complaints have been placed on file there.
A few complaints are to be expected and is not that big of a deal.

However, the dealer in question has 22 logged against them over the last 3 years and that’s a lot.
One can only imagine how many complaints there are that are sight unseen…

Not that you folks weren’t correct but recommending a lawyer reminded me of a local radio program a few years back called “Ask the Lawyer”. Like car talk or house talk but every time someone would call in and ask for legal advice, the lawyer would recommend that they have a lawyer review it. The show lasted about three months because people figured they might as well just go talk to a lawyer directly instead of calling in. Our Business Law professor told us though, the whole purpose of this class is so you will know when to get a lawyer or not. Sending you the certified letter was the kicker.

I just looked up Antioch Toyota on dealerrater.com.
www.dealerrater.com/dealer/Antioch-Toyota-review-20434

Lots of poor reviews. One comment from August 2010 said three days after getting their new Venza, the dealer called them up saying there was a computer glitch and they forgot to charge $3700 sales tax on the car.

I wonder how many thousands (millions?) of dollars they’ve taken from gullible victims.
Perhaps Talos would be doing a public service by filing a complaint with his/her state’s Attorney General’s office. Years ago I had a car involved in an AG’s investigation and the dealer suddenly went out of business. I wasn’t the complainant, but I was asked to stop by the dealership and ultimately received a check for a substantial amount. I never did find out any details.

Thanks JoeMario, I had looked at dealerrater but missed that review. It is almost identical to what they are doing to me. Except they had the lic/reg on my contract, and they took 45 days to come after me.

I also have a second lawyer interested in my case if they try to continue trying.

My lawyer emailed me that the controller at the dealer didn’t return his call to them while I was at his office today, figures.

While the BBB is a toothless organization, one can get a feel for a business by noting how many complaints have been placed on file there.

Depends…I know of one situation where the president of the local BBB was the owner of a large dealership. Funny how this dealership had ZERO complaints filed against it.

@talos

Hopefully the controller didn’t return your lawyer’s call because they know the game is over

Maybe the dealer has a Designated Extortionist whose job is to follow up every sale and pull that stunt on everyone. If one person out of every 10 fell for it without complaint a sizeable chunk of ADP (additional dealer profit) could be realized every month. :slight_smile:

They seem to be stuck on that 7 number. Some browsing showed several other complaints over the same thing with additional amounts requested of 1700 dollars, 2700, and 3700.

That “thought we were friends” bit is pretty comical though. :slight_smile:

Truly sad. TwinTurbo and MikeInNH appear to be the only ethical ones here.

I think 99% of the people here are ethical, you disrespect an altruistic helpful set of responders less than @insightful

A contract is a contract

The dealer needs to own up to their mistake

The OP doesn’t legally owe the dealer another dime

Since they threatened him and called him evil, they deserve to be told to EAT SHIT AND DIE

If I were in OP’s shoes, I would have behaved the same way he did, especially if the dealer treated me the way they did

1 Like

3 possibilities occur to me:

  1. Honest mistake. Given their behavior, not likely.
  2. Sleazy tactics to extract more money after the sale. Possible.
  3. The state came after them for not paying sales tax, and this is their way of trying to deal with it. The resale license might be a clue that this was their response to the state. I find it funny that they would use that tactic because it would mean that they would have to provide the license number to the state and they don’t have it. They are trying to use that as leverage. If that were true, then they should have sent you a letter or a phone call from the beginning stating that they forgot to get your license number. But their initial query exposes the obvious lie there.

My vote is on #3.