Since 1970, I have known of five dealers within a 70 mile radius of my house that had their franchises lifted by the manufacturer and in a couple of cases, the owner of the dealership went to prison. In all the cases, the dealership was cheating the manufacturer out of money. In two of the cases, the owners went to prison for income tax evasion.
In two of the cases, the owner had multiple franchises.
I am not a business person, but if I were to have a business, the last business I would want would be a franchised new car dealer. I used to trade at a service station owned by a colleague where the mechanic was a retired man who then wanted something to do. Before WW II, this mechanic had been the service manager for a large Ford dealer in Michigan. He had to stay at the agency after hours if a salesman was closing a deal and make sure that the deposit went to the dealer. Otherwise, some of the salesmen would disappear with the money. This was before WW II and I am not sure that 75 years later, things have gotten any better.
I think I definitely want to consult a lawyer, I agree. I did find this very similar case about someone who discovered after the fact that an error was made and what to do about resolving it with the dealer. They came to an agreement to give them something for resolving the mistake. And they âadmittedâ they made a mistake. I am getting no such admission, they are accusing me of intentionally trying to get out of paying the taxes and making threatsâŠ
Itâs probably too late but I wouldnât acknowledge a mistake. When asked I would offer that you bought the car based on the total price and wouldnât have bought it if it were another $2000.00.
The less you say the better. In fact saying nothing now - including not using my suggestion - is your best strategy at this point.
You didnât make a mistake. The dealer did
Never admit to making a mistake, even if they try to back you into a corner
They will try, though, given the chance
Thatâs why you want to sit down with the lawyer at this point. Perhaps the lawyer is the person who should be talking to the dealer at this point. He knows what to say, and what not to say. He knows how to word things. If you go in by yourself, theyâre going to put words in your mouth and twist everything you say. Best to send the lawyer in your stead
Weâre not nearly as tired as you must be, but then again, I suppose that the only input you can really rely on is from a lawyer in CA, as sales taxes are a state matter and differ from state to state. Hereâs my opinion anyway, and what I think would happen in Washington stateâŠ
You have nothing to fear from the state or any other local or regional bureau or agency. You have the title and registration and you own the car. Period. Sales tax is not collected item by item or accounted for by any individual. Itâs not like you buy a car and the dealer immediately sends a check to the Department of Revenue.
Forget for the moment that itâs a car and just treat it like any other taxable item like a TV, dishwasher, or labor to mow your lawn. Every quarter I must file a report with the state where I state my gross sales for the period in question, calculate whatever 9.5% of that is, and pay the state dept of revenue. There is no line item accounting of how many brake jobs and timing belts I did, whether it was parts or labor, or the like. Itâs simple. I did $10,000 worth of business, I pay $950.
The business selling you a widget does not âchargeâ sales tax, it merely âcollectsâ it for the powers that be. The business will owe the government the sales tax whether it charges you or not. At the end of the (day, week, month, quarter), the dealer owes sales tax on all the cars it sold. Itâs up to the dealer to colllect it from you and turn it over to the state.
The resale permit is nothing but a ploy to confuse you. A resale permit is what allows me, as a business, to buy a set of brake pads without paying sales tax, given that I will in turn âre-sellâ those pads to you and then charge tax to the final consumer. My resale permit is on file at the local Toyota dealer as I buy parts from them wholesale and tax exempt. I really doubt that I could go an buy a car with that permit though.
The only time a buyer is directly responsible to the state for sales tax on a car is in a private party sale. If I buy a car from my neighbor I go to license it in my name and I need to provide a receipt showing the sales price and then the license agency collects the sales tax for the state.
Now, it appears that the dealer made an honest mistake. Or did what they had to do to make the sale at your price that day, figuring they could come back at you later and get the difference. If it was an honest mistake, itâs their mess to figure out, and your conscience will be your guide. If it was a ploy to get you into the car at your price, well, enough said.
My vote is to end all talk with them at this point. They will use any and all statements from you to try and stick you with this (bogus in my opinion) tax.
If those people had any case at all they would just wash their hands of it and let the state come after you. They would also have their lawyer sending a reg. letter; not a couple of dealership stooges.
They screwed up, the state gets theirs from the dealer no matter what, and theyâre just trying to coerce you into covering their hiney. My vote is to have a lawyer send them a letter. Odds are this entire debacle will screech to a halt once that happens.
Iâm kind of a stick to principles person no matter what, so just to gouge their eye with a thumb, Iâd probably demand they reimburse for the cost of the lawyerâs letter. Read up on the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. I think theyâve violated that a number of times in one fell swoop.
Yeah we have a dealer in jail right now for not clearing titles. They keep moving him around for punishment for having cell phones etc.
At any rate I think I agree, you should not respond or say anything more. Anything you say such as âthey made a mistakeâ, could be later turned around on you. A registered letter is just showing proof of delivery which is a necessary step for anything. I would have expected they would take you to court or send it to collections which can make life hard even if you are right.
Let the lawyer do ALL the communication with the dealership. To me, the situation is a simple contracts case. The dealer wrote the contract. The dealer entered all info into the contract. Both of you signed the contract. You paid, thus fulfilling your side of the contract. You owe nothing.
Latest update: I went and had a meeting with my legal council this morning, and he says that the dealership hasnât got a leg to stand on to collect any money from me. He will compose a letter to tell them that the case is closed.
He also called them while I was there, and againâŠthey didnât pick up the phone, so he left a message telling them to back off, and all further communication is to be with his office. He told them we consider the matter closed. We will see how it goes from here.
You guys are making me feel pretty smart for recommending the OP talk to a lawyer six days ago. 
Several of us suggested OP talk to a lawyer
I guess that means several of us are patting ourselves on the back . . .
LOL
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 barâŠ
I live in Los Angeles, so that dealer isnât anywhere near me
So you got two years free maintenance with that car, Iâm guessing you are not going to take it to them.
If they keep hassling you, consider going to the local district attorney. That wonât 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.
Itâs 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, weâll 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 thatâs a lot.
One can only imagine how many complaints there are that are sight unseenâŠ
Not that you folks werenât correct but recommending a lawyer reminded me of a local radio program a few years back called âAsk the Lawyerâ. 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.