I recently traded in my car for a brand new truck in florida. The trade in was “sight unseen” because I was just browsing the dealership and was driving my wife’s vehicle at that time. The dealer agree for the trade in and contract and financing was done. The next day I turned in my vehicle to the dealer and surrender all my keys and everything was fine. 5-6 days later I receive a phone call from the sale manger that I need to come back to the dealer and sign a new contract or return my new truck. I asked why? They said that the car needed new engine and need to adjust my payment to reflect a trade in value. I was shock at what they are saying because I drove my vehicle to their lot and left it in good condition. It has 48500 miles on it. After gathering my thoughts, I suspect a some sort of scam or fraudulent stuff going on. So I researched the Internet to get some info. I never intend to show up on the dealer nor sign a new contract, but the dealer is holding the finance for my new vehicle until I showed up. I know I’m approve for my loan because I have a really high credit. Now that I knew that they tampered with my old vehicle engine I don’t really wanna take it back. I don’t know what to do but luckily a survey from Toyota corporate was emailed to me. I called the corporate and filed a complaint about the dealer. Waiting for the dealer customer relation manager response in 2days. Within a day I got a text from sale that he took care of everything and everything is good now. Im still not the expert at this but if I have not research about the situation the dealer could have taken advantage of me. My question is what do you guys/girls think should I do next?
The first hint that there was a scam was that they were willing to take the tradein sight unseen. No legitimate deal would go down like that because they have no idea if you are trying to scam them with a crapped out car to trade.
Read your contact carefully, specifically where it discusses the tradein. Unless there is language in there that says “if we later determine that your tradein is broken we can cancel the tradein” or similar, then the dealership signed the contract just like you did.
I would call your state’s attorney general office and tell them what happened and ask them if they’ve heard of this scam before.
I would also make bloody sure not to delete that text message.
What is meant by everything is taken care of??? Has the financing gone through at the price agreed upon??? If so thenidforget about it and consider it closed.
I agree with @shadowfax. If you can send the text to a printer, do so, or send it as an email to yourself and print it. If you don’t know how to do it, find someone to help you that does know how.
They might have been trying to play you for a sucker but backed off when you didn’t take the bait immediately. Still, that truck has to be very expensive and you don’t want to be casual with that much dough. I notice that returning the truck is an option. If it comes down to that, return it and get your car back. Get any deposit you made back too.
Getting my vehicle back is not an option for me now because I don’t really know what they did to it in that 5 days. But I ask what he meant by his text. He said everything good now all the paper works is finalize. I guess I called their bluff. I just hated how they can get away with it and I’m pretty sure some poor soul who doesn’t know anything got taken advantage by this f****er. They even left me a message that If I receive the survey that I should put excellent on it just cause they resolve it. I guess I’m good now and enjoy my truck. Just venting here hahah.
The bad engine claim may be nothing but BS. It’s not rare at all for dealers to go back in after a done deal and try to rework it in their favor. There’s a litany of excuses they use for doing this.
Some years ago m wife and I traded in a nice '72 Monte Carlo on a near new Camaro RS. One of the salesmen liked the MC a lot and asked to drive it as we were working a deal on the RS.
He came back impressed with the way it ran and wanted to buy it for his teenage son.
The next day the teen son got the MC and 3 or 4 days later word got back to us through the grapevine that the salesman was claiming that we “handed him a lemon” because the transmission went out. Of course 16 year old Junior had nothing to do with it.
I called the dealer to make sure the salesman was going to be there and to see if he would repeat the “my screwing him over” to my face.
He was there at the phone call.
Thirty minutes later when I arrived he was gone “due to a family emergency”.
The BS never stops with dealers and as for what you should do I’d say if you have a signed contract and title in hand the dealer can kiss off.
Think of the start of the movie “Vacation” where Griswold was being steered into another car and while doing so they crushed his current one.
Agree with Mike. You either don’t have a problem now or still do. If its all taken care of, just don’t ever do that again. I can’t imagine any dealer making a deal on a car sight unseen though, so they must have had a wiggle clause in their contract.
But you see , Rey82, car buying and selling is always a numbers game. Always.
IF . . they give you a lot for your trade in . . they WILL charge you a lot for the new one.
And vice versa.
There is currently a car dealer ad running on Albuquerque TV touting a large flat fee trade in price similar to ‘‘cash for clunkers’’. In fact, that’s what they’re calling it.
Yeah, I’m gonna call the corporate tomorrow again because the dealer have to answer to them also. Plus, I hate calling the dealer now cause I get the run around. I don’t 5k wiggle room is a wiggle room at all. I think I called their bluff and have to answer to the higher ups.
I just bought a new Honda CR-V. I got the price I wanted through internet negotiation. When I got there they wanted another $999 for wheel locks, a cargo net, color matched door edge guards and a window shade cover over the luggage area. I told them that I was certain the cover was standard equipment, and I didn’t want the other things because I could supply them myself. The salesman pitched hard, but I was clear. The $999 was not mentioned again, and I bought the car. The cover is standard equipment, and the other three accessories are Honda parts that cost a total of less than $180.
Fraud? Nice try? But you know that some people say OK, and they make a ton of money for not much. I think it’s very deceptive BS, and a lie.
So the moral of this story is CYA. Read what you sign, and then just say NO. You have the car; keep it. Tell them if they have a problem, put it in writing.
I know next to nothing about the legalities of buying cars w/a trade-in. But it seems like once the dealership signs and accepts the purchase & trade-in contract, then the car you traded in belongs to them, and any problems it has also belongs to them. If I was a judge trying this case anyway, I’d say they are obliged to inspect and test the trade-in car before they sign the contract. And once they sign the contract, provided you do everything you’ve committed to do on your part, their signature on the contract means they’ve approved the trade-in.
Yeah I’d normally agree with that but we have no way of knowing what was in the fine print. It could well have said something like subject to inspection and final valuation by the dealer or something like that.
I traded in a nice Oldsmobile some years ago and got a call from the dealer about 2 weeks later. They wanted more money for the deal because they claimed the Olds had “a hole in one of the pistons.” The car was running fine when I turned over the keys. I told them to sue me. I never got sued and I’ve never traded in a car or truck since.
What should you do next?
- you should file a formal, detailed complaint with the state Attorney General’s office, consumer affairs office.
- you should contact a lawyer. If necessary, you can even get a restraining order.
Once these crooks find out you’ve filed with the AG’s office and have retained a lawyer, I guarantee they’ll leave you alone.
My experience with the AG is that unless there is wide spread fraud, they’ll just get a written statement from both sides and then suggest a settlement. Sometimes a letter from the AG asking for an explanation though is enough to rattle the perp.
When you trade-in a car, there are two transactions: 1) you buy a car from the dealer; 2) he buys a car from you. The used car department at a dealer is separate from the new car sales. Each of these departments has its own manager and each department is expected to generate a profit. When you trade in your car, the dealer is buying the car “as is”. Twice, I have had a dealer sell me a car cheaper straight out than if I traded in my old car. The first time was in 1973. A Dodge agency had a 1971 Ford Maverick Grabber for $2495. I said that I had a,1965 Rambler to trade in. The used car manager offered to trade for $2250 after he glanced out the window at my Rambler. When I frowned, I was offered the car with no trade for $2000 provided I took my old car with me. I bought the Maverick and sold the Rambler for $250. In December of 1995, we had a car that was totaled. In shopping for a replacement, we found a 1993 Oldsmobile 88 with 15,000 miles. The price was $14,995. When I asked about reading my 1978 Olds Cutlass Salon, the price dropped to $14,500 with trade or $14,200 if I bought the car straight out. I accepted the $14,200 and used the 1978 until October of 2011 when I sold it for $500. These dealers were honest in coming right out and letting me know that they didn’t want my heaps. I figure if a used car department sales manager buys a ‘pig in a poke’ that is his problem. I get emails constantly from dealers that “need” my 2011 Sienna or my 2003 4Runner. I don’t think they need them as bad as I do.
Don’t think of this as a car problem. Think of it as a legal problem. Because in truth, that’s what it is. And that’s what lawyers are for.
I get emails constantly from dealers that "need" my 2011 Sienna or my 2003 4Runner. I don't think they need them as bad as I do.
My favorite part about those emails is the “trade in your paid-for car that you own 100% for the opportunity to borrow our car for $300 a month and then not have a car at all at the end of the lease term.”
That strikes me as a staggeringly bad deal for me, and an equally astonishingly good deal for the dealership.
Omg! This dealers are crazy. I thought everything is good. Now they want me to show up to sign the contract, because the vin number of my trade in was wrong on the contract. I gave all the info of my old vehicle to them and they type in the contract. What should I do? I don’t want to sign a new contract. Can they write it in and we initial? I’m so frustrated with this people.
Whatever you do, DON"T sign a new contract. Don’t even initial it. Don’t even go and see them. If the VIN was really wrong, it wouldn’t matter anyway. They could correct it without your help. They are trying to scam you some more.
I would not talk to them anymore. If you do talk to them, tell them you have an appointment with a lawyer - and find one - or a consumer advocate agency.