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Old 11-14-2017, 06:06 PM
 
21 posts, read 14,009 times
Reputation: 25

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Quote:
Originally Posted by duster1979 View Post
It may not be as nefarious as you think. One dishonest but otherwise harmless trick dealers sometimes pull is to get the buyer back into the shop on some false pretense - usually a free oil change but it could be anything, including a supposedly defective GPS - to repair some issue they knew the car had but didn't have time to fix before it sold.

It's also possible that some wires got crossed and they're calling the wrong customer.

The idea that they would bring your car in to strip it of parts and put lesser-quality parts on it is a stretch. It makes for intriguing copy for a 20/20 story, but in reality I can't see there being much profit in it. And if the dealership has good reviews they're probably on the up-and-up. People love to slam car dealerships.

Just tell them the finance company says the GPS is working fine and ask why they really want you to bring the car in. All the speculation and conjecture is doing you know good whatsoever.
They are definitely not calling the wrong customer.

I don't think it's a stretch at all that a dealership would swap out parts. It happened to me on the last used car that I bought with cash, but I just couldn't prove it. The tires on the car I test drove were perfect, and on the one that I drove off the lot, the tires were worn out. I didn't notice the problem until after I got it home because I wasn't paying attention. The fan blower also didn't work and they acted like they were going to fix it for free, only to later reveal after "looking at it" that they'd split the cost with me. I declined. I bought the car "as-is" and had negotiated down by $500 on the price. The didn't like my price but reluctantly went with it. Then I sat there for hours while they were supposedly working on getting the car to pass smog, only to find out months later that a smog test was never even done, which held up the registration and title. So what were they doing while I sat there all day? I got an attorney and sued them and ultimately got my money back. So no, it's not a stretch in my mind.

There's definitely profit in it for these guys I'm dealing with now - if they swap in some parts that are about to go bad - knowing that I will bring it in to them to fix because of the "warranty." Except that the warranty magically will not really cover much of the expense and they will make a lot more money off of me.

And the reason people love to slam car dealerships is because car dealerships love to rip people off.

If I ever bought a used car again I'd go with a reputable dealer licensed by a major manufacturer, like a Toyota or Honda Dealer, that sells new as well as used cars.

I will in fact call them and tell them that the GPS seems to be working fine according to the lender. Like I said in another post, I just want to pay the $400 balance on my down payment and get the deal finalized first.
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Old 11-14-2017, 06:19 PM
 
21 posts, read 14,009 times
Reputation: 25
BTW, when the dealer called to leave a message today, the sales manager said he just wanted to follow up and see when I could come in so they can "reset the GPS."

My question now is, isn't this something that I can watch them do, that they can do right in their front parking lot where I would pull up the car, rather than having to "disappear" the car from view where who-knows-what could happen to it? Or are they going to say that their insurance requires them to do it in the service area? It's just a flippin GPS unit. People install car stereos in parking lots all the time, so why the secrecy?

I'm going to call the lender one more time and ask a few more questions related to this, just to make it airtight, and then if the dealership is lying about it I will know for absolute certain, and no matter what they say I will be able to prove they are lying.
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Old 11-14-2017, 06:25 PM
 
21 posts, read 14,009 times
Reputation: 25
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron61 View Post
I would read every document you received from them very carefully, then read them again. You need to be aware of any specific clauses or prohibitions that could potentially come back to bite you should you innocently fail to live up to one of them. These types of places make their money in many ways, one of which is to use their sales contract against you. You are already at an extreme disadvantage by purchasing from them, you now have to do your due diligence to keep them at bay.
Thanks Ron. This is what I intend to do. Keep in mind this is not a "buy here / pay here" kind of place, so my plan is to make sure I am 100% perfect in my dealings with the lender and I will refinance this once I build my credit. In the meantime I will take very good care of the vehicle and even fix it up some to increase its value if possible.
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Old 11-14-2017, 06:28 PM
 
Location: New Jersey
11,296 posts, read 16,588,776 times
Reputation: 13261
Unless the gps is part of the contract....find it and rip it out.
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Old 11-14-2017, 06:41 PM
 
Location: Grosse Ile Michigan
30,703 posts, read 79,429,689 times
Reputation: 39435
I can guarantee you that you did nto pay substantially below the market value for the car unless it is a flood car or salvage title. When you buy from a dealer, you are paying for their rent or mortgage, insurance, electricity, advertising and markeint, sales people car cleaners, security, accounting, legal costs, building and lot maintenance, finance costs, . . .

You may 41500 - 42000 above the market vale of the car minimum. the market value is the cost they paid for it, which is the cost you could get the car for if you worked at it enough. Dealers do not sell the car below their cost and they have no magical way to get cars below their market value. Whet they do successfully do at times is buy a car with low market value (like with a failing transmission) and make it appear to have a higher market value (like by adding a potion to the transmission fluid that will temporarily quiet the torque converter shudder)
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Old 11-14-2017, 06:56 PM
 
21 posts, read 14,009 times
Reputation: 25
Quote:
Originally Posted by Coldjensens View Post
I can guarantee you that you did nto pay substantially below the market value for the car unless it is a flood car or salvage title. When you buy from a dealer, you are paying for their rent or mortgage, insurance, electricity, advertising and markeint, sales people car cleaners, security, accounting, legal costs, building and lot maintenance, finance costs, . . .

You may 41500 - 42000 above the market vale of the car minimum. the market value is the cost they paid for it, which is the cost you could get the car for if you worked at it enough. Dealers do not sell the car below their cost and they have no magical way to get cars below their market value. Whet they do successfully do at times is buy a car with low market value (like with a failing transmission) and make it appear to have a higher market value (like by adding a potion to the transmission fluid that will temporarily quiet the torque converter shudder)
I'm a little confused by the numerical figures you mentioned, but in any case, I didn't say that they sold it below their cost. But prices are different in different parts of the country. I'm in New Mexico where cars are cheaper than they are in, say, California - generally speaking. I'm sure they bought it at an auction, or got it as a trade-in, in any case.

Compared with similar cars advertised online (same year and model) and similar mileage, my price was still in the ball-park and even lower than some others I've seen, even WITH the $1,500 warranty tacked on. There is some minor damage to the rear of the vehicle. There are also some nicks and minor dings that aren't really that visible but that I had to acknowledge all this at signing. So that's the reason for the discount. Overall it is a very attractive car, with tinted windows (2013 Dodge Avenger, metallic gray color)
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Old 11-14-2017, 06:59 PM
 
21 posts, read 14,009 times
Reputation: 25
Quote:
Originally Posted by camaro69 View Post
Unless the gps is part of the contract....find it and rip it out.
Ha, that would be great. But I suspect that the lender has that angle covered and they could possibly even report the car "stolen" at that point, even if I were making the payments. That wouldn't surprise me. I'll look into it!
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Old 11-14-2017, 07:07 PM
 
23,177 posts, read 12,077,319 times
Reputation: 29347
Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainBobCock View Post
BTW, when the dealer called to leave a message today, the sales manager said he just wanted to follow up and see when I could come in so they can "reset the GPS."
Maybe they just want to clear the history? Maybe they need to protect the privacy of the previous owner or the salesman used it as a demo and doesn't wanting you to know where he lives. lol

Best if you can get it in writing but if not then document who you talked to and the date/time. If it comes push to shove, being able to say "Sally H told me on 11/13 at 9am that the gps was working" holds up better than "they told me last week everything was fine".
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Old 11-14-2017, 07:37 PM
 
Location: Raleigh
13,639 posts, read 12,281,692 times
Reputation: 20058
Quote:
Originally Posted by easy62 View Post
No respectable dealership would do this like others have stated this must be like a drivetime or rightway kind of used car dealership, or buy here pay here place, we’re if you don’t make your payments on time they come and take the car. These places take avanantage of people with bad credit weather it’s their own fault or not.
There are plenty of respectable dealers that have a relationship with such a finance company. I worked at a Toyota dealer that would use such a bank for tough credit cases...it was a rare case that they had to use them but they would. GPS, and oftentimes if the buyer had a history of DUI the bank would require an interlock for the duration of the loan, since the car could get seized if the owner got a second DUI...

This bank had a 30% repossession rate if that tells you anything. Strict parameters to make a loan, too...needed an 80% LTV to let the deal go through.
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Old 11-14-2017, 09:16 PM
 
17,153 posts, read 11,993,240 times
Reputation: 17073
Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainBobCock View Post
There are actually TWO warranties. One is the 2 year / 24,000 mile one, through the lender, and one is a 3 month / 3,000 mile warranty on the sales agreement that the dealer charged $1,500 for. This seems unreasonably high, but I got them to take about $750 off the price of the car beforehand. All in all, when you factor these things together I still paid slightly less than the market value for the car. I am going to read all of the fine print though tomorrow. I was unusually busy today and didn't get to deal with any it.

It would take too long to explain the whole situation but I needed the car in a hurry and literally didn't have time to go through all the details the day I bought it. I was going by the BBB rating of A+ and trusting the dealership. I will never rush through a car deal again though.
$1500 for a 3 month warranty!>!?"!@>$?#@$#?

What did you pay? I have serious doubts you were under market value.
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