MOPARoldtimer
Banned
You go to a dealer to look at new cars, and tell the salesperson you are just looking and can afford neither the necessary down payment nor the monthly payments on an expensive new vehicle.
The salesman says, "Could you afford $100 down and $100 per month?" You reply that yes, you could afford that. The salesman then says, "Well, let's make that offer to the finance company and see what they say."
So you fill out a 13-page contract full of small print, thinking that you are just asking the finance company if they will finance the car for $100 down and $100/month. However, unless you read the entire contract carefully, you won't realize that you are also agreeing to pay whatever the finance company makes as a counter-offer. Of course they reject your $100/$100 offer, and tell you it will be $4,500 down and $700 per month. When you tell the dealer you can't afford that, they say you already agreed to it, tell you the vehicle belongs to you and to come pick it up.
No, this didn't happen to me, but when I was a shyster I had several people call me to complain of the same problem. The only thing the shyster can do for you in that situation is to file suit for fraud and to rescind the contract, but that is always "iffy" and expensive.
The salesman says, "Could you afford $100 down and $100 per month?" You reply that yes, you could afford that. The salesman then says, "Well, let's make that offer to the finance company and see what they say."
So you fill out a 13-page contract full of small print, thinking that you are just asking the finance company if they will finance the car for $100 down and $100/month. However, unless you read the entire contract carefully, you won't realize that you are also agreeing to pay whatever the finance company makes as a counter-offer. Of course they reject your $100/$100 offer, and tell you it will be $4,500 down and $700 per month. When you tell the dealer you can't afford that, they say you already agreed to it, tell you the vehicle belongs to you and to come pick it up.
No, this didn't happen to me, but when I was a shyster I had several people call me to complain of the same problem. The only thing the shyster can do for you in that situation is to file suit for fraud and to rescind the contract, but that is always "iffy" and expensive.
