Car Dealer Tricks and Scams

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Written Contract

The finance manager sits you down and begins to write himself into frenzy, while quickly throwing numbers at you until you are so confused, you end up paying more than you agreed upon. This may seem impossible for a person to get away with but believe me, it happens all of the time. The finance manager is counting on you being confused and desperate to get out of there, so assumes you will simply go along with whatever he says. Most of the time, it works. Avoid it by forcing the guy to slow down, and calculate right along with him to make sure that you are getting a fair deal and that you both come up with the same numbers.

Price Beating

The dealer tells you that they will beat anyone else's prices or give you $500. They simply ask you to get the price from another dealer and they'll beat it. The hard part is that other dealers will not just hand over their information for you to take to someone else. This deal is almost impossible to get because most dealers sell different makes and models anyway.

"I won't get paid"

The dealer tells you that he won't get paid if you don't purchase the options package. This is a tug at your heart strings. To avoid this simply tell them that you refuse to buy something you don't want just so they get paid. If it's that much of a problem they should get another job.

No payments Until...

A dealership advertises that you don't have to pay for 6 months. Next thing you know, you buy the car and they tell you that it is due for payment in 2 months. They can claim a typographical error or that the deal was a week ago. Avoid this by asking the dealer to put that in writing before you purchase the car. Also make your deposit by credit card so that you can refute it.

"We've Got It"

This happens when you call a dealership asking for a specific car make, model and color and are told that they have it. However, when you get there, you are told that they miraculously sold the only one they had before you arrived. Next they will tell you that they have another car similar to it for only $500 more. Say goodbye.

Next: Auto Dealership Tricks and Scams (Cont.)