Car Dealerships: The Good & The Bad

[searcher]

Dealerships across Canada using loophole to conduct 'extortion' by jacking up prices, says auto expert​

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/market-adjustment-fee-car-sales-1.6653676

 

[searcher]

What a TERRIBLE Ford dealer !​

Stanley "Dirt Monkey" Genad
Dec 14, 2022


I tried to buy a truck from a dealer in Chicago. That was a mistake
21:24

 

[Casey Jones]

What model has the 300 cubic inch inline six, and four-speed? MANUAL.

And rubber floor mats. And...about two doors less.

"Every vehicle is tempermental." Of course...there used to be a rule, K-I-S-S.

Nothing is simple in this age of Obamacized cars and trucks.

 

[searcher]

Even after you think you bought a car, dealerships can 'yo-yo' you and take it back​

If you've ever bought a car, you know the feeling when you've signed all the paperwork, driven off the lot, and think, "Wow, this is my car now."

"I was excited," says Courtney Johnson. "I felt like I'd made a good decision as a mother."

Johnson had just had a baby when she and her husband, Darren, decided to buy a newer, safer car for the family. They live in a rural area outside Orlando, Fla. He's a fire sprinkler inspector; she's stopped working to raise the kids. And they bought a little used Hyundai SUV.

"It had the backup camera," she says, "and passenger and kid's airbags in the back."

But a full three weeks after they bought the car and took it home, they got what's called "yo-yo'd."

More here:

​

Car Dealers' Worst Tactic Under Fire​

Steve Lehto
Feb 6, 2023


By the FTC. 15:03

 

[pmbug]

The last time I was in the market to buy a new vehicle and I knew exactly what I wanted, I used the "blast fax" or "fax attack" method:

...
Here's how the Blast Fax works. You send a fax simultaneously to fleet managers at a number of dealerships in your area requesting quotes on the car you want to buy. Your fax describes the car — and the options — you want, and it informs them you will be buying from the lowest bidder. Let me add that this approach works only when buying a car that is readily available at a number of different dealerships. A Honda Accord or a Toyota Camry are good examples of cars you could easily buy using a Blast Fax.

The advantage of this strategy is that you don't have to negotiate in person. You can state all your terms up front and provide them with a detailed description of the car you want. The fleet managers can check their inventory before contacting you. Furthermore, this process announces ahead of time that you are shopping for the lowest price. Those dealers that refuse to be "shopped" will simply ignore the fax.
...

Blast Fax Car Buying | Edmunds

Blast Fax Car Buying article on Edmunds.com

www.edmunds.com

I was looking for a White Honda Odyssey at the time and I sent faxes to about 30 auto dealerships with the specs that I was looking for. From those 30 dealerships, I got 2 replies. One of those two was just being polite in saying they didn't have what I wanted in stock. The other response was from a Honda dealership and they had a fully loaded Odyssey (more features than I was looking for) but it was black with tan interior (not the colors I wanted) and they offered it to me at a really great price. The guy at the dealership that negotiated with us was the manager of their fleet department who usually deals with corporate/wholesale customers and not the public/retail. The low response rate to the faxes was a bit discouraging, but it only took one hungry dealership to make the effort worthwhile.

 

[searcher]

How Odometer Fraud Became A $1 Billion Problem​

Feb 23, 2023


Odometer fraud is a stealthy and a lesser known form of fraud that is hard to detect, but can cost a car buyer thousands. Fraudsters will roll back odometers on cars to hide the vehicle's mileage in the hope of extracting a better price. And as used car prices rose during the pandemic, odometer fraud could've become a more attractive way to make some extra bucks. About 10.5 million cars on American roads have had their odometers tampered with in some way, and about 1.9 million individuals have had their odometers rolled back, according to Carfax. The average cost to those affected is about $4,000 in addition to higher taxes. It is enough of a problem that there is even a federal Office of Odometer Fraud Investigation at the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) It is staffed by agents investigating these types of crimes. The department estimates that about 400,000 vehicles are sold each year with false odometer readings. 11:41

Chapters:
0:00 — Introduction
01:28 — Chapter 1: Fraud
03:10 — Chapter 2: Enforcement
05:03 — Chapter 3: Victims
09:56 — Chapter 4: The Problem of Technology

 

[Casey Jones]

My cherry Toyota Tundra pickup, a 2006, had 99,000 miles on the odometer.

Do you think it was rolled back?

 

[glockngold]

Search,
That was a good one.
I did not know of the affordable "mileage correction devices" or the mileage blockers.
This makes rolling back mileage available to any private seller as well as dealers.
Sigh...

 

[searcher]

Judge Orders Used Car Dealer to Buy Back AS-IS Car It Sold​

Feb 28, 2023


The judge found the underlying facts to be egregious. 17:33

 

[searcher]

Volkswagen reportedly refused to help cops track stolen car with toddler inside​

Volkswagen refused to help police locate a stolen SUV with a toddler trapped in the back until they were given an unpaid fee for use of the vehicle’s tracking device, Illinois cops said.

The car company has since admitted to a “serious breach of process” for the refusal to help cops, who said the foot-dragging led to a “delay” in their efforts to locate the tot, who was eventually recovered safely.

Volkswagen reportedly refused to help cops track stolen car with toddler inside

“The offender battered the woman, knocking her to the ground. He then stole her car with the child inside.”

nypost.com

 

[searcher]

American Car Center Closes All 40 of its Dealerships​

Mar 6, 2023


9:24

 

[searcher]

Not a dealership. Sale of a used car between 2 private peeps, car had problems, resolved at a "civil resolution tribunal."

CRT Decisions | Search Now | Civil Resolution Tribunal

Search decisions for CRT claims | strata, small claims, societies & cooperative associations and vehicle accident claims | Civil Resolution Tribunal

decisions.civilresolutionbc.ca

 

[glockngold]

Not a dealership. Sale of a used car between 2 private peeps, car had problems, resolved at a "civil resolution tribunal."

CRT Decisions | Search Now | Civil Resolution Tribunal

Search decisions for CRT claims | strata, small claims, societies & cooperative associations and vehicle accident claims | Civil Resolution Tribunal

decisions.civilresolutionbc.ca

Jesus...
for an oil leak?
3 out of 4 of my vehicles live with a sheet of cardboard under the engine.
I don't consider a problem.
Not a $5000. problem anyway.

 

[searcher]

From the link:

A Ford dealer in Charlotte, North Carolina, is facing a lawsuit after one customer alleges it used falsified signatures to increase the financed amount of their vehicle by nearly $43,000. Alex Gallardo claims Mark Ficken Ford didn't provide him or his wife with copies of the relevant paperwork until days after driving home a new Super Duty pickup. Upon receiving them, he supposedly spotted a drastically spiked interest rate that, along with other add-ons, would result in paying $117,000 for the truck over the course of the loan term.

Ford Dealer Sued for Allegedly Sneaking $43,000 Into Super Duty Sale, Forging Signatures

 

[Casey Jones]

Dealer offered to buy the truck back, and the "victim" said he wasn't interested.

That's a tell, right there...something is not kosher in the story.

There's always three versions: His side, his side, and the truth.

Sounds to me like there was a bit of extra-signatory add-ons, but not to the level alleged. If I had been jobbed the way this guy alleges, and the dealer offered to void the sale, I'd have been on it in a New York Minute.

I could always get the same truck through another dealer - they swap inventory all the time. It's more of a nuisance, but for the huge amount of fraud he's claiming, it would be cheap at the price.

 

[searcher]

Private sale here. The issue is the failure of the seller to deliver good title.

Craigslist Car Sale Goes to Court​

Mar 18, 2023


11:23

 

[searcher]

From the link:

Buying a car through a dealership can often feel like the financial equivalent of being strapped to a wooden chair in a basement somewhere surrounded by a group of intimidating men, while on particularly sadistic-looking individual grabs a pair of pliers and begins to separate your toenails from your feet.

It's no secret that people hate going to the dealership. The overly-drawn out theatrics of negotiation, salesmen walking to the back room to "talk to their manager," going back to the showroom to discuss said developments with the customer begins to feel like an endurance test meant to whittle down people to accepting a crumby deal on a car that they didn't exactly want in the first place.

Dealership Employees Brag About High Monthly Car Payments, Backfires Badly