Dealer Fraud

Any car dealer should be very knowledgeable about the cars they sell but the successful ones use the information selectively. Michael Royce, of BeatTheCarSalesman.com, has sold several million dollars worth of American and import cars and trucks and received numerous dealership honors in Southern California. He says the customer’s emotional state is key to the rep, and that most buyers get a thrill from driving a new car. Ergo, test drive.
Royce also says that special price or clearance sale stickers are like red flags — or red capes — to bulls. “The promise of a bargain price is designed to create a sense of urgency, the feeling that if you don’t grab this special sale price right now, it will forever disappear. Lots of buyers fall for that.”
Other tactics include allowing a customer to take home a car for the night, where they can see it in their driveway or garage. Again, this elicits an emotional response. Even a joke or shared chuckle does more than light up the car dealer’s eyes. He knows he’s got you on his side and the odds of a sale improve.
Advice? “Analytical buyers pay less for their new cars than emotionally-charged buyers,” Royce says.

Curbstoners is the term used for the car dealers who sell their cars on the street and pretend to be private sellers.
The practice of curbstoning is not legal. Curbstoning car dealers use the practice as a way to sell inferior cars to unsuspecting consumers. There is probably a street or parking area near your residence where there are numerous cars for sale. Most of these cars are sold by curbstoners (named because they are parking the cars along a curb). Often the curbstoned cars are lemon cars and dealers can’t sell them in the dealership.
Curbstoning is a god way for car dealers to avoid state laws regarding the sale of cars. If you are not a licensed car dealer there are certain limits on the number of cars that one is allowed to buy and sell in a given period. There are also state requirements that licensed car dealers have to meet to stay in business. Curbstoners do not have such requirements.