May 15 2008
Dealer Fraud - Common Topics
Odometer Roll-back
Previously Rental Car
Contract Re-negotiation
Warranty Fraud
Down Payment Fraud
Prior Lemon Law Buyback
Title Fraud
Frame Damaged Vehicles
Optional Equipment Fraud
Identity Theft & Co-signer Fraud
I bought a car for 15,000.00 dollars…….. at that time i went in to buy car I did not know it was on the internet advertised for 12499.00……. anyhow the dealer did not tell me either. they had me sign a contract dated for the next day…….. anyhow the next day the car was no longer advertised…….
the salesperson became my friend later and showed me what the dealership did. He said he would testify.
did delaer something against the law??
Thank you for the post. If the dealership advertizes a vehiclfor a set price it must sell it as such. Please contact my office to discuss your remedies.
Hi
I “changed” transsmission oil in my car about 18 months ago at NY Silverstar Mercedes service.
Today I went to a (private shop) for a regular check up. After checking the transmission’s oil level my mechanic discovered that the oil looks completely black and it seems like it has not been changed at least for 60000miles (I “changed” mine 15.000 ago). He also told me that the transmission was dangerously overfilled and that I am lucky that it did not failed. My mechanic said that it is impossible for the oil to look like that after just 15000 miles and they probably just added some oil and ripped me for 400$. I have the invoice with millage and everything, what should I do? I know that it has been a long time but I hate the fact that I paid for something and did not get it.
Thanks.
It does appear that they never did your oil change but unfortunately it involves such a small amount of money that I am not sure if it would be worth it for you to get an attorney involved. A typical case can last from a month to over a year thus in a situation like yours you might be better off taking them to small claims. Another option that I recommend is that you contact the Bureau of Automotive Repairs to obtain their assistance. Of course the servicing facility will contest the allegations and claim that between the time they services the vehicle and now someone else could have put who knows what in the engine. In addition they will claim that even if the oil was not changed it was done inadvertently and unless you find a way to prove that it was intentional your damages will likely be limited to the cost of the oil change (I assume $20-40 out of the total charge). You should do a bit more research before making a decision. Since I do not practice repair fraud I highly recommend trying to find an attorney who specializes in fraudulent repairs.
Thank you for the posting.
- Hovanes Margarian, esq.
I trade a car a year ago, and today I received a letter for the traded car saying that it was a repossetion that I have to pay them $6,000.00.
I went to the dealership and ask them for the odometer, and they say they didn’t have it because they lost the key.
My credit is also destroy.
Is the dealer reponsability to send the odometer inmediatly.???
What should I do in this case?
Please help!
Thank you for the posting. You definitely have remedies available for the dealership’s fraudulent conduct. Please call me to discuss. The consultation is free and so is the actual case because I make the dealership pay for my work. Call me at 818.990.0418. Thank you.
- Hovanes Margarian
I recently purchased a 65 Mustang on Feb 2009 from classic dealership. Before purchasing this vehicle, I was told by the sales rep that the car was not involved in an accident, no rust issues or no mechanical problems. However, after taking the car to reputable mechanic who restores classic cars, I found out that car had frame was damaged on both side, many mechanical problems such as fuel gauge, amp gauge, passenger door lock not to be working, leaks from radiator and rear axle and many other problems plus few minor rust issues. I also found out that this car is unsafe from mechanic since the rear brake hose is touching the exhaust pipe which could lead to brake failure that could result in an injury. I also found out that safety switch is not working(or not installed) and car can be started if it is not even on Park. I was clearly misled by their sales rep, but my problem is I did not document what he stated when purchasing the vehicle.
I have contacted the dealer to remedy this situation and they agreed to inspect my vehicle. They came back to me saying that damage is minor and they will address the mechanical problems. However, had I known that this car was involved in accident previously, I would not have knowingly purchased this vehicle.
Could you please let me know if I have any case here?
Thanks,
I just purchased a truck Monday. When I met the finance manager to finish the paper work the contract was completely changed. I wanted to pay cash so I could get another $500 off. However the manager took it upon himself to finance the truck 100% and gave me a spill of how great it is. The second thing is he hide some insurance coverage into the Cost of the truck, He talked to me like this fee was included in a service agreement that I did not want. I kept telling him the numbers didn’t add up. I finally told him I wanted my car back and to take the papers home for review. He then told me “You only have 3 more papers to sign, Just sign the papers take the truck home review the paper work and sleep on it. This way you would save a trip out here.” I agreed to this only because I thought I could return the truck if I didn’t agree. I thought it was a tactic that I would fall in love with the truck and just take it anyway. Well I took the paper work home and found out the numbers never added up. So I went back the next day to just get my car back and he told me “Buddy you signed the papers, you bought the truck” Then after a heated agreement he did point out why the numbers didn’t add up was because part of the insurance was included in the Truck cost and this was not broken down or disclosed to me. It blows my mind how a business can act like this. Over all it cost me an extra $3800 which I would never get because it was over my budget.
Any input would be great
Thanks.
Thank you for the comment. Unfortunately I am afraid there is not much that can be done in your case. The fact of the matter is that they lied and cheated but if we were to confront them they would deny everything and there would be no way to disprove it. You have a case but the terms of the written contract are clear and legally binding unless you have strong evidence other than your word against their word. At least I hope others will read your posting here and not fall into the same trick.
Thank you.
There is some researh that needs to be done before we can be certain about the strength of your case. Fact is, the dealership will deny anything that was verbally stated to you. Thus, we must research the vehicle’s history. Furthermore, if your mechanics state that the vehicle is unsafe that might be sufficient to prove your case. At any rate, it would be best if you give me a call at 818.990.0418.
My husband and I recently bought a vehicle. When we signed the papers I was the cosigner and he was the buyer. They called a week later asking for our marriage certificate for the tags. I was totally confused, I said okay I would work on finding it and getting it to them. The next day I recieved paperwork from the finance company and my name was the only name on the account. I called the finance company they said that I was the buyer and he was the cosigner, so they switched our names. I double checked all of our paper work and I certainly signed co signer. Is there anything that we can do. In all honesty we do not want the truck now because of how they did this we would much rather deal with a more honest dealership and them not make any money on this. I am upset because I should had been asked if that was okay and I was not given the choice to say no!
Thank you.
You certainly have a right to refuse to go through with the transaction since the loan they got you is different from the one you signed for. Please contact me to discuss.
I purcahaced a car on line from new jersey, I live in ohio. The pictures looked good on line. advertised as one owner and in show room condition. I purchased the car and they delivered it to me. What I got was a car that had rust on the drivers door, check engine light on, chrome wheels that are peeling off, tires that dont match, front facia damaged, paint scratches all over, interior pieces cracked,missing, or broke. Told them they misrepresented the car and I dont want it. They will not take the car back unless I pay $3000.00 plus shipping cost. Can they get away with this. Can you help.
I went to buy a new car. I was bullied to lease it. The next day a saw a tv commercial from the company advertising my deal but few thousands cheaper that what I paid for. It turnes out the downpayment I paid ($3000 +trade in $500) was not added to the total cost. Is there anything I can do three days later?
Dear Angie, it depends what you mean when you say it was not added. If they completely left it out of the deal and you have a way to prove it then you definitely have a case. I assume it would be easy to prove that you traded in a vehicle but the cash might be harder to prove. As any rate there is definitely something to look into. Give me a call to discuss. 818.990.0418.
I bought a used 4 door 2006 Sport Toyota Camry on July 2008. The sale price on the vehicle was $20180.00. Today, I just found out on reading the contract that I will be paying the Finance Charge for this car of $21,636. 05. Amount Financed is $22,492.03. Number of payments 72. Total Payments of $44,128.08 for this car. I was getting suspicious when I received my monthly bill today. Looking at the total cost it seems to me that I still did not make a dent on paying this car since September of 2008 with a $612.00 monthly payment for a car which advertised as $20,180.00. That is when I took out the contract and read it.
The finance charge for this car is higher than the price of the car itself. Is this legal or fraudulent . They did not even mentioned the total cost for this car with 72 number of payments. Because of my credit, they really did a job on me. I can buy 2 new cars in cash for the total payment of this car.
What should I do? I think I need some legal help.
Frances.
i went to buy a new car at chrysler jeep dealaship i got a 2007 NEWcar with 4 miles on it that dealer is now closed so i went to another for service for engine light and breaks i now have 9600 miles on my car,they took the car into the service dept,came out and thes said to me we cant toutch this car because it was service in azonia at 24000 in got this car new, in new york city never been to az i did a carfax and it said the same thing it had been in service 3 times in the state of az.
The best thing would be if I reviewed your purchase agreement. You can fax it to 818.990.1418. If the agreement it legitimate and the terms are valid then the only thing you can do is get it refinanced elsewhere so you do not end up paying so much in interest. In fact you can call them right now to see if there are penalties for paying off the loan now (some of these loans are so horrible that you have to pay the interest no matter what). There are usury laws that prevent excessive interest charges (25% is legal but say 60% is illegal). So let me review your agreement and I can tell you what your options are. I do not charge unless I find something against the dealership – in that case I will go after the dealership and make them pay you and pay me (so ultimately I will not charge you as my client).
Joe, I cannot advise you in NY but I can give you some pointers which would be enough to get you started. I will email you privately. Thank you for the posting.
Re: Rob
Unfortunately I cannot assist you because you are outside of California. However it does sound like you have a strong case for fraud because it would be extremely difficult for them to deny knowledge of the vehicle’s true condition since it is so extensively damaged. I highly recommend you contact a local dealer fraud attorney to help you. I you cannot find anyone give me a call and I can give you some general pointers of how you can try to find one. Best of luck. (I truly hate the fact that we attorneys are not allowed to practice law outside of our jurisdictions because it forces me to be decline cases like yours.)
I co-own a small car dealership in Ohio. I sold a 97 Expedition to a young gal and had her sign the ‘as-is’ buyer’s guide. She reported to me about a week later that the vehicle needed over $2000 in repairs that included $1800 in exhaust repairs. She filed a small claim against me and we met with the Magistrate as a mediator. Her whole arguement was that we sold her a ‘lemon’ vehicle. When we showed the Buyer’s guide with her signature she claimed that she did not sign it. Her copy did not show the carbon transfer of her signature. The magistrate pretty much argued our case for us stating that she had an opportunity to inspect it and have someone look at it.
We did not settle so she filed for it to go to a jury trial.
I am looking for case law that will back up my position that she bought an as-is vehicle and she does not have any recourse.
So I purchased a new car yesterday…when I went in to sign the contract it was 3000$ more than we negociated and I told them I dont think so…thats not what i agreed upon. so the finance guy made the changes and everything was good. I signed the dotted line and was one my way. so i get a call today saying the paperwork was wrong and that i needed to come back and resigned the contract and that basically i owed them more money. I couldnt believe the nerve of these people. What are my options here? What can they do?
Dear Max,
I cannot really give you full legal advise since you are in Ohio and because I only work for plaintiffs (never for dealers). But what’s fair is fair – by that I mean you should definitely do your research and even get an attorney to defend yourself. If you didn’t know about the problems with the vehicle then she has no rights. She needs to prove her case. Just because the car broke down does not prove much. Now, if she can prove that you knew about the problems then you’ll be in trouble. But since you are saying you did not know, I do not see any way how she could prove that you did… Remember who ever sues he/she must prove their case. I do a lot of these cases for Plaintiffs but often times the fact is people buy bad cars – you bought a bad car and you sold her a bad car – but neither one of you know! In a case like this there is not much that she can accomplish. It is all based on knowledge or reasonable likelihood of knowing. If you inspect your cars top to bottom then you probably knew… basically your case depends on the facts and how she runs her case… Ironically, I’d say she needs an attorney to so one could assess her case and tell her either to forget it or find the best way to handle it… Best of luck. Do find a defense attorney in your area in case this case does not go away…
Dear James,
You call them and give them two options – leave the contract as is or take your car back. Do NOT pay anything extra unless you really feel that they made a mistake and even with the changes you’re still getting a great deal. My feeling is that they planed it all out yesterday to they could call you back today. By the way, if you give the car back you must get ALL your money back even if you put a million miles on the car! If they give you any issues give me a call.
Hi,
I bought a car from the a dealer and he told me that the car was not in any kind of accidents. I checked the car fax and it had clear title. The car had 32k miles on it and it has factory warranty on it so I did not get the car checked by a mechanic before buying. In the contract It says “Dealer should put the information about any accidents in the Buyers Guide paper if the dealer knows about any and the customer would sign that before purchasing the used vehicle”. Its an “As Is” car. In my scenario the dealer knew about the accident but did not reveal it to me. I came to know about the accident when I took the car for a service to Hyundai Dealer. Hyundai agent told me that car was in accident. Record shows that the dealer that I bought the car from brought the car to Hyundai Dealership Service with an accident prior to my purchase. The reason I took it to Hyundai was because the Airbag light comes ON and goes OFF. I approached the dealer and he says that he cannot help me as he did not get any information about the accident when he bought this car in auction. I believe that there could be chance that the dealer somehow got into accident after the purchase from auction. Then I went to the dealer so that I can talk to him to settle things up. he told me that he will fix the airbag for me because he has already paid a mechanic to repair it prior to my purchase. I dropped off the car next day at my dealer and i have been making all calls since then but the dealer never responds. They kept the car with them for 17days and did not yet fix the Airbag issue. I had to face so much mental tension and physical burden/tension as I was on crutches all this time. How can I go ahead with ths case?
Dear Arun,
It sounds like you have a case and there are several ways in which we could help you. Please call our office to discuss details. 818.990.0418.
So my father and I went into a dealer to buy a used car for myself, we didn’t find out immediately but rather later that there was another buyer already approved for the vehicle, they were feeding us some uncertainty on account of the other buyer; spoon feeding a possibility us getting the vehicle. Now, this is an absurdity in itself. This guy went at lengths to try and force a credit application on my father, which in the end he did. He went on to inform us that the financing of the car was no longer possible by the amount we offered.
So the car went to the other buyer and we left. Though we find a week later that the Dealer had run my father’s credit 8 times consecutively that same day, for a vehicle that was already purchased. My father’s credit was ruined by this fraudulent act on the part of the Mazda dealer.
It was clearly our own fault for not realizing what was afoot. But tell me Hovanes, is there a case here?
They were selling us a car that was practically sold. It was a farce which cost my father dearly.
Fernando
Yes, it is a violation each time they run your credit unauthorized. While you gave them authorization to run it once, they didn’t have the right to run it 8 times. Thus you can sue for the 7 extra credit runs. Give me a call to discuss. 818.990.0418
I purchased a 98 Ford Explorer yesterday from a small car lot. When I test drove it, the AC was working fine. I had my mechanic (son-in-law) look at it, but he only check things like engine, transmission, fluids, etc… We both noted the AC was blowing cool air at that time. I went ahead and purchased the vehicle, but as the day progressed, I noticed the AC air was getting warmer and warmer, and by the end of the day, it was barely above the temp of air outside the car. This morning, we called the manager of the lot, and he said he would recharge the freon, but if it were more than that, it was my problem, because the state-enforced warranty did not cover this, and the vehicle was purchased “As-Is”. I think he knew about the problem and had already refilled the freon, which is why it was working at first. If so, this will not remedy the situation as it will just leak out again. Is this considered fraud? Does the Arizona laws not cover this type of problem? Also, as freon is hazardous to the environment, and he just refills it knowing it will leak out again, should I involve the EPA?
Since you are in Arizona I cannot give you legal advise but I recommend you contact a local attorney.
With that said here are my general thoughts - you need proof that he knew. What if he checked the a/c just like you did and he thought it was working? inspect your car to see what exactly is wrong with it. Perhaps that will tell you if he knew or not (maybe the problen is so obvious that your mechanic tells you there is no way that the seller did not know or maybe the problem is so hidden that the seller in good faith did not know). Have the car checked out and also contact a local apporney asap since there might be specific laws in AZ that I am not aware of which might be in your favor. Best of luck. Let me know on here how it goes.
Hi i bought a car and they told me that the do a very good inspection to a car before the sell it to the public.
First after i took it home i notice that the car was making a big noise close to the right tire so at the same time i look at the tires and it was the worst tires i ever seen old and cracked tires so i went to this car lot and told them what was the problem the said we sill fix it wich they never did it so i had to buy Tires after 4 days .
Also did it know that the put GAP insurance without telling me i noticed that after a few days so o told them i dont need it they said is the LAW but after 1 month they sent me a letter now from the bank saying sign this paper is your gap insurance wich i didnt sign the paper but the never took the money from the contract
i was 1 payment behind and they took my car back with a tow truck so when i went to pay the told me you have to pay $1500 because i didnt give them the keys so the cost was like $400 for a key plus some other charges so now i dont have money to take the car back since they want probably $2000 after 2 days
what can i do
Please give me a call to discuss your options in detail. 8189900418
I purchased a vehicle from a dealership about a year ago.
As I was looking at my contract, it states that Ford Motor Credit is the lien holder. Subsequent documents in our records all state Ford Motor Credit is the lienholder.
The problem is, that Americredit has been the lien holder from the get go.
We never made a payment to Ford Motor Credit. Ford Motor Credit appears to have never held the loan for this vehicle. (checked this as I thought possibly FMC held loan and then sold it to Americredit).
I am concerned that either the dealership, or Americredit forged the loan documents to process the loan.
We were never asked by the dealership to come in to sign new documents.
Our GAP Insurance document also shows FMC as lienholder which worries me about our coverage. If we total car, and go to use GAP insurance to cover deficiency, I am worried that policy holder can get out of paying on technicality.
Do I have recourse? How can I go about finding out if dealership forged documents, and if they did, does that make the loan void?
Kraig.
Dear Kraig, if your loan documents were forged then yes you have recourse. But first I suggest you call the banks and check both on the loan and the gap. Perhaps the dealership tried to finance you through ford at first but for some reason ended up financing you through Americredit. As long as all the terms are valid you are covered. If not, then give me a call and I will make the dealership set things right. 818.990.0418.
I signed a finance agreement as well as all the other neccessary documents to purchase a Pontiac Vibe utlizing GMAC 0% financing and te GMS discount. This occurred on Saturday July 25,2009. I also traded in my Honda Accord for $19,000. The Pontiac Vibe was a vehicle located at another dealership to be shipped in by Monday July 27th. I have also ave a due bill as I purcased leather to be installed in the car too. I was loaned back my Honda for the next few days while I awaited delivery of my new Vibe. The offer on this whole deal expired July 31 …hence why I chose to go into the dealership 6 days before the offer expired.
Sunday July 26, my sales person called me and said he felt te car would not be ready till Tuesday July 28th or Wednesday July 29th. I stopped by the dealership on Tuesday afternoon to find out the car had not even been delivered to the dealer yet. I inquired, with no update from the cashiers or sales.
That afternoon, the general manager called to tell me he never got the car, never locked it up for me because it had already been sold to another customer. He tried to convince me to change the features and color of the car so he could find another car very close to his dealership, as all other Pontiac Vibes with my contracted features and color were out of the 150 miles radius he was searching. Then he told me he would call me to close up the deal by end of the day. He never did.
I called him Wednesday morning, July 29th and got the same story …He tried to convince me to change the features and color of the car so he could find another car very close to his dealership, as all other Pontiac Vibes with my contracted features and color were out of the 150 miles radius he was searching. All other options offered were more expensive. I only asked for what I signed for. He told me he would give me the bottom line on what was happening by end of the day again. He never did.
The offers GM is giving me expire July 31. The dealer is making no progress and not willing to go out of state to find this car so I can take delivery. I potentially will lose the value of my trade-in and the value of the 0% financing all because of this dealers behavior. They are ignoring me now.
I have signed documents …what can I legally do ?
I believe we have already discussed your case over the phone. We can certainly make the dealership pay you the benefit of the bargain which you have now lost due to the dealership’s conduct. Call me to discuss.
Hovanes Margarian
Attorney At Law
818.990.0418
OK, my wife just totaled our car. After insurance paid the “Value” of the car, I still owe $8600 on it. The dealer says I did not buy gap coverage. Shouldn’t I have to sign something declining it? Can I go after them to prove I turned it down? I honestly do not remember them even offering it to me. I have had it on the two cars before, so this blows. Is there a law that says they need to offer it? Or that you need to sign to decline the coverage? Just grabbing at straws here. This is very nice of you to help everyone with all of this valuable knowlege. Thanks!
Thank you. The problem is that no matter what they will insist that they did offer and you declined. As far as I know there is no legal requirement to be offered gap coverage at the time of purchasing a vehicle. Thus my feeling is that you are out of luck. If you email me your contact info I will do a bit more research and try to get you a more definite answer.
Hovanes Margarian
Attorney At Law
I purchased a new Dodge from a dealer and fell for bait and switch because the qouted price and the sale price was a thousand dollars more on the contract and I didn’t catch the 1,000.00 increase. Well I was sent out with an envelope with some papers and after looking through them the contract copy wasn’t there. I was called by my insurance company and they asked to have me send paperwork with a description and lein holder info on the vehicle, but I noticed the vehicle info on the warranty and all paperwork stated I purchaesd a Dodge Ram 1500 and the vehicle is a Dakota ST. My agent told me to get the description and and a copy of the contract from the dealer to complete the insurance add on. I visited the dealer the next day and the dealer claimed to not have a copy of the contract and I was passed from 1 manager to the next until they started telling me the financing fell through and to sign a new contract. And After I told them I wouldn’t sign a new contract until I had a copy of the original they produced a copy. I looked over the new contract and they told me if I would sign it they would credit it for the original $1000.00 they claimed to have made a oversight on in the original contract. The original contract also had stated the odometer read 121 miles and the vehicle currently has 119 miles. I gave a $5,500.00 down payment originally, but declined to sign the new contract which angered the finance manager, I stated I wanted to consider the new contract and I would come back. When I returned I asked for my deposit back and told the dealership they can come get the vehicle or I’d have it towed in. I asked for a copy of the lien holder and they told me they were the holder. Is there any recourse other than begin my payments on the truck in Sept. 1st and continue with the original contract. Because the lein holder in the original contract by the dealer refused to carry the loan. Thanks,
Sounds like the dealership has committed fraud. If the vehicle on the contract is not the one you got then there is no contract. You should retain an attorney and we will sort out this matter. On a case like yours we do not charge anything up front and we will most likely make the dealership pay our legal fees. Please call me at 818.990.0418 thank you.
I bought a used Ford Ranger from a dealership. After buying the vehicle I noticed that it did not have a few features that were listed on auto trader and the window sticker. The missing features include tilt steering and cruse control. I called the dealership and they claim that they told me that it did not include these features. They differently did not tell me this. The cruse control feature is very important to me since I drive over 1200 miles per week on average. I finally got them to the point were they will pay half the cost to install the features in their shop. I told them they needed to take care of all of the cost, they didn’t agree. What can I do?
Note: The load documents were forged. I just moved to North Carolina from Maryland. When I bought the truck I did not have a North Carolina Driver License yet. From what I understand, until I hand over my NC DL they can’t get funding from the bank. They want my NC driver’s license so they can get the funding.
Unfortunately I am not licensed to advise you outside of California but as long as you have the advertizing document then it sounds like you have a pretty straight forward fraud case and they should pay for all the work. Please contact a local attorney immediately to get specific assistance. Best of luck.
I purchased a car last year in march, and the dealer sold me a honda civic 2005 which is pretty basic, now power window, no air condition, one has to open the door manually. just pretty basic used car for twice its worth. he sold it for $19685 plus taxes to a total of $20229.52. my interest is 20% making the car worth $35161.92 i tried to trade my car this may after one year to lower my interest and that when i learnt from another dealer i was cheated on and my car is only worth alittle over $9000.
i had called then in may before i went to check around because i was still naive to see if i could trade my car. but after i went to the other deale and he told me i was lied to. i decided not to go back to the dealer that sold me the car.
then i found out the dealer run my credit without my permission.
do you think its a crime for the to sell me a car twice its retail value?
i need you help and advise because i really dont know if i can sue them.
Unfortunately it is not illegal to sell a vehicle for much higher price then it is worth. However it is illegal to run one’s credit without concent. If they did do so then we can demand payment for certain damages. Please call my office to discuss.
i bought a car yesterday, he did all paper work real quick. when i check the car i did not noticed any body damage, cause the sun, and the color of the car is off white. so when i got home, inside my garage, i noticed that there was a lot of dents on top of the car, and the seller new about this dents but he did not tell me anything. my question is. when i signed the paper work, he didn`t offer me a cancellation contract, he didn`t told me anything about if i want to buy it or not. thats legal.
In California you should have been offered a three day cancelation option. Often times dealers make you sign a document waiving that option without you even realising that is what you were asked to sign. If no such option was offered then we might be able to rescind the contract and return the vehicle. Please call our office to discuss. Thank you.
Dealer Sold me a new 2009 Dodge SLT w/ Big Horn Package. Big Horn Badge is on the truck but there is no Big Horn equipment on the truck. The MSRP sticker also does not say Big Horn Package. I called the dealer the day after I bought it and they said the factory mistakenly put a Big Horn Badge on the truck instead of an SLT Badge. When I bought the truck i asked the salesman specifically why the Big Horn Package was not listed on the Sticker and he pointed out a line item that said “Customer Preferred package 24G” which after further research proved to be the Chrysler code for SLT Package. Can I force them to deliver me a 2009 Ram 1500 SLt w/ Big Horn Package for the same price? I feel they misrepresented what they sold me.
Brent, it sounds like they did trick you and you should be entitled either to get a vehicle with the Big Horn Package or the price difference between what you got and a vehicle with the package. This definitely sounds like a fraud case and I would be happy to take on the case. Please call me to discuss. I will not charge you anything to take the case. - Hovanes Margarian, Attorney at Law 818.990.0418
My husband bought a Honda Fit during the Cash for Clunkers program. Now the dealership has called saying there was a lapse in his insurance and the deal needs to be reworked (he has to pay more money.)
This seems illegal to me. Wasn’t it their respnsibility to verify everything prior to giving my husband a car and having him sign the documents? Should we get a lawyer?
Thanks.
Dear Abby,
I need more details about your situation. Please call my office to discuss. Once I get all the facts I can tell you if you need an attorney or if there is a simple response you can give the dealer.
- Hovanes Margarian, attorney at law
a dealership in the area is offering $4,000 over kelley blue book on a trade in….is this another scam just to get people in the door?
Perhaps it is but if it is in writing then print it out and go in demanding to take the deal. I suspect they will try to upsell the new vehicle. You should try to make a deal on a new car and then tell them you know about the trade-in deal and want them to honor it. If they refuse then you call me. Thanks for the comment. Let us know if you do end up getting a deal.
Hi there!
I purchased an 01 VW Passat from a small local dealer in LA co. for $5500 + tax and license totalling $6325 on 9/17 all on my credit card. Five days later my husband noticed the air just blowing hot instead of cold, though it worked fine when we first bought the car and drove it home. He called the dealer and the dealer referred us to one of his mechanics at a dealership close to my husbands work in Riv. Co, saying that he would pay half of the cost of repair. My husband called that dealership and the manager did not get back to him right away. The next day, our salesperson in LA called to ask for a cashiers check for $4000 something because they could not take the full payment by credit card for reasons he could not explain. I called my credit card company to make sure they had paid them and surely enough the money was already delivered on our end. I told my salesperson that if he wanted the check he would have to refund the money to my credit card. In the meantime, the ignition light and the check engine light came on and we had an oil change done at our local VW dealer and they said they would charge us $105 just to diagnose the problem. We got ahold of our dealer’s mechanic and decided to let him look at it because they had not resolved the issues they said they would take care of. We dropped off the vehicle telling them to let us know what needs to be done before they do anything. They fixed the air and replaced the ignition sensor by the next day without notifying us at all and expected us to pay for the whole repair, which was $405. My husband refused to pay them because they didn’t do what we agreed and now they are keeping the vehicle until we pay them. The other dealer in LA has told them not to release the vehicle to us even if we pay for the repair because they want their $4000 something, but I have been watching the credit card account for 10 days now and I did not see a refund even though they promised one. I finally made a dispute claim with my credit card company yesterday to recall the funds, since I don’t have anything to show for them. This whole deal seems to have been shady from the beginning and the dealer’s lack of keeping promises makes us not want to even deal with them. The car itself seems like a good deal for the price with only 89,000 miles on it, one owner, and a clean car fax, but the dealers seem like crooks. Even though I signed a contract to buy the car, ‘as-is’ do I have to follow through with the deal or can I just get my money back and let them keep my car? What do you suggest we do at this point?
Thanks for your timely response!
Thank you for the comment. Your case is a bit complicated so it will be best if you called my office to discuss. The one thing I will point out is that it would be great to get witnesses or paperwork showing that they are requesting an additional $4,000. The one concern I have is that by disputing the charge you are now breaching the agreement too. I prefer to let the dealer be the breaching one and for you to honor the terms because then you have more ammunition. These are gust general thoughts for you and out other readers. But please do call my office in the morning to discuss in detail. Thank you.
i recently purchased a vehicle from a used car dealership. i recieved the title in the mail with my name on it and no lien. the dealership is now trying to sue me stating they have the signed contract stating i owe them $1100.00. can they sue me even though i have the title to that vehicle in my name without a lien?
If the title was sent to you by accident then I urge you to be honest with the dealership and pay the contract amount. It sounds like you are not disputing the contract whereby you owe them money and if that is the case they can and will attempt to recover that sum because the agreement is a separate instrument from the title and it makes you liable for the contract amount. However if the agreement is fraudulent then you should definitely fight it. If that is the case then please give me a call to discuss.
The title wasn’t accidently sent. The dealership has pulled a number on me since March of this year. They sold me a vehicle which had an huge amount of problems when i drove it off the lot. I drove it off with the problems because the dealership stated that everything would be repaired promptly. After 5 months of driving this vehicle their repairs were very unprofessional (JB Weld here, Zip ties there.) Due to the safety I told them something needed to be done or I would pursue other actions. They gave me another vehicle, same year, make, and model. In order for them to save paperwork on their end they signed the title over to me. We had a verbal agreement that if they wouldn’t “screw” me with this van, then I wouldn’t “screw” them with the title. Unfortunately it came with a whole other set of problems. Again, the dealership stated everything would be repaired. When i took it to be repaired they stated i had to pay for the repairs. That wasn’t part of the agreement we had. The dealership is trying to sue me but they don’t know i have the title yet. I was just wondering if I would have a chance at all if this did go further. I’m a man of my word and pay all debt that I have. They just aren’t understanding any of the concepts. With friends like them who needs enemies… Thank you for your time!
I bought my 06 Ford F150 in Dec 06 from a dealer in CA. They took in two cars of mine (both of which I had bought from them) and paid them off for me as trade ins. I felt that I was getting taken care of when the deal went through. I have since moved to VA and was sharing my paperwork with my new wife. She was a former finance director for a major car dealer in CA. She noticed some descrepancies. Such as, there was very little chance that my lendor would have approved my loan due to debt to income percentages. We called my lendor, and they stated that the income level on record from when my loan was approved was higher than my actual income level. I was active duty military, so getting an accurate income statement is easy. My lender also only considers military base pay as salary and does not consider housing allowances as income for loan consideration. the numbers on record show a near to 2000 dollar differance in my base pay from then and what the lendor has on record. With this said, it seems like someone falsified my income information to get me approved for the loan. I called my lendor, and they, up to this point, are uninterested in investigating the matter. I am looking into filing a fraud compalint with the DMV. Any advise?
You may definitely file a DMV claim. I personally do not like these cases because from a reasonableness stand point you wanted to get the loan approved so they committed fraud to get that approval. From a legal perspective you can force the loan to be nullified because it was based on fraudulent information.
Bought a Dodge Caliber in Sept. from a reputable dealer. Drove it off the lot after the dealership told me it had been PA inspected and ready for use. It had a strange sound when I drove it to work, both head lamps blew out in two days, took it back to the service dept. The noise I was hearing was the bearing were gone in the front. The bearing were put on order and they replaced the headlamps that day. One week passed, two, three, four, five weeks the warrenty time passed. Finally got a call to set up a time to have this job fixed. By the time I got the noise stopped from the bearing other things had gone wrong with the car. Water was leaking into the car on the drivers side and the carpet stays wet all the time with a bad odor. Put the car back into the dealer service dept, they called me and said I would have to leave it another day their man did not show to fix it. This is my time I am taking to get this work done that should have been a PA inspected car . As of 4 week later the dealership has not called back to to set up another appointment to get the water leak worked on. Noises’ in the front again and it sound like the water pump is going. Brakes squeek, body squeeks, sounds like it is 15 years old and its only a 2008. How could anything get though inspection and have so many things wrong with it?
Thank you for the comment. It does sound like the vehicle was never properly inspected. I would need to review all the sales paperwork to assess the case. Feel free to call my office at 818.990.0418.
- Hovanes Margarian, attorney at law
Hi! I bought a used car for $3500 10 days ago, put $1000 towards it, bill of sale signed copies retained by dealer and myself. There is no financing being done, but I need 2 more weeks to pay the balance of the transaction cost. He has not said anything to me, but I suspect he is trying to resell the vehicle? Is this possible? What is the recourse to get deposit back if it is biend resold under my nose? Thank you very much.
This is more of a contracts question. You have entered an agreement to purchase the vehicle and pay for it. Since he agreed to take a down payment I assume he agreed to give you a reasonable amount of time to pay the balance (unless you agreed to an exact date). Couple weeks is a reasonable amount of time for him to wait for the balance. However if he does sell the vehicle to someone else he will argue that you failed to pay early as agreed thus you had breached the agreement. In a breach of agreement case the dispute will be merely over the vehicle and it would be too costly to engage an attorney in the matter (fraud cases are a different story). As for your down payment, if he sells the vehicle for the same or higher price then he should return the down payment to you. If he sells it for a lower price than he can argue that your breach forced him to have to sell for less thus you are responsible for the difference (and so he would get to keep the difference out of your $1,000). All of this is highly arguable for both sides but the issue is that the sums at stake are so small that it would not be worth it to hire an attorney. If your agreement is ruled as executory (as in preliminary) then you could argue that the purchase deal was never finalizes so even if he sells the vehicle for half the price he should return your down payment in whole. I would suggest you have a heart to heart conversation with him. Tell him to give you the vehicle now and put you on a 2-3 week payment plan. Pay him what you can now and wrap it up once you get the full balance. Sometimes the best thing is just to level with the other side. Hope it works out for you.
Three weeks ago I co-signed for my daughter to purchase a 2009 Galant. She also traded in her Tahoe which they were to pay off. They stated to get a low interest rate she had to take the Gap Insurance. We were up front in the beginning and stated what she could afford for a monthly payment and they came back with what seemed to be resonable. We were there for almost 5hours. Finally signed all the papers with her the owner and me co-signer. They were quick to change her plates from here car to the new one and we drove away. Almost two weeks later we start recieving calls from them that we needed to sign more papers. We went in and waited over an hour only to have one of the sales people (not our original one) tell us my daughters credit was declined and I had to sign as owner on the vehilce. I told them I did not want to do this and everything had already been agreed on. They told us to think about it over the weekend and now keep calling. Is not the original contract signed binding?
If you are in CA and more then ten days passed then the original contract is binding! Tell them to leave you alone or you will sue for harassment. Just to be certain that they didn’t write anything else in the contract please read the front where there is a two inch blank boxed with a line typed it - it usually states that they have ten days to ask for the vehicle back if they fail to obtain financing. If it’s not there then you can find the same text in the fine print on the back side of the contract. Once you find that you can rest at ease. If it is not there then please do give me a call or fax me the contract so I can double check it. Feel free to call if you have other questions. Thank you.
- Hovanes Margarian, esq. 818.990.0418
my husband + i just bought a used prius on thursday the 17th (in frankfort, ky) from a toyota dealership. he signed all the contracts in his name, we agreed to pay the $2000 down payment the next day + we took the car home that night - which we thought was strange, that it all happened so fast. so he went in w/ the payment the next day. then on saturday, the dealership says that the financing wasn’t going through and we needed to put my name on it to co-sign. though i thought this too was weird, we gave them my info; but b/c my credit isn’t good, they called back again saying we need to find another co-signer or give them $1100 more towards the down payment, which would make the monthly payments lower.
please help, what can we do, b/c we want to keep the car, but i feel that we’ve fallen victims to a scam. can we just return the car and get our money back? we can’t afford to get a lawyer to help us, so are we stuck with the contract?
thanks for the advice
Thank you for contacting our law offices. Unfortunately we are not licensed in the state of KY. Please contact a local attorney to assist you.
I purchased a “new” 2008 Toyota Tundra in April 2009, it had 690 miles and I questioned whether the vehicle was new due to the mileage and was informed that it was a “Unwind Vehicle (Sale Cancelled and Returned)”, that a gentlemen was going to purchase the vehicle but was unable to obtain financing and the vehicle was returned prior to being registered and was therefore considered to be new after the explanation of what an unwind vehicle was I was asked to sign a “Vehicle Prior History Acknowledgement” document that specifically stated “Unwind Vehicle (Sale Cancelled and Returned)”.
I continued to try and get the dealer to give me a discount because of the mileage but had no luck, it was sold to me for $32,430.00 which was more than the amount shown on the Monterey Sticker of $32,271.00.
After several weeks I had not received the registration and went to the dealership at which time an administrative representative tried to get me to sign a blank document to be sent to the CA DMV stating that I had not received the license plates of which I refused.
A few days later in June 2009, I received the registration and plates indicating the vehicle registration was effective in January 2009, four months prior to my purchase of the vehicle. I sent a letter to Elk Grove Toyota Owner/Manager informing them of the violations of Toyota Corporate Policy and California Criminal Laws, i.e. CA Article 11711 Fraud and Other Violations of Law in addition to other penal law violations.
I received a letter back from Blake Snider of Elk Grove Toyota indicating that I knew the vehicle to be used because the sales contract shows it to be “used” and it was initialed by me. I was shocked to find that the copy he provided of the sales contract had “New” lined through and “used” hand written above it an my initials were there but were most definitely not written by me and is obvious those initials where written by someone other than me as compared to the many other initials on the very same document as well as others from this transaction. Also included was a copy of a “Used Vehicle Report of Sale” supposedly signed by me, this is a document I have never seen and again it is not my signature but a forgery as are the initials on the sales contract.
The initial illegal behavior on behalf of a corporate and professional business is bad enough but when their error is brought to their attention and they further commit criminal activity to cover it up rather than rectify the matter in accordance with local laws it is disgraceful and they should be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
Violations of California Laws include:
Article 11711 Fraud and Other Violations of Law: Failure to Pay for Vehicles: Priority Claims subparagraph a1 through a3
Article 11713 Unlawful Acts (d) Advertise or represent a vehicle as a new vehicle if the vehicle is a used vehicle.
California Penal Code Section 470-483.5 Forgery and Counterfeiting as it relates to fraud, paragraphs 470 (a) through (d), 470b, 471, 473, 475 and 476
California Penal Code 484 Larceny or Theft as it relates to fraud paragraph 484(a)
Punishable by:
Article 11613 Suspension or Revocation of License paragraph (a)(9) and the definition of “fraud” for the purposes of these subdivisions
Article 11705 Suspension or Revocation (a)(14) and the definition of “fraud” for the purposes of these subdivisions
Any advise for me?
Thank you for the post. Please call my office in the morning as I would love to see these documents as I evaluate your case. What they have done is sold you a vehicle with 4 months less warranty! When they sold the vehicle at the first time they must have “punched” the warranty (that’s the dealer term for activating it). So now you have see coverage then you expected. This is one fact that was not even covered by their forget documents thus it will help prove the forgery. Call me at 818.990.0418.
- Hovanes Margarian, esq.
hi. my mom brought me a car so i can go back an forward to college for a used car dealership. my mom have given her credit card to the sales person that was tryin to sales us the car. beacuse she didnt want to travel down to the dealership if it didnt go thourgh. so when we called and asked did the credit card go thourgh the man said yes it did and that he had the car ready for us when we come. so me and my mother went down to the dealership so that she can file out the paper work. but before she signed the paper work and stuff she asked them like three more times did the card go thourgh and the sales person and the finaincal person bout said yes it went thur and the they only took the amount they was suppose to take off. so my mom said that contracts and titles to the car. so we took the car home that night. about 5 days later they called and said that my mother didnt pay for the car and that they was turning the security box on that they put on the car( for if you miss a payment) and that she never gave them any money for the car. now they want her to come up with money now but she dont have it now. and the firstcar payment isnt due. and they turned the starter off on the car so we cant leave or go anywhere. is it other fault that they amde te mistake and the contract is void or do we have to give the car back.
Thank you for the comment. It appears to be very simple to verify if they did charge your mom’s card or not. Once you check, if they did then you need to just make the monthly payments but if they did not then you owe them the down payment. Wheather they did lie about the credit card would be difficult to prove plus you owe the down payment anyway since you signed an agreement to pay accordingly. These are just my general thoughts. If you have additional questions please call my office. Thank you.
Good Morning,
I bought a used car in Mitsubishi dealership San Jose 2001 Jetta they give me 20% for the cost of $13027.84 after all the taxes it cost me $33692.60
I bought this Feb.11,2006 I do not know about cars so I went to there in good faith knowing that they will be honest with their customer. When I ask the history of this car the agent told us that it’s personal used.I was not informed that it was in an accident it was never disclosed to us .IF we knew it from the very start we would not bought this car because this become a nightmare for me.From the very beginning they already have a motive and they just want to get the profit they are used of this activity and they think they can get away with it!
I rarely used it for a year because I and my boyfriend carpool and I have to learn more on driving so the car was in the garage and once in a while we used it. After a year of using this used car I notice that every time it rains the water is coming out and the car is like a pool in side. I have to vacuum all the time.and the gas pedal sticks almost had an accident in freeway.
I called wells Fargo who finance the car because it’s very stressful to me a lot and giving me a lot headaches . I don’t know whats wrong with it! I went to another dealership called Car Max all the way to Modesto they sell used car and buy too.After the analysis made to my car they run the report and Found out that it was involved in accident,frame damaged rear panel was repaint they give me the history of this car. And I TOLD THEM we ARE NOT INVOLVED IN THE ACCIDENT because the accident reported was Feb.14,2006 3 days after they sold the car to us. So I went back to my contract I even talk to the manager of that dealership instead of helping us they run our credit and did not help us.He said he do not know because he was not their when we bought the car I told him you did not disclosed that this car had an accident causing all this leaking and so fort .
So I went out off my way to prove that we are not the one who had an accident I went to DMV to pull our driving license no record accident was found and i also pull car fax report car history that they are using and I found out that the accident occur DEC.13,2004 in vacaville california. they already knew but the hide it from us just to get profit !
If they are honest in the first place we wouldn’t have to suffer all these traumas,
stress and headaches that this dealership gave us!
Please advice
Thank you so much for your time
Thank you for the comment. Sounds like you were a victim of dealer fraud. Please call me at 818.990.0418 to discuss. If the vehicle history report shows a prior accident and frame damage than I will represent you at no charge out of your pocket and do my best to make the dealership buy back your vehicle, refund all your payments and pay our legal fees and costs. Call me in the morning.
Hello,
I would like to know what can I do if a car dealership added options to my factory-orderd car without my permission and how can I handle this situation?
I live in New York and , I ordered a factory-ordered 12/15/09 car from a dealership also in New York. I filled out the purchase order with the exact options that I wanted 1,000 deposit. The agreement was signed by me and the manager of the dealership. The sales rep. notified me by email about adding navigation to the car. I responded to him by email tellling him No,1/12/10 that I did not want the navigation in the car. The sales rep. on his own, called the factory in Germany and had the navigation added at an additional cost of $3000. Since the car is in its final stage, will be here March 1, 2010 the navigation cannot be removed. At this point, I have a VIN # for the car and I have an e-mail telling the sales rep. no navigation and a reply from him saying that he was being proactive and had the navigation added to the car. The navigation was never added on the purchase order & there was no amendment to the purchase order to add it. The dealership is now telling that I must pay for the navigation or re-order the car which have a 2 month wait. This is not right, what can I do? can I get the car with out paying for the navigation or is option equiptment fraud thank you. Rob
Thank you for the comment. I generally cannot give advise in NY but I can give you my general thoughts. For specific advise you should contact a local attorney.
You entered a conditional agreement which has not been completed yet since they have not delivered to you the vehicle the way you ordered it. So you can walk away from the contract and take your deposit money back. As far as forcing them to give you the vehicle with the navigation system - you would have to prove that the damages caused by the two month delay equal the value of the navigation. This would be hard to do and would be risky to sue on. But you can push them to do the right thing and give you the vehicle however I doubt they will agree. Long story short, it is unlikely that you will be able to do anything other than take your money back, or pay the navigation price, or place another order. But again, please contact a local attorney since these are my general thoughts but should not be taken as legal advise since I am not licensed in NY. Thank you.