Creative dealer scams

R

replicant00

New member
Bought my nice shiny new TE a month ago get home late today and have mail from the dealer that has me irate. :gun5:

When I made the deal I said I want this price out the door. Of course they insisted they legally had to add this ONE dmv fee. As if they couldn't do the simple math of subtracting that fee from the agreed upon price to finish things off. But I was in no mood to sit there and argue and negotiate more so I went along with it.

Today...today they topped themselves. I get a letter from them DMV charged us $145 for your registration we only collected $61 from you. Please send us the difference now.

I think my response is going to be along the lines of f you, f the difference, I paid the bill presented to me in full. And to avoid any of these billing "inconveniences" in the future I will never be coming to you for service but going to another dealer.
 
Register to hide this ad
Keep the truck, find a new dealer. Who gives a **** about the letter. It's not like they can actually charge you more now anyway.
 
isn't this kind of like one of those scams, where they sell someone the new car, and then call them 2 weeks later and say, the financing fell through, and that they have to adjust the APR to a much higher rate, etc, etc. ?
 
I agree with SeattleMike, name the dealer so others can avoid him. If enough people would do this the stealerships would stop trying these stunts..
 
Hold on... why do you assume they are trying to screw you when it could be a simple error?

All you have to do is ask them to prove it - simple enough for them to do. If you owe it, pay it, man up.

How about the reverse: You get a letter from the dealer stating they accidently overcharged you for registration, and would you like us to mail you a refund, or stop in and pick it up? You gonna get all p*ssed off because they made a mistake?? Just sayin' ...
 
There's a point where they have to consider if the $90 is worth the hassle after you dropped $40000 on them. I'd be tempted to forget about it if it were reversed, as an extra trip or the phone call time would barely be worth it.

Probably an issue of your check or someone gets it deducted from his or her pay, or the worker is assuming this. The accountant or whoever is probably not actually talking to the manager on this.

Anyway, just ask to see the full documentation for this. Money is money after all. Sometimes the headache that would give them will make it go away.
 
philsey said:
Hold on... why do you assume they are trying to screw you when it could be a simple error?

All you have to do is ask them to prove it - simple enough for them to do. If you owe it, pay it, man up.

How about the reverse: You get a letter from the dealer stating they accidently overcharged you for registration, and would you like us to mail you a refund, or stop in and pick it up? You gonna get all p*ssed off because they made a mistake?? Just sayin' ...
Click to expand...

I don't agree. If I negotiated based on an "Out the Door" price (like the OP states), than I expect everything to be included in that price. If the dealer made the mathematical mistake when negotiating with me, then the onus is on them.
 
philsey said:
Hold on... why do you assume they are trying to screw you when it could be a simple error?

All you have to do is ask them to prove it - simple enough for them to do. If you owe it, pay it, man up.

How about the reverse: You get a letter from the dealer stating they accidently overcharged you for registration, and would you like us to mail you a refund, or stop in and pick it up? You gonna get all p*ssed off because they made a mistake?? Just sayin' ...
Click to expand...

'Cause the reason you have to sit there for hours even if you are paying cash is you are determining the contractual obligations. Once that is signed, even if paying the whole amount in $100 bills, you are done. No increase, decrease, adders or subtractions are allowed after the contract is signed. A contract is a contract. Now, if both parties agree there was an error and want to fix it that contract can be amended or a new contract can be issued but both parties have to agree.:)
 
Absolutely agree with Engineer.
Once you signed papers, dealers has no way of changing price, charging you extra or changing the contract without a breach.
 
replicant00 said:
..... But I was in no mood to sit there and argue and negotiate more so I went along with it.....
Click to expand...

This is a key statement in my mind. As the OP stated that he went along with it, then the added fee was "agreed to" during the negotiations. However! If the negotiated "legal fee" was written into the contract, then the OP should be obligated to no more than the agreed to/contracted fee. The dealer is responsible for any additional cost. I do agree that, if the dealer wants to try and play hardball, my response would be that I would return the truck for a full refund to include any deposit placed on the vehicle. I would be surprised if the dealer balked (ultimately) at owning up to their miscalculation.
 
replicant00 said:
I get a letter from them DMV charged us $145 for your registration we only collected $61 from you. Please send us the difference now.
Click to expand...

It seems like people are overlooking this part a little, the letter was from the DMV. Not really sure he can just 'ignore' it without affecting his registration. If the letter came from the dealer I would just laugh if off for the most part.

My question to you is how much did they collect from you when you bough the 4R? Did they collect the right amount and not cut the right check to the DMV for you?

Just call the dealer and explain your situation, see if they will pay the difference. Not sure how much 'wiggle room' you have with an official DMV letter.
 
westwind77 said:
It seems like people are overlooking this part a little, the letter was from the DMV. Not really sure he can just 'ignore' it without affecting his registration. If the letter came from the dealer I would just laugh if off for the most part.

My question to you is how much did they collect from you when you bough the 4R? Did they collect the right amount and not cut the right check to the DMV for you?

Just call the dealer and explain your situation, see if they will pay the difference. Not sure how much 'wiggle room' you have with an official DMV letter.
Click to expand...

Re-read your quote. I thought same until I read slowly.
 
Agreed. You need to figure out of the DMV is asking you to pay, or the DEALER is asking you to pay. If the DMV is asking, the previous posters are correct in the fact they will not let it go. If they don't get their money, they will most likely suspend your license, and I am sure they do not care if it was your mistake or the dealer's. A simple phone call would probably solve this. Call the dealer and ask them to explain, if they give you the runaround, threaten to never bring your car back to them and file a Better Business Bureau complaint. I am guessing for that small amount of money, they will fix it. I realize it is the principle, though, and if they tried to "sneak" one by you, I see no issues with naming them and still filing your complaint.
 
JasonCz said:
Yep. He got a letter from "them" (the dealer) saying that the DMV charged them (the dealer) more than anticipated.
Click to expand...

Sounds like the Dealer eats the cost. contract negotiated is contract negotiated. IF the dealer made a mistake, they eat the cost. besides, I am sure the 90 bucks or whatever is not going to break them.
 
I still haven't heard any of you "stick-it-to-the dealer" guys comment on how you'd handle the error if the dealer admitted a mistake in your favor.

You'd be all over getting your money back, I'm guessing. Sure glad I'm not in the car bidnit.
 
philsey said:
I still haven't heard any of you "stick-it-to-the dealer" guys comment on how you'd handle the error if the dealer admitted a mistake in your favor.

You'd be all over getting your money back, I'm guessing. Sure glad I'm not in the car bidnit.
Click to expand...
The dealer would never call.

When I paid for my 4Runner, they tried to add a rider to the contract putting me on the hook for any registration costs above the amount they were charging me. What the rider did NOT include was a provision that any overage be returned to me. I refused to initial it and insisted they remove it or I would walk away from the deal, taking my cashier's check with me. They printed a new contract in two minutes that did not include the rider.

And let's keep this in context... it is the dealer's job to sell cars. They employ people who do nothing but go to the DMV and pay these fees, so I find it hard to believe that they don't know exactly how much it costs to register a vehicle in their own state.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 197 (members: 4, guests: 193)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,306
Messages
3,554,046
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top