Car Buying - Avoiding Financing Scams
Auto Financing Scams
Car dealers are often portrayed as predators just waiting for an
unsuspecting customer to come along. This is because many people
believe that they are always on the prowl for unsuspecting
buyers that are not very knowledgeable about cars. This can be
unfair because we can argue that there are car dealers out there
who would not cheat just to get an extra profit.
How do you tell the difference?
To avoid becoming a victim of sneaky car dealers, look at the
following auto financing scams.
Yoyo scam
You will be allowed by the dealer to bring the car home as soon
as possible. The dealer will take care of the financing, a few
days later he will contact you again and tell you that there was
a problem with your financing plan. He will tell you to set up a
new financing scheme through him which, of course, will be at a
higher cost and this will also entail a very high profit on the
dealer's part.
Be wary of this trick and avoid it at all costs if you detect
it. If you have a bad credit standing, don't have your financing
done by the dealer and make arrangements for your own financing.
If you ever do avail of the dealer's financing, you should never
drive the car back to your home immediately. Wait for at least
24 hours just to make sure that the processing of your financing
scheme has been completed already. By allowing 1 whole day to
pass by, you are assured that the dealer cannot use this scam on
you.
Window etching trick
Window etching is a very common scam. What the dealer will do is
to offer to etch the VIN number of your car onto the window of
the car for a price. Basically, the price ranges from as low as
$300 to as high as $1,000. Some buyers think that they did a
good job by being able to talk down the price to a few hundred
dollars, but unfortunately for them, a few hundred dollars is
still a good amount of money. The best way to avoid this kind of
scam is for you to buy an etching kit that you can do on your
own. This is available in most auto shops and costs around $20.
See how much they profit from you!
Preparation fees
For preparing your car, the dealer will often add an additional
preparation fee to your bill. Just to conduct a test drive,
replace fuses, or take the car's plastic cover off will have
your bill increasing by at least $500! If you visit other shops,
you can get the information that these add on costs are already
included in the MSRP as set by the manufacturer. Some dealers
automatically add it to the buyer's order to make it look
mandatory. To take care of this scam, you can ask the dealer to
classify it as credit (it should be identical to the amount of
the preparation fee) on the following line. If the dealer does
not agree to this, you can just simply walk away from the
dealership.
Market adjustment
The dealer will convince you that the vehicle you want is
selling like hot cakes and very popular. In order to sell you
the vehicle, they will do some "market adjustments" amounting to
a few thousand dollars. This is usually indicated by a tag near
the MSRP tag set by the manufacturer. Even if the car you want
is very popular and is very much in demand, if it is in stock
you should not be tempted because getting a "popular" car is not
worth it if you have to pay a few thousand dollars more. You
should never pay more than the MSRP set by the manufacturers. If
you do, then you are allowing others to take advantage of you.
Warranty extension
Although this type of scam is old already, it is still being
used and there are many who fall for this trick. What happens in
this kind of scam is that when you make a loan for the car, the
dealer will tell you that you are required to purchase an
extended warranty because it is one of the conditions of the
bank. There is a simple way of avoiding this scam. Ask the
dealer to specify clearly in writing that the extended warranty
is required for the loan to be approved. The dealer will most
probably find a way to have it excluded. If he persists in
including the extended warranty, do not do business with this
guy and go to other dealerships.
These are some of the most common auto financing scams that are
utilized by some car dealers. Always keep these in mind if you
are going to buy a car. If you or a friend were treated fairly
by a dealer in the past, consider using the same dealership
again. It's a good indication that they do care about their
customers and aren't just looking for a "fast buck."
Think very carefully and do not buy on impulse. Good luck to you
and go get that car!