It’s been two weeks since I “bought” my car. Everything seemed to have worked out great. Although I didn’t get the rate, I wanted the payment was manageable. About a week after I got the car I received a call from the dealer saying I needed to come in and resign the contract. Cool. I figured it was because I needed to pay the additional $500 for the down payment, which we had agreed to initially. It wasn’t. He continued and explained that the bank that was financing the loan came back and said they were increasing the interest rate by 1.5%. Mistake number 1. Now, remember, I had the vehicle for one week at this point. Of course, I was quite confused by this point and asked him to clarify what he meant, as the contract I signed and agreed to didn’t make any allowance for this kind of change. Or so I thought.
Then he pulled out the dealer jargon…
He said you should to the financial contingency form you signed. In my Meet Dallas post, I explained I signed a lot of papers. The man who was closing my deal was training someone else, and he neglected to go through all the information thoroughly. Mistake number 2. He continued saying my payment would increase by about $5 a month and when I came in to resign I could make the other half of the down payment. I was relieved by the only slight increase and agreed to come in and resign. By this point, I loved the car and rationalized $5 wasn’t a good enough reason to say goodbye.
So that Friday I went in to pay the other half. Everything went smoothly, and I went along business as usual.
Friday comes around again, and I get home from work, and my mom says someone from the bank financing my car called and says I should return their call ASAP. I didn’t think much of it honestly and called back to learn it was a simple welcome call. Little did I know. I verified my employers, and they said to have a nice day.
The next day, the financial manager called me and said the bank returned my contract and I needed to return the car or come in with a co-signer immediately. My first reaction was, “Funny joke, guy what’s up?” He wasn’t joking. I asked him to explain. He went on saying they were unable to verify my income. After going back and forth for about 15 minutes, we were unable to come to a resolution, and I told him I would call him back shortly. My dad had a preaching engagement down south that evening, and we wouldn’t return home till early Sunday morning. So I had to think fast because we were already late and there was no way we would be able to take care of it right away. So outside of being completely shocked and disappointed by the news I now I had to do the one thing I was trying to avoid from day one; get my parents involved. I explained to them what happened. They weren’t happy for several reasons. My dad took over from this point because I honestly didn’t know what to say. They eventually agreed that on Sunday afternoon we come in to do the resigning with my dad as the cosigner.
Here is where we get to today’s lesson: Being Spotted.
My dad was a car salesman for three years and what I am about to explain is the very reason he left the business.
Being Spotted or Yo-Yo ed
According to the car dealer dictionary, being spotted is when you complete all phases of the purchase the same day. However, a few days the dealer calls the customer back and claims they have to sign a new finance contract or put more money down or that the lender requires the buyer to get a service contract or extended warranty in order to get loan approval, etc. It is used by a dealer to strong arm the buyer into buying more soft add-on products in the deal.
So after my dad explained this and gave me the, “I told you so speech” we had to come up with a plan of action.
Now I know for some you might still not understand how I was wronged. But basically, the day I left the dealership, I was not fully approved for the car. But they were pressed to “close the deal” and let me sign all of the paperwork believing the car was mine as long as I made my payments.
Now, where I dropped the ball was not getting them to explain in detail the papers I was signing and because my dad wasn’t I didn’t have any defense against this tactic.
So now heartbroken at the thought of losing Dallas, I also had to go through this horrible negotiation process. But I had a long 3-hour drive to think about it. By Sunday evening although willing I told my dad I didn’t want to go through with a deal for no other reason than as a consumer I DID NOT like how I was treated. Furthermore, knowing all that I do now, waiting a few more months seems like the smarter choice. I may seem petty, but knowing how Tom treated me after I asked if there was anything I needed to know about the financing he didn’t take special to care to verify all my information, which was where the problem came in. But to spare all the details, they didn’t go through my application thoroughly and missed A LOT of important details. So after they realized their mistake, after already spotting me in the car, they tried to make me feel like I made a mistake. They approached me with a “you should’ve known” mentality. They tried to deflect from their mistake, and I decided I wasn’t obligated to doing business with them.
I decided if I was going to spend $20,000, it should be with people I felt respected me.
In all of that here’s what I learned
It’s ok to be independent, but take heed to good counsel. Translation: Listen to yo mama!
READ EVERYTHING YOU SIGN! Don’t skim, don’t let anyone else explain, but you read and get all the necessary details so you can protect yourself from being deceived.
Don’t be hasty.
Follow your gut. Sidenote: something felt very shady about the guy I was working with, but I ignored the feeling because of my excitement.
Explore all your options and do your research.
Finally- DONT SETTLE BUT BE WILLING TO COMPROMISE. Yes, that sounds like an oxymoron but what I mean is don’t be so set on one thing that you won’t consider other options, but also don’t be so slack that you will take anything that comes your way
So you might be wondering, what’s she going do?
Well, I am already in contact with a financial advisor at my local credit union, and she gave some great advice. But you will have to wait to hear about when Dallas Returns. My faith is not and can never be shaken! I trust God and know he has all things in control! He’s brought me too far to leave me now.
I shared this experience not so anyone would feel sorry for me, but so young first-time car buyers won’t have to go through the same thing. Avoid this experience by any means necessary. But don’t worry, Dallas will be back soon and better than ever!
My Directive: Be smart, follow your instincts, and be willing to wait for great things because nothing good comes don’t come easy so don’t expect anything less from greatness.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your understanding; In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5
Bye For Now Dallas
