Dealer is trying to rip me off and back out of deal

[mkny73]

I have negotiated a pretty good deal on a V8 w/tech Genesis 4.6 for $37,000. I also was able to get a very good trade in along with this. They assured me that they could get me my car within 1 to 2 days. It has now been a week and the dealer wants me to return the loaner Genesis I have and void this deal!

I spend many many hours negotiating the deal and trade in. Although I enjoyed this experience the first time, I do not have the time nor energy to go through this process again!

I think that the dealer maybe getting cold feet about the price and trade in and is creating excuses to not deliver the car to me. Hyundai America has no been very helpful in rectifying this situation. Has anyone had similar experiences? What should I do?

 

[speakthetruth]

hyundai has nothing to do with the independent negotiations that you arranged with a dealer so dont blame them. anytime anyone has an issue with a dealer on dealer only promised things they run to hyundai, this happens everyday with every manufacturers dealer( not singling you out).

 

[dataguy]

Did you sign a contract?

 

[moose66]

Sounds like they can't get the car from another dealer at the price they offered it to you. Dealers often trade vehicles with other dealers when they don't have what customers want on their own lots. I assume you don't want to wait to order one from the factory. And even if you did, you probably wouldn't get the vehicle at that price.

That does sound like a decent deal. Especially if you feel like you are getting decent money for your trade. Hope it works out!

 

[Mark_888]

Did you sign a contract?

The Statute of Frauds requires that contracts for the purchase of goods over $500 must be in writing in order for the agreement to be enforceable. The agreement does not have to complicated, but it must be have clear and specific terms. Verbal agreements are not enforceable.

 

[mkny73]

Not only did I go through the 1.5 hours of signing every contract imaginable, the dealer informed me that the entire process would be video taped and audio recorded. They also informed my insurance company of the vehicle VIN.

So yes, a written contract exists and was agreed to. Plus, consideration was given on this contact in the form of my trade in. This dealership is trying to breach our contract because they are probably finding it harder to acquire a for me or is having seller's remorse. My lawyer told me that the dealer is trying to get me to agree with voiding this deal but is still liable to honoring this contract.

Thank you all for your comments.

 

[mkny73]

hyundai has nothing to do with the independent negotiations that you arranged with a dealer so dont blame them. anytime anyone has an issue with a dealer on dealer only promised things they run to hyundai, this happens everyday with every manufacturers dealer( not singling you out).

I agree with your comment but Hyundai can help the dealer locate a vehicle and may try to apply some pressure to the dealer to act with some integrity. All I have to say is that I have never had a problem like this with my previous 2 Mercedes.

 

[MattG]

If there is a contract, then you've got them.

Just remember, though, there is no law that prevents them from trying to get you to back out of the deal, so just relax, put mellow tunes on your iPod, and keep that bottle of antacid handy.

Once they realize you are not backing down, they'll honor the contract.

Best of luck.

 

[Mark_888]

Not only did I go through the 1.5 hours of signing every contract imaginable, the dealer informed me that the entire process would be video taped and audio recorded. They also informed my insurance company of the vehicle VIN.

So yes, a written contract exists and was agreed to. Plus, consideration was given on this contact in the form of my trade in. This dealership is trying to breach our contract because they are probably finding it harder to acquire a for me or is having seller's remorse. My lawyer told me that the dealer is trying to get me to agree with voiding this deal but is still liable to honoring this contract.

Thank you all for your comments.

If you have a written contract, then you need to pursue legal remedies to get the contract honored. However, there is one other thing you can do and that is contact the consumers affairs reporter at your local TV station. They love stories like this (car dealerships ripping off consumers), and if they contact the dealer as part of news story about your problem, the dealer will probably come clean.

 

[ctrcbob]

Lets see if I understand you correct.
1. You signed papers on a car you never saw or test drove.
2. You left your trade with them.
3. You allowed them to let you take a "loaner" Genesis until a car that you never saw, comes in.

This is not the way to buy a car.

Assuming they still have your trade, and also assuming you did not give them any money, and to avoid further problems, I would just return the loaner Genesis, get my trade-in back, and kiss them goodby. These are not people you want to do business.

If they no longer have your trade, you are screwed, (excuse my French) and will have lots of problems getting your money back.

Again, this is not the way to buy a car.

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[mkny73]

If you have a written contract, then you need to pursue legal remedies to get the contract honored. However, there is one other thing you can do and that is contact the consumers affairs reporter at your local TV station. They love stories like this (car dealerships ripping off consumers), and if they contact the dealer as part of news story about your problem, the dealer will probably come clean.

Thanks so much for your advice. I love those ideas. They have not tried to contact me today and force me into voiding the deal or hassle me on anything. In fact, I think I will contact some local stations now as back up!

 

[mkny73]

If there is a contract, then you've get them.

Just remember, though, there is no law that prevents them from trying to get you to back out of the deal, so just relax, put mellow tunes on your iPod, and keep that bottle of antacid handy.

Once they realize you are not backing down, they'll honor the contract.

Best of luck.

Thanks for the wise words and I think it is working. I am very glad right now that I have all these pieces of evidence documenting this deal! Will let you all know how this works out.

 

[PINGGOLF]

moved to the dealer forum

 

[Mark_888]

Lets see if I understand you correct.
1. You signed papers on a car you never saw or test drove.
2. You left your trade with them.
3. You allowed them to let you take a "loaner" Genesis until a car that you never saw, comes in.

This is not the way to buy a car.

Assuming they still have your trade, and also assuming you did not give them any money, and to avoid further problems, I would just return the loaner Genesis, get my trade-in back, and kiss them goodby. These are not people you want to do business.

If they no longer have your trade, you are screwed, (excuse my French) and will have lots of problems getting your money back.

Again, this is not the way to buy a car.

Good advice. I had a similar situation where the dealer had to trade a Genesis he had in stock with another dealer 300 miles away to get the one I wanted. Both cars were trucked since I told them it had to have less than 25 miles on odometer, and the other dealer would not take a car that driven 300 miles either. All of this was in writing.

It was going to take them 2 days to get the car from the other dealer, and they wanted me to leave my trade-in and take a Genesis demo. I told them no-way I would do that. I wonder what would have happened if I took the demo and left my trade-in?

When I signed the agreement to purchase (which had an escape clause for me if the car had any cosmetic or mechanical problems. or more than 25 miles of OD), they wanted a deposit. I thought that was fair since the deposit would be refundable if I declined the car based on a problem (or more than 25 miles on OD, etc). I was paying cash for the car, so they asked for about $28K net of trade-in. I told them I would give a couple hundred dollars for a deposit, but no way would I pay the entire amount up front before delivery. I am not sure what that was about or what surprise I would have gotten if I had forked over the full amount before delivery.

One other thing I have learned over the years of buying cars is that when you give them the keys to your trade-in for them to have it appraised, make sure you have another set of keys on you so you can leave anytime you want.

 

[Richard Ft. Lauderdale]

mkny, I hope you can hold out longer than the dealer can. Just once I'd like to see a dealer get the the short end of the stick.

Good luck!

 

[mkny73]

mkny, I hope you can hold out longer than the dealer can. Just once I'd like to see a dealer get the the short end of the stick.

Good luck!

Thanks for your comment. I will give a full debrief when this ordeal is over. I have not heard back any harassing phone calls from the dealer and I hope that this means that they are getting off their butts and getting me one of the 10+ 4.6 w/tech black on black cars available within 30 miles!

I am with you, I would love to be able to out dealer the dealer here!

 

[mkny73]

My local sketchy dealer finally has some v8's in and seems less than thrilled to do a trade for the color that I want. Due to the sheer exhaustion of this process and the fact although Black was my first preference, Titanium Grey was my close second option, I caved in and said that I would take Titanium.

Now the dealer is trying to get me pay for tinting even though I ask that my car not be pinstriped and the dealer has the $200 pinstriping baked into the cost of the car. I reiterated that I did not want the pinstriping and to give me the tint instead. Am I being unreasonable? Also wouldn't the dealer do everything they could to make up for unacceptable behavior and for being flexible on color?

DO the dealer surveys have any teeth at all? Thanks all for your help and will post the final resolution and deal info, with pictures.

 

[dataguy]

Simply put, the only thing you can hold the dealer to is what is on the contract and on the due bill. If the tint was not on the due bill, you can't hold them to any verbal commitment. It works the other way too. If they want to charge you for the pinstriping, then you can point back to the sale price of the vehicle on the contract.

You can ask or complain, but it's up to them to decide whether to tint the car or not. It's only a couple hundred out of pocket to do the tint, and personally, I wouldn't push my luck over that little.

And, as an aside, who the hell pinstripes cars anymore? I'd laugh at a dealer that did that, and after I stopped laughing, I'd tell them I'm not paying for it AND they need to take it off before I buy the car.

 

[mkny73]

Simply put, the only thing you can hold the dealer to is what is on the contract and on the due bill. If the tint was not on the due bill, you can't hold them to any verbal commitment. It works the other way too. If they want to charge you for the pinstriping, then you can point back to the sale price of the vehicle on the contract.

You can ask or complain, but it's up to them to decide whether to tint the car or not. It's only a couple hundred out of pocket to do the tint, and personally, I wouldn't push my luck over that little.

And, as an aside, who the hell pinstripes cars anymore? I'd laugh at a dealer that did that, and after I stopped laughing, I'd tell them I'm not paying for it AND they need to take it off before I buy the car.

Thanks for your reply and I agree with you. I know that the new car off the truck has not been pinstriped and the dealer already charged me for this.

At the end of the day $200 to $300 should not matter to either of us, but nothing wrong with making the sketchy dealer either refund me for no striping or give me tints.

 

[tacgen]

At the end of the day $200 to $300 should not matter to either of us, but nothing wrong with making the sketchy dealer either refund me for no striping or give me tints.

$200 to $300 probably does not matter much to you or other buyers, either as a percent of the total purchase price or as part of the payments spread over X number of years. But to the dealer, that is $200 or $300 cash that is probably a decent percent of their profit.