OFFICE ADDRESS
The Law Offices of Hovanes Margarian
13425 Ventura Blvd.
Suite 303
Sherman Oaks
CA 91423
818.990.0418
Below is a list of auto dealer activities which may signal possible auto fraud in your automobile purchase or lease transaction of a vehicle in California. Switching the consumer from a sale to a lease without full disclosure The sale of a vehicle which was previously repurchased from a prior owner as a lemon without full disclosure to the consumer The sale of a vehicle that was previously salvaged as a total wreck without full disclosure to the consumer The sale of the trade-in vehicle and then later undoing the transaction Failing to provide the consumer with a written contract in the language in which the consumer negotiated the …
Categories: General Articles
Tags: .trade in vehicle, auto fraud, automobile fraud, Fraud, lemon, Negative Equity, rental vehicle, salvaged, total wreck, vehicle history
After receiving a lawsuit, the Dealer will often investigate what happened by talking to each of the people involved in the sale. These interviews can be video recorded, tape recorded, or other notes made. It is not unusual for the employees to be asked to write down everything they can recall about the deal, step by step, in as much detail as possible, in order to aid in the defense of the lawsuit. Sales persons, and F & I people, may actually keep a diary of their deals and potential customers, too.
Categories: General Articles
Tags: dealer, deals, F & I people, potential customers, receiving a lawsuit, sales persons, tape recorded, video recorded
After the deal has been bought, and closed, the Dealer often has an employee whose job is to “clean up” the Deal File. This person usually has a checklist, real or mental, which they go by in order to be certain that nothing is missed. They look to see that every required form is signed and in the file, that all blanks on the forms have been filled in where necessary, that extra forms (often signed in blank at the F & I closing) are discarded. In other words, their job is to “purge” the file and make the file reflect a “clean” deal with nothing unusual and nothing …
Categories: General Articles
Tags: all blanks on the forms have been filled, clean up" the Deal File, sales process
Now, the Dealer has to sell “the paper”. That means the Dealer has to get the Bank or some other lender to buy the retail instalment sales contract or the lease agreement, if they haven’t already. Most of the time, the Dealer has gotten a tentative (or even final) loan approval on the deal before the car is actually delivered to the customer. One thing also to be aware of when you finance the purchase of a car through a dealer is that dealers receive a kickback from the lenders for the privilege of faxing your credit application to the lender. The dealer and lender share in an undisclosed …
At this point the sales person will return and escort the customer to their newly purchased car. With all the paperwork signed, the car Dealer doesn’t want the customer to linger (they might take the time to read what they just signed). This is the emotional “high” of the transaction for the customer. They think they have just “beat the house” on their hard-won deal and they are ready to strut out of the dealership and drive off into the sunset. The Dealer wants to encourage that. There is a psychological aspect to putting the car over the curb and the Dealer knows that if the customer figures out …
Of course, some dealerships just “pack” it into the deal without making the customer fully aware of the additional cost for these items by using the “just sign here, and here, and here” approach to the closing process, with the documents all stacked up one on top of another and the friendly Business Manager holding the stack still with one hand while turning the pages one at a time with the other hand and pointing to the signature line (often marked ahead of time with an “x”). “I’ll give you a copy of all this paperwork right after I process it” is a good line to trivialize the event …
At the height of the ether, the customer is “t.o.’ed” (turned over to the Dealership Finance Manager). This person’s job is to close the deal and maximize the profit in the process. If done really well, the customer will never know how bad it really is. Much like passing the baton in a relay race, the smoother that the Turnover is executed, the less likely it is that the customer will expect what is about to happen next. At this point, the customer actually thinks the hard part is over with and that all they have to do is sign some papers. After all, that’s what the sales person …
The sales person calls the attention to all the attributes of the new(er) car and all the negative aspects of the old(er) car while working the deal. All the usual factors are in play: mileage, age, options, equipment, plus the usual personal factors that are customer-specific. The idea is to get the customer so bind up in the idea of getting the new car, and how much it will improve their life, the envy of others, family harmony, their peer reputation, etc., that they lose track of the numbers in the deal. This is called putting the customer in the ether. The deeper the ether, the higher the gross …
Categories: General Articles
Tags: dealer, egative aspects of the old(er) car, soft add-on's, Turnover
When you have to land the customer on a car but you don’t find out what they want, the customers will wander around the lot, poking their head into every car, test driving who knows what, until hours have gone by and nothing has been accomplished. The dealer wants to hold back all of that by asking the customer what kind of car they are interested in, sedan, mini van, sports car, pickup truck, or whatever. Next,figure out if the customer likes a particular make, Ford, Chevy, Chrysler, whatever. Find out what color the customer likes. Surprisingly, many customers buy by color and style first and the model second. …
Categories: General Articles
Tags: car's problems, dealer, land the customer on a car, malunctions
Next, you have to land the customer on a car. If you don’t find out what they want, and “land” them on it, the customer will wander around the lot, poking their head into every car, test driving who knows what, until hours have gone by and nothing has been accomplished. The dealer wants to avoid all of that by asking the customer what kind of car they are looking for, sedan, mini van, sports car, pickup truck, or whatever. Next, find out if the customer likes a particular make, Ford, Chevy, Chrysler, whatever. Figure out what color the customer likes. Surprisingly, many customers buy by color and style …
Categories: General Articles
Tags: Closer, cost issue comes up, Finance Manager, payment, payment topic, price discussions, sales person, the customer never realizes
