Tag Archives: dealer scam

Car scams do “chase” car buyers. Every year the number of car dealer fraud victims increases rapidly. The main concern is that newer and newer car selling scams are designed every day which are mainly based on older “classic “scams. Here are some of the most common auto dealer scams. • It is a common scam when a dealer claims that you are not eligible for competitive financing rate with your credit score. This is only true if you miss your payments or pay them with delay. Some dealers may try to convince you that the only option you have is to accept the financing and terms suggested by …

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Title washing scam results from the lack of a unified law regulating vehicle documentation in all the states. Title washing is used by car owners to “erase” the vehicle’s bad history in order to conceal from the buyer that it had a salvage title because of flood, severe accident or other damage. Title washing incidents increased after hurricane Katrina when many car dealers got stuck with excess of flood-damaged vehicles. Title washing is also frequently applied to “clipped” vehicles with the back and front coming from different cars, or rather of what was left of them after a crash. The process of title washing is very simple. Here is …

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The fake dealer scam is one of the numerous scams you may become victim of when purchasing a vehicle. Here is how this scam is designed. You are conducting an online search for a used car and come across a car for sale at a very good price, you contact the seller and they tell you the car is a fair distance away but they will pay for the cost to ship it to you, they ask you to pay via a wire service they use many times and you never see the money dealer or the cars for sale again. The scam is clever here as the money …

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“Contract Packing” – Adding unwanted options and accessories. Some dealerships “pack” a contract with add-ons like warranties, service contracts, options and accessories that you did not ask for. Common add-ons are “protection packages” and rust-proofing. What you should do: •    Before signing the contract, look at it carefully for any items you did not authorize. •    If an item was included for “free”, check to see that it is in the contract and that you were not charged for it. •    If you find any items that you simply don’t want, tell the salesman that you will not pay for it. Financing Fraud – Lying about credit scores Another …

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In order to avoid becoming a dealer fraud victim, one should have certain knowledge about the most common dealer scams. In this blog we will discuss the situations when a car dealership cancels the purchase contract and the options and rights you have in those cases. If the dealership cancels the contract within 10 days, you get your down payment or trade-in back. The purchase contract requires that the car dealer return to you everything given for the purchase. This includes your trade-in vehicle. If you gave a $2,000 down payment and a car as a trade-in, the car dealer must give you back both the $2,000 and the …

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We have discussed CA dealer fraud cases more than once. The one we will disclose today is a really dastard type of trick that dishonest car dealers will use on people with the least ability to pay.  The rationale is that if someone can hardly afford the car, they almost certainly can’t afford an attorney to represent them and will just “live with it.” Here’s how this dealer trick is set up.  You go to the car dealer and everything seems normal.  You find a car, negotiate the price and go into the “finance office.”  The finance manager then takes out a Retail Sales Installment Contract, which is a …

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If you have bad credit and want to buy a new car, you don’t have a lot of financing options. Therefore, you are likely to look for a car dealer who can provide the money required for the new car and encounter bad credit score scam. Car dealer loans are not that bad, however they are more likely to have unfavorable terms.  Below are the two most common car scams that you should always keep in mind. The Bouncing Check Scam Car dealers apply this scam to car buyers who managed to get the money for the purchase and will not ask the dealer for financing. The dealer will …

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Rolling back car’s odometer to increase its resale value is one of the oldest tricks in the book but there are ways for consumers to detect this dealer scam. Odometer rollback is harder today than it was thanks to computer technology and the availability of vehicle history reports. Some savvy individuals and unethical car dealers, however, are finding new ways to turn back the clock on the cars by rolling back their odometers and selling them for more than they’re worth. To help consumers to detect signs of  their car’s odometer  tampering, we’ve put together a list of things to look for. First of all, use CarFax or AutoCheck …

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Market adjustment fee is a scam that usually takes place with vehicles that go out of stock quickly. These are extra fees which car dealers add onto the price of certain types of popular vehicles. Since these vehicles are such a hot item, car dealers try to add this extra fee onto the vehicle purchase price. However, the truth is, no matter how popular a vehicle is, there is no reason for the consumer to have to pay above the MSRP. Consumers can easily avoid this dealer scam if they never agree to pay more than the MSRP. By paying more than the MSRP, the vehicle purchaser is in …

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The total amount that an individual pays for a vehicle should be one of the common dealership scam. There have been a lot of cases when car dealer has quoted a set price for the total purchase, however when the prospective car purchasers have come to sign the paperwork, they noticed that there was a large discrepancy between what was quoted by the dealer and what is being charged in the end. What may be even worse some consumers do sign the paperwork without thoroughly reading it and become a victim of this dealer scam. Consumers need to be aware of this type of deals. The best way to …

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