Tag Archives: trade-in

Car dealer scams vary and being aware of them becomes more and more important. Awareness may save you a lot of trouble and money. So make sure that you have done your homework accurately enough and are ready to enter the car dealership without the potential threat of becoming a car dealer fraud victim. Below are some useful questions to ask a used car dealer: If the car is certified, can you show me the mechanic’s pre-certification inspection? Every certified car has to go through a car inspection before it can be certified. Ask to see that paperwork to find out what was fixed. It’s a good piece of …

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Car dealer tricks are various and may be used by the car dealer in various situations. The aim of car dealer scams is to get more money out of you and sell cars that wouldn’t be sold so easily in case no tricks were used. High Balling An excessive price will be offered for your trade in. Some customers are attracted by this thinking that they are getting one over on the dealer. Rest assured, however, that you’ll pay for it in the end, when the dealer charges too much for your new car. Loss Leader  Advertising A car dealer will identify one/two cars of a particular model. These …

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Trade-in Scam Many customers who trade in their old cars become victims of car dealers who are not truthful about the value of the trade-in. Customers who are unaware of what they can get for their car if they were to sell it today are likely to accept statements like these and may walk away with very little money received for their trade-in. What you should do: •    If you are not sure of your car’s condition and/or its market value, you may want to take it to a few dealerships. Tell them that you are thinking of trading in your vehicle and see what they offer you for …

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Below you may read 4 of car dealer advertising scams that are used for tricking naive buyers. 1) Push, Pull, or Drag Sale There are ads claiming that no matter what condition your trade-in is in, they’ll give you $1500, $2000, or even $3000 for it in trade. Foolish people get tricked.  Some even drive off with a new or used car.  They are given $3,000 for their 1983 Chevette and feel like they have just ripped somebody off.  The truth is that they have probably got ripped off. Most car dealers have nearly $2000 to $2500 worth of markup built into the price of their lower end vehicles …

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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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Scam #1: “We promise to pay off your old trade-in.” How the car scam works: Due to passive car sales some dealerships are shutting down and not paying the loans off on customer’s trade-in. This leaves you responsible for paying off two vehicles. How to avoid the scam: Make sure you fax all the dealership’s paperwork showing that they are paying off the loan to your previous loan company. No guarantees but this should get you off the hook in case the dealership chooses not to pay. Better idea, payoff your old loan or sell the car to someone else. That way you’ll avoid this mess. Scam #2: “We’ll …

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Dishonest car dealers might fiddle with your financing as a way to jack up their profits. The most popular way of this car scam involves calling back car buyers into the dealership a week or so after purchasing a car. Once you’re back, the car dealer tries to renegotiate the interest rate based on whether you buy extra services, accessories or warranties. They might also try to focus on the amount of the monthly payment to divert attention from the fact that the total amount being financed has gone up. Another variation of this scam involves dealers letting you drive off the lot without finalizing the loan papers, promising …

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Title fraud is on the rise because of the current recession and is often the result of poor business management on the dealer’s part. It mostly happens when dealers on the verge of bankruptcy, without enough money to keep operations going, can’t pay off the liens on titles for the vehicles they’ve purchased and sold. Surprisingly, a lot of car dealers don’t technically own the vehicles they sell. They borrow money from financiers, called “flooring agents,” to pay for them. Once a dealer sells a car paid for by a flooring agent, he or she is supposed to pay off the agent to get the title — or clear …

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In our previous blogs we have already presented some tricky questions that may lead to dealer fraud. Below are three more questions and the most preferable ways of answering them in order to avoid becoming a dealer fraud victim. 1. “What were you hoping to get for your trade?” This may be an honest question, but why tell the price first? If you say you want $10,000 and the car is really worth $12,000, you’ll give the dealer a $2,000 present. It’s essential to have a realistic idea of what your trade-in is worth and let the dealer throw out the first number. Don’t get confused in case he/she …

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Car dealers usually ask key questions for diverting your attention and maximizing their profit. Knowing these questions and refusing to take the bait will help you stay in control of the negotiations and get the best deal. Below are some of these tricky questions and the best ways of answering them and thus avoiding various dealer tricks. 1. “What kind of monthly payment are you looking for?” In some cases, this question doesn’t presuppose any upcoming vehicle scam. If you’re looking to buy a $50,000 car on a budget of $300 per month with a $1,000 down payment and no trade-in, the dealer will know right away that you’re …

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