[BrantV]

Since there are going to be a lot of new owners real soon, it's probably worth a little refresher on some of the sneaky tactics that dealers pull.

http://www.carbuyingtips.com/scams.htm#Scam5

It's a good list of 10, plus two "bone us" scams that dealers pull.

Your #1 step should be to acquire your financing yourself, through your local bank. Many will reduce your APR by 0.25 if you set up an automatic payment.

HTH,
Brant

[KarmanS]

Thanks for that Brant. Should come in handy to avoid any 'traps' from the $tealers (dealers)!

[chiph]

Thanks for the post Brant.

Lot of disreputable sellers out there -- good to know some of the tricks. There have been a couple of people on the Compuserve Automobile forum who have had the "Sorry, you didn't qualify for the loan" scam pulled on them. Like the guy on carbuyingtips.com says, it's usually those who don't have good credit that are taken advantage of.

Chip H.

[gromit]

Great website!

We had a dealer here in Western New York who was taking cars in trade (looks like over 100) and not paying off the remaining loan amounts as promised. Totally screwing up some peoples credit through no fault of thier own. He is looking forward to some quality time in a 6x10 foot cell. I wouldn't want to be him:

Inmate: Welcome to the slammer.
Car Dealer: Hello.
Inmate: What are you in for?
Car Dealer: Well you see, I sold cars...
Inmate(off camera) Why you dirty..
Sounds of punches, kicks and extreme violence. A piercing scream then - nothing.

End of story

A car dealer adventure.