Let Me Tell You A Story of A Crooked Car Dealership...Warning, long...

[dolphin]

Back in September ds was working 2 jobs and living in Henderson, NV. His truck quit on him so he and his roommate went to a car dealership in Las Vegas and they were assured they could each get a car. They had a program where if you bought a 'newer' car and had a co-signer you got a car. The roommate had no problem and her brother co-signed for her and she got a 'newer' car.

Dh agreed to co-sign for J's car (I know, stupid on our part) but he never talked to the dealership. I am the one who spoke to the dealership. We just faxed a copy of his drivers license and mine to them after ds called and talked to us. We were told the deal went through so off ds went with his 'newer' car. A week later we received a copy of the paperwork and guess what? ... Every bit of the paperwork, loan, title, insurance and all was in dh's name (only) so basically, dh bought a car sight unseen!@! But, they let ds sign all of the paperwork including the title! And, ds wasn't even insured to drive the car!

We contacted the dealership and told them that they had made a crooked deal using dh's information and they said 'too bad' because since we had faxed his ID with his signature on it, they had dh's permission and it was a 'done deal'. They said the only way they would take the car back is if we paid them back about $3000.00 in Taxes and Fees that they had already paid by then. We called the bank that accepted the loan and they said we could voluntarily turn the car back in but it would still be considered a reprosession and go against dh's credit and we would owe not only the taxes but whatever amount above what it was resold for. Meanwhile, ds lost one of his jobs.

I contactd an attorney here in town about it but he said that yes it was a crooked deal but it would be difficult to do anything about it since these car dealerships know the in's and out's of the law.

Next ds lost his second job and his roommate decided to move back with family since she lost her job also and was freaking out on how to pay for her car and wouldn't renew the apartment lease. So ds moved home and got a job which he promptly quit in 2 weeks due to his anger issues. Then he got a job making only $90 a week, not nearly enough to pay for the car. So we set up payment arrangement and made our 1st payment on the car just to keep our credit from getting worse.

Meanwhile, dh and I add ds to our insurance at a huge cost so he could drive the vehicle to find work since we didn't have another operating vehicle he could drive. I go to Missouri for an emergency and called the bank where the car loan was and told them everything that happened with this dealership and our financial situation and that the dealership had let a 20 year old kid drive off with a vehicle that wasn't even his. They said they would investigate but essentially, dh had just bought himself a car. They called me back and said we could file charges against ds for using dh's SS# but we said no because he thought he was actually the owner and that dh was only the co-signer as well. After all, he signed all the papers with his own name!

We took the car away from ds since he was not working and we were responsible for it.

So, Wednesday evening we got a call from the bank and it was a head guy who had reviewed all of the paperwork from the dealership/sale. He said they got several papers without signatures at all including the title copy that ds had signed!??? The dealership sent in a new one to them that was blank! They even had a copy of a drivers license in there from someone none of us even knows! He believed everything we had told them about the dealership. He said he was MAKING the dealership take back the car and they would be responsible for eating all of the almost $3000 in taxes and fees that they paid and that the bank would wipe the loan free from their computers. We told them we could not take the car back because we wouldn't have a way to get back home so he said he would send one of his agents to come and get it and provide us with a letter stating that we were free and clear of all financial responsibility for the car and nothing would be reported to the credit agency.

They were supposed to come and get it last Thursday but didn't show up so we're just waiting now for it to be gone! We are getting nervous about it but can't call the guy back until Tuesday. We put the car in the back yard so that "his agent" couldn't just haul it off without our getting the letter stating that we were free and clear of it all. If we don't get that before the car leaves the yard it could easily be considered a reposession. Whew!!!!!!!!

[FrugalMomof3]

OMG I am sorry you are having such a hard time with this car, the things these dealers do, makes me wary of going to purchase a car in the future.

[YankeeMom]

It does not surprise me in the least. Stuff like that was a BIG BIG reason dh left the car dealership last year after only a month.

About 12 years ago, we were also screwed by a car dealership. My late husband was NOT working. I was working as a pizza delivery person. Our car got wrecked, so we had to go car shopping. We wanted a used car.
They refused to show us used cars (and we were too stupid to leave & go somewhere else). They basically convinced us that we could afford a BRAND NEW CAR because if the bank approved us, that meant we could afford it (so freaking laughable now).

Then they LIED on the bank application so we could get approved. We found out later, when we could NOT afford it and had to voluntarily surrender it that the car dealership had put on the application that late dh was working full time (he wasn't working period) and that was the only way we got the loan.

We didn't get any retribution from that deal. We ended up having to pay the difference in $$ when the bank auctioned off the car and had that on our credit for 5 yrs.

[Dixie]

What a nightmare.

[Nada.Leona]

Good goddess, what a mess! You're right to be cautious now, keep a good eye on that car and the keys around your neck til you get that little piece of paper. Good luck, keep us posted!