Saturday, July 25, 2009

Buyers be aware of Dealers scams! Especially with the new CARS program..

Ok, so we went to the dealership today and a couple of red flags on the deal.
First the salesmen told me there would be a $50 Document Fee, which is in direct contradiction to the CARS program guidelines. Second he told me that if there is an excess Scrapage value above the $4500 federal credit the dealership takes the first $50, which is allowable under the CARS guidelines. It's Saturday and the program just went into effect yesterday, so it's understandable if some dealers don't fully understand the program, but it's more likely that they're counting on buyers not understanding either.

Buyer Beware! Go to the CARS site http://cars.gov and click on the link to the PDF file, print it out if you need and highlight the passages that are directly in conflict with anything the dealer says. Remember there are always other dealerships and other deals.

In this case it's very stupid of the salesman to try and pull this kind of stunt, there are several Mercury dealerships in my area and as many Ford dealerships also. I can switch dealerships with no problem. It's not as if I'm looking for a rare vehicle, I know there are at least 7 sped'd like I want in the local area.

I'm waiting until Monday to decide how to procede, I've told the salesman that he can't have the $50 Doc Fee. The ball is in his court, deal like a professional or play games and I walk! FoMoCo are you reading this? Email me and I'll give you the dealership's name as well as the salesman.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi,
I used to sell new and used cars, And while dealers do charge some extra fees. I never heard of that one.
If you don't trust the salesman, get a different one. If you don't like the dealer, go to the next.
There will likely be a lot of confusion over this program. So it might be hard to find anyone who really understands it.
Just remember sign nothing, until your happy with all the details. And be prepared to walk away, if necessary. You may want to wait till Friday, July 31st. it will be the last day of the month and the Dealer will make a better offer. Also check and see what your car averages on Trade. In case they try to flood your head with too many numbers during price negotiations.

Good Luck,
T.D. Doering
www.Autorphan.com

Big Ford Fan said...

Troy, I don't really see this as a major problem, there are multiple dealerships within a reasonable distance of my home and plentiful supply of the exact vehicle with the same options.

I'll get the vehicle I want with the deal I'm looking for.

I checked out your site, it looks very very promissing, let me know when it's fully up and running and I'll put a link on my sidebar.