FallenAngel

Ok... so I had made a post a little bit ago about getting a 2005 Scion tC right. Before I even told them I wanted the car, they sat a paper in front of me showing me the price of the car was $16,887, and with my $1000 deposit brought it to $15,887... + tax, tag, and fees. I asked what fees. They said just basically the title and document fees... basically like $100 or $200. Ok... no biggie. My interest rate was astronomical, which is my fault for when I was younger and screwed up my credit... had to have my dad co-sign for me. Ok... no prob.

So Friday, I go to get the paperwork, sign my half and bring it down to my dad's in Virginia on Sunday to have him sign the other half. While we're going through the paperwork, I notice on TWO papers, they have the car listed as $19,500 approx. I stop in my tracks, and ask the salesman "What's up with this saying the car is almost $4,000 more than what you showed me it is?" After saying "ummmmm" and fumbling through some papers for a few minutes, he goes "OH! That's an extra $4,000 bank fee that the BANK charges for people with high risk credit". I go "ummm... why wasn't this disclosed to me beforehand?" He said they did tell me about it... which they did NOT. Whatever, I had to get to work. I take my papers, and I ended up not being able to make it down to my dad's on Sunday. But Saturday, I had a ride along with a York City police officer... whom during my ridealong, had asked me where I parked... up in the parking garage on the second level. She said that a lot of times drunks parked up there, and had hit cars parked up there in the past... so she brought me up there to move my car. She complimented me on my car, and I said thank you, that is if I get to keep it. She asked me to explain, and i did after I moved the car to somewhere where there was someone that could keep an eye on it. She mentioned to me that it was illegal for the salesman/car dealership to charge me a fee such as that... long story behind that, there's more details to the whole thing, but that's too much to type and this is already long enough as it is.

ANYWAY... I called a few other dealerships... and the one dealership I talked to, the guy kept saying "no no no no no... they can't do that. I've NEVER heard of a fee anywhere NEAR $4000... AND it's illegal for a car dealership to pass any bank fees THEY incur through a bank in financing cars onto the consumer." So... this sparked my interest. I called a lawyer, who confirmed the same thing... and wanted me to contact the consumer protection department in the Attorney General's office, and the BBB.

Yesterday, I called THE bank that approved the financing, and they told me that there ARE NO FEES like that they charge to a customer, that the only way there'd be extra fees is if I bought an extended warranty or such, and that they were all optional. So this has me steemed a bit.

So... I go to the dealership before work to talk to them about it. I tell them, that they need to show me documentation from the bank as to where the bank charged me that fee... which mind you with my 17.95% interest rate for being young and stupid and messing up my credit, would have turned that extra $4,000 into like $7,000 or so over hte course of the loan term. I told them that if they wanted to charge me that much for the USED tC, that they could put me into a new one for less than that... I'd be willing to work with them. The finance manager kept pointing to where they have the "Cash price" of the car listed as $19,500. I kept telling him... no... where in the bank work does it say that the $4,000 fee is to be charged to me. We went in circles like this for a while, and I was getting more and more ticked off, to put it nicely. I slipped and said the "F" word (in the context of "You don't understand, I want you to show me where the effing fee is that the 'bank' is charging ME")... and he goes "that's it, give me the key and get your sh** out of the car, I'm not selling this car to you". THEN they proceed to tell me that they're only giving me back $800 out of my $1000 deposit because I put miles on the car while they gave it to me on the dealer tag... to which I replied "oh no no no no no... the ONLY way you are permitted to take any money off of my deposit upon refunding me, is if you request that I bring the car back, and I keep it for a few days beyond the "return delivery date", in which you MAY charge me $75 a day that I don't return the car... that's on the back of your 'bank' paperwork... I read ALLLL the fine print at work on Friday". (I did at least get my $1000)

At that point I was sooooooo ticked off (to put it VERY mildly) that I went into a FULL anxiety attack. They "graciously" offered to give me a ride to work, I called my boss to let him know what's going on.... mid anxiety attack, and he really really wanted to call an ambulance for me (I am a 911 dispatcher). He told me to take the day off, I wouldn't get any points, just to go home, relax and take care of myself. My guess, is that they got caught doing something illegal (btw, they said they 'do this to all their customers')

So... now I have no car. I'm waiting to hear back from 2 dealerships at this moment about an approval for a BRAND NEW tC... of which is only hindering on talking to my landlord.

Now granted, I do know that not ALL car salesmen are scum... but MAKE SURE you read ALL the fine print, and check EVERY paper over to make sure you're not getting screwed too... oh... and whatever you do, don't go to Deihl Motors in or near York PA.

L4rry_B1rd

wow, Im glad you were a smart consumer and didnt let yourself get ripped off. You should really report that dealership for their shotty business practices. They need to be taken down for the crap they tried to pull on you. And Im sure your going to like your NEW tC even more than the used one. Good Luck with everything.

Matts_xB

I would contact scion's 1800 # and make sure that they put it on record for the dealership.
Im sure that you would be contacted from a different scion dealership and then you will get the car u want in a matter of a few days...

Hot06tC

Try giving Scion corporate a call. I'm sure they would like to hear your story.

ScionBandit

******** like that guy give Scion dealerships a bad name
i am sorry for the ordeal you have had to go through and that lil dueche trying to rip you off. you should contact Scions 1800# and go back and kick the sales guy in the *****, seriously

ichibansf

Good thing you read the fine print and educated yourself on their policies. I hope all goes well for you & your situation! =)

FallenAngel

Hmmmm... that's a very very VERY good idea. I just may have to do that. Actually, I think I'll do that now, as soon as my sister is off the phone. We'll see what they say!!

I'm a pretty nice gal... not hard to get along with at all........... until someone tries to screw me over. I'm going to be very depressed if I can't get into a tC though. I LOVED that car. And this is comming from a die hard Pontiac fan lol.

ack154

iTrader: (7)

Scion corporate can't do anything unfortunately... it's a used tC. Pure price means nothing and these guys are just trying to rip someone off.

L4rry_B1rd

its not about the pure pricing though, its about the bad business practices of the dealership trying to pass on a $4000 "bank charge" on the consumer.

which is illegal

ScionBandit

even if Scion Corp can't do anything
they will know or have someone who can and deal with this poor dealership/salesman in the correct manor

BSP_5c10n

Yeah I bought a BRAND NEW tC for less than that out the door WITH about a $1000 in added accessories. That's really low to prey on a consumer with bad credit like that. Was that even a Scion dealership?

DelayedTurbo

Ya but still, when I called Scion corporate about the one dealer who treated me like ____ and hurt my car they cared and helped me as much as they could, they also marked the dealer ( I guess like a warning ).

clockwerk

you run into a lot of problems like that at used car dealerships. They jack up the price because they know your going to haggle down the price. Nice work on reading the paperwork not many think to do that. Best of luck on getting a new tC

ScionBandit

we get visits from Scion reps every quarter and at that point any issues that have happened or need to be addressed are handled.
so by calling Scion Corp/Customer service and them marking that dealer, its like a flag on that dealers file, like a strike.
So you are doing more damage than you think when calling and reporting a dealer. So something is being done, just not to your eyes.
They do get penalized, i.e. cut back on amount of cars they get,etc.

BSP_5c10n

I understand that dealer's don't make much of a profit off of selling Scions that could be why some dealerships engage in some of these shady practices. It's not right of course, but there's always a reason for doing something, be it a bad one or a good one.

ScionBandit

if its a good dealer, its not based on how much you squeeze the customer for, but how many units you can sell.
so for most sales guys, you can buy $0 in acc. but he'll be getting 30cars a month out and make more than a guy who gets $3k in acc and only puts out 10cars

FallenAngel

Well I called Scion, they're going to have a "caseworker" get in contact with me by the end of the business day tomorrow. The lady on the phone did not sound happy. She said they were going to try to get me into a new tC... we'll see what happens. At any rate, this whole situation has had me quite irate.

This was a Toyota/Scion dealership, btw... not just a used car dealership.

ScionBandit

ouch, i feel bad for them when they get that call/visit

hope it all goes well

ShadyEye16

If they were selling the car as a "certified pre-owned Scion" then Scion will be more involved than if it was just a normal used car. Toyota keeps track of certified cars and has certified reps that visit dealers. You should def. call the Scion 1-800# and let them know what happened, and the BBB is another good place to go. It won't change what happened, or get back all those hours of headaches and hassles, but just know that Scion takes this kind of stuff seriously and your situation won't fall on deaf ears.

dugzilla

I don't blame you for being so pi$$ed, I would be too!! Glad you didn't give in and sign the paperwork just to get your car. If you can buy your tc elsewhere.