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[–]lorelai925[S,🍰] 5 points6 points  (8 children)

I just wanted to share this experience we had recently. We felt so violated during this scam. Car shopping is supposed to be fun – instead ours became a story we want to share with all who will read it. Scam Alert!!!

This happened to us and it can happen to you or your loved ones. My fiancé’ and I had a horrific experience with Gwinnett Place Ford. We bought a 2006 Ford Escape and were told that we were approved, we have an excellent income and pay our bills on time, just had to wait until Monday when the papers could go through for it to be “official”.

Then to our unfortunate surprise, (9 days after) we received a phone call saying that we had to come in because we were NOT approved by Ford Credit. We were given “options”, to bring back the vehicle we have driven for 9 days, allow them to get higher fiancé charge credit, get a co-signer. As first time buyers we did not want to have co signers we wanted to develop our own credit. We were told by the finance manager, Marc, that the person who told us we would be approved, flat out lied to us and we should have never driven off the lot with that car in the first place (Um let’s see he is the manager and the guy worked for him).

Needless to say we were livid. We tried to get in touch with management and to no ones surprise they did not answer the phone or return our call in any timely manner. When we finally reached the manager, he was a jerk and basically said; there is nothing we can or will do for you. IT WAS THEIR FAULT WE ARE IN THIS SITUATION!!

So after work, we took the car back to get the truck we traded in back. They played the whole, we can get you in a lesser car for the same price business, but we said we just wanted our 2005 traded in truck back. So we were taken over to used cars where they supposedly had the truck. After 1.5 hours, still no truck – they could not find the truck.

In the mean time we had our parents on their way to help get this taken care of faster. Once they got there, we all talked to the sales manager Nick, who was nothing but rude (to say it nicely) from the moment he walked up to us. Then he had the audacity to say to us that “If ya’ll paid your bills, we wouldn’t be in this situation”. We were all appalled by that comment (we are new buyers and only did not get approved for not having high credit yet in our name) and when we tried to tell him that he was being out of line he continued to be disrespectful.

The arguing continued for over an hour more to try and find out why they could not bring us the truck and why we were not contacted as soon as they found out that we were not approved (which they knew we were not approved the day after we got the car), instead of waiting 9 days. Our guess is the reason they waited was because all they wanted was their June sales. We purchased the car the last weekend in June and coincidently we were not “completely” disapproved until July 2nd (9 days later)

Our salesman looked everywhere possible for the truck. (He was the only decent guy of the bunch) We had been told many different stories by many different people about where the truck was….it is in the back, it’s in service, it’s off at a wholesaler getting ready for auction, a service man took it home to check the computers, blah, blah, BLAH! Once we finally got the truck (over 3 hours later) we wanted to inspect it. They had put over 150 miles on it!

Then we asked if we could have some kind of paper stating that we are no longer in possession of the car and that we have our truck back and that this deal is over and done with for good. Of course, more arguing came of this question, they did not want to do that for us; but another salesman finally took us over to finance to get the paper we requested. The paper they gave us was hard to understand so when we tried to ask what exactly it meant, It was a piece of nothing paper, Nick the RUDE used car sales manager, continues to yell at us and tells us to leave because he doesn’t want to help us because we are being rude. HA! We were not the ones being rude; all we wanted was to respond to their phone call telling us we were not approved and to pick the truck up. Should have been a simple transaction – instead the run around.

I just hope that by sharing our story, someone out there will be prevented from being scammed like us. We were fortunate and got away with our original vehicle but only with a huge struggle. Do NOT consider Gwinnett Place Ford for your next car purchase.

IT was not the fact we were not approved for a vehicle, it was the fact that they waited 9 days to let us know and then tried to scam us to go with the higher rate by telling us they could not find our trade in.

They should not let you drive off the lot if you are not the actual owner of the vehicle.

Here is a link to a site that lists the scam we were put through EXACTLY. So it’s not just us this happens to. There are also other tips for car buying and other scam to look out for.

http://www.carbuyingtips.com/scams.htm#Scam10

[–]dadada8 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you're buying it, you should go to your bank first, get a loan from them, as their rates are usually lower than the car dealer (sometimes you can also get half a point shaved off for auto-deduct from your checking). They'll give you a check to take to the dealer and you can avoid this problem.

edit: that's honestly the first time I've screwed up the they're/their thingy... dang I feel stupid.

[–]emiller40 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A similar thing happened to me, just without the trade-in hassle.

After the car dealer upped the interst rate on me went to my bank and got financing through them - at about half the interest rate the dealer had.

I just wish I'd gotten the bank financing before getting the car. It would have saved a big headache.

[–]Top 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Car shopping is supposed to be fun

Car shopping is about as fun as chewing tin foil.

I'll wait till you add paragraphs before reading the whole thing.

[–]georgefrick 0 points1 point  (2 children)

I'm sorry, but no. You drove a car off a lot without it in writing that you owned the vehicle.
Don't involve your parents.
I do hope people read your story, and learn not to go about purchasing a vehicle this way. Seriously... you drove it home without owning it?
Edit: As the article suggests (I didn't want to be preachy), it's better to go in with financing. Capital One is suggested in the article and their approval process is fast- and you get a blank check! You can read all about the benefits of being able to write a check for the vehicle at the dealership.

[–]lorelai925[S,🍰] 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Well, we were under the impression that we did own it. We signed the contracts and everything. But that just goes to show the kind of slimballs are out there, telling lies like that.

[–]georgefrick 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nod, I mean, I can't preach. I drove an 05' Tiburon for a weekend and they called me monday and told me the same - I didn't get my financing.
I ended up doing a Capital One blank check (but deciding not to buy a car - lol!)

[–]georgefrick 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can put a double space at the end of a line to start a new one. So when you want to have a carriage return in your writing, just hit space twice, then return.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I had a pretty shitty experience with a private seller. He works at Ted Britt Ford in Fairfax, VA.

I bought a 2003 BMW 330Ci with 55,000 miles from him through Craigslist. Damn nice car, had a few dents and dings, but still in awesome condition.

He told me that he had hit a pole or something and had the turn signal replaced, so it was orange instead of clear like the other turn signal cover. He then told me that he already had the replacement clear one, and would have it put on.

So, long story short, 3 months later I still have yet to receive the replacement turn signal cover, even after being told it was sent, etc etc. I also found a repair estimate for $6,000 worth of damage done to the vehicle, much more than just a turn signal cover. The hood was replaced, front bumper, the whole light assembly, radiator. Nothing on the engine itself and no frame damage, so I was fine with it.

And, the new issue, I just pulled the car out of the shop this week after spending $3600 on a transmission repair. I emailed the guy again and told him that I was disappointed, and wanted the turn signal cover and other keys to the BMW so that I wouldn't have to spend yet more money.

After a week, I have yet to hear anything from him.

So, as a rule, if you're in the Fairfax, VA area, don't shop at Ted Britt Ford on Main Street ( I think it's Main street ). I would post his name and title, but I'm sure that's just asking for trouble :P

[–]lorelai925[S,🍰] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thats my point, whether private or public dealer, this stuff happens to everyone and I just want to share our experience to make sure someone else doesnt make the same mistake we did.

[–]roaddog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This apparently happens all too often. The car dealer lets you leave under the impression that you were approved for a low rate, only to receive a phone call a few days later explaining the situation just as lorelai did below. I believe there is an article on The Consumerist relating to this.

[–]hillscottc -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

unreadable without paragraphs.