When I first got out of jail after being unjustly imprisoned for more than seven months (read my short bio), I realized that my fiance’ wasn’t at all like I thought she was (or like she seemed for years in the beginning) and I knew she wouldn’t give up or share the Beamer she bought while I was locked away. So, I found myself in the position of having to buy reliable transportation.
However, as can be expected, buying a reliable car with little money and ruined credit is not especially easy to do. So, I found a used car dealership with a decent selection of reliable-looking vehicles. I wanted something newer that would be safe and last for awhile.
I had gone to several other places and could not get a loan to save my life, so I knew that this dealer (who approves everyone) was going to rip me a new one -especially since they have a reputation for taking advantage of people in my situation with ruined credit. I bought a 2002 Mitsubishi Montero Sport ES for $1,500 down and $410 per month for four (4) years. That is a horrible deal and over the life of the loan will cost more than twice the book value at that time. However, I had little choice and couldn’t find or trust any car to be reliable in the $1,000-$3,000 range. Side Note: Now, I know someone I can trust who is selling a decent, older car for about $1,000 but that wasn’t an option when I needed it.
So, I decided to buy this vehicle and hoped on being able to make more money later to pay it off in cash or at least be able to fall back on getting a regular job to pay the bills. I later discovered that a felony on my record in my industry (Information Technology and Security) was going to be a much bigger obstacle than I planned. I found myself stuck and this car dealership (DriveTime) -as of this posting- has made more than $3,000 above the value of the vehicle (assuming I pay it off without defaulting) and has gotten $1,242 in repairs for free.
What is worse is that I later found out that they never performed the 60,000 mile mandatory service (i.e. replacing the timing belt before 70k miles is critical). That is a bit disturbing since the car had 85,000 miles on it when I bought it two years prior!
The timing belt could’ve snapped at any time, and my investment would’ve been lost -with the DriveTime expecting me to pay.
The moral of that tale is: “Never trust a car salesperson any farther than you can throw them.” If they tell you anything that affects your decision to buy -and I do mean anything- then you MUST, Must, must get it in writing. Otherwise, you have no recourse –even if you can prove beyond any doubt that they have lied to you in order to get the sale. Complaining to the car dealership itself will only bring you ridicule and probably get “kudos” to the salesperson who duped you. Buyer Beware!
Share This! Social Bookmarking and Sharing
[...] The girl on the other end of the line simply told me that if I ceased to make payments and let them pick up the car, they would sell it at auction and I would STILL be responsible to re-pay the full amount. Now, that’s laughable -especially considering that they are making out like bandits already (read about Used Car Dealers). [...]
[...] repair bill that was only necessary because DriveTime LIED to me when they sold me the vehicle (always get it in writing!). They told me the 60,000 mandatory service had been completed. It had not. The car had 85,000+ [...]
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
Leave a comment
2 Comments