Should I have walked away from this deal?
I walked into a car dealership.
I negotiate a deal with the salesman.
I go into the finance department to do the paperwork. Added
to the price of the vehicle is $3,500 worth of warranties.
I tell the finance manager that I did not agree to the warranties.
A manager comes into the finance office.
He takes me for a fool.
He says.
1) I am misunderstanding the paperwork. He points out the amount I am financing and the down payment were agreed to by me.
I did agree to those amounts. The down payment amount was given to me by the salesperson which I trusted would reconcile with the cost of the vehicle
we agreed to. The manager ignores the line that says, "Cost of the vehicle".
2) My math is wrong.
3) The calculator I am using is not working correctly. Comedy.
My thinking at the time was that we had a deal. We shook on it.
I argue 5-10 minutes that the paperwork is incorrect. I am arguing the sky is blue.
I raise my voice somewhat angry but not out of control.
The manger finally gives in. Before removing the warranty amounts, he tries to convince
me they are a good deal. No go for me. He removes the warranty amounts and sells me
the car at the price I agreed to with the salesperson.
As I am walking out the dealership, I realized.
1) They probably never wanted to see me the car at the price we agreed to.
2) The manager did not expect me to argue 5-10 minutes the sky is blue and
become agitated.
3) The manager was 100% sure that if I caught the mistake and he lied to
my face about, I would walk away from the deal.
I feel I manipulated them into selling the vehicle.
Etiquette says that I had every right to walk out on the deal and that is what I
should have done.
Part of me also feels, a deal is a deal.
You did not manipulate them into anything. They tried to manipulate you into something, and you resisted.
They don't give in unless they're still going to make money. Or unless they have to because they'd be breaking the law not to (in other words, if they agreed to something in a legally binding way, then figured out they made a mistake). But they put up a fight - because they were hoping to make even more money.
Actually, the "calculator is broken" ploy is so obviously bogus it makes me suspect they're real crooks - which would make me worry that you got the shaft, even now. Maybe not nearly as bad as you could have - but I've read up on car sales tactics, and those guys will trap somebody in their office (this has happened to me) and argue with them for hours just to squeeze a few hundred more out of them. (Do the math - if they have to argue with you for 3 hours, but by doing so they get an extra $300 out of you, that's a return of $100 an hour, which isn't too shabby by most standards.)
ETA: By the way, in the series of articles I read on the tricks of the industry, the finance department is exactly where the crooked places will try to slip something in and ram it down your throat before you know what's happening. This sounds pretty classic to me. (And I won't buy a car at a dealership. I know of two honest mechanics who sell a few used cars, and I'd rather deal with them. Never been ripped off yet, either. Of course, the trick is finding an honest mechanic in the first place. Not that they don't exist - but sorting the good from the bad can take some work.)
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AQ Test = 44 Aspie Quiz = 169 Aspie 33 NT EQ / SQ-R = Extreme Systematising
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Not all those who wander are lost.
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In the country of the blind, the one eyed man - would be diagnosed with a psychological disorder
Sounds Like you got a deal... Generally the warranties cost the dealer less than half of the selling price. that is where they make tons of money. Also the only extended warranties that are actually worth anything are FACTORY extended warranties. don't buy any aftermarket warranty on a new vehicle. For example the 100K, 7 year zero deductible warranty on my wife's Subaru was about $3500, after searching the net and Subaru forums, I found another dealer that could sell me the warranty after we bought the car for about $1700. I took that back to the dealer and negotiated the same deal thru them. Also watch for the deductible. there have varying deductible amounts and usually try and put you in a $100 deductible. I made sure to get the Zero deductible... which does cost them significantly more. Reason is the deductible will keep people from bringing minor issues in for repair. zero, people will bring in every issue.
Most Dealers will do anything to male the deal and try and rip people off on every corner so don't take anything they do personally. Its just standard proceedure. I am actually in the process of getting my own auto dealers license and have a totally different philosophy about business and taking care of my customers but that puts me in the minority. When I do get setup, I plan on having a list of all the BS things dealers do to get cars sold and how they make their money on my business website. Then promise that none of them will happen buying from me. Pretty simple but it will result in smaller net profits so I guess greed rules for most of these folks..
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AQ test =36: SQ test = 110: EQ test =8
Aspire quiz: Aspire score = 162; Neurotypical =42
RAADS=173 Total: Language= 10: social relatedness= 92: Sensory/motor= 37: Circumscribed interests=34
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