We had been looking at cars for nearly three months and finally, after lots of back-and-forth,” my wife and I decided on the new car we wanted. We searched local and regional web sites until we found the best price. We thought we were doing everything we could to find the best car, at the best possible price.
So, we went to the dealer with a print-out from their web site. We then sat down with a sales person who began conversations on what colors, options, etc. that we wanted. We explained to the salesman that we had already done our research and that the print-out was the exact car we wanted. He said “no problem,” and we then began the financing process. After only about 15 minutes, financing had been secured and we were on our way to the perfect car.
The monthly payments were within our budget and they gave us a good price on our trade-in. So, we placed the order for our new car and signed all the necessary paper work. The dealer told us the car should be delivered to us within 10 business days. Everything was perfect, and we were completely happy with our new purchase! That is, until we got home and took a closer look at the paper work we had just signed.
The perfect car we had found on the dealers web site was $18,995.00 total. And, after more closely reviewing the papers we had just signed, we noticed that the final price we had actually paid was $19,995.00 — $1,000.00 more than the car we thought we were agreeing to purchase. The final monthly payments were in-line with what we wanted to pay, and everything sounded right while we were at the dealership. So, never thought to closely inspect the paper work. We truly felt we could trust these people.
“How could this be?,” we thought to ourselves. “Surely it must be a mistake, right?” So, we immediately called the dealer for an explanation, but they had already closed. The next day, we called again and spoke with the manager. He said that the extra $1,000.00 fee had been explained to us during our financing discussions. He then went on to explain that the extra $1,000.00 was for GAP insurance and an extended warranty. I certainly didn’t remember agreeing to GAP insurance or a warranty. I asked my wife and she did not remember discussing anything like this either.
So, I asked the dealer for a rebate of the $1,000.00. He literally laughed at me through the phone. He said the deal was final and that our new car was already on the way.
My wife and I were furious. Not only did we not remember agreeing to these items, but we didn’t even know what GAP insurance was. We then called our car insurance company and they explained that we already had GAP insurance coverage, at no extra cost to us, through our existing insurance policy.
We then called a consumer fraud attorney. He explained that the best thing we could do was to find out who the car dealer had obtained the GAP insurance through and call them to cancel the policy immediately. We did this and then called the dealer to again request a refund.
To make a long story short, we never got our $1,000.00 back. The dealer claimed they couldn’t get a refund from the insurance carrier, so they could not issue a refund to us. We were simply taken for an extra $1,000.00 by this dealer. Our attorney said we could file a law suit for fraud, but the legal fees would potentially go way past this amount. So, we ate the money and learned our lesson… Always carefully read the agreement, from any car lot, before signing!
