Law and Rights
A motor vehicle salesperson recently explained to me that there are 11 steps that dealers use to get the most money out of you that they can get in a deal. I call it 11 Steps Dealers Use to Rip You Off. Here are Steps 1 thru 4, along with some comments and tips to help you avoid wasting your money!
Step 1: Dealer Prep
For new cars, it means doing what the factory requires but watch out they don?t try to charge you for "dealer prep" because the factory actually pays them for it anyway. Charging you too gives them double the money!
For used cars, it could mean anything from putting sawdust in the transmission to "clocking" the odometer (altering it to reflect a more desirable lower number that makes the vehicle worth more), or a lot more.
Tip: For used cars, ask to take the car to get an inspection done by an independent mechanic. If they won't let you, there's probably a reason so be careful. For new cars, watch out for all the extra charges the dealer will try to tack on to the deal...they are all negotiable!
Step 2: Sales Meetings at Dealership
This is usually a morning pep rally where management pumps up the sales staff, tells them what iron (a vehicle) has the spiff?s (cash bonus to the salesman who sells it first), and other promo?s.
Step 3: Meet and Greet the Customer
"Lot lizards" (salespersons) are generally required to pounce on the customer the minute he steps foot on the lot but, of course, by using businesslike polite language and introductions.
Tip: Make no mistake about it. Their only goal is to sell you a vehicle for the most they can get out of you. Salespersons are paid on commission ... the higher the price they get you to pay, the more money they make.
Step 4: Stealing the Trade-in During the Appraisal
You may not realize that the salesperson usually tells you that your trade-in vehicle is worth less than it really is and a lot less than you think it is. They may even tell you that it?s got what they call "negative equity".
That?s a term car dealers invented when they had to come up with some way of explaining why your car wasn?t worth what you owed on it when you wanted to trade it in, but they didn?t think there was enough profit in it for them to take it off your hands. "Upside down" or "in the bucket" are similar terms.
These terms can be used to play games with the buyer in order to literally steal the trade-in vehicle, by taking it in for trade but taking the payoff amount and tacking it onto the price of the car that the customer is buying.
Tip: Defend yourself by knowing for sure what your trade-in is worth and finding out what your loan payoff really is. Don?t take the dealer?s word for it. Know before you go. Check trade-in values online. Look in newspapers to see what dealers are selling your kind of trade-in vehicle for. The more you know, the better prepared you are to keep from getting ripped off. And above all, be careful thru each step of the process.
Remember: the dealer's objective is to get the money out of your pocket and into their's. Your objective is to keep as much of your money as you can!
Steps 5 thru 11 will be posted soon!
For now, if you've been ripped off by a car dealer, or if you've got a lemon, email or call us 1-888-331-6422 Toll Free. Getting rid of lemons and getting your money back, that's what we do. Every day.
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- Don't Let Your Car Dealer Steal Your Car. There's A Shortage Of Good Used Cars And Dealers Are Promising The Moon To Get Your's, But Is It Real?
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A motor vehicle salesperson recently explained to me that there are 11 steps that dealers use to get the most money out of you that they can get in a deal. I call it 11 Steps Dealers Use to Rip You Off. Here are Steps 9 thru 11, along with some comments...
Law and Rights
11 Steps Dealers Use to Rip You Off, Steps 1-4
A motor vehicle salesperson recently explained to me that there are 11 steps that dealers use to get the most money out of you that they can get in a deal. I call it 11 Steps Dealers Use to Rip You Off. Here are Steps 1 thru 4, along with some comments and tips to help you avoid wasting your money!
Step 1: Dealer Prep
For new cars, it means doing what the factory requires but watch out they don?t try to charge you for "dealer prep" because the factory actually pays them for it anyway. Charging you too gives them double the money!
For used cars, it could mean anything from putting sawdust in the transmission to "clocking" the odometer (altering it to reflect a more desirable lower number that makes the vehicle worth more), or a lot more.
Tip: For used cars, ask to take the car to get an inspection done by an independent mechanic. If they won't let you, there's probably a reason so be careful. For new cars, watch out for all the extra charges the dealer will try to tack on to the deal...they are all negotiable!
Step 2: Sales Meetings at Dealership
This is usually a morning pep rally where management pumps up the sales staff, tells them what iron (a vehicle) has the spiff?s (cash bonus to the salesman who sells it first), and other promo?s.
Step 3: Meet and Greet the Customer
"Lot lizards" (salespersons) are generally required to pounce on the customer the minute he steps foot on the lot but, of course, by using businesslike polite language and introductions.
Tip: Make no mistake about it. Their only goal is to sell you a vehicle for the most they can get out of you. Salespersons are paid on commission ... the higher the price they get you to pay, the more money they make.
Step 4: Stealing the Trade-in During the Appraisal
You may not realize that the salesperson usually tells you that your trade-in vehicle is worth less than it really is and a lot less than you think it is. They may even tell you that it?s got what they call "negative equity".
That?s a term car dealers invented when they had to come up with some way of explaining why your car wasn?t worth what you owed on it when you wanted to trade it in, but they didn?t think there was enough profit in it for them to take it off your hands. "Upside down" or "in the bucket" are similar terms.
These terms can be used to play games with the buyer in order to literally steal the trade-in vehicle, by taking it in for trade but taking the payoff amount and tacking it onto the price of the car that the customer is buying.
Tip: Defend yourself by knowing for sure what your trade-in is worth and finding out what your loan payoff really is. Don?t take the dealer?s word for it. Know before you go. Check trade-in values online. Look in newspapers to see what dealers are selling your kind of trade-in vehicle for. The more you know, the better prepared you are to keep from getting ripped off. And above all, be careful thru each step of the process.
Remember: the dealer's objective is to get the money out of your pocket and into their's. Your objective is to keep as much of your money as you can!
Steps 5 thru 11 will be posted soon!
For now, if you've been ripped off by a car dealer, or if you've got a lemon, email or call us 1-888-331-6422 Toll Free. Getting rid of lemons and getting your money back, that's what we do. Every day.
Burdge Law Office
www. Us Lemon Lawyers .com
Helping People Make Lemonaide Since 1978
www. Us Lemon Lawyers .com
Helping People Make Lemonaide Since 1978
Click here to see what your state's Lemon Law says a lemon car or lemon truck is.
Subscribe in a reader- Don't Let Your Car Dealer Steal Your Car. There's A Shortage Of Good Used Cars And Dealers Are Promising The Moon To Get Your's, But Is It Real?
The used car market is constantly changing. But the one constant is that more used cars are sold retail, every year, than new cars. In fact, usually there are at least 3 used cars sold for every new car sold - and that's in a normal year. With credit...
- Negative Equity Gets More Negative
It's everywhere. Reports of a rising recession, layoffs, abandoned factories, bankruptcy threats and more. And now, some hungry car dealers are starting to show it in the paperwork we are seeing. There's more (and higher) negative equity numbers...
- Burdge Wins; Ford Loses
In a recent court case, Ford was required to back back a lemon car and to pay back to the consumer the amount that the selling dealer increased the actual purchase price in order to pay off the consumer's trade in. That's a first. Called "negative...
- Car Sales Fraud Rising
New car sales are slowing down and that can mean an increase in fraudulent practices in the used car department, just to keep the money flowing. For the first time ever, the US automakers are predicted to drop to less than a 50% share of the market in...
- 11 Steps Dealers Use To Rip You Off, Steps 9-11
A motor vehicle salesperson recently explained to me that there are 11 steps that dealers use to get the most money out of you that they can get in a deal. I call it 11 Steps Dealers Use to Rip You Off. Here are Steps 9 thru 11, along with some comments...