Fiancé purchased vehicle from Toyota / Scion dealer in Antioch Ca on 1/21/12. We get a call the next day saying no other documentation was needed, she was approved enjoy vehicle.
A few weeks go buy and we call to find out who she is financed through to make payment, and never get a call back. Another week goes by and we start getting un-approval letters in the mail from major banks. Finally we get one from toyota. Today the dealer calls demanding car back. Stating Toyota cancelled contract terms on vmail. 45 min later dealer calls back saying she was approved with lower apr with a credit union. Come sign new terms... WTF? At this point everything seems
Shaking and we prefer to do as previously demeaned, return car. What should we do? We rather deal elsewhere now, move forward from this.
What the dealer is trying to pull is a classic "Yo-Yo" scam. It takes many forms, but essentially, it's a scam where they agree to a contract and lock you in and then change it at their whim, to improve their lot and hurt the buyer. Typically, they get a trade in, and dispose of it and then coming from a position of strength, they try to tell you, the consumer that you have no choice but to agree to terms that are NOT as good for you. If they say the terms are now better, it's a lie, as there is something there they are not telling you. I'd ask for the contract to evaluate.
Now, based on a typical car sale in CA, using the Reynolds and Reynolds form, "retail installment sales contract:"
1- The contract, at the upper right hand corner will list the dealer as "seller/creditor." Translated, that means the dealer agreed to finance you;
2- The dealer has reserved the right to "cancel" the deal if it is unable to "find" a party to "assign" it to within 10 days;
3- The dealer (along with those major banks) is required to send you an "adverse action" notice for each time that your assignment has been turned down;
4- When you walked in and applied for credit, the dealer knew how much credit you could get and who was likely to give it to you, then it shopped it around for the best deal for IT, not for you;
5- All of those denials are unfortunate and may briefly hurt your credit rating, but, it is just an outgrowth of dealer looking for best terms for it;
6- The dealer can "cancel" the agreement, if YOU choose to allow it to do so OR you can sign a new agreement, if YOU choose to do so, or YOU can honor the contract you signed and try to keep the dealer to honor it too.
I'd get everything in writing and if you wish, my office can review the docs for you at no charge. Find us on the web here:
http://www.CaLemons.com
