Sorry for the off topic question, but if I remember right, this has been covered on here before. My girlfriend and I bought a used car last night from a dealership. We test drove the car, CarFax'd it, checked it out pretty well, and it drove great. We went in and after some disagreement on purchase price and payment schedule, we purchased the car, gave them the required money down, signed the contract and we were off to drive it away. When we went out to the parking lot with the sales guy and the ***hole sales manager, we put the key in, went to start it, and it sounded like the starter was spinning. We did this about 10 times. They kept the car last night to fix it, but called us today to say that the flywheel was bad. I haven't talked to the dealer, so this is all coming from my girlfriend. Now they say that they won't have the car ready until Thursday at the earliest. I personally want to tell them to shove that car up their *** and give me the money back, but I want to make sure I have some legal ground to stand on. I've heard from several people that there is a 72 hour "cool down" period that say's after you buy a car, you legally have 72 hours to return it and receive a full refund of down payment. Does anyone know if this is in fact true? If so, I've checked up and down on the internet for something to print out stating this so I have something to show the dealership in case they give me any problems, and I haven't found anything. Any help would be greatly appreciated. As of right now, we're at 21 hours and counting.
i don't know about Michigan but in texas when they have a sticker in the window that says as is no warranty means "as is to bad we don't even have to fix the starter without making you pay for it". as is means as is i would think it is a good thing they are fixing the starter and flywheel with out charging you for it. or making you take it somewere else to have it fixed on you own tab. there is no thinking period on a used car you buy and sign the contract that baby is yours even if you decided you dont want it or can't afford it. the only thing you could possible do is call the better business bureu and ask them but all the car lot will say when the bbb calls them is that we are fixing the problem for free, and then they are out of the loop. sorry but that is how it goes Brant
Get your issues and desire to return it in writing, dated, and notarized NOW. They're gonna try to make you keep it, just watch...
I would let them know that you gave them a fair chance to make a simple fix. Beyond that, you don't want the car. A reputable dealer won't give you a hard time. If they object, let them know that you will use all legal means to void that contract, including the BBB, your state attorney general and that they may well spend more in legal expenses than they stand to profit on the sale. Smart manager will fold.
Thing is, I'm not trying to be a ****head about this car, its not for me, but the girlfriend LOVES this car already. From what I've seen, this is looking more and more crooked. I understand that he's trying to make a good faith effort to fix the car, but without getting into all the finite details of this purchase, things with this guy have been changing every time we talk to him. On top of that, he's a major *****. We told him that the car ABSOLUTELY had to be ready today, and he GUARANTEED that it would be ready today. Now he's having issues with his mechanic....which really isn't my problem, thats his. He's been giving us stories and excuses from the time it broke down last night until today, and now he say's it can maybe be ready on Thursday. If this guy wasn't such a shady *****, I might be tempted to give him some slack, but the whole deal doesn't feel right to me. I guess he just gives me a really bad vibe and I don't want to see my girlfriend get screwed out of a lot of money. That's why I'm leaning toward just get the money back and shop around some more for something more reputable I guess. Point of this is, he sold her a car that he said was in great shape, we haven't even got the car out of the lot yet and it already broke down and he's not sure when it can be repaired and ready to drive. I guess I just have a problem with buying a car that you can't even drive.
Ha ha. This is the discussion I had with the girlfriend last night when I found out she bought this car from some half ***ed used car no credit check dealership. I've definitely got my boxing gloves on and have already left a voicemail for the better business bureau just in case, because I would bet money that this guy isn't going to give up the check just because I ask him to. This is why I want to go in there with some sort of legal paperwork or printout of the State Of Michigans Consumer Protection Laws stating exactly what my rights are. I know this is my girlfriends car, and this should be her problem, but inevitably this is going to be MY money that makes the monthly payments on it, so I have a vested interest in this too.
Call the SoS and ask them. they wre prolly the best ones to talk to about the laws of purchasing a used car. If the guy that sold it to you was any kind of guy he wouldnt hold you to the contract but id at least voice my opinion if nothing else and ask about a warranty on the repairs. In fact id insist on a warranty like a 1 year. You bought a perfectly running vehicle and the fact it wasnt after signing the papers should play into your hand. I dont give a **** if it says no warranty on the window tag the piece of **** wouldnt even start to get off the lot tells me your in charge. Dave
Okay - this could be really easy or really hard depending on what your paperwork looks like... If you have a do***ent where the purchase agreement is signed by you - but not the dealer - you're potentially off the hook. It's called tort law, offer and acceptance. You made the offer, but he didn't accept it, which means you may be able to retract your offer. You'll have to get a lawyer-type to draft up a letter, but that should be adequate to get your money back. Dealers often use the one signature 'trick' to get more money for the car after the sale - if he did that, then he's made his intentions clear. Downside is all he as to do is sign - and you're on the hook for the sale...More on that later. Otherwise, you're at his mercy. Michigan's pretty tough when it comes to this sorta thing; if the sticker on the window sez AS-IS and the NO WARRANTY box is checked off, then he literally has the right to order you to push the POS car you just bought off of him off his property. I think your best angle of attack is to give him the time to affect repairs; if he repairs it and doesn't charge you - good. If he attempts to charge you for the repairs, you'll most likely have to pay him - then go after him in small claims court. When it comes to used cars, Michigan law is very clear. Buyer beware.
Please talk to your girlfriend about buy-here-pay-here lots as well. They never have a good deal. I saw a woman standing in front of one of those lots in Covington a few weeks back with a sign that said 'Don't buy here - LEMONS'. I wonder how long she had to stand there before she got her money back. I was happy to see someone fighting back...
I don't know about there but here in NY there is a 3 day period that you can say tough **** I want my money back and they HAVE to give it to you unless they want a battle which is probably unlikely. Good Luck
Here's the summary. Today is Friday, we bought the car on Monday. The sales guy is still a s***bag ********er who probably has a wife that slaps him then cheats on him with the neighbor while he's out hustling used cars instead of doing something with his life that actually has some merit. There, thats my quick rant. They kept the car all week, but on the up side, they did fix everything....no charge. The only thing that I didn't like was they kept pushing the date back more and more, saying "no, we'll have it done tomorrow for SURE". They did this every day all week long. But, I guess I have no real complaints since they dumped a few thousand in parts and labor in it for free, so that's good. I just had a bad taste in my mouth right from the start because I hate used car salesmen....or new car salesmen for that matter....that's why I drive old cars....and I knew from the start that this douchebag was going to be the typical used car hustling ****. All in all, except for reinforceing my hatred for sales people, everything went great. Thanks to everyone for the advice, I really appreciate it.
thats a bunch of ****. i take a lot of pride in what i do. im sure you posted that not thinking too much.
what the hell? i understand your pissed, but **** happens. your a pretty cool guy that shouldnt have that **** happen to ya, but you kinda fired me up with that used car guys go to hell ****. geez. ill leave it at that. there are some dip**** dealers out there, but they dont stay in business long. personally im proud of what me and my family do.
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