Hello, long time reader of Anand forums but I post sparingly.
I am a first time car buyer, and after 3 weeks of researching and after visiting various Chevrolet dealerships, I recently bought a 2013 1LT Camaro with navigation and crystal red metallic tint coat premium color as the only additional options on July 18th at a dealership nearby.
Backstory (be warned, wall of text):
I walked in on July 18th at around 5:30pm and started negotiating with the salesperson. He offered me the sticker price of $29,185 initially. I then promptly mentioned that I am negotiating out the door price only. He asked me if I can prove to him and his manager that I am serious about buying the car by giving him a credit card to show to his manager, to which I complied. After some back and forth between me, him, and his sales manager, he offered me $28,480 out the door and wrote it down in a piece of blank paper. I compared it to my online research (Edmunds, TrueCar, carsdirect etc…
on prices for this car as well as the prices I was given at other dealerships and found it to be the best deal out of all of them and agreed to take it.
So they get the car ready, and at this point no finances or a detailed breakdown of the cost has been discussed yet. He asks me if I want to leave with it tonight and I said if possible, yes. He then asks me how much I was going to put on the down payment and I told him $12,000, but I also mentioned we did not have the bank check at the time and we would probably need to come back. He said it was fine and I could drive it out tonight if I put down just $500 and come back with $11,500 on Saturday, to which I complied.
So 30 minutes later we then talk to the Finance person since I needed to take out a loan to cover the rest of the cost. This was already late into the night and in good faith I signed all the papers (lol huge mistake). Moments later I was given the key, a duplicate key, car manual, window sticker, warranty booklet, and a paper that has my Onstar Subscription Confirmation. I was NOT given a copy of the Purchase Agreement that broke down all the costs in detail. Being a first time car buyer I did not know what other documents I was supposed to be receiving, and off I drove home with my Camaro. We came back on Saturday July 20th with the rest of the $11,500 down payment. He gave us a packet that listed our loan information and financial obligations (titled Retail Instalment Contract – Simple Finance Charge). With my busy schedule I wasn’t able to review it until 4 days later and that’s when I noticed the numbers were definitely not what we agreed on, however we don’t know the complete breakdown of it since the Retail Instalment Contract doesn’t list all the costs and misc. fees that went into the car.
On Saturday July 27th I went back to the dealership and requested the Finance person I was working with to break down the cost for me in detail. He then tells me that my files/folders were locked and that he would give me a call on Monday when it is unlocked. Monday rolls by, no calls, I give a call on Tuesday, he wasn’t in and the person I talked on the phone with took my name/number/message and was told he’d call me back Wednesday morning. Wednesday and Thursday rolls by and nothing. I went back to the dealership on Friday July 2 and requested the same Finance person to open my files and folders, (specifically the Purchase Agreement) so we can review it. I took a look at it and the Total Amount came out to be $32,765.77.
I ask him about our $28,480 out the door agreed on price and he just looked at me and was pretty much like LOLWUT? He asks us for proof of this and I have none, so I asked him for the salesperson that I negotiated with for the price. He comes, I ask him what our agreed price was that night of negotiation and conveniently he doesn’t remember, so we spent the next hour or so going back and forth with the he-said she said bull because we have no proof of our verbal agreement. He then asks us why we did not notify them right away of the discrepancy in price and I told him I was not given the breakdown of the cost (Purchase Agreement) when I drove out with the car on July 18th. In fact I was not given any copies of financial details until the Saturday we went back with the down payment. Furthermore my calls were never returned when I tried to contact the dealership. He insists he gave it to us the night I drove out with it, and I know for a fact that he didn’t. He continues to then suggest that I threw it and pretty much implied that I'm a liar.
So then the conversation degrades back to this he-said she said crap and the owner of the dealership gets involved. I requested my copy of the Purchase Agreement since they never gave it to us, he proceeds to tell me that they did give me a copy of it (false) and was very hesitant about giving this paper to me. He then makes a photocopy of his original copy to give to me because apparently he’s such a nice fucking guy that he’d do it as a courtesy. He further says that “We don’t have to give you a copy, or do this at all, but we are.” I’m just sitting there going LOLWUT?! I stated that it’s my right as a consumer to know what I’m buying and they’re just sitting there shaking their heads and practically going LOLNOPE.
I threatened to call the BBB and consumer protection agencies, somefuckinghow the Finance person (who I physically estimate to be in his late 30’s or very early 40’s) with his boss and their salespeople nearby, took this as a physical/death threat and then threatened to call 911, the police, and obtain protection/restraint against me LOL (I’m 5’7, 155lbs, he’s a bit taller than me but twice my size). The entire time I was there I never got up, always stayed sat on my seat and calm. My mother was also there with me this entire time. At this point She became increasingly frustrated at the entire ordeal, she got up from her seat and started raising her voice at them. The Finance dude apparently felt physically threated by my mom (who is 55 years old, about 5’2) that again he boldly stated he was going to call 911/police (to which he didn’t).
At this point I found all this to be utterly ridiculous and took the copy of the Purchase Agreement and just left.
Other not so fun facts:
• The sticker price that is physically in my hands right now state the Vehicle Price is $29,185 without taxes, fees, rebates, or anything. On my Purchase Agreement the Vehicle Price is $31,064 without taxes, fees, rebates, or anything. Somehow the price magically went up and they sold it to me at an increased price?
• One day prior to my purchase of this car, I was at another Chevy dealership and I was offered the same car, but with ALL the upgrades except for sunroof, for ~$30,000 out the door. Kicking myself now for not taking that deal.
Anyways to conclude this, I will be filing a complaint to the BBB and to GM/Chevy.
So now I ask you guys for advice. Is there any hope of recouping some money back? What else can I do in addition?
Thanks!
I am a first time car buyer, and after 3 weeks of researching and after visiting various Chevrolet dealerships, I recently bought a 2013 1LT Camaro with navigation and crystal red metallic tint coat premium color as the only additional options on July 18th at a dealership nearby.
Backstory (be warned, wall of text):
I walked in on July 18th at around 5:30pm and started negotiating with the salesperson. He offered me the sticker price of $29,185 initially. I then promptly mentioned that I am negotiating out the door price only. He asked me if I can prove to him and his manager that I am serious about buying the car by giving him a credit card to show to his manager, to which I complied. After some back and forth between me, him, and his sales manager, he offered me $28,480 out the door and wrote it down in a piece of blank paper. I compared it to my online research (Edmunds, TrueCar, carsdirect etc…
on prices for this car as well as the prices I was given at other dealerships and found it to be the best deal out of all of them and agreed to take it.So they get the car ready, and at this point no finances or a detailed breakdown of the cost has been discussed yet. He asks me if I want to leave with it tonight and I said if possible, yes. He then asks me how much I was going to put on the down payment and I told him $12,000, but I also mentioned we did not have the bank check at the time and we would probably need to come back. He said it was fine and I could drive it out tonight if I put down just $500 and come back with $11,500 on Saturday, to which I complied.
So 30 minutes later we then talk to the Finance person since I needed to take out a loan to cover the rest of the cost. This was already late into the night and in good faith I signed all the papers (lol huge mistake). Moments later I was given the key, a duplicate key, car manual, window sticker, warranty booklet, and a paper that has my Onstar Subscription Confirmation. I was NOT given a copy of the Purchase Agreement that broke down all the costs in detail. Being a first time car buyer I did not know what other documents I was supposed to be receiving, and off I drove home with my Camaro. We came back on Saturday July 20th with the rest of the $11,500 down payment. He gave us a packet that listed our loan information and financial obligations (titled Retail Instalment Contract – Simple Finance Charge). With my busy schedule I wasn’t able to review it until 4 days later and that’s when I noticed the numbers were definitely not what we agreed on, however we don’t know the complete breakdown of it since the Retail Instalment Contract doesn’t list all the costs and misc. fees that went into the car.
On Saturday July 27th I went back to the dealership and requested the Finance person I was working with to break down the cost for me in detail. He then tells me that my files/folders were locked and that he would give me a call on Monday when it is unlocked. Monday rolls by, no calls, I give a call on Tuesday, he wasn’t in and the person I talked on the phone with took my name/number/message and was told he’d call me back Wednesday morning. Wednesday and Thursday rolls by and nothing. I went back to the dealership on Friday July 2 and requested the same Finance person to open my files and folders, (specifically the Purchase Agreement) so we can review it. I took a look at it and the Total Amount came out to be $32,765.77.
I ask him about our $28,480 out the door agreed on price and he just looked at me and was pretty much like LOLWUT? He asks us for proof of this and I have none, so I asked him for the salesperson that I negotiated with for the price. He comes, I ask him what our agreed price was that night of negotiation and conveniently he doesn’t remember, so we spent the next hour or so going back and forth with the he-said she said bull because we have no proof of our verbal agreement. He then asks us why we did not notify them right away of the discrepancy in price and I told him I was not given the breakdown of the cost (Purchase Agreement) when I drove out with the car on July 18th. In fact I was not given any copies of financial details until the Saturday we went back with the down payment. Furthermore my calls were never returned when I tried to contact the dealership. He insists he gave it to us the night I drove out with it, and I know for a fact that he didn’t. He continues to then suggest that I threw it and pretty much implied that I'm a liar.
So then the conversation degrades back to this he-said she said crap and the owner of the dealership gets involved. I requested my copy of the Purchase Agreement since they never gave it to us, he proceeds to tell me that they did give me a copy of it (false) and was very hesitant about giving this paper to me. He then makes a photocopy of his original copy to give to me because apparently he’s such a nice fucking guy that he’d do it as a courtesy. He further says that “We don’t have to give you a copy, or do this at all, but we are.” I’m just sitting there going LOLWUT?! I stated that it’s my right as a consumer to know what I’m buying and they’re just sitting there shaking their heads and practically going LOLNOPE.
I threatened to call the BBB and consumer protection agencies, somefuckinghow the Finance person (who I physically estimate to be in his late 30’s or very early 40’s) with his boss and their salespeople nearby, took this as a physical/death threat and then threatened to call 911, the police, and obtain protection/restraint against me LOL (I’m 5’7, 155lbs, he’s a bit taller than me but twice my size). The entire time I was there I never got up, always stayed sat on my seat and calm. My mother was also there with me this entire time. At this point She became increasingly frustrated at the entire ordeal, she got up from her seat and started raising her voice at them. The Finance dude apparently felt physically threated by my mom (who is 55 years old, about 5’2) that again he boldly stated he was going to call 911/police (to which he didn’t).
At this point I found all this to be utterly ridiculous and took the copy of the Purchase Agreement and just left.
Other not so fun facts:
• The sticker price that is physically in my hands right now state the Vehicle Price is $29,185 without taxes, fees, rebates, or anything. On my Purchase Agreement the Vehicle Price is $31,064 without taxes, fees, rebates, or anything. Somehow the price magically went up and they sold it to me at an increased price?
• One day prior to my purchase of this car, I was at another Chevy dealership and I was offered the same car, but with ALL the upgrades except for sunroof, for ~$30,000 out the door. Kicking myself now for not taking that deal.
Anyways to conclude this, I will be filing a complaint to the BBB and to GM/Chevy.
So now I ask you guys for advice. Is there any hope of recouping some money back? What else can I do in addition?
Thanks!
Last edited:
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