Interesting illegal move a local auto dealer pulled on my Mom's coworker

[Q]

My mom told me a story about how one of her coworkers went to buy a brand new car last week at a local auto dealer. Not sure what dealer or what car, but as she was waiting to sign the papers, she told her husband to go ahead and put the car seats in the new car.

When they pulled up with the car, for no particular reason she wanted to go look at it, and saw that there were no car seats in the back (this was all before she signed). When she asked about where the car seats were, the dealer said "What are you talking about?" and she replied "I had my husband go and put our kids carseats in the back, where are they?"

Apparently, the dealer SWITCHED CARS when they went in to sign the papers. The one they were about to sign for was a 'test model' that had 500 miles on it already, but looked exactly the same. The one she test drove earlier (the new one she thought she was purchasing) had only 8 miles. If she had signed the papers, they'd have no way of proving that he had done this, and they'd be stuck with the 'used' car. So she then told the dealer to "go fvk youself" and left.

She used to be a phone operator for the local Police, so know she is thinking of taking him to court (which I said she should absolutely do). Since she used to work there, she knows many policemen, who in turn know many good lawyers.

What do you think the dealer could be charged with, or get in trouble for?

 

[spidey07]

Probably nothing. If they signed the purchase order with the VIN of the demo unit then they bought it.

-edit-
Also this kind of switch is pretty common. It's happened twice - get all ready to sign and then realize they're not selling me the car we agreed on. I always write down the VIN number before purchasing so they can't pull this stunt.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Wow, a new car dealer pulling that kind of shit? That's shady as hell.

What brand?

 

[MikeMike]

there were a few times i fucked up when selling a car, and got the incorrect car ready for a customer... one time i did it on a yellow solstice GXP... luckily both were identical in every shape and option except for the vin, so the customer just came back the next day, jumped out of his currently brand new day old solstice gxp into his brand newer solstice gxp

 

[Gibson486]

Happened to me and my gf.

Me: mazda 3....car has 6 miles on the od when i left it. When i picked it up, it had 24 mi. I just go, "so...one of your guys took it for a joy ride?". I almost walked out and told them to screw. They bent and had me sign more papers and got me the right car. Never going to that dealer again.

GF: Probably an honest mistake. She got a corolla S with a sunroof. Two days after deal was done....she gets a phone call saying that they gave her the wrong car. Luckily, i looked at the OD before they put the car away. It had 4.5 miles on it and when she picked it up, it had 5 miles on it. it was all good since the dealer sent the salesmen to her job so she could finish the paper work AGAIN.

 

[Arkaign]

Originally posted by: Gibson486
Happened to me and my gf.

Me: mazda 3....car has 6 miles on the od when i left it. When i picked it up, it had 24 mi. I just go, "so...one of your guys took it for a joy ride?". I almost walked out and told them to screw. They bent and had me sign more papers and got me the right car. Never going to that dealer again.

GF: Probably an honest mistake. She got a corolla S with a sunroof. Two days after deal was done....she gets a phone call saying that they gave her the wrong car. Luckily, i looked at the OD before they put the car away. It had 4.5 miles on it and when she picked it up, it had 5 miles on it. it was all good since the dealer sent the salesmen to her job so she could finish the paper work AGAIN.

LMAO, not at their messing with you, but at your expression. I've actually never heard that until recently, Denis Leary uses it a lot on 'Rescue Me', which is an oustanding show btw. Is that a northeastern thing?

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Originally posted by: Gibson486
Happened to me and my gf.

Me: mazda 3....car has 6 miles on the od when i left it. When i picked it up, it had 24 mi. I just go, "so...one of your guys took it for a joy ride?". I almost walked out and told them to screw. They bent and had me sign more papers and got me the right car. Never going to that dealer again.

GF: Probably an honest mistake. She got a corolla S with a sunroof. Two days after deal was done....she gets a phone call saying that they gave her the wrong car. Luckily, i looked at the OD before they put the car away. It had 4.5 miles on it and when she picked it up, it had 5 miles on it. it was all good since the dealer sent the salesmen to her job so she could finish the paper work AGAIN.

LMAO, not at their messing with you, but at your expression. I've actually never heard that until recently, Denis Leary uses it a lot on 'Rescue Me', which is an oustanding show btw. Is that a northeastern thing?

really???? well...I have lived in MA my whole life, so the term is nothing new to me.

 

[StageLeft]

Pretty nasty trick. I recall that with our last vehicle I was double-checking the VIN on the van with what I was signing for.

Course I still got fvcked. Dealer said $15,300 for the car (It was a barely used MPV) and gave it to us for a couple of days to get good and happy with it, but by the time we were driving there to buy it the salesman said it had to be $15,800--his manager had messed up on the original price and they would lose money otherwise. I am still pissed I didn't tell him to lick my rear out, as I would these days (not in so many words, but to similar effect).

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: Arkaign

Originally posted by: Gibson486
Happened to me and my gf.

Me: mazda 3....car has 6 miles on the od when i left it. When i picked it up, it had 24 mi. I just go, "so...one of your guys took it for a joy ride?". I almost walked out and told them to screw. They bent and had me sign more papers and got me the right car. Never going to that dealer again.

GF: Probably an honest mistake. She got a corolla S with a sunroof. Two days after deal was done....she gets a phone call saying that they gave her the wrong car. Luckily, i looked at the OD before they put the car away. It had 4.5 miles on it and when she picked it up, it had 5 miles on it. it was all good since the dealer sent the salesmen to her job so she could finish the paper work AGAIN.

LMAO, not at their messing with you, but at your expression. I've actually never heard that until recently, Denis Leary uses it a lot on 'Rescue Me', which is an oustanding show btw. Is that a northeastern thing?

really???? well...I have lived in MA my whole life, so the term is nothing new to me.

Screw off is very common to me, as long as the "off" is included.

 

[imported_Imp]

I approve of the co-worker's response.

I'll remember this for future reference.

 

[KevinCU]

Any chance this dealership is owned by Johnny Dangerfield?

 

[theeedude]

Contact the car company and report this to them. My car had 60 miles on it when I bought it, but I bargained out everything and the kitchen sink for it because I knew it was sitting on the lot a bit more than they were comfortable with.
They wanted to move it out so fast they even made a $500 mistake on the bill of sale in my favor compared to what I negotiated it down to, which was already cheap compared to prices I negotiated at other dealers, plus they basically let me have sunroof and cd changer for no extra money.
I didn't know how to drive stick when I bought it, so I knew I was going to do some abusing of my own on that puppy, so even if it was driven hard for 60 miles, wouldn't make much difference in grand scheme of things.

 

[bctbct]

I drove a work truck for a year and then found it had been reported stolen the entire time because the dealer gave us the wrong title.

Not sure how they fixed it, but i would have been pissed if I would have been pulled over and hauled off to jail.

 

[CupCak3]

That's pretty ridiculous. Thanks for the heads-up though; I'm in the market for a new car myself.

I'd be interested to hear out it turns out.

 

[Tiamat]

good to know!

 

[TraumaRN]

Ugh this makes me SO leery right before getting my new car...I suppose the only part that makes me feel safer is the car was ordered, not on the lot, and so the window sticker has my name on it...but now I'm STILL going to check the VIN after reading this thread.

On that note, the car is supposed to be delivered tomorrow...soooo I'm crossing my fingers on that one.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

what car company was this?

and did she ever get her car seats back? how?

 

[Doggiedog]

My dealer went over the VIN with me to make sure. But then again, I had to special order the car since there were no sticks in stock anywhere. I got there at a good time too bc some guy wanted to take my car out for a test drive. I would hope the dealer would have said no to them.

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: Doggiedog
My dealer went over the VIN with me to make sure. But then again, I had to special order the car since there were no sticks in stock anywhere. I got there at a good time too bc some guy wanted to take my car out for a test drive. I would hope the dealer would have said no to them.

If I ordered a car direct from the factory, and a salesman let someone test drive it before I took delivery, I'd be PISSED. Knowing another regular joe shmoe broke the car's cherry before I did would stay with me forever. 😛

 

[AndrewR]

I called my insurance company while buying my car (last night) and requested a quote for insurance to check what the new one would do to my rates. They asked for the VIN so there's no way the dealer could have switched it on me. Might be something to consider in the future. 🙂

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Originally posted by: Doggiedog
My dealer went over the VIN with me to make sure. But then again, I had to special order the car since there were no sticks in stock anywhere. I got there at a good time too bc some guy wanted to take my car out for a test drive. I would hope the dealer would have said no to them.

I know my car didn't get switched. I had to special order it as well (V8+5 speed FTW!), and my name is on the window sticker. Which I still have in the glove compartment, it never made it to the window. 🙂

 

[dud]

I'm no lawyer ...

I don't know if this is illegal but it does appear to be unethical.

 

[Elganja]

complain to the corporate office of the car company

 

[Zenmervolt]

Nothing illegal.

If the car has never been titled, it's "new" in the eyes of the law, regardless of how many miles are on it. As long as the car they were attempting to substitute was the same model, the same color and had the same options the dealership violated no laws. Your mother negotiated a deal for a "new" car of X model in Y color with Z options and the dealer delivered a "new" car of X model in Y color with Z options.

It's pretty unethical, but it's not illegal.

ZV

 

[LOUISSSSS]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Nothing illegal.

If the car has never been titled, it's "new" in the eyes of the law, regardless of how many miles are on it. As long as the car they were attempting to substitute was the same model, the same color and had the same options the dealership violated no laws. Your mother negotiated a deal for a "new" car of X model in Y color with Z options and the dealer delivered a "new" car of X model in Y color with Z options.

It's pretty unethical, but it's not illegal.

ZV

isn't there a limit on the # of miles on the ODO before the keys are given?