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Pleasant surprise: car magically became Certified Pre-Owned

kranky

kranky

Elite Member
Bought my father-in-law's car after he bought a new one. Instead of selling it directly to me, he traded it in and told the dealer I would be coming the next day to buy it. My FIL thought he was doing me a favor as the dealer is much closer to our house than my FIL's house is. Except he didn't realize the dealer would mark it up before selling it to me.

They didn't even have the car fully detailed when I went to get it, but I just wanted to get it over with. During the paperwork shuffle I asked the salesguy if the car would be a CPO. Answer: no, they didn't do the "172 point inspection/reconditioning", they just did a thorough safety check (which was added to the bill). And he reminded me that if it WAS a CPO, the price would have been higher to account for all their extra work.

Today I get a letter from Buick congratulating me on the purchase of a CPO Buick, along with a wallet card that shows the car qualifies for CPO services (2 yr/30k miles free oil changes and tire rotations) and a 12 month/12k mile bumper-to-bumper warranty.

Not like winning the lottery, but useful anyway. I guess someone screwed up at the dealership.
 
Your FIL thought he could trade it into the dealer, and that they would sell it to you with no markup...??


Congrats on the CPO though, that is a nice surprise.
 
I hear you. My FIL is a very, very nice older gentleman. He told the dealer I was going to buy the car and assumed I would be charged the same amount he traded it in for. He just did not imagine the dealer would do anything else, seeing as it was a guaranteed sale the very next day.

I talked to another guy I know who sells cars and he says every once in a while they get a deal like that, and he marks it up just $50 as a courtesy. This guy marked up the car $800. My FIL was outraged but I told him that it's not wise to assume dealers would do what he would do in the same situation. I can't really complain, it was still about $3K less than FMV.
 
kranky said:
I hear you. My FIL is a very, very nice older gentleman. He told the dealer I was going to buy the car and assumed I would be charged the same amount he traded it in for. He just did not imagine the dealer would do anything else, seeing as it was a guaranteed sale the very next day.

I talked to another guy I know who sells cars and he says every once in a while they get a deal like that, and he marks it up just $50 as a courtesy. This guy marked up the car $800. My FIL was outraged but I told him that it's not wise to assume dealers would do what he would do in the same situation. I can't really complain, it was still about $3K less than FMV.
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he's a naive clown
 
kranky said:
I hear you. My FIL is a very, very nice older gentleman. He told the dealer I was going to buy the car and assumed I would be charged the same amount he traded it in for. He just did not imagine the dealer would do anything else, seeing as it was a guaranteed sale the very next day.

I talked to another guy I know who sells cars and he says every once in a while they get a deal like that, and he marks it up just $50 as a courtesy. This guy marked up the car $800. My FIL was outraged but I told him that it's not wise to assume dealers would do what he would do in the same situation. I can't really complain, it was still about $3K less than FMV.
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He should be happy they didn't charge FMV.
 
rcpratt said:
FIL: not all that bright.
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OP probably is more interested in what the FIL “created” many years back and is ok with FIL not always making the wiser choice...hey he let OP marry his daughter didn't he.......I kid I kid.

Nice deal OP.
 
Ferzerp said:
I have to ask why you agreed to this process in the first place?
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It wasn't up to me to agree to the process. My FIL said he was buying a new car and asked if I wanted his current car. I said yes. He said he would let me know when he had everything in place.

He called me one day, said the car was at the dealer and I should call the salesguy to make arrangements to pick it up and do the paperwork, and the car will cost $X. $X is what he was given on the trade-in.

I called the salesguy to set up a time. We agree on a time. The salesguy starts telling me everything they did to get the car "ready" and what the price will be. It's a lot more than $X but a lot less than FMV.

If I had balked, it would have made FIL extremely sad because he would have felt he screwed everything up. I am not going to hurt FIL's feelings if at all possible as he honestly felt he was doing me a favor. You have never met a man so nice and it simply wasn't worth causing him a moment's discomfort.

So that's why it went down the way it did.
 
kranky said:
It wasn't up to me to agree to the process. My FIL said he was buying a new car and asked if I wanted his current car. I said yes. He said he would let me know when he had everything in place.

He called me one day, said the car was at the dealer and I should call the salesguy to make arrangements to pick it up and do the paperwork, and the car will cost $X. $X is what he was given on the trade-in.

I called the salesguy to set up a time. We agree on a time. The salesguy starts telling me everything they did to get the car "ready" and what the price will be. It's a lot more than $X but a lot less than FMV.

If I had balked, it would have made FIL extremely sad because he would have felt he screwed everything up. I am not going to hurt FIL's feelings if at all possible as he honestly felt he was doing me a favor. You have never met a man so nice and it simply wasn't worth causing him a moment's discomfort.

So that's why it went down the way it did.
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Would have done the same thing in that situation to be honest.
 
Your FIL could have done a transfer of the vehicle title to his daughter without paying any fees or taxes. Then you would have just paid him a previously discussed amount of $$. Well, what's been done is done.
 
kranky said:
I hear you. My FIL is a very, very nice older gentleman. He told the dealer I was going to buy the car and assumed I would be charged the same amount he traded it in for. He just did not imagine the dealer would do anything else, seeing as it was a guaranteed sale the very next day.

I talked to another guy I know who sells cars and he says every once in a while they get a deal like that, and he marks it up just $50 as a courtesy. This guy marked up the car $800. My FIL was outraged but I told him that it's not wise to assume dealers would do what he would do in the same situation. I can't really complain, it was still about $3K less than FMV.
Click to expand...

Your father in law is a fucking idiot.
 
your FIL is a very wise man. If he just sold you the car for X amount, he would've lost the tax credit from the trade in amount. Don't let this old man fools you.
 
richardycc said:
your FIL is a very wise man. If he just sold you the car for X amount, he would've lost the tax credit from the trade in amount. Don't let this old man fools you.
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The salesguy probably told him that. My FIL is not one to think that way.
 
richardycc said:
your FIL is a very wise man. If he just sold you the car for X amount, he would've lost the tax credit from the trade in amount. Don't let this old man fools you.
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you don't think even if they split the difference between trade in price and what the OP paid they both wouldn't have been better off?

what should have happened is the FIL told the dealer to do a pass through. say he has a buyer for the car and he has to get it for X price or he won't buy his car.
 
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