It is not a coincidence that customer trust in auto deals has fallen sharply. A survey by Cox Automotive says that only 61% of Americans believe their dealership gave them the best price. Most often you may not even notice that you are being lied to. The lack of information lets the auto dealers rip off consumers and consumers may not know until after signing their contracts. In this article, we will let you know some of the most common auto dealer lies and what to do when a car dealer lied to you.
Most Common Auto Dealer Lies
Most often auto dealers will not lie to you outright. Instead, they may mislead you to make the sale.
- The dealer may tell you need to purchase additional items such as GAP or a Vehicle Service Contract to get financing. The fact is that you do not have to. These are always optional and you may skip them.
- The dealer may withhold information affecting the desirability or value of a vehicle. For example, they may not tell you that the car was used as a rental vehicle or had sustained some damage.
- You may be quoted a monthly payment at the time of the sale without realizing that it reflects not only the vehicle price, tax, and interest but also additional items which were never even mentioned to you.
- Dealers may lie to a customer by saying a car is new when in fact it is a used vehicle.
- A common practice is “yo-yo-financing”. The dealer may sell the vehicle under a payment plan. Several weeks later he may call and say that the financing institution rejected your credit application. The dealer may try to pressure the customer into a more expensive payment plan.
- The dealer may refer to a clean Carfax report. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the car is “clean”. Unless the owner of the car made an insurance claim, any accidents or flooding would not show up on a Carfax report.
What to Do If You Have Been Lied to by a Car Dealer?
Your first step should be to contact an auto fraud attorney. At The Margarian Law Firm, we do not charge for consultation. If you suspect that you were lied to or you suspect that your vehicle was in a prior accident, contact our attorneys for a free consultation. We handle a fair amount of auto dealer fraud cases on a daily basis and can quickly assess your case.
You might be tempted to contact the salesperson to address the issue. Don’t do that! If he or she lied to you once, they will likely lie again. Instead, contact a knowledgeable attorney that will assess your case for free and then, if your case is viable, represent you in your case for no out-of-pocket cost to you.
Call us today at (818) 553-1000 and we will guide you through the process.
