Need some advice on this one. My friend was interested in buying a 01 Nissan Maxima from the local Nissan dealer and since I know one of the sales reps that works directly for the manager, he tells me to bring in my friend and he will give him a special deal. So, I bring in my friend and this is what they offer him. 01 Maxima at 3.9% vice the normal 7.8%, and they would give it to him at employee cost which saved him a little over a grand. Not a bad deal I thought since it's better than most places. So anyway, he signs all the paperwork, puts a grand down as downpayment, shakes hands with everyone, and now he's a happy owner. Well, two weeks later they call him up and say I'm sorry but we cannot give you that car at the 3.9% or special employee price so now you have to put more money down or your payments would be higher. Question is, can they do something like this? I mean they tell me and my friend that oh yes, not a problem, sign all the paperwork and he drives away only to find out that they screwed him. I've never heard of this at all. Needless to say he returned the car and now is one mad MF! I don't blame him. What can he do in this situation? Thanks for the help. Peace.

 

If he saved the paperwork and all showing what was agreed upon, the car dealer sure can't do that. Any court would say so, and I am sure that the court would also find the dealer responsible for attorney's cost for pursuing this.

 

you friend should have copies of everything he signed so he should be ok. if he doesnt have copies then that should have been a clue something was suspicious...

 

Once you sign the papers, everything should be final. Unless there is some fine print.

 

The dealerships have done that to me every time I've bought a car. It's just a scam to get more money out of people once they get used to a car and probably won't give it up. I always told them to kiss my *** and dared them to come get the car from me. Never any problems after that. Your friend should have told them that they should be glad that they finally figured out the rules of running a dealership, now **** off!

 

But in this case the dealer misrepresented the sale as if it were being sold to a Nissan employee. Since that is basically illegal it makes the contract illegal.

If I sign a contract to kill someone and I don't kill them, the guy who I signed the contract with cannot sue me for not carrying out the contract.

But if you don't have the paperwork and they don't have ALL the paperwork then I think you should be able to get out of it. (e.g. if they say "Yes we have your signed purchase intent but we do not have the price or the rate on it".)

 

They were just saying that to make him feel like he was getting a better deal! I saved 2k on my deal, so don't you think an employee would save more than that!!

If you know the car business, this usually happens because of the persons credit. They probably did have a 3.9% rate and they figured he would qualify for it, but if his credit was borderline on the qualifications (for the special rate) he might not be elidgable to get that rate.

 

I'm sure you and the dealer can work something out.
Good luck.

 

shadou,

First, the low 3.9% financing is available to anyone purchasing a 2001 Maxima, not just employess. However, to get this rate you have to have an extremely high credit rating. This is usually a FICA score of 680+. He would have to contact Nissan to find out the results.

Second, I hope he and the dealer wrote up the paperwork stating the deal was subject to approval of the 3.9% financing. If they didn't, he may be in trouble. Dealers write up two documents, one for the sale of the car and one for the financing, they are idependant. However, most states give you 3-5 days to back out of a deal reguardless. He should check the Better Businees Burreau.

Third, please check this site: http://www.carbuyingtips.com. This has been a tremendous help to me with car purchases. I suggest the two of read it carefully. Lots of good info.

 

Where do you live that dealers pull that crap? I can't believe anybody would actually fall for that B.S.

 

Atlanta. I'm sure people fall for it every day. Most people suck at buying cars.

 

Huh? There are no laws governing the price that Nissan can sell a car for. They can give it away for all the government cares. Employee pricing is just an internal company policy. A contract is a legally binding document, so he could have told them over the phone "I have the deal in writing. Any future correspondence will need to be through my attorney.".

 

First off, this wasn't me in question. It was my friend who bought the car. During the month of August, our Nissan dealership had the deal of the 3.9% vice the normal 7.8% and the ended up selling most of there stock, which was good for them. Since I run the Maxima club out here in Hawaii, one of the guys over at the Nissan dealership told me that anybody I bring in that wants to buy a car, he will give it to them at employee cost. Basically they could save a couple grand if they wanted to. This was all approved by the manager beforehand. They did a credit check on him on the spot and he was told his credit was good to go so no problem on the financing. The 01 Maxima SE, fully loaded was going for around $31,000 but he got it for right around $27,000 so I guess you could say he got a little lucky. This dealership is the best on the island as far as sales go and I have never heard of anything like this before. I think it's total BS but hey, what can you do? He signed the paperwork, and two weeks later, they want more money. Oh well, thanks for the advice. I'll be sure to pass on to my friend.

Shadou

 

$27k? Hmm....I think he got ripped a new a**hole

 

Maybe cars are generally more expensive in Hawaii.

 

they are making a big deal out of one grand less? thats nonense...especially since the new 02 and new altima are out, id figure theyd even sell them for like 3 or 4 less to get rid of them...my moms accord was originally like 21k, she talked the salesman, well his boss down to like 17,5 and that included an extra cd player, woodgrain interior and gold lettering on the car..at no extra cost, like i said...in my opinion if they are making a big deal out of it...he should give the car back and go elsewhere and get even a better deal....

 

Your loan should be finilized before taking delevery of the car...at that point, its over.

 

You see, thats the thing that I don't understand. My friends loan was all approved even before he walked out of the store but yet they try and make him return it. So he did and now can't get the car back. But I contacted the Nissan Corp out here where we live and they are looking into it. They for one couldn't believe that they would do something like this. Hopefully it will work out for him in the long run.

Shadou

 

Actually...I've heard a lot of things like that where the dealer will call you up later and tell you that your credit wasn't as good as they thought and they want more money. The way to get around that is to not take delivery of the car until your credit check has gone through and fully approved. Don't fully trust the dealers words...ask to see the approval. Call the credit agency up to confirm.

As for not being able to get the employee discount, that is bunch of BS. There is never a check or somthing like that where it says that you're getting an employess discount. Whatever they put on paper and you sign is a law binding document. Unless the dealer was not able to get the car or if it was damaged in some way, then the contact could be canceled.

I would suggest your friend to seek a lawyer and sue the heck out of those bastards.

Green