Car Buying Scams
Car Dealer Scams
That Can Cost You Thousands!
Car buying scams cost unsuspecting car buyers thousands, upon thousands of dollars on a daily basis. This equates to many millions of dollars on a yearly basis.
It's well worth a small investment of your time to learn about some of the most common scams in use today. Doing so will keep you off the 6 o'clock news as the latest victim of a car dealer scam.
The following car buying scams are all scams that I have personally watched salesman, sales managers and finance managers commit over my years in the car business. In fact, many years ago I was the victim of a car scam and I'll touch on that below.
The Car Buying
Scams Stop Here...
Auto Advertisement Scams
9 of the most common and still used today auto dealer ads that are misleading and border line illegal.
I'd practically guarantee you could open up your local paper and find half, if not all, of these ads in use.
Spot Delivery Scam
My beloved Internet "Car Buying Scams Guru's" are all over this as one of the largest scams dealerships use.
One word...Wrong!
Can it be a scam? Sure. And I'll show you how to avoid it, but it's usually something far from a scam.
Bank Fraud
Known as application beautification and guess what?
Your signature is all over it. Do not get caught up in this scam or else you could have some very upset bankers looking to get you. As I think we all know, bankers are all about the money and you just unknowingly tried to scam them for it.
Payment Packing
Payment packing in itself is not so much a car buying scam, but it is deceptive and can certainly lead to a scam in the Finance Office.
This has to be one of the most common "scams" in use today and this is a must read if you plan to finance your next vehicle.
Vehicle Sales Contract
Stuffin' it like a turkey. You may be surprised at the amount of money I've seen some Finance Managers stuff into an unsuspecting customers vehicle sales contract.
There is one incident where over $3,500 of unwanted (at least undisclosed) products/services were stuffed in and the poor customer was none the wiser.
Beware of stuffed contracts! It can literally cost you thousands...
Trade Payoff Scam
I have personally been burned by this...and I was in the car business at the time it happened to me.
If you are trading a vehicle with a payoff due to a lender, you'll definitely want to know what to keep an eye on.
Trust me, this one can be a nightmare.
Extended Warranty Scam
Here is another very common car buying scam and it usually takes place in the finance office.
It sounds very legitimate when it's explained to you, but it is actually quite unethical and illegal.
This scam usually exploits customers with bad credit, but I've seen it used on people with above average credit as well.
Co Signer Loans Scam
If you are looking to buy a vehicle with bad credit and are told you need a co signer to qualify, that's acceptable.
What's not acceptable is what happens with this co signer loans scam that will not only, not improve your credit, but can put your co signer in a a bad spot as well.
I'll show you how to avoid this and what to do if it's happened to you...
Report To Credit Bureau
This car buying scam takes place when you are buying from a dealer that offers in house financing. These dealerships are usually referred to as Buy Here Pay Here lots.
If you are looking to buy from one of these lots and are also looking to build or rebuild credit, then there are some very important questions you'll want to ask.
This is a tricky scam that is legitimate on the surface, but can be very deceptive deep down.
Why would they help their very best customers to buy from somewhere else?
Branded Title and Title Washing
Ever wonder how dealers get away with selling salvage title vehicles as clean title vehicles? Or how about flood damaged vehicles, like Katrina cars?
There were over 500,000 vehicles damaged because of Katrina and trust me a lot of those vehicles are still in circulation here the United States.
Here's how they do it and how to protect yourself...
Rusty Car
Do you live in the desert, or some other warm climate? Think that buying a rust bucket from your local car dealership is next to impossible?
Think again!
You might actually be at a higher risk than those in cold weather climates.
Car Window Etching
This is by far one of the most talked about car buying scams on the Internet. I hate to break it to all the "wanna be car buying guru's," but this is not a scam.
Let me show you why it's not a scam. The only time Car Window Etching becomes a scam is if the car dealer...
5 Finger Scam
What's fishy about 5 fingers...Hey it's better than the "one" finger, right?
Well, not really. This is actually an old school closing technique that I still see used from time to time.
If someone tries to use it on you, put the brakes on fast, because they are hiding something that's probably costing you thousands.
Curbstoners
This is actually not a car dealer scam and it's also probably not the type of "stoner" you may be thinking of, but you'll want to keep an eye out for these car buying scams when buying a car from a private party.
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