I decided to look on the internet for a vehicle. I am a first time buyer, which also means I have no credit, so I knew it would be hard to get financing. I saw a vehicle I was interested in and emailed the request to the dealer that I was interested. I got a response 2 weeks later and set up an appointment to come to the dealership and see what they could do.
My boyfriend and I went down there after work and the salesperson said the vehicle I liked wouldn't work for me with the banks, so I looked at a 1998 Ford Explorer, which test drove nicely and was in pretty good condition. She said they could let it go for $7,500, and since I was putting $2,500 down, I would only have to finance $5,000. It seemed like a good deal so I told them to hold on to the truck and I would be back tomorrow. The finance manager then told me to hold it I would have to put down $100. My boyfriend said "come on, forget it" and the finance guy then said "oh, ok if you promise you will be back tomorrow we will hold it for you." So they held it for free (i thought they HAD to have money?).
So we come back the next day which was a saturday and met with the salesman and finance manager and they said I would need a co-buyer. The only one I had that could sign for me was my boyfriend (who has credit through his truck payments) and he agreed to co-sign. We then met with the finance guy Cliff who said it would look better to the bank to tack on a bunch of warranties and other pricey things to jack up the financing price of the vehicle.
I never did anything like this before, so I said ok. The contract we were signing was for 7.5% APR which I was happy to get. I took the vehicle home and drove it for almost 2 weeks and I got a call from Cliff saying the bank did not approve and I need to sign a new contract, so I said ok and set up an appointment. I show up for the appointment and he wasn't there, which happened 2 more times. (talk about courtesy!) So finally we said we need to get this taken care of NOW. Another finance manager helped us and guess what? My new APR was 25.5%! I was so upset, but he kept coarsing me to sign so reluctantly I did.
The next day everyone told me it was a mistake to sign that new contract, and that wasn't right what they did. I felt like I was trapped in this loan and I was so upset. I started calling the bank, the dealership, anyone I could think of to try and get out of it but it was no use, so I just gave up. Then I go to get insurance for the vehicle, and come to find out I can't get any insurance because my co-owner boyfriend has a suspended license. So now I was really upset. I called the finance manager and went through about 5 different guys before I got any help, and they couldn't think of anything to do.
At this point I was so upset I called the original salesperson (whom I will not identify because he/she was an Angel to me) and told me that they would see what they could do. The next evening I get a call from that salesman and they told me how to get out of my contract, but I had to promise not to tell because they could get fired. Obviously the salesman felt bad that I got ripped off so bad. The salesperson said that by not giving them any proof of income or anything that they would take back the vehicle. I was so relieved, and that was a courageous thing for them to do.
Thankfully it didn't come down to that, because they told me that if I couldn't get insurance I would have to give the vehicle back. So I did, and then it took another 2 weeks for them to credit my down payment back to my bank account. I was fortunate for not being stuck in the contract, but it taught me a lesson, and I'm advising you that Brandon Courtesy will rip you off if you give them a chance.
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