Hope this will teach a hard lesson to anybody looking for a new car...
My wife and I needed to trade in our 1997 Chevrolet Camaro Convertable on something with four doors, because we now have an infant. The car seat just doesn't work too well in a sports car! We had tried several of those companies that advertise "100% approved financing, no matter how much you owe on your current car". After being rejected at each one, we finally happened upon Shawnee Mission Kia. I told them our situation and the salesman "insisted" we come down, he was positive he could help us.
So we make the trip over and met with him. He was extremely nice and let us look at all of the vehicles he thought we would qualify for. My wife fell in love with a 2002 Sportage. This car was brand new, only 25 miles on it! So they started the whole haggling process with us, and despite our stubborness to remain at a $500 down / $400 max monthly payment, we finally caved in to their terms. These terems were $1000 down and $440 per month. We were desperate so we aggreed.
We spent 2 hours filling out paper work, and then drove the car home. A week later they called and said the got us a better loan, it would be $445 per month for 60 months instead of $440 for 72. So we make the trip over again to re-fill out more paperwork (keep in mind this place is 40 miles, one way, from our house). I thought, "This just gets better and better, how did we get so lucky?". Well I guess I jinxed myself because it goes doenhill fast from here.
One month after we drove that Sportage off of the lot, we find out a mark has been placed on our credit for not making our payment on the Camaro. Confused, I called Kia to find out why the car had not been payed off yet. They informed me that we had to come up with and additional $1000 down or return the Sportage. I was baffled. We scraped up the $1000, but now had no way to pay the sales tax or register the car. We would worry about it later. I call Kia, excited that I found a way to save our Sportage, only now thay deny they said $1000, but we needed $2000.
Well this was impossible. I contacted a lawyer about this. They seemd to believe we were being ripped off. They could look at the paperwork and send a letter for a mere $150 per hour. Well, if I had the kind of money, I could come up with the $ so naturally this isn't an option. I figure I'll just threaten Kia with the information and the mention of an attorney, and maybe they'll crumble.
I am now informed by Kia that we signed a paper that states we will return the vehicle if the financing falls through. Funny, I thought we were legally entitled to a copy of ALL papers we signed, but yet I don't have that one.
Well, I found out they only gave us $4000 trade in on an Immaculate, 30th Anniverasary Convertable 1997 Camaro (average trade in = $7100). They refused to drop the price of the Sportage by $1000, claiming they were losing "enough" money as it was. Hmmmm, I thought selling an $18,000 SUV qualified as "Making Money", but what do I know?
So now we take back a Kia Sportage that we have put 1200 miles on. According to the law, they can no longer sell it as a "New" vehicle. So there's a $2000 loss. They claim it costs them $500 to have a car prepped for sale, so there's another $500. The Sportage had a door ding (down to the primer) so whoops, another $250. To top it off, they spent $500 on the Camaro prepping it for sale.
$2000 $500 $250 $500 = $3250. Now I ask you, which was a smarter business deal? Drop the Sportage to $17,000 or take it back and sell it for a max of $14,750? I say it's kind of a no-brainer, but I guess I was wrong.
So just a word to the wise, Be sure you read everything you sign word for word (even if they insist it's a simple form) and make sure you get a copy of everything you sign, EVERYTHING. Make sure you follow up quickly on the financing to make sure you don't drive a car for a month, only to find out you will have to return it. Thanks for reading my story.
Dave
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