We originally bought a Saturn SL2 from Saturn of Warren. We loved it, service was great, NO problems. So when our daughter was just over 2 years old and we found out we were expecting another baby we decided it was going to be too small and my husband was having issues driving it because of his height. We thought since we'd done okay at Saturn the first time it would be the same this time. NOPE! We owed about $9,000 on the SL2 but got talked into purchasing a 2002 Saturn Vue AWD.
We spent 2 days at the dealership, the second day from 9 am onward. We were VERY specific about our payment, we said $400 not a penny more. Brian, our salesperson, took our application and basically disappeared. Anytime we saw him that day all we were told is "the finance manager is working on it". We kept asking what the payment was going to be. No answer, just that it was being worked on.
I swear we must have asked 3 dozen times how much the payment and interest rate was going to be! 5 other cars left the dealership that day before us. Well its getting to be 9 pm, my husband needs to leave for work because he's already late, we're told we got the financing and to transfer all our stuff from the SL2 to the Vue. We were told very clearly if ANYTHING was wrong with our deal we could return the Vue within 30 days or 1,500 miles. They kept saying that over and over.
Well as I'm transferring our stuff my husband gets pulled into the finance office to sign the contracts. Stupid me didn't go with him. We were getting stuck with a $758 payment! Being it was SO late and he was late for work and all our stuff was already moved, he signed the papers, thinking we'd have the 30 days to reconcile things if they weren't right.
That night we went over our budget, there was NO way we could afford the Vue. So we went back the next day, Wednesday. We were told there was nothing they could do because it was the day before Thanksgiving and the corporate offices had to approve everything and they were closed, come back Friday. Returned Friday only to be told the same thing, come back Monday.
So that Monday morning we go in, we hadn't driven the Vue except back and forth to the dealership so it was under the miles requirement. We're basically told our other car had been sold Wednesday morning and if we wanted to give the Vue back we would owe the $9,000 from the SL2 AND we'd be without a car. We asked about the 30 day guarantee, they said the above applied, we COULD give the car back. We asked about putting us in something used that would equal out to our $9,000 loan, not a chance. We called the finance manager, he was outright rude and said my husband signed the contract and that was it.
I spoke to Saturn Corporate, they were no help either. I tried calling the owner of the dealership several times, never returned my calls. See what they don't tell you with that 30 day guarantee is that if you give the car back its then considered a used car, and you have to pay the difference in the depreciation and if your lucky they can try and finance you something else. We felt SO stuck. We tried for 6 months to make the payments, almost starving just to pay the bills when finally, after not being able to give our daughter any sort of Christmas, we decided to give the Vue back and just take the hit on my husbands credit. We figured one bad mark was less evil then the 6 or 7 we would have gotten trying to maintain the Vue payment. We turned the Vue back in. My husband handed the keys directly to the finance manager and walked away.
6 months later we get a statement in the mail from GMAC, They resold the Vue and we owe the difference, $12,000. That was back in 2002 and to this day we haven't payed a cent to GMAC. Its on my husbands credit as a simple collection, rather then a repossesion thank goodness but still! We're now waiting for the collections people to take us to court so we can battle it out there. My best advice, DO NOT buy from Saturn of Warren, and if you do, make sure to read everything VERY carefully before you sign it!
Jarod
Macomb, Michigan
U.S.A.
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