38k

 

Just in case of what? Just in case they couldn't stuff enough fees into a three-year loan?

I worked at a car dealer with this sort of F&I dept. a summer when I was in college, back in the 1980s. The "best" of this sort of finance manager can tell exactly how much they can get out of each customer. This guy unfortunately saw you, your good credit score, and you're $8,000 down, and realized he could finance nearly the entire purchase price of the car. So that $8,000 could all be his. He just had to load you up with every extra, unnecessary fee imaginable.

I remember a guy like this when I was selling cars. The manager realized that the guy--with a solid job and good credit--would protest every time something was added on, but would then give in. So the manager kept loading stuff on.

If you find you cannot sort this out on your own, do you have any friends who tend to be good at this sort of thing?

 

Apparently!

I'm going to try my best but I know someone that's good at complaining if all else fails...and he knows people in the car business so that could help.

 

Update: Still have not resolved this. They were supposed to redo the financing but they always say they'll call me back. If they do it's always 5 hours later when I'm sleeping because I work nights. So I faxed them a request to send me a signed copy of the refinance details but have not recieved anything. It was supposedly done and pending on me sending them a copy of my vehicle registration.

Update 2: Now they want me to go in to do it...but I live 5 hours away.

 

Just go do it or be stuck with a bill. I thought MOST dealerships (even the shady ones) offered some sort of return policy..? See if you can figure something out and get a car loan personally (not through a dealership). Find a nice one on eBay OR rebuy it from that dealership.

Tell them, "I'll refinance the car myself, OR I'll return it, call a lawyer, contact the state departments, whatever!" You can bet they would rather sell the car for less than not to sell it at all. You can scare anybody into doing anything you want them to do, in most cases.

Also contact the BBB, I know this sounds stupid, but I've done it a few times with big companies (including best buy) and I ALWAYS get a resolution within 24-72 hours.

Good luck and keep us up to date.

 

Just buy the car and get your own aftermarket warranty. I got mine through warranty direct. 1800 bucks for a 100000 mile warranty covering my engine,tranny and axles. Covers Timing belt and everything that the A6 has problems with.

 

Yes my friend, you are getting hosed. With a credit score like that, you should get a much better deal. I went to LendingTree.com and applied for a loan. I got about 5 offers in 10 minutes. CapitalOne gave my 5.9% for 5 years and they knocked off .9% because I used direct deposit for my payments. I got the check in 2 days. You can do much better than that. I also got a warranty for $1800. 3 years/36k. Good luck.

 

I'm sorry, but you say that the dealer suggested the 7 year loan "just in case". Bottom line is you're the person purchasing the car so if you wanted to do a 3 year loan you should not have agreed to anything but the 3 year loan that you wanted to have. If they don't want to help you out you have the power because you have the money they want. SO JUST LEAVE!

 

I can't get the time off from work to drive down there. Why can't they do the refinance over the phone/mail!? WHY?

 

Did you go to the dealership for the refi yet???
I would suggest to show up @ the dealer and talk to the guys face 2 face GO ON SUNDAY!!!

ALSO I DISAGREE WITH WHAT "MNA6" SAYS---WITH THIS ECONOMY YOU SHOULD HAVE THE LOWEST PAYMENTS POSSIBLE AND JUST PAY IT OFF EARLIER--DAREDEVIL DO YOU HAVE A PRE-PAY PENALTY???--IT MIGHT HOLD BACK THE REFI