Bad Caryard Experience

[CJB]

Now, I won't name company names in this thread, but I feel this whole experience warrants a post.

I recently posted, and many know that Ash and I just bought an Astra Coupe CDX, a great car. Exactly what we wanted.

I was looking to get rid of the Lancer, but was planning to wait until the New Year, as money for a new car swap right now was a bit tight with Christmas and many QLD events yada yada, but we stopped into this dealership to look at another car, for the hell of it, and ended up being talked into what seemed like a good deal once we spotted the Astra.

We both made it clear that we weren't ready for this, simply because of the timing, but the Manager came back and offered 3 months deferred car payments, so the car loan would over 5 years and 3 months, not the straight 5 years. That appealed and we saw no reason as to why we couldn't at least see what deal they would offer.

They presented a fair deal, $18k for my Lancer trade, which was a huge improvement from what we had been offered. So I applied for finance. I was told this finance would be going through Esanda, since the Lancer loan was through Esanda and there was a history it suited me fine.

The loan application was almost processed, but they instructed me I would need a guarantor. So, I gathered all the facts together and Ash and I went to my Mum and presented the "New car case". Impressed with the research, Mum agreed, as it freed her name completely from the Lancer.

But Mum wanted to ensure she wouldn't be lumped with the payments in the event of an inury or unemployment. So, I was told I could take out a loan for that, which suited everyone, including me - I accepted.

The loan went through with no dramas, a speedy pick up, two days after we saw the car originally, Ash and I went to pick it up after work. Caught up in all the excitement we sat there and spoke to the finance lady, whom I had spoken with three times earlier in the day. She basically pointed at the documents, told me where to sign and gave a gist of what the forms were.

Just as I went to sign the first document, I said something about the deferred payment to her, along the lines of "Glad I got that included" because I had just been given a monthly car payment figure. That's when, as I held the pen about to sign, she informs Ash and I.. "Oh sorry, we couldn't get that for you in the loan"

I was shocked. Ask Ash, I started breathing heavy and silently freaked. Unsure of what to do, I signed the forms anyways (which could be seen as stupid - but as far as I was aware, the initial contracts signed were all subject to finance, finance had been approved).

I remember Ash just looked at me. I was freaking, but thought to myself "It's ok, everything has gone so smoothly with this car, I haven't had to fight anything, it's all ok, it will be ok" so I calmed a little. That's when the next 'bombshell' as they call them came.

My finance wasn't through Esanda, it was now with GMAC. Although a small detail, I feel she should have made mention this sometime during the 3 phone calls I had with her during the day!!!

I didn't mind, I figured, GMAC, Esanda, GE, they are all a pack of bastards, but we need them.

Took the car, all was good to go, only - they hadn't done a roadworthy on it yet. (Being a demo car, still needed a road worthy). So the Manager asked me if I could come back at lunch the next day. I agreed - but told them I only had an hour, and he said that would be ample time.

The next day I went back at 12.00pm on my lunch break. I sat in that dealership by myself for 2 hours whilst they stuffed around putting my personalised plates on the car and did a simple road worthy. After an hour and 30 minutes I asked the Manager how long left, because I had to get my a$$ back to work, he actually gave me attitude and told me to go sit down. At 2pm, I left the dealership.

On the Monday of this week, I noticed a crack in the foglight in the front. I am not saying it was the dealerships fault, and I am not saying it didn't happen in my possession, what I am saying is I told the dealership about it and they quickly told me I must have done something - but to Ash's knowledge, and my knowledge, we haven't hit anything. So they are quick to pass the buck on that shows me.

That brings us to yesterday, whilst at another dealership talking deals - it came up about my loan contract insurance. After confirming that I am only on contract employment at the moment the Finance Manager there tells me this dealership that sold me Astra should not have given me that Insurance, as it doesn't apply to me. That's basically $4,430 I have added to my loan for something I can never use.

I was so angry.

But Ash and I worked out, it's ok, I can just cancel that, and that figure will be put onto my GMAC loan therefore making me ahead in my loan repayments. Seemed awesome. Grabbed my SWANN insurance documents, and came to work. I then started flicking through the documents, as I have not a single document from GMAC about my loan with them, and that's when I found my borrowed amount exceeds what I was told it would by a large number of dollars, and that I have a residual!!!! I have a $14,800 residual on the loan, and no one mentioned a word of this!

BEFORE any comments come back about I should have read the documents before signing, Ash will back me up on this, she did not say anything about a balloon, she did not show us any documents with these figures, or anything like this. I signed what she said I had to, and we did glance at the docs, but not a single document held figures like this one.

I freaked, at work, again.

She handed me this Swann booklet with all the information about my gap cover insurance, and loan protection insurance AFTER I signed the documents. AFTER I SIGNED! And, she did not say anything.

So, I rang the dealership, and spoke to her, and her words were these...

"I told you I structured a 7 year loan into a 5 year loan".

WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN? I am 20 for f*ck sake. I asked around work if that translated into "You have a residual" and not one person saud yes.

I should ALSO make mention of how sloppy and careless this dealership is when it comes to paying out old loans.

The Esanda loan was due to be paid out either last Thursday, or Friday (the loan was signed late Thursday, so I assumed Esanda would be paid out on Friday for the Lancer as I traded it to them). I went on thinking the loan was paid out, it's pay week this week and I had about $230 left in my savings account on Monday 4th December. Come Tuesday I go to pay for lunch with Ash, and it's declined from the ATM. I check my account when I get back to work, Esanda have deducted the usual car payment, and I have been hit with a dishonour fee for not having sufficient funds in the bank. I went mental.

I rang Esanda and abused the poor man with hard to understand English, and he eventually spat out that the loan hadn't been paid out - I rang the dealership and they looked into it before calling me back and confirming, they had forgotten about it. That was their words, they had forgotten.

So, I was left without money until payday yesterday, and lost $90 in dishonour fees, which put my account into debit, and I am still waiting to be reimbursed from the dealership because the loan repayment to Esanda should never have gone through.

Ok, there are a few things here that I could have done, like cancelled the direct debit with Esanda myself. It's bad to assume anything - but had I done that anyways, Esanda would be hitting me up for money, and possibly defaulting me for non payment, because the dealership didn't pay the loan out.

There are a few things here in the whole scenario that could have been avoided had I been more careful, and I am currently restructuring finances to take care of that ugly balloon figure, and it will be sorted, no thanks to the dealership, I just want this looong story to be a good warning for anyone who wants to buy a car from a dealership.

Having said that, I will say Doug Barton Holden have been wonderful - and I wish I had gone to them in the first place.

Warning: This is an Old Thread This discussion is older than 120 days. information contained in it may no longer be current . Please think of the children before resurrecting this ancient thread!

[Wraith]

Gee wiz Crispy, I really feel for you mate...

One lesson about this to everybody is BEWARE when buying new cars from most dealers regardless of brand - They will try to sell you anything, whether you can actually afford it or not - they don't care - at the end of the day it's a commission cheque in their pocket.......

I have a very close friend who resigned as a salesman from a Werribee Holden dealer (yes I will mention them) because of dodgy sales issues he could not live with doing to people, that were being perpetrated and encouraged at that dealership !!!

I had 2 separate deals at 2 seperate Holden dealers fall through on a brand new Monaro and GTO respectively, over the past 18 months because of dodgy arrangements and dealings and there was 'no finance' involved ! and I had to threaten legal action to get my deposits back - which worked.

Once again BUYER BEWARE and always read everything on ALL documents.

[blueraven]

um...

sorry but all i can see apart from the usual i would expect from a dealer, is that you really didnt know what the hell you were doing, and should not have gona ahead with it in the first place. "only 20" is definately not an excuse.

Agreed, they treated you like a sucker, but then i am afraid the only people that let themselves get treated like that....are suckers.

[CJB]

Lucky, I can afford the car. That was never an issue really. I just didn't want repayments now, to disrupt Christmas etc.

And that's the other thing, the deposit never came back. They said it would be refunded, but apparently, it was just added into the loan. That's not what we wanted.


Luckily, there is damage control here, and it's not so much bad, as it all is a hassle. Just a huge hassle.

Yes buyer beware. And my sole intention of this post is to help reinforce that, because clearly, I did not listen - and Ash who is much more practical and more grounded with these things didn't even pick up on it - so they are sneaky, and use sneaky tactics.

My aunty used to work for a caryard, and she herself said she quit because she would feel ill on the crap they would pull.

I always wanted to be a carsalesman - always, because I love cars. But I couldn't do this to people. I am not the most moral person out there, but there is a line.

[CJB]

um...

sorry but all i can see apart from the usual i would expect from a dealer, is that you really didnt know what the hell you were doing, and should not have gona ahead with it in the first place. "only 20" is definately not an excuse.

Agreed, they treated you like a sucker, but then i am afraid the only people that let themselves get treated like that....are suckers.

as I said, there was a lot I did that I shouldn't have. But this serves as a reminder for others not to be so free and easy.

And you cannot excuse the fact that they didn't pay my Esanda loan out, when that was their job to do it.

And no, being 20 isn't an excuse, but it's a fact. Age really has nothing to do with it - it's their lack of communication.

A car dealer is out to make money yes, but at the same time, they have to keep communication open with the customer.

Of course I am comparing this dealership to Doug Barton Holden, and DBH wins for Customer Service hands down, and they are getting plenty of sales.

[Tfer]

Feel for you mate... and regardless of experience, or lack of experience, even the most experienced people get caught out in the "heat of the moment".

It does appear that possibly certain things were not explained correctly, which under the UCCC (Uniform Consumer Credit Code) they are legally bound to.... and you may have a case against them with the Banking Ombudsman. Point to ponder....

Respect to you Crispy, for bringing this out into the open, so that other members can learn from your experience

One other thing, for anyone in the future... you have the right to take the finance documentation away, and have them translated for you by someone else, if finance is not your forte. Don't ever assume!

Thank you once again Crispy for bringing this experience to all of Opelaus :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

[CJB]

Thanks Thomas

I will gladly tell this, and accept being called a "sucker"

It's about ethics too. There is a game with cardealerships. I know that. I know there are tactics, but what this dealership have done is beyond ridiculous, and yes, there will possibly be legal involvement in this. Have since been on the phone to my Grandparents, who have contacted their solicitor, and there is a case - lucky for me, Ash is a witness to most of it.

Like I said, having a balloon, is nothing to weep about any longer then the initial shock of it- it's just a combination of EVERYTHING... broken promises on their end, lack of communication, misrepresentation.

[Red AH SRI T]

awwww *HUGZ*

poor crispy bacon bits!!!

I hate it when i hear stories like this because it ruins the reputations of those daelers and sales/finance sales people who are trying to do the right thing.

[Mr T]

Dude...Normally I stick up for the dealers in these cases...but man, (as we say) they saw you coming...

As you know I have spent many years working in and for dealers and my wife was a Business Manager (finance salesman) as well.

OK, you have been shafted, I recommend telling that same story to the local Dept of Fair Trading (the QLD equivalent Anyway).

In 2003, new laws were past that put the pressure on this sort of practice, ie not explaining in simple terms what everything means...this included explaining comparison rates and disclosing the commissions that the dealer made.(I bet they didn't that - I bet alot of money they didn't do that)

There is a TAFE course in NSW that is compulsory now to learn the rules of the FSRA (Financial Services Review Act)...and it sounds to me that they have not adheared to any of the new rules...

...Call me if you want...!!!

[Ishley]

um...

sorry but all i can see apart from the usual i would expect from a dealer, is that you really didnt know what the hell you were doing, and should not have gona ahead with it in the first place. "only 20" is definately not an excuse.

Agreed, they treated you like a sucker, but then i am afraid the only people that let themselves get treated like that....are suckers.

We are not suckers, we had NO reason to think we would be f*cked over by this dealer. If we were to name the dealer we purchased the car from im more then sure everyone would be shocked at the unethical behaviour. I am more then sure you yourself have not red through your loan contract FULLY upon purchase of the car.

Being "only 20" was not used as an excuse, rather that things should have been explained. More so the fact that stipulations were made that we would not go throught with the loan had the 3 month deferred repayments not been included in the loan. Had any mention of a balloon (residual) been talked about in our loan, i would have stopped it there no matter how much Crispy loved the car.

We are lucky that we can afford the loan, and repayments will be made on time every time. It, however, will not stop us from making complaints to the right people.

BEFORE OPENING YOUR MOUTH AND CALLING PEOPLE SUCKERS, I SUGGEST YOU APPOLIGISE TO CRISPY, AND THINK BEFORE YOU POST.