Car dealer scams are plentiful; watch out

Dealers of new and used cars are always looking for ways to pad their bottom line. It’s up to you to wade through the maze of things they tell you; some of which may simply not be true. Here we will cover some more things you should watch out for when shopping for a vehicle.

More below.

Watch out for these scams when shopping for a new or used vehicle

The process of shopping for a car or truck is an ugly one that no one enjoys. The pricing is a mystery, the extras and add-ons are confusing, and the financing can be downright predatory if you’re not careful. We covered a few auto sales scams in part one of this article; we will now look at a few more.

Refusing your financing - It is now possible to obtain your own financing online through auto lending companies such as Eloan, Capital One Auto Finance, and others. Such financing is fairly easy to obtain, and of course, their checks are good. That won’t necessarily prevent your dealer from saying, “We don’t accept their checks.” The salesman may then mutter something about bounced checks or so on. It’s really just a ruse to get you to finance through them at a much higher rate of interest. Don’t fall for it. If you have financing through a reputable online lender, stick with it. If your dealer won’t accept it, then find another dealer who will.

Credit Score Shenanigans - Do you know your credit score? Did you check your credit report before shopping for a car? You should do both, as it pays to be informed about the state of your own finances. Assuming that most customers do not know their credit scores, dealers may tell customers that they do not qualify for the best interest rate because “your credit score isn’t high enough.” It may well be high enough, but that won’t prevent the dealer from claiming otherwise in order to get you to pay a higher interest rate. The best defense against this is to check your credit report and make sure that you know your credit score before you visit the dealer. Or you could simply arrange financing elsewhere and then you won’t have to bother with this scam.

Wrecked or damaged cars - This one is particularly relevant, as nearly 600,000 vehicles were flood damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Some states permit the sale of cars on an “as is” basis, and that makes you liable if you should purchase a car that was previously wrecked or flood damaged. In the case of the latter, you may not be able to tell from a casual glance, but an engine that was full of salt water will not run particularly well. Most of these cars are in the Southeast, but it’s easy to transport them across state lines and launder the title. When possible, you should run a check of the car’s Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) through Carfax before making your purchase.

As long as there are car dealers there will be unscrupulous ones. Try to be careful when shopping for either a new or used car. The money that you save when doing so will be your own.

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