HELP! Dealership wants their car back or I fork out more money. WTF Honda.

dawsonj87

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Just read this whole thread in one sitting. I am an engineering student currently, and I'll be graduating May 2020 with a bachelor's in mechanical engineering. I have full intentions on buying a hot hatch, as with my engineering degree I will theoretically be able to afford to finance a CTR, given it is at MSRP-- it is a very affordable car at MSRP. With the Veloster N coming in at a much lower price and a very, very nice exhaust, it is tempting to look over Honda, although I love my Civic, have been a part of this forum for a few years now, and would absolutely love to be in another Honda. Only if it is a CTR, though; I am not a fan of the rev hang present in the Si, it totally ruined the experience for me. Anyway, this thread has completely shown me the true colors of the car buying process. This is absolutely absurd, and I am very glad OP got through it, and am proud to be part of a forum with all of you who were extremely willing to help and provide input. I will be applying for the college grad financial program, and am very excited to actually get on with it.

To input on the difference among Honda dealers, although this may be irrelevant at this point, I just feel as if it is my duty to share my experiences. I am located in the Buffalo, NY area when I am home from school, and the closest dealer to me was Zeigler Honda, which is now Northtown Honda. On multiple occasions, I have sat down with salespeople to discuss financing in order to better prepare myself for actually buying, and have gotten nothing but blatant lies from said salespeople. For example, I had an appointment to test drive a 2017 Si, which I went through hoops to actually get. Long story short, the time comes, and I show up to a salesman sitting me down to tell me they had no Si's on the lot at the time, and they were in transit. "Could show up in 10 minutes, could show up next week." Meanwhile there were 3 new, unsold Si's on the lot. I emailed them to voice my displeasure, only to receive an extremely disorganized, and misinformed email from the salesman I dealt with, claiming that it made no sense for me to test drive when the Si "will change" by the time I buy, and a whole bunch of other typical salesperson BS. I have not walked into that dealership since that happened, and I now drive 10 minutes more to another dealer, where the personnel treat me with nothing but respect and appreciate the fact that I am working my arse off at school towards getting a job and buying a new Honda, and planning ahead. Another dealer, Honda of Keene in Keene, NH near my SO, is where I test drove a Civic Si with the nicest salesman I have ever met, and the most down-to-earth sales manager and general manager I have ever met. Good Honda dealers are out there, so I wouldn't give up on Honda over bad dealers. All dealers of all manufacturers have the potential for bad experiences. I agree, it is complete BS that OP had to go through a huge headache over $500, but as an (aspiring!) engineer and a lifelong enthusiast, I can't justify giving up on truly good cars over something like a dealership.

Again, I am happy OP is enjoying the Civic and ended up with the upper hand, and am not criticizing whatsoever. Just hoping to prolong the enjoyment of owning a Honda for someone. And again, I am proud to be part of a forum with people as yourselves, who are so willing to help, and provide such good input. And hopefully in May 2020, I'll be able to update my garage with a 2020 CTR!
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civicls

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Just read this whole thread in one sitting. I am an engineering student currently, and I'll be graduating May 2020 with a bachelor's in mechanical engineering. I have full intentions on buying a hot hatch, as with my engineering degree I will theoretically be able to afford to finance a CTR, given it is at MSRP-- it is a very affordable car at MSRP. With the Veloster N coming in at a much lower price and a very, very nice exhaust, it is tempting to look over Honda, although I love my Civic, have been a part of this forum for a few years now, and would absolutely love to be in another Honda. Only if it is a CTR, though; I am not a fan of the rev hang present in the Si, it totally ruined the experience for me. Anyway, this thread has completely shown me the true colors of the car buying process. This is absolutely absurd, and I am very glad OP got through it, and am proud to be part of a forum with all of you who were extremely willing to help and provide input. I will be applying for the college grad financial program, and am very excited to actually get on with it.

To input on the difference among Honda dealers, although this may be irrelevant at this point, I just feel as if it is my duty to share my experiences. I am located in the Buffalo, NY area when I am home from school, and the closest dealer to me was Zeigler Honda, which is now Northtown Honda. On multiple occasions, I have sat down with salespeople to discuss financing in order to better prepare myself for actually buying, and have gotten nothing but blatant lies from said salespeople. For example, I had an appointment to test drive a 2017 Si, which I went through hoops to actually get. Long story short, the time comes, and I show up to a salesman sitting me down to tell me they had no Si's on the lot at the time, and they were in transit. "Could show up in 10 minutes, could show up next week." Meanwhile there were 3 new, unsold Si's on the lot. I emailed them to voice my displeasure, only to receive an extremely disorganized, and misinformed email from the salesman I dealt with, claiming that it made no sense for me to test drive when the Si "will change" by the time I buy, and a whole bunch of other typical salesperson BS. I have not walked into that dealership since that happened, and I now drive 10 minutes more to another dealer, where the personnel treat me with nothing but respect and appreciate the fact that I am working my arse off at school towards getting a job and buying a new Honda, and planning ahead. Another dealer, Honda of Keene in Keene, NH near my SO, is where I test drove a Civic Si with the nicest salesman I have ever met, and the most down-to-earth sales manager and general manager I have ever met. Good Honda dealers are out there, so I wouldn't give up on Honda over bad dealers. All dealers of all manufacturers have the potential for bad experiences. I agree, it is complete BS that OP had to go through a huge headache over $500, but as an (aspiring!) engineer and a lifelong enthusiast, I can't justify giving up on truly good cars over something like a dealership.

Again, I am happy OP is enjoying the Civic and ended up with the upper hand, and am not criticizing whatsoever. Just hoping to prolong the enjoyment of owning a Honda for someone. And again, I am proud to be part of a forum with people as yourselves, who are so willing to help, and provide such good input. And hopefully in May 2020, I'll be able to update my garage with a 2020 CTR!
I am in the exact same position as you, except I will hopefully graduate 2021-2 with a masters in aeronautical engineering. Hoping to get an upgrade though if it financially suits me. Maybe an A5 sportback, anyone? :)
Good luck with your studies!
 

SoCalCivicSI

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I used to work at a major car dealer and have bought many cars so far in my life.

One thing some of you don't understand.
Dealers protect themselves from anything that would cost them money. Even though you signed a contract and drove the car home it isn't YOURS until the LOAN funds.
Dealers "sell" cars all the time without knowing if they can get the new buyer financed for SURE, they are willing to take that chance rather to turn down a sale.

It can take a week.....or more to finance someone....IF the loan doesn't fund and they try to finance you with another company but can't you HAVE to return the car!

This is called a "Unwind", dealers sell them all the time, with HONDAs, since the resale is so good they don't lose much money and may make MORE money on the next sale of the car to the next buyer
They have to disclose to the new buyer that this car was returned and previously registered.

This is why it's better to get pre-approved with YOUR bank or credit union for a loan, then this won't happen.

Dealers won't sell your trade in until the loan on your new purchase FUNDs and is final because they know they may have to "unwind" the deal and give you your trade back.

Somewhere in your contract it states that you are aware that you may have to return the car if for ANY reason the deal can't go through........and that includes lack of rebates or certain incentives.

By law the dealer didn't do anything illegal......trust me the contracts are written by lawyers!
 
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Goseki

Goseki

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I used to work at a major car dealer and have bought many cars so far in my life.

One thing some of you don't understand.
Dealers protect themselves from anything that would cost them money. Even though you signed a contract and drove the car home it isn't YOURS until the LOAN funds.
Dealers "sell" cars all the time without knowing if they can get the new buyer financed for SURE, they are willing to take that chance rather to turn down a sale.

It can take a week.....or more to finance someone....IF the loan doesn't fund and they try to finance you with another company but can't you HAVE to return the car!

This is called a "Unwind", dealers sell them all the time, with HONDAs, since the resale is so good they don't lose much money and may make MORE money on the next sale of the car to the next buyer
They have to disclose to the new buyer that this car was returned and previously registered.

This is why it's better to get pre-approved with YOUR bank or credit union for a loan, then this won't happen.

Dealers won't sell your trade in until the loan on your new purchase FUNDs and is final because they know they may have to "unwind" the deal and give you your trade back.

Somewhere in your contract it states that you are aware that you may have to return the car if for ANY reason the deal can't go through........and that includes lack of rebates or certain incentives.

By law the dealer didn't do anything illegal......trust me the contracts are written by lawyers!

For sure this. I ran the paperwork through my lawyer and he said pretty much the same thing. The thing though, is this dealership decided that over $500, we're going to harass this customer and turn him into an unhappy client. When, the car, already had 1000 miles put on it plus a dent bumper from a hit and run. There was no way they would make up $500 selling this now used car. Yet they still kept trying to get me to pay out the $500 and using scare tactics like "you need to bring the car in right now" let's delay for a day or 2, "just kidding bring it in now or pay. " That just straight up turned the relationship from I'm happy I got a great deal from this place to Fuck this place, I'm telling all my co-workers and friends to avoid it like the plague.
 

deathjam4

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I had a simalure experience with a volkswagon dealer. I bought a used car tho on finance it was a great car when i found it needed little to be the most reliable car i ever would have but the dealer refused to change the fluids and we hit -40 degree weather a week after i bought it which nearly blew up the engine cause all my fluids froze including the anitfreeze due to a 50% consistency of water in all my fluids. thats brakes, power steering, radiator fluid and oil all froze. hada 2 inch block of ice in my oil pan. I took it back to the dealer cause my engine light came on and the car stalled out and went to limp mode. I asked for another car and they said sure thing so browsed the inventory found one i wanted I was actually willing to upgrade to a new car and pay more but this was just a humor me tactic and they stone walled me at the finance department buy considering my car a trade in for less then half of what it was then what i bought it for. even tho i explained it was a replacement for the piece of junk they sold me they refused to change their minds on it.
So over a period of 2 years I was in and out of the dealership every 2 weeks having parts replaced under warranty until it ran out it cost them about 12,000$ in repairs in the end and the car was still not running right. during the winter I got lucky and hit a deer and went into a ditch and wrote the car off but i swore I would never buy another car from them again. their dealerships service department was also a joke I brought it in for alignment a few times they would adjust 1 control arm at tha time for every time i came in. and i had to drive 45 minutes to get there every time.
In case your wondering this is Owasco the OShawa Whitby dealer in canada ontario. The only cars i recomend buying here is the as is specials. I bought a 1998 audi a4 hear before and had a great experiance as an asis car which is why i went to the finance one here.
 


Gruber

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I used to work at a major car dealer and have bought many cars so far in my life.

One thing some of you don't understand.
Dealers protect themselves from anything that would cost them money. Even though you signed a contract and drove the car home it isn't YOURS until the LOAN funds.
Dealers "sell" cars all the time without knowing if they can get the new buyer financed for SURE, they are willing to take that chance rather to turn down a sale.
You need to understand the difference between financing falling through, which usually can be blamed on the customer's poor credit ability, and not fulfilling the rebate conditions. The salesman should know all the small print in the rebate conditions, not necessarily the customer. These rebates are the same for long years, maybe decades, and all Honda salesmen and finance salesmen should know the conditions by heart. Either of them should ask the customer about the specific conditions, not just: college graduate? Yeah, I sure am. When, what degree? If the customer then lies, that's a different matter. What are they paid for? If they know nothing about the cars they sell, and nothing about the financial conditions, why do they want to be paid?

Are they really "willing to take that chance?" If either the rebate goes through or they force the buyer to return the money, what kind of "chance taking" is that - without any risk?

After failing to find out whether the rebate applies, the dealership has the choice of either paying the $500 themselves (sharing) or blaming the finance guy and take it from his paycheck (preferable). Going back to the customer is not a valid choice, although I'm sure some people just paid, and this is that "chance" they count on.
 

HexSosa1

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I would tell them to F' themselves! paperwork is done, your old car as far as you know is gone, if they didn't verify you qualified for the rebate before hand that's on them not on you. Once they signed on their end and you on yours looks like you are clear. Now I am not a lawyer but I wouldn't even bother with them as I am sure they would not be able to pursue legal action at all either way. Now if you mis-represented your self in any way that could be different, but at the end of the day if all the information you provided was clear and accurate and they went ahead and let you take the vehicle and sign for the deal then they would have to eat that $500.

Sounds like you got a good deal lol!
 

turtleboy84

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Damn sounds like a bad dealer, good thing is not all dealers are like this. There’s one Ocean honda gives my mom, I would assume to be a huge discount, of only paying invoice+300 for the current year vehicle or +400 for last years model. Of course the car has to be on the lot but it seems like a good deal to me
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