"LJ909" (lj909)
09/28/2015 at 22:00 • Filed to: None
16
27|
"LJ909" (lj909)
09/28/2015 at 22:00 • Filed to: None | 16
| 27 |
For some reason, right before the turn of the century, my mom wanted a brand new Chrysler Sebring coupe, exactly like the one pictured above. She got one, but what happened changed her perspective of buying a car not only while being black, but mine as well at a young age.
Everything started normal enough as I remember ( I was 12, and some things she had to explain to me later one when I was older but I understand it all now of course.) My mom was shopping around for a Chrysler Sebring coupe LXi, which I think was the top trim. She had her down payment and a trade in. So we went to the closest Chrysler dealer to us (which I’m not sure if I should mention the name here). First thing I remember was the pushy, typical sales manager or finance manager or whatever that was literally in my moms face over her down payment. She recounts him stabbing his finger at her and on the papers on the table because she wasn’t coming out with the amount down that he wanted to hear
Of course as a kid I didn’t care for how he was talking to my mom. My grandma was there and intervened. Mom says that he just kept saying over &over, almost yelling “we need this down or now deal.” “He basically took over the deal from the sales person, who by the way was very nice” she says.
Eventually, she got rid of the manager to deal with someone else who eventually sealed the deal. I remember being there forever it seemed like. At first I thought it was the dealership, but it turned out to be my mom. I learned this a few years later at Worthington Ford. My mom reads every single word of the contracts. Not only that, but she asks questions too, which pisses everyone off because you know they don’t want the customer to know what those contracts really say. But long story short, everything was signed and we were off.
Say what you will about Chrysler products from this era, but I remember the Sebring being nice and loaded for what it was. It was quick too, but remember I was a dumb kid. Anyway, like 12 days later, my mom gets a call from the dealership saying that she needs to sign some papers. This was weird, she thought, because she thought she signed and went over everything the night she bought the car. But she agreed to come anyway. So she left work early and went to the dealership.
What happened next still bothers her sometimes today. She said that as soon as she drove into the parking space and put the car in park, immediately 3 Grand Cherokee’s came out of nowhere and blocked her in on all sides to keep her from leaving. A salesman appeared at both doors. The one at the drivers door began trying to open her door while telling her to get out the car like a policeman. Startled she got out to see what was all this about. My moms isn’t a fearful person, especially around men, so she was more angered and startled than anything. She went inside, where there was some paperwork on a round table surrounded by 6 men. She recognized the pushy manager but not the others, who she suspected were some kind of managers or high ranking sales people.
“We need you to to give the car back. Your application was denied.” He tosses the keys to her trade in at her and pushes the paper and pen towards her. “Sign this so we can give you your trade in and down payment back”. I was never really sure why my mom signed those papers, nor has she ever really went into what transpired during that moment. All she said was that she signed the papers and walked out.
I remember her getting home, bursting in the room and throwing the car keys up against the wall, crying. She was still in her work uniform & I remember everyone asking what happened. I listened as she told. A lot I didn’t really understand at the time. All I knew was that they took my moms car from her and it must’ve been bad.
The weeks that followed were filled with lawyer meetings, long drives to Orange County and hours waiting in nice office buildings were me and my sis were often the only ones sitting waiting. My mom was angry and she was suing.
To make this long story short, the dealership tried to deny everything that happened, until a few of the sales people involved and had witnessed what happened broke and turned against the managers. What made the case was a simple sticky note that was apparently passed to the sales person from the manager that literally said” try to get more money out of her. We all know they never have any credit.” We all know who the they was that he was referring to. My mom says that when asked what they he was referring to in court, he stammered and said people in general. But my mom won her case. Not only did they get them for false imprisonment, but they also broke California law by waiting longer than the # of allowable days to contact my mom about her loan application being denied. The case found that they had known she was denied on the 8th day. They had till the 10th day to contact her to bring the car back. They waited till the 12th. Basically they were a bunch of racist people running a dealership trying to get over on my mom. They were all eventually fired, my mom won 25 grand ( years later I asked her why she didn’t ask for more, she said she didn’t want to appear greedy )and the dealership has since been redesigned and is under new ownership.
I just wanted to share this story that I always think about to remind everyone of how some dealerships still are. Not all are like this or or may be out there like this but there are some. So just beware.
TheHondaBro
> LJ909
09/28/2015 at 22:09 |
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Great read, thanks for sharing.
yamahog
> LJ909
09/28/2015 at 22:10 |
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Wow. Thank you for sharing, I’m sorry to hear you and your family had to go through all that :( glad your mother was able to get some justice though.
G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3
> LJ909
09/28/2015 at 22:16 |
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Holy hell.
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LJ909
> TheHondaBro
09/28/2015 at 22:21 |
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No problem.
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LJ909
> yamahog
09/28/2015 at 22:22 |
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No problem. But yea it sucked It bothered my mom for awhile after this, to the point she didnt even want to buy a car and was taking the bus to work for almost a year. Im glad though that this happened and didnt get swept under the rug.
CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist)
> LJ909
09/28/2015 at 22:33 |
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Shit. I am sorry that you had to go through this ordeal.
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LJ909
> CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist)
09/28/2015 at 22:35 |
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Thanks. It even angers me rereading it.
1111111111111111111111
> LJ909
09/28/2015 at 22:47 |
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I’ve had my fair share of stealerships but that takes the cake. Glad she got it settled in her favor!
gmctavish needs more space
> LJ909
09/28/2015 at 23:04 |
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Holy crap. I'm so glad she won, I was worried that was going to go the other way
haveacarortwoorthree2
> LJ909
09/29/2015 at 10:46 |
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Take one part stealership. Mix with two parts racists. Thank goodness some of the sales folks caved and the jury whacked the dealer — at least there were some good people around!
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LJ909
> haveacarortwoorthree2
09/29/2015 at 17:05 |
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Yea my mom expected too loose because she thought that the sales people and everyone would cover each others asses. Thank god they didn't.
shop-teacher
> LJ909
09/29/2015 at 18:12 |
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“immediately 3 Grand Cherokee’s came out of nowhere and blocked her in on all sides to keep her from leaving. A salesman appeared at both doors. The one at the drivers door began trying to open her door while telling her to get out the car like a policeman.”
That would scare the shit out of me, and I am a very large white man. I’m glad there were some salesman in the room with a conscience, and she won her case. That shit is beyond fucked up.
CompletelyLegitimateUserName
> LJ909
05/21/2018 at 15:46 |
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I can understand the thought process of assholes (I am one) and I can deduce the through process of racists (I’d like to think I am not one).... but I don’t see why they waited....
If they had not waited, technically it would have been a legal reclaim?
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CompletelyLegitimateUserName
> shop-teacher
05/21/2018 at 15:52 |
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I had something SIMILAR to this happen to me trying to buy a Corolla back in 2005.... had a swarm of sales people surround me in the showroom as the sales manager barked at me about buying the car.
I laughed and walked away.... secretly wishing one of them had hit me.... would have been CompletelyLegitimateUsename Toyota by the end of the month.
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CompletelyLegitimateUserName
> 1111111111111111111111
05/21/2018 at 15:55 |
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Being stupid should be painful... or atleast expensive. Glad it was expensive for them.
This is why I like a pure-blooded dyed in the wool salesman.... doesn’t care about someone’s skin color, just the color of their money.
I like to judge people almost exclusively by how they drive.... don’t care if its an 80 year old white woman or a teenage asian boy or Idris Elba himself... if you drive with your high beams on all the time, you’re getting the finger.
TorontoMapleQueefs
> LJ909
05/21/2018 at 16:08 |
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Late to commenting on this story but holy fuck is that ever fucked up.
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LJ909
> CompletelyLegitimateUserName
05/21/2018 at 16:16 |
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Yea. It’s a weird gray area that I’m not quite sure why they still exists. It basically allows the dealer to tell you you’ve been approved and take the car home. But in reality they are either waiting for a response from the lender or shooting your info out to others to see if anyone takes it.
They pretty much have a week and 4 days to let you know if you’re free and clear. The kicker is that they can do this after the contract has been signed, will tell you once you sign the contract that you can’t change your mind about the car after you sign.
That gets even murkier with things like guarantees. Hyundai had one for 3 days where if you don’t like the car you can bring it back free and clear. It’s all just another example of a fucked up system that needs a major overhaul.
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shop-teacher
> CompletelyLegitimateUserName
05/21/2018 at 16:25 |
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Wow! It’s amazing how ballsy some people can be! I have to admit, I’d kind of want to be hit for the same reason.
Just curious. How’d you dig up a post from nearly three years ago?
Caelipax
> shop-teacher
05/21/2018 at 17:46 |
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Someone linked to this post from here: https://jalopnik.com/watch-out-for-dealers-who-say-they-overpaid-for-your-tr-1826191909
Bishbah
> shop-teacher
05/21/2018 at 17:55 |
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The author linked to it in the comments on a post today that was warning people about dealers coming after you later for more money.
http://jalopnik.com/1826194017
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CompletelyLegitimateUserName
> shop-teacher
05/22/2018 at 07:33 |
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What others said.... also for some reason, Jalopnik occasionally shows me super old articles in the little tab on the left like they’re new articles. If they look interesting, I will read them, usually check dates before commenting though.
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CompletelyLegitimateUserName
> LJ909
05/22/2018 at 07:38 |
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I bought my Focus RS at 9:30 at night, I can see how a bank wouldn’t be open to approve the loan.... or maybe someone doesn’t qualify for the loan that they and the dealership believed in.
My question was, I can see how they acted in a racist manner.... but I don’t understand how waiting until that 12th day helped them in anyway.... didn’t allow them to be more racist... or make more money. Honestly it seems like shitty business with a racism garnish.
If your mom didn’t qualify for the loan and they wanted the car back, I can understand.... treating her like a criminal I don’t understand and waiting until the 12 day to do it, I also don’t understand.
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shop-teacher
> CompletelyLegitimateUserName
05/22/2018 at 09:11 |
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Gotcha :)
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LJ909
> CompletelyLegitimateUserName
05/22/2018 at 10:32 |
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Exactly. The whole thing didn’t make sense anyway you go about it. It was just shitty people being shitty.
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CompletelyLegitimateUserName
> LJ909
05/22/2018 at 10:39 |
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People, of all walks of life, will never cease to impress you with how shitty they can be.
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CompletelyLegitimateUserName
> LJ909
05/22/2018 at 10:39 |
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Anyways, I’m glad your Mom got past it. Give her the positive regards of all of Oppo for us.
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LJ909
> CompletelyLegitimateUserName
05/22/2018 at 11:17 |
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Thanks. She’ll be thoroughly surprised so many people cared or heard about this after all these years.