Things To Never Buy From A Car Dealer - The Podcast

"SteveLehto" (stevelehto)
03/12/2015 at 09:10 • Filed to: None

If you want to buy a new car, you pretty much have to buy it from a car dealer. But in the process, the dealer will inevitably try to load you up with other stuff at the same time. Much of what they will try selling you is stuff you should never buy from the car dealer.

I did an article recently about !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . If you really want to buy it, you can usually get it cheaper elsewhere. There are a few other things which fall into this category, like Credit Life and Disability insurance. So this week's Lehto's Law is a discussion of the things you should never buy from the car dealer and why.

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Like the absurd: fabric protection, paint sealant and so on.

Plus, there is the category of caution: extended service contracts and third party warranties. You MIGHT want to buy one of these from the dealer but there are some things you need to consider along the way. And if you are a company selling these plans, you should probably know that your dealers might be ripping you off.

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Oh, and that car at the top? 45 years old. And the reason it looks so good today has nothing to do with dealer-installed "paint sealant."

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Steve Lehto has been practicing law for 23 years, almost exclusively in consumer protection and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! He wrote !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

This website may supply general information about the law but it is for informational purposes only. This does not create an attorney-client relationship and is not meant to constitute legal advice, so the good news is we're not billing you by the hour for reading this. The bad news is that you shouldn't act upon any of the information without consulting a qualified professional attorney who will, probably, bill you by the hour.

DISCUSSION (15)

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > SteveLehto
03/12/2015 at 09:13

You should also never buy coffee from a car dealer. I mean, most of them will throw that in, man. If they try to charge you for that, haggle or go elsewhere. You and your car *do* need that coffee, but nobody pays for it.

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > SteveLehto
03/12/2015 at 09:43

recently went in to buy a new/used car. We went back and forth on the price and it came out to 20500 after tax, tags, title, fee etc. Just to play along and see what they were offering I let them price out a paint protection plan, gap, inferior protection, extended warranty etc. Basically everything you said not to buy.

$28500. The extra nonsense spiked the price of the car by 40%. Unreal. no thanks. But they also advertised the car as a top trim but after some investigation on my part determined it was not that trim level, so they took it back no questions asked.

SteveLehto > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
03/12/2015 at 09:45

Paint Protection PLAN? Is that tied to some sort of paint warranty or paint insurance?

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > SteveLehto
03/12/2015 at 09:52

It was the basic sealant But then every 6 months the car would get re-sealed. Which makes you wonder just how good of a sealant is it if it needs to be reapplied every 6 months ...

DConsorti > SteveLehto
03/12/2015 at 10:22

Steve, I'm laughing loud here!!!

There somethings you say in there that, if you mention over here, you would have been sued!

But, over here is the same thing.. every dealership have something they want to push you to raise the price.. and not even speaking about the regular checks...

SteveLehto > DConsorti
03/12/2015 at 10:37

And that's where the profits are. They can make way more money by loading you up with all that useless stuff.

Bearded Bastard > nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul
03/12/2015 at 12:19

so basically, they wax your car way less than it should be and for way more than it should. Sounds like a good plan

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > Bearded Bastard
03/12/2015 at 13:44

sounds spot on

Dumahim > SteveLehto
03/13/2015 at 14:28

I used to work with a lady who bought a rental return Impala. I think it was 2012. It was way up north so it didn't get used much and the miles were very low. It seemed brand new. She had to bring it in every 6 months and they would wash and wax it. I'm not sure it offered any sort of warranty for anything though. Can't remember the specifics.

The first year was fine, but the next year she got fed up with it pretty quickly. First trip they must have had some debris in the pad and it came out horribly swirled. She was pissed and had to take it back a couple times for them to buff it out to the point she was satisfied. The next time didn't have any issues other than the fact they now make people bring the car to them clean and with no bugs or they will charge extra to clean it first. Kind of a problem since the nearest public car wash is like 15 miles away.

Bearded Bastard > SteveLehto
03/13/2015 at 15:25

Steve, I am a dealer at "Bastard used cars", and also a lawyer at "dont ask law" , yes I am both, dont ask. I would advise everyone do the opposite of anything said here, who better to add on to your car purchase than the dealer? after all, THEY have the cars, not your hokey pokey "insurance" company, i mean, we all know how evil those guys are, I am a dealer, AND a lawyer, I am here to protect YOU, the consumer, and I offer the BEST paint protection and rust sealant services.

SteveLehto > Bearded Bastard
03/13/2015 at 15:28

What kind of payments can we come up with? Length of term and interest rates be damned! I want to get a 72 or 84-month loan, if you can swing it.

Bearded Bastard > SteveLehto
03/13/2015 at 15:54

I've accommodated even the worst credit applicants, with my service plans you'll need my exclusive 144 month loans

SteveLehto > Bearded Bastard
03/13/2015 at 16:19

I have a ton of negative equity on my current vehicle. I will buy today so long as you assure me that we can roll that into this purchase.

And do you have a "demo" or a "program car"? If possible, I'd like one of those - I'll pay the new car price (they're basically the same, right?) but like the idea of someone else working the bugs out of the car for me.

Bearded Bastard > SteveLehto
03/13/2015 at 16:41

Well I have a... Recently returned bit of inventory, couple customers weren't happy for some reason with work we'd completed and even got some lawyer to make me take them back, nothing wrong with them, They drive GREAT!

In all seriousness though, do you have any stories about vehicles or purchases you were able to help people with before they became trouble? I have more bad treatment stories than anyone person should ever have, but the one that stands out recently is when the salesman and I were talking, and heavily accused my wife of not being able to drive in winter with rwd, " maybe you or me, but women drivers, right?" Not exactly a legal issue entirely but I was able to complain and get a great number of "free" services added to our purchase, through another salesman of course

SteveLehto > Bearded Bastard
03/13/2015 at 16:47

You mean short of a lawsuit? I have helped quite a few people but I am not sure how many of the stories are all that dramatic.

I'll have to think about that. I know that in my own shopping experiences I've had some crazy things said to me by car salesmen (and also by service writers at dealers). It's often because I like to shop wearing sandals, shorts and a t-shirt (or jeans if appropriate) and they usually assume I am just some scrub off the street who can't afford anything. Then, when they think they might be able to sell me something, they have no idea I am a lawyer.

Which is, as any experienced car seller should know, why the small talk should always cover "And what do you do for a living?" Make it sound like it might be relevant to the purchase but really, you might want to change your sales tack depending on whether the prospective buyer knows the law or not.