Quote:
Originally Posted by markolas
I bought my current car in 2002. It's a 2001 Chevy Cavalier, and had approx. 44,000 miles on it when I bought it. In the five years that I've had it, I have yet to put 44,000 miles on it, so something was screwy right there. But I was stupid back then and didn't know anything about buying cars.
The car was worth about half of what I paid for it when I drove it off the lot. The dealer would not let me talk to my own bank when I tried to get it financed through them. The bank turned me down; the reason the dealer gave me was because I didn't have any "car credit"...what a load of ****. The reason the bank turned me down was because they knew it was worth half of what I was paying for it, and if I ever defaulted on the loan, they'd be out of a hell of a lot of $$$. I ultimately got it financed through Ford Credit at 14% interest. 
To top it all off, after I'd signed all the papers, I immediately felt like I'd made a mistake, and told the dealer so. His response (and I quote): "We all make mistakes in life."  There's actually more to the story (that involves my mother, and the reason why this scumbag was so eager to make the sale, and it's one of the many reasons why I don't currently speak to my mother), but my blood pressure is already too high just from telling this much of the story.
So, yeah. I've always told myself that I would never get another car financed as long as I live. |
OMg, What a horror story. There isn't a good thing about that situation.
Thankfully my brother was a car hound, and taught me how to buy.
Last truck I bought, I bluebooked it first. Then I went shopping two days before Christmas. Not only end of the month, but salesmen were hard up for holiday cash. Then I only went to non Ford lots. No one wants a Ford on their Toyota lot - no one comes there looking for them. Since I won't buy new, I have no problem with getting a trade in on the wrong lot.
Finally, I didn't let them know I needed the vehicle. I gave them 15 minutes to take my offer, and actually left twice. At 6pm on 12/23
Next time, I am taking a checkbook, and that will give me an even bigger advantage. To hell with those nasty loans. Granted my last one was 7% but I still resented it.