I'm a little worried

[Izzy]

So, I was really excited when I found a good deal on that Mazda3 I wanted to buy from a dealership and then...

 

I got a funny feeling in my tummy once I got there. The dealers started talking about additional fees because despite my 700 credit score I'm a first time buyer and blah blah blah...mind you this is a popular dealership that advertises on the radio, not a hole in the wall. So I tell them I changed my mind and walk out with my downpayment. The manager ran after me to tell me he'd sell it to me for what I wanted but I said, "not after this fiasco, ya'll smell rotten."

 

I didn't sign anything except the "credit check" paper. But now I'm worried because I realize they got my SS#. Man, am I retarded, why would they need that?!

 

Am I gonna loose all my money and have people steal my identity and and stuff?

[MojoRedFoot]

I'm sure it's one of those deals where they run it through equifax to make sure you are who you say you are and that the SSN was not reported stolen. If they are a legit dealer, then that is what they should be doing.

[DanvillRob]

Don't sweat it..... I think you gave that dealership in lesson in how to treat customers!

 

Good on you!!

[jimmiJAMM]

An SS# is necessary to run a credit check. I wouldn't worry about it. Standard operating procedure.

[ksdaddy]

Standard operating procedure.

 

I've seen those little pocket sized tubes of Vaseline in drug stores and on the counters (point of purchase). One of those would be handy to have with you when walking in to a car dealer so they can perform their Standard Operating Procedure.

 

 

You know' date=' just in case they get chapped hands from writing you up all those great deals....

[Bluemoon]

So' date=' I was really excited when I found a good deal on that Mazda3 I wanted to buy from a dealership and then...

 

I got a funny feeling in my tummy once I got there. The dealers started talking about additional fees because despite my 700 credit score I'm a first time buyer and blah blah blah...mind you this is a popular dealership that advertises on the radio, not a hole in the wall. So I tell them I changed my mind and walk out with my downpayment. The manager ran after me to tell me he'd sell it to me for what I wanted but I said, "not after this fiasco, ya'll smell rotten."

 

I didn't sign anything except the "credit check" paper. But now I'm worried because I realize they got my SS#. Man, am I retarded, why would they need that?!

 

Am I gonna loose all my money and have people steal my identity and and stuff?

 

Don't worry about. They need it to run your credit. No worries.

 

And good for you for walking out. Go find someone who will treat you with some respect.

[RichCI]

What those guys said - SSN# is needed to run the credit check; nothing out of the ordinary. However, it's good that you're vigilant about your personal info like your SSN and driver's license number.

 

I got a jury duty summons a week ago that had SSN optional (didn't give it to them) and wanted my DL # and I didn't give them that either. The way I figured it, they got my name from a pool of DL #s so they must already have it so I saw little reason to print it on the flimsy, fold-over and lick "envelope" they supplied without even prepaid return postage. They managed to find me so they'll manage to fill in the blank.

[duane v]

Unless it's a racecar, I do the internet thing. I no longer haggle with a live salesman anymore. Basically this is what I will pay and here are the terms.

[TommyK]

"Extra fee because you are a first time buyer?" Oh Pulleeze.. Good for your for having the cajones to walk out of a dealership. That is your strongest negotiating tool.

 

The dealerships want to do a credit check on you, usually, before you really get down to talking about a particular car. Why? They don't want to waste their time on someone with a credit score of 2, whom they believe is incapable of buying a car. They want to know how much you can borrow, so they can sell you as much car as they can. Or more correctly, they want to sell you a car for as much as they can, up to your borrowing limit.

 

Do you HAVE to give them a SSN? No. It's been my experience that dealership financing is poor at best. Dealerships DO NOT FINANCE. They have agreements with a bank, or worse a finance company, to write up the loan paperwork. But, once the tail lights clear the curb, you no longer have any business attachment to the dealership. You are doing business with the finance company / bank.

 

Do your credit shopping first. Yes, I said shopping. Find your best rate, give the bank your SSN so they can do a credit check, then figure out how much money they will loan you. Now.. if they say, "Based on your credit score and income we can loan you $60,000.00" DO NOT borrow the 60K. If you do you have no wiggle room to finance anything else until you've paid the sled off. In the 4 - 5 years of the car loan, you will have situations crop up where you may need to borrow money, like a refrigerator that craps out on you at the worst possible moment or a family member that passes away and you need travel money in a big hurry.

 

THEN once you get the financing figured out, go car shopping. The dealership DOES NOT need your SSN. Tell them you have your own financing and I am looking for ____________. Do not relinquish your DL to anyone. They have the right to see that you are a licensed driver to test drive their vehicles, but they need only LOOK at your DL to determine this. Be prepared to be shunned when you announce you have your own financing. Some fly-by-night dealerships are really fronts for a finance company. If you pay cash, they miss out on the finance charges.

 

Was it necessarily a bad thing to give the dealership your SSN? No, but I'd trust a bank with my SSN sooner than I would a car dealership or finance company. One can only hope the car dealership does their fiduciary responsibility in guarding your SSN against theft for the life of the paperwork.

[DanvillRob]

"Extra fee because you are a first time buyer?" Oh Pulleeze.. Good for your for having the cajones to walk out of a dealership. That is your strongest negotiating tool.

 

 

I'm not sure you noticed....but "cojones" are probably NOT anywhere to be found on Izzy! (not that some wouldn't mind looking).

[myspace.com/jessenoah]

ZING!

[duane v]

I'm not sure you noticed....but "cojones" are probably NOT anywhere to be found on Izzy! .

 

she has a set of cajones my friend..... Our Izzy takes no crap from anyone[blink]

[DanvillRob]

she has a set of cajones my friend..... Our Izzy takes no crap from anyone[blink]

 

Definition - Cojones (Spanish pronunciation: [ko'xones]) is a vulgar Spanish word for testicles, denoting courage; it corresponds to balls in English.

 

Gumption? Yeah.....

Chutzpah? Certainly......

Cojones? I stand by my earlier statement!

[DanvillRob]

 

Love your wheels, by the way!!

[milod]

Izzy...

 

I think Tommyk's advice is first-rank.

 

Get a loan with a bank or credit union, then be prepared to pay cash - but don't tell 'em that until there's a deal made.

 

The most "reputable" car dealerships do get a cut of the financing and their "finance offices" get nicely paid in commissions for whatever financing extras they can tack on ranging from your "first buyer" add-on to an additional warranty that should be covered regardless if they're really reputable, credit life insurance... yadayada...

 

If I lived where you do, I'd wanna know which dealership it was so I could evade it by at least a mile.

 

m

[duane v]

I guess some have never heard statements like "she has balls," or "she's one of the boys."[confused] ....... I will be more literal in future correspondence with some around here[biggrin] LOL

[duane v]

 

Love your wheels' date=' by the way!![/quote']

 

Thanks

 

That's my slow one... I have a 65 Mustang Coupe that runs 8.80's at 170 mph

[DanvillRob]

I guess some have never heard statements like "she has balls' date='" or "she's one of the boys."[confused'] ....... I will be more literal in future correspondence with some around here[biggrin] LOL

 

Duane.... I'm just messin' with ya..... I knew what you meant, (and therefore what TommyK meant). I just like to point out that Izzy is a fine example of the opposite sex! (and don't get me started on "opposite")

[duane v]

Duane.... I'm just messin' with ya..... I knew what you meant' date=' (and therefore what TommyK meant). I just like to point out that Izzy is a fine example of the opposite sex! (and don't get me started on "opposite")[/quote']

 

Me knowz[biggrin]

 

and you almost left yourself open with "opposite."

[DanvillRob]

Me knowz[biggrin]

 

and you almost left yourself open with "opposite."

 

Oh.... i KNEW you'd pick up on that!

[stevef]

Izzy are you a member of Costco? They had a deal with Capital One for auto finance at a discount (I think it was 1/2% lower than Capital One's regular rates and about 1% less than bank rates-- At least they did a couple of years ago).

It doesn't Costco uses Capital One anymore but they may still have a "connection".

[TommyK]

Speaking of Costco, Did I hear correctly that Sam's Club is now not accepting cash? Not only are checks payment non-grata, but cold hard cash is preferred over EFT?

 

:)

[NeoConMan]

TommyK did an excellent job already, but I'll add a thing or two;

 

Friend in the Car Biz told me years ago to remember this one thing - a car deal is THREE SEPARATE DEALS.

1. There's the deal on your new car.

2. There's the deal on your old car that you're trading in.

3. There's the deal on the financing that THEY INSIST on providing for you as a "courtesy".....

 

You need to be sure you completely understand everything involved in all three.

They're gonna lump it all together in to one fast-moving bewildering Deal Of The Century - just for YOU.

The more confusing they make it, and the faster you sign, the happier they are.

 

Eliminate 2. & 3. from the picture, and they have a lot less wiggle room to lie to you.

 

 

I got a funny feeling in my tummy once I got there.

The dealers started talking about additional fees because despite my 700 credit score

I'm a first time buyer and blah blah blah...

Izzy' date=' are we talking about a NEW Mazda?

The price should be much easier to fix on a new car, and you can stand your ground.

 

Used cars - no telling what they paid for it, or what sort of repairs they may have paid for to get it ready.

"Ready" is a relative term too.

 

The Blue Book value is all you have to go on then, and you can bet they have WAY LESS than Blue Book in it.

Otherwise, they would have never bought the car.

 

Either way, there should be absolutely no other "fees" in the deal.

 

You have to pay tax - it was 6.1% - state only - when I left Houston ten years ago.

There was no city sales tax on car deals then, but they would jack up the tax rate to whatever the local rate was.

After the deal was done, they would pay the state only the 6.1% and pocket the rest.....

License fees of course, gotta have tags.

Doc Fee is a standard fee they charge on every car deal and is not negotiable - $300-$600 usually.

Question anything else added to the bottom line.

I may have missed something, a title fee or something, been ten years for me....

 

[b']2.[/b]

Tell them you are NOT trading in anything (even if you are - fxck 'em) to keep the deal focused on the NEW car.

Later, you can "change your mind" and ask what they would give you for your trade-in.

If they give you a good price, it means they are screwing you on the car you're buying.

ONE good deal is rare, TWO GOOD DEALS is impossible at almost any dealership.

 

3.

If you walk in with your financing in pocket from a bank or credit union, it's the same as a cash deal.

Find the car you want, get a cash number on it.

Make them very aware you have your own financing (even if you don't - fxck 'em) and you want a number.

You can always ask them later about their financing - just out of curiosity - to see if they're competitive.

 

Even if they cooperate and actually quote you a fair price with no games, thank them kindly - AND LEAVE.

 

Tell them you're looking at a few other cars as well (even if you not - fxck 'em) and you need to think it over.

NEVER BUY ON YOUR FIRST TRIP TO THE LOT.

 

 

 

mind you this is a popular dealership that advertises on the radio' date=' not a hole in the wall. [/quote']

The worst dealerships advertise the most.

Their word-of-mouth reputation kills them, so they spend literally millions on radio/TV ads to fight it.

These are the men your mother warned you about, they are NOT your friends - no matter how much they flirt.

If they were a square-dealing/straight-shootin' dealer they wouldn't NEED to spend millions on the radio.

 

 

 

So I tell them I changed my mind and walk out with my downpayment.

The manager ran after me to tell me he'd sell it to me for what I wanted but I said' date='

"not after this fiasco, ya'll smell rotten."

 

I didn't sign anything except the "credit check" paper.

But now I'm worried because I realize they got my SS#.

Man, am I retarded, why would they need that?!

 

Am I gonna loose all my money and have people steal my identity and and stuff? ;) [/quote']

I congratulate you!

If you go back and eventually buy from them, they know for a fact that you will walk away if they screw around.

 

Remember, this is where the Guitar Center sales model originated.... :D

[Izzy]

Thank you all so much for your advice and reassurance...and compliments.

 

I figured they needed my SS to run the check, but then, as stated by Tommyk, to look at cars and get a price set I don't need to give them my info. I should have had my own financing and credit report right off, and even if I wanted them to deal with the financing, they don't need to run it right as soon as I get there. In fact I shouldn't trust some random sales person with my DL and SS.

 

Its times like this I realize how inexperienced I am in real world situations, but I sure learned my lesson. Just glad I'm not the least bit ashamed to walk out on a deal over a gut feeling. I mean, they never told me what my interest was going to be even after I asked like 10 times and when I asked about a 30 day warranty "in case" they acted like I was insulting them.

 

I'm so glad I have you guys to confide in. My mom isn't used to financing and sales because she just buys cash all-in-one-go every time, so I couldn't ask her advice. I can look online for tips, but it feels way better when you get advice from friends. Thank ya'll very much.

 

Oh, and the Mazda was 2010 used and the dealer was Munday Chevrolet.

[NeoConMan]

You're welcome.

If you do finance one at a dealership, that's a whole 'nuther can o' worms.

 

I can give you a few tips on that too....

 

Be careful out there!