Gah! Car buying fail :(

[lmdbww]

I went to pick up my new car tonight and when I was signing the paperwork, find out that my negotiated price included an unadvertized $1500 manuf/dealer rebate of some sort, and that this disqualified me from being able to finance at .9%.  This was never mentioned to me when I was negotiating and ended up making my monthly payment $30 more than expected (however still totally do-able since this will be our only car payment).

I should have walked out but I didn't. I've been without a car for 2 weeks now and it was stressing me out to the point of not being able to sleep. ugh.  I actually feel like a total moron even though I know it wasn't my fault.... Or maybe it was, who knows.

FWIW, the good price + 3.25% that they gave me was still a better deal than the higher price + .9%... It's just still disappointing that the guy didn't tell me the whole story...

[agnes]

I'm not trying to make excuses, but he may not have known the full rebate information.

I work with the incentives on new cars and this happens all the time. The sales/finance people don't read the program correctly and sometimes we have to eat their mess up, have the customer come in and resign (like you), or mail a check if applicable.

[lmdbww]

Nov 25, 2014 21:25:55 GMT -5 agnes said:

I'm not trying to make excuses, but he may not have known the full rebate information.

I work with the incentives on new cars and this happens all the time. The sales/finance people don't read the program correctly and sometimes we have to eat their mess up, have the customer come in and resign (like you), or mail a check if applicable.

I actually do believe that statement

Do I have any recourse at this point? Finance guy showed me the incentive list where it said (either/or, not both), and that he double-checked w/the manager and they could not give me both.....

[agnes]

Nov 25, 2014 21:28:38 GMT -5 lmdbww said:

Nov 25, 2014 21:25:55 GMT -5 agnes said:

I'm not trying to make excuses, but he may not have known the full rebate information.

I work with the incentives on new cars and this happens all the time. The sales/finance people don't read the program correctly and sometimes we have to eat their mess up, have the customer come in and resign (like you), or mail a check if applicable.

I actually do believe that statement

Do I have any recourse at this point? Finance guy showed me the incentive list where it said (either/or, not both), and that he double-checked w/the manager and they could not give me both.....

Im not sure exactly.

You could try and still have them rewrite at a lower rate. Or if you have a better rate through maybe your bank you can just go through them (basically refinancing) or use that as leverage. So you still get the rebate and a better rate.

What kind of car did you get?

[lmdbww]

Nov 25, 2014 21:37:06 GMT -5 agnes said:

Nov 25, 2014 21:28:38 GMT -5 lmdbww said:

I actually do believe that statement

Do I have any recourse at this point? Finance guy showed me the incentive list where it said (either/or, not both), and that he double-checked w/the manager and they could not give me both.....

Im not sure exactly.

You could try and still have them rewrite at a lower rate. Or if you have a better rate through maybe your bank you can just go through them (basically refinancing) or use that as leverage. So you still get the rebate and a better rate.

What kind of car did you get?

I got a Mazda CX-5. 

[gt7301b]

That sucks

I would have walked out. Even if the salesman didn't know about the incentives it is their job to know the details of the incentives/financing etc. Can you refi through a credit union? Mine offered 1.5% when we bought my car a few months ago.

[noodleoo]

Congrats on the new car! Sucks that you got surprised by that at the signing. For $30 a month I probably wouldn't have walked either. Buying a car is so stressful, at that point you just want to be done. Your rate isn't terrible, but I'd shop around and see if you can refinance into a lower loan. I did that like 2 months after I bought my last car. I got a lower rate through AAA and the refi process was easy. They walk you through it.

[lmdbww]

I'm going to keep an eye on local rates and if one comes up I'll look into refinancing. (Are there fees w/refinancing an auto loan usually?)

[macmars45]

Sorry.

After we signed all our paperwork for our new car this past July and went on our merry way for a week or so the guy at the dealership called us back and told us that we didn't actually qualify for the rate he'd said we did. Too bad for him though because we'd signed the contract. It was super slimy of him to call us and be like oh hey... are you ok with this higher rate.... cause we made a mistake. We drove back ready to give them the car back and be done with them. In the end the dealership ate $1000-$1500. Expensive mistake on their part.

BTW, we got a Mazda CX-5 too. We love our new car!

[illgetthere]

Nov 26, 2014 7:23:24 GMT -5 gt7301b said:

That sucks

I would have walked out. Even if the salesman didn't know about the incentives it is their job to know the details of the incentives/financing etc. Can you refi through a credit union? Mine offered 1.5% when we bought my car a few months ago.

This is what we did earlier this year. We received a rebate if we financed with the dealer. We refinanced the next month for a 1.x rate.

Edit: there shouldn't be a fee to refinance. I've never had one.

[imojoebunny]

You are far from the first person this has happened too. It seems pretty common based on my own experience and that of my friends. Depending on how long you plan to finance, the rate may cost you more than the $1500, but so could not having the money. Can't say without knowing your terms.

I have had this happen with a Volvo I bought. I was only financing for 6 months, so the difference in rate was not worth the incentive. I kept the car, and just paid it off as planned. You can return the car, based on the change in rate and start again. I have made friends do this when they got completely stiffed on the rate. The .9 to 3.9% rate seems like not so much a stiff. Some of my friends have had the surprise rate be much higher (either not so great credit or used car).

Refinancing a car is not usually a cheap or easy process. I have tried to help people do it, and it never seems to work, especially on new cars. Your rate would be much higher typically.

Edit: Illgetthere clearly has had a very different experience with the financing that what I have seen here.  It may be worth talking to your local banks to see what they offer.  

[blackcat]

I went through the credit union I belong to through my job to refinance our new Elantra two years ago, it was unbelievably easy. Check into it, we got a better rate.

[jackie011]

Our insurance company called me at least 3 times within a month of buying my new car (also a CX-5) offering to refinance. In that instance their rate was higher than mine, but my DH refinanced his car years ago through the insurance company and saved a lot. Check with your insurance co to see if they offer refinancing.