Hi,

This is my first ever car purchase so I know little about the entire process. I have negotiated a price on a 2003 Protege5 and signed the paper that had the agreed monthly payment on it. I have also left $500 deposit. Today, the finance manager called me to inform me that they cannot approve me for a loan. I'm going to see what I can do to get a co-signer or find some way to meet the requirements. If I cannot get a loan, I should get my $500 back with no problem, right? I mean the car purchase is not complete until I drive the car off the lot, correct?

thanks

 

Yes, you should and you should insist upon it. In this case, the default was their fault (not approving the loan). The sales agreement probably says refund is OK in this case.

Check the bottom of your "Buyer's Order" or similar. Right above the signature line, there is a special provision on my contract that says:

"FOR SALES INVOLVING DEALER ARRANGED FINANCING:
This sale is conditioned upon approval of your retail installment sale contract.... If that ...is not approved under the terms agreed to with the dealer, you may cancel this sale and any down payment and/or trade-in you submitted will be returned to you." It goes on to say you must return the car (if you have it).

Check for that somewhere in your documents, but the dealer should have no problem giving it back (or I'd threaten to call Mazda and a lawyer!).

But good luck and I hope you get the car!

 

Dealers fault. You should get back your deposit.

The Deposit is if you renig on the car. Considering that it is due to a loan. The deposit should be refunded.

 

Thanks!

I really want to get the car, but I just wanted to be ready for any BS in case the deal goes sour.
Hopefully, I'll be zoom-zooming soon.

 

Same thing happened to me. I put 1500 down , signed all the paperwork, and asked about that clauseand the finance guy tells me that never happens because it is bad for business and puts miles on there cars. Well I drive the car for 3 days , put 500 miles on it and get a phone call saying I need to give them another 1000 or give the car back, so I gave the car back , got my check and left. The whole time the sales lady is trying to sell me another car. I went sraight from that dealership to another one and got a different p5. this time I told the saleslady that I didn't want the car unless everything was already approved. No phone calls this time.

Morale of the story, Salespeople suck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Ironic part is that it only takes approximately 30 minutes for them to get you the loan...what the heck were they doing...unless you got the car right when they were closing.

 

really...that or their finance manager is a bozo or something.....it really dosen't take anytime at all to run your credit these days....

maybe the finance manager had a hot date and just wanted to leave....and did your paperwork the next day...lol

 

LOL
Hmm, not sure about the hot date thing, but the deal was made on Saturday and Monday was holiday here, so she got back to me at noon today. Anyway, I'll call around some banks tomorrow and see what I can do.

 

You should get your money back because, as has been pointed out, it's the dealer who's passing on the deal, not you. You may want to consider leaving a smaller deposit next time--the only reason they ask for $500 or more is that it makes you more committed to the deal and less likely to walk away, but from your point of view you want to leave the minimum deposit just in case something comes up and you do have to walk away. I personally never leave more than $200 on signing the initial deal.

 

I had something similiar happen. I wanted that college grad plan from Mazda (180days defferred payment AND $500 cash back). I bought my car 10-08-02 and later I find out Mazda ended the deffered payments on 10-01-02, but I have a print out that shows it was valid until 12-22-02

so basically the dealer says nothing they could do, it is because of Mazda. Is there anything I can do ?
they should honor their advertisement.....

 

NO!! NO!! NO!!! You never put down a deposit, ever!!! I bought 3 new cars now. (Not all at once! ) The point is , they ask for a deposit, but when you refuse, do you honestly think they are going to turn you down because of no deposit. I have been asked for a deposit every time I purchase a car and each time I tell them to LICK ME!!!!

Moral: Never put down a deposit. And if you feel guilty about not putting down a deposit before you get financing checked out, then have your bank pre-aprove you before you shop, (Or sign anything)

Experience: I have been through the dealers (crap) 1 billion times as I ahev a addiction. (getting great deals and driving new cars) It costs a lot, but I have gained more knowledge and how to bargan better then anybody I know!

 

I put 6k down

 

I'm not sure, but I would think the dealer probably couldn't do anything to get the Mazda deferrment because it can't change the date you bought the car. They could ask Mazda for an exception, though, but Mazda has little incentive since you already bought the car.

Since you have a written ad, however, you can (1) ask the dealer to ask Mazda for an exception, (2) if that fails, insist upon a conference call with you, the dealer, and Mazda so that you can explain it was the dealer's fault, (3) call Mazda yourself, or (4) insist that the dealer screwed up and that even if you can't get the Mazda deferrment, the dealership should give you the benefit of the bargain and pay you the time value of the money you have to pay on making payments sooner (the interest rate you could make in a CD or bank, over the life of the loan). That gets complicated, though, so maybe you should insist upon an equivalent in free options, upgrades, and service.

In making your case for #4, you can threaten to insist on a phone call with Mazda (like #2). Also, there is a legal concept called "promissory estoppel" and "equitable estoppel." These theories essentially rest on the notion that you did something based on a representation (that the other party is now not keeping), that caused you detrimental reliance -- that is, you bought the car based on that representation.

These concepts make the representation of deferred payments a "legally binding" contract. If I were to argue this to a dealer, I would say something like: "Even if Mazda won't grant the deferred payments, you have the obligation to give me deferred payments or equivalent compensation. Since I relied on your ad when I bought the car, we have a legally binding contract. Because of this, I'm legally entitled to the deferred payments. This is called 'detrimental reliance' and it makes our contract binding. If you don't give this to me, you could also be liable for misrepresentation."

Misrepresentation is another legal concept that sounds just like it says: if someone misrepresents something and you act to your detriment, they may be in "breach" of the contract, or may be liable for "fraud" -- they in essence defrauded you to buy the car. So misrepresentation is like fraud, but is actually easier to prove in court. Fraud requires proof of intent to defraud, but misrepresentation only requires a false or misleading statement (the advertisement).

P.S.: the notion of "detriment" does not mean you had to do something bad for yourself -- it's really just a notion of free will -- that you did something you didn't have to do. For example, you didn't have to buy the car at all. Besides, you've obviously incurred expenses in buying the car that you can't get back: taxes, title, insurance, etc.

 

I bought my car late august. Got the 0% and also got the college grad deal 500 off and 180 day deffered. Apperanly when the paper work made it to Mazda the said it could not happen I could not combine both. The wanted me to come in to do up another contract where I would start payments january first instead of febuary. I said no way its not my fault the fu**** up. They keeped calling every day saying they were trying to make the previews contract fly. Apperantly the were in deep **** with mazda for approving this so they finally came arround and said that they can defer the payments till jan 31 I still refused what it boiled down to was that they offered to make my first payment 314.00 so technicaly my first payment isent until feb 28. woho. I only have to make 59 payments at 0% Good deal I think!!

Also they had offered to put window tint at cost. I figured 50 bucks at the most. but I could not get a number from them aftercalling them a couple of times. Finally talked to the service manager and he said cost was 162.95. So I told them to go to hell I could get them cheaper some where else. But they would not drop their price. WTF

Steve
2002.5 protege ES

 

Well, I'm not getting my P5. I'm pissed. The finance manager told me that I cannot get a loan because I have no student loans! All I have is a perfect credit history on my only credit card that I had for 4 years.

So, let me get this straight... Someone out of school earning basic salary with $30,000 in student loans and 4 credit cards can easily get approved for a loan, but I cannot because I never had a loan regardless of me never missing a payment on my credit card??? And no my mom cannot co-sign since she never had a loan in Canada either. All throughout my university studies, I had to pay for everything with cash because, being an international student, I couldn't get a loan. Even my bank, which saw thousands of dollars go through my account over the duration of my studies tells me the same story. No loan history = no loan. No loan = no loan history. And no I don;t ahve anyone who would co-sign this for me.

So, I guess I'm looking for a used car now. Oh, but guess what? Even if I have cash to buy that used car, I can't. Why? Well, if I buy a used car with cash, I'm not "building" any credit history, so when I want to buy a new car next year, I'll be exactly where I am now. So, I have no choice but to take out a loan and pay interest on something I can readily pay for in cash. All in the name of building that credit history. This is pure bullshit!!!


Sorry for the long rant. I needed to vent.