Re: ripoff at Shelly BMW

[Don Cicchetti <dcicchet@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Previously I said:
- -----
I sent a good friend down to Kevin Hite at Shelly BMW (southern CA) to buy
a car Kevin had told me about.   My friend liked the car, liked the price,
and decided to do the deal.

After signing the papers, he got home, and thought that the payments were a
bit high.   Upon closer examination he discovered that someone at Shelly
had changed the price of the car upwards by about  2,200.00, and changed
the trade-in value as well.
- ------

John Huntoon replied: (edit edit)

>You didn't say whether he made the deal on his first trip to the dealer.
>Assuming for argument's sake that he did, I have this to offer: No one
>should ever buy a car on the first trip to the dealer, no matter how
>good you think the price is. Always sleep on it. Get a commitment on the
>price, but ALWAYS SLEEP ON IT! If the dealer says he can't hold the
>price, simply walk. WALK! The car will be there in the morning, and so
>will your money. After a good night's sleep, do the numbers still look
>good? Do you still even _want_ the car?


Good point.   Actually the dealer called me first, since I had contacted
him when my friend asked me to find him a nice car.    I got the price from
the dealer.


>Here's another tip: Contracts should be read _before_ being signed, not
>after. Didn't hear me? READ THE CONTRACT BEFORE YOU SIGN! Clear now?

You have no idea how many times I told him this.   He is responsible for
being too trusting and he knows it.   The salesman and the company are
responsible for being dishonest scum.



>It's an old trick, but it was just used on yet another new victim. A
>verbal agreement without a witness is only worth the paper it's printed
>on. If you had gone with your friend the first time, you could have been
>that witness. You don't say whether you talked to the sales manager. If
>this guy gets enough complaints, he won't last long (at least at that
>dealer).

The manager apprently was the one who changed the numbers!   When we went
back to get an explanation, the salesman was clearly uncomfortable the
whole time.   I think he works for a slimy dealer, and is going along with
it.


>_You_ may have expected it, but you didn't indicate that you warned your
>friend to expect it. Did you send him to battle unarmed? This sales guy
>sounds like he became a club member just to lure other club members in,
>not a club member who just happen to get into sales. He sucked you in,
>then your friend, with your help.

Nope, I offered to go with my friend to negotiate the deal, and I would
have nailed that trick in 10 seconds, but my friend wanted to do it himself
and went without me, and he paid for it.


>> caveat emptor
>
>Should your friend also beware of you? In his eyes, you may be the one
>who got him into this.

Nope, again I offered to help negotiate, and he went by himself.  The
return trip to the dealer for an explanation was at my insistence; he would
not even have done that.   I am willing to fight, he is either totally
non-confrontational, or he will start yelling and make a scene.   Not a
good personality to negotiate with.


>Don't get me wrong. I'm in no way defending dealers such as this guy.
>Sadly and increasingly though, it's become an ugly reality that they
>exist, and consumers have no way of telling the good guys from the bad
>guys. We're left with assuming they're all bad and suspecting their
>every move.

You are so right.


DC


Don Cicchetti
dcicchet@domain.elided
71 '02   BMW CCA member 122043
- -Beatnik Motor Werke-

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