This is a longer blog than I normally write. However it is worth the read because you are going to read some crazy things that happened to me and it is just a plain good car story.
Through my recent experience you will learn:
- The importance of why to have a mechanic look over your vehicle before purchase
- Another reason why to use cash
- You can purchase a nice luxury car for under $4,000
- Integrity always wins
I knew that I wanted to spend no more than $4,000 on my next vehicle purchase. Now I am one that likes to get a good deal. So I began looking at cars listed for sale that were above $4,000 knowing I would negotiate until I matched what I determined I would spend.
I will be honest I am a big Chevrolet fan (sorry Ford fans), and one of the cars that I have always wanted to own was an Impala. As luck would have it, I found a 2007 White Impala. It had all of the bells and whistles on it that I could ask for and it looked really sharp. I then scheduled an appointment to test drive the Impala…and then the bumpy ride began.
As I was test driving the Impala I noticed when I hit the breaks that the steering wheel shimmied a little more than it should. When I inquired about that with the salesman he said that is very typical when you replace all of the brake parts. Now I knew that was not true because I have changed my own brakes in the past. I figured, okay if I have to replace the brakes on this thing, no big deal.
After the test drive, I was able to negotiate the a deal I was comfortable with and my wife and I agreed to make the purchase. Now this is where it gets interesting.
After I signed all the paper work (no loan paperwork because I do everything with cash) I was handed the keys and I was excited to drive away with this Impala (especially after driving a beater for what seemed like forever). As I shook the salesman’s hand he proceeded to tell me the reason why they gave me a good deal on the car was because I was right there was issues with the brakes and they wanted to give me a deal to cover any repairs I may have. I realized right then and there that I had been lied to. Surprisingly I stayed calm.
My mechanic lifted the car up and within a few seconds noticed that the car had been wrecked. He showed me at least five major issues and several minor ones.
As I was driving home I called my brother-in-law who happens to be an attorney. After I explained the situation he told me I had a case of fraud and that I would have definite legal action should I choose to go that route. At the end of our conversation I realized that I still had my money. That was really strange. They never asked me for my money (probably because they are used to loan paperwork) and I never gave it to them. I am sitting in this car that I have owned for ten minutes, I know that the salesman lied to me and I have still have the money. Believe it or not, there is still more craziness to add to this story.
Normally, I am able to look over a car and feel pretty good about it. I strongly recommend if you know nothing about cars to have someone look at it. However, with all of the recent events, I decided to now have a mechanic look over the car. My mechanic lifted the car up and within a few seconds noticed that the car had been wrecked. He showed me at least five major issues and several minor ones. Okay, now I am mad.
I go home and tell my wife the game plan. I told her that I am going to take the car back due to not telling me the truth and because I still have the money what can they really do. I told her I will then walk away and she can come pick me up.
As soon as I got to the dealership the salesman saw me and quickly came out to see what was wrong. I explained to him how I was lied to about the brakes and then how I found out there was some other things that were seriously wrong. He kept saying over and over, we can make a deal. I said no. I am done here. At that moment the sales manager came to me and asked what seems to be the problem. I explained to him the situation and the fact that I drove off his lot with the car and the money. After about a minute of talking back and forth the sales manager looked at me with disbelief and said, “No one took your money?” I said, “Correct”.
Now he was really upset and said don’t you worry we will make a deal with you for sure. I said nope, I just need to walk away, and I did. My wife picked me up and we went home.
I even had two people thought I spent $32,000 for this car
Now I have to go looking for another car. Normally I really like the process of buying a car. By now though, I just wanted to be done and move on with my life.
As I began to look for cars again, I was shocked when I found a 2003 Cadillac CTS in my price range. I figured there was something wrong with it, but what I noticed was there were a lot of Cadillac’s for sale in the area between $5,000-$7,000 that were really nice cars. I was expecting more like $15,000-$20,000.
When I got to the dealership, I was surprised how new the car looked. I mean it looked like a brand new car. I asked if it had a salvaged title. I was told no. It only had 123,000 miles on it and after the test drive I purchased a 2003 Cadillac CTS for $3,800.
The fun part about it is that I have had a lot of people come up to me and go WOW nice car! My response to them was so how much do you think that I paid for it? I have had a lot of people say between $10,000-$20,000 (I even had two people thought I spent $32,000 for this car). When I tell people I only spent $3,800 their jaw hits the floor. They can’t believe it. Below is the picture of my recent car purchase.
Hopefully you had not only an entertaining read, but also learned a few lessons along the way. Always keep a close eye when buying or even selling a car. You will be glad you did.
What is one of your crazy car stories?
What have you learned about buying cars?