How are car dealerships cheated when buying a new car?
Most people who want to buy a new car believe that they can be deceived anywhere, but not at a car dealership. At every step, we see advertisements for well-known car dealerships, many of which we have already talked about on our Vodi.su portal. As a rule, promoted car dealerships do not resort to deception, as they value their reputation. However, one should always be careful when buying a new car, even from a well-established company.
Advertising fraud
The most common way to deceive a gullible customer is to place false advertising. For example, it can be slogans of the following content:
- Sale of last year's model line, super low prices;
- Car loan at very low interest rates;
- Buy a car in installments at zero percent and so on.
Recall that in Russia there have already been serious legal proceedings for false advertising. First of all, this concerns mobile operators, who often write “0 kopecks for all calls”, and then it turns out that for free calls you need to activate a lot of additional services and pay a rather high monthly fee.
We still have the “Law on Advertising” and Article 14.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses that impose serious fines for deceiving consumers.
Common situations: you "pecked", for example, on an advertisement for the sale of a car on credit at 3-4 percent per annum. In fact, it turns out that such conditions are available only to those buyers who can immediately deposit 50-75% of the amount, and the remaining money must be paid within 6-12 months. At the same time, you need to pay for additional services: CASCO registration, installation of an expensive alarm system, a set of tires.
If you liked the ad for a cheap sale and you hopefully go to the salon, it turns out that in fact the vehicle is much more expensive, and the equipment indicated in the advertisement has already ended, as it was quickly dismantled. Sometimes the price is indicated without VAT, that is, 18% cheaper.
Well, among other things, customers rarely read the entire contract. Attractive conditions are indicated on the first pages, but then additional services that the client is obliged to pay are listed in small print:
- OSAGO and CASCO only in insurance companies cooperating with a car dealership;
- surcharge for warranty service;
- additional equipment: parking sensors, leather interior, alloy wheels instead of stamping;
- for loan services, etc.
Here we can advise only one thing - carefully read the contract, do not be tempted by low prices and interest rates.
Group car sales programs
In the West, such a scheme has been operating for a long time and quite legally. A group of people is formed to buy cars that have not yet been released, they make monthly contributions, taking into account interest, and, as they are produced, the cars are distributed among the group members.
Such schemes exist both in Ukraine and in Russia. There is no legal deception, but the buyer may have to wait for his car for a very long time. That is, you pay money under the terms of a regular car loan, but you cannot drive your car, since there can be 240 or more people in a group and each of them has its own serial number.
But even when your turn comes, it may turn out that someone has made the maximum payment and the long-awaited vehicle has gone to him. The editors of Vodi.su do not recommend contacting such programs. Nobody will deceive you, you will really get your car on credit with all the overpayments, but you will be able to drive it at best in a few months.
Other common scams
There are many veiled ways to deceive a gullible buyer. Often you realize that you have been fooled only after all the contracts are signed and the initial fees are paid.
For example, the Trade-In service is now popular. You arrive in an old car, it is evaluated and you are given an appropriate discount on the purchase of a new one. It is easy to guess that car dealership managers will try in every way to underestimate the cost of used vehicles. And according to the terms of Trade-in, you are not compensated for the full cost, but only 70-90 percent.
In addition, there is a serious risk of buying a used car instead of a new one. This is already a case. You should be alerted if instead of a new TCP, there is only a duplicate on the car. Often, after a good repair, only a real specialist can distinguish a new car from a used one.
In some salons, the calculation is carried out in foreign currency, or prices are indicated in dollars. You arrive with the required amount in rubles, but it turns out that the salon has its own rate, as a result, you have to overpay.
In some salons, they increase the price due to the hype: there is one car left of a suitable configuration and satisfying the price, but the manager says that it has already been booked. However, another client is willing to wait a few months if you pay a certain amount.
Be very vigilant when signing the contract of sale. For example, if not one, but as many as three or four contracts were brought to you for signature, do not be lazy to read them all. It may turn out that each of them has different conditions.
How to avoid cheating?
We give simple recommendations:
- Test drive - evaluate the quality of the vehicle, take a specialist friend;
- Read all documents carefully, check numbers and VIN codes;
- Make sure that the final price including VAT is indicated in the contract.
You need to be especially vigilant when concluding a car loan agreement. This is a very complicated topic, since they can extort a lot of money from you, while hanging a lot of additional services that you do not need.
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