Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in Pennsylvania

We signed a sales agreement with a car dealership on Sat in Pa. We put $3000.00 down and left with our pink copy signed by us, the salesman and the authorized dealer. They called today with financing options and are telling us that our balance due is $3000.00 more than what our contract says. Who's problem is this? This agreement states on the bottom that it is a binding agreement as long as it is signed by the Authorized Dealer. Thanks for your time! Sara


Asked on 2/05/13, 2:56 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Its probably your problem. You were probably "spotted" a car. Did you finance it through the dealer? If so, then you really did not buy a car. You applied for financing of a car. The lender can accept or reject the financing and if they reject it, the options are: (1) return the car and get another cheaper model there or go car shopping elsewhere; (2) find another way to pay for the car; or (3) make a larger down payment

I am not sure why the balance would be $3000 bigger - why the discrepancy? Purely anecdotal but a dealer tried to pull a fast one on me long ago by claiming that I could not get financing at the rate promised by the dealer (dealers almost have a license to lie). If the option was pay or get money back, I opted for the latter and bought a car elsewhere. You might want to do the same.

If its a situation of the kind that I first described where you were spotted a car, what is the reason you were rejected? Have you checked your credit? Do you have negative items or maybe no credit? In such case, you may need to boost your credit score or fix any problems before obtaining financing. And its a better idea to line up your own financing ahead of time, like at a credit union, which offers much better deals than the dealer. The dealers get kickbacks from the lender but you pay for it terms of higher rates

I think I would take the car agreement to a local lawyer specializing in consumer law and pay the lawyer to review your contract and give you an opinion.

If the dealer really messed up here, its up to you, but you may not want to deal with that dealer any more and go elsewhere. The dealer should refund your money. However, you really have to have a strong case that the dealer messed this up.

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Answered on 2/05/13, 9:47 pm


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