I'm have a 07 Jeep Liberty that I no longer want to finance anymore. To make things simple I plan on selling back to the dealership. (Just sell, not trading.) I've let the dealer take a look at the car and we worked out a deal that he would take it off my hands for $8,800. I owe $10,200. The dealer says I can pay him the difference with a certified bank check. ($1,400). I know I can sell on Craigslist or similar but I don't want wait for the right buyer. I just want to get rid of the car immediately.

The dealership has A+ at the BBB but I'm still skeptical about getting scammed. Is there a way he can f*ck me over? Is it possible that I give the car to him and the loan doesn't get paid off? What should I look out for? I read that the dealership has to pay the loan off to get the title before he can even put the car on the lot.

Thanks.

 

sounds like that's already happened....

 

yes, I know dealerships are out there just to screw people over but that doesn't help answer my questions.

 

What kind of dealership is it? Chances are a legitimate dealership will take care of you no problem. Some slick used car salesman I'd be afraid. Just require proof of payoff/lien satisfaction as part of the deal.

 

The Ford dealership in Vacaville, CA got shut down for sales fraud. They weren't paying off the loans on the cars they bought, sold them, and pocketed the cash. It was a HUGE bust. Is it possible? Absolutely. I don't know the details of how they did it; I don't know if the sellers weren't taking the proper precautionary measures and/or if the dealership was forging documents, or what. To answer your question yes, it is possible. The likelyhood of it? Slim. A+ BBB rating isn't exactly the best thing to go buy, as there was an investigation done showing the BBB was extorting people to pay for a higher ranking. Although I'm not 100% sure what the conclusion of that investigation was, I just remember being astonished by the evidence that was presented, but I'm not sure if that was legit evidence, and if there was any conclusion.

In short, as a seller/buyer all you can do is take as many precautionary measures as possible. I'd read reviews on the dealerships from google, yelp, hell even facebook post if anyones had any experiences with the dealersship in any of its departments. While poor technicians or service dept., may not directly correlate to it's sales, it can reflect on the overall management.

 

Anyone can get a good rating from the BBB, all you have to do is pay your dues. Some businesses may accidentally have a good rating without having bought it, but if you have a bad rating, money can get you out of it.

Yes, they can f you. The scenario outlined above ("buying" cars, selling them, never paying off the loan) happens quite a bit. In that scenario, you are still on the hook, as you signed paperwork stating that you were responsible for paying the car note.

Good luck!

 

Carmax would be a better bet if you have one by you. A dealership does have to pay the loan off to get the title before he can even put the car on the lot but as with anything, there are loopholes and ways around it.

You should be ok - you might want to make it part of the deal that he has to show you the paid off loan before you pay him the difference owed.

Good luck!

 

How about they give you $8800.00 and YOU pay off the loan.

Edit: Oh, never mind, you don't have a title to the car. The bank owns it.

 

lol you're right, the BBB is the real scam. 500 bucks and you have an A+ rating regardless of how many complaints you get.

 

Good luck mate