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Don't know if this is possibly so standard as to be boring ...
But I was dealing with Sames-Crow Ford dealership in Corpus Christi, Texas.
The finance department was absolutely TERRIBLE regarding how they handled this all-cash sale. First, they told me that I HAD to have the car registered in Texas (even tho I am moving to North Carolina in about a month and already had an address there... They told me, straight, that this could NOT be done -- but I had it on good authority from two other dealerships that this was a routine procedure and my personal circumstances would NOT cause them any hesitation at all - standard procedure.
They told me that IF I insisted on not letting them handle the registration, that I would have to SIGN A RELEASE. This "threat" never materialized on the day I showed up to sign all the papers.
Then he had me sign a statement saying that ALL I was purchasing was the vehicle. No, I told him -- the vehicle was represented as having a 50% paid 3-month or 3,000 mile full repair warranty. Oh no, he assured me - that is understood and that my salesman would handle all that for me. That that could NOT go on that form.
When I asked the saleswoman for something that would guarantee the 3-month warranty, she looked totally flummoxed. This was obviously the FIRST and only time that had ever happened to her. She brought back the sort of form they stick in the windows of cars on the lot -- with Sames-Crow Ford written on the sheet.
I told her it needed to be SIGNED. She told me she would sign it for me.. but I told her ONLY THE FINANCE OFFICER's signature on the document would do. When it finally came back out of his office, it was actually somewhat filled out this time.
When I had first put down a second deposit on the vehicle, they took a copy of my driver's license and asked for my SS#, too. I gave it to her without thinking --- then freaked and told the finance officer that I did not want them to have it, that this was a cash purchase and a credit check would not be wanted.
What did the finance officer tell me that day (this was another guy) told me that the SS# was MANDATORY, required BY THE STATE OF TEXAS on the vehicle's title. Naturally, it is NOT on the title. They made me sign a form at closing that indicated that they would keep my number private. I asked them to destroy it, but they said the state of Texas required them to keep it on auto sales. I plan to check that out with another dealer and file complaints to the BBB and to Ford motor company dealership division about them if they lied to me.
So irritated were they at my refusal to pay them processing fees or sell me an extended warranty for this used Ford, they made me wait an hour and a half before I was ushered into the inner sanctum. Or maybe that is part of the deal of trying to make you feel insecure for the final sales pitch.
The saleswoman (there only 6 months so far) was horrified and embarrassed at how they were jerking me around so she ended up driving the van to the gas pump and FILLED THE TANK (it had been almost empty) and got me a free extra computer chip key.
Oh, and the last thing --- I had had my insurance company send them a copy of my insurance card so I could drive out of there with the cards in the glove box as required by law. They REFUSED to give me the originals, even tho they were NOT requested or required for the sale of the vehicle.
Did you ever get the feeling that some people jerk you around JUST because they have the opportunity? It has been 15 years since I felt moved to complain about any other business - and THAT was a car dealership, too. That time, I was taken TREMENDOUS advantage of and badly cheated and economically damaged thru fraud -- even tho it was, once again, a cash sale. Is this specific to cash? Or are most car salesmen inclined to be narcissistic jerks?
