You Ripped Her Off!

We had a customer that bought a vehicle yesterday, and her neighbor called today saying that we ripped her off and paid to little for her trade in. They wanted to take the trade out of the deal, so they could buy it for the same amount. The customer had gotten all worked up about this from her neighbor and wanted explanations.

First off, if the neighbor thought we had ripped her off and was willing to buy the vehicle for the same amount, doesn't that mean the neighbor wanted to rip her off? I don't know what you think, but it sure sounds like it to me.

Second, by trading in her vehicle and receiving the tax savings on her new vehicle, she actually got an extra $412.50 by trading it in.

Third, my manufacturer that I work for has a competitors trade in rebate of $1000. In other words if you own a Dodge and trade it in on a new Ford, Ford will give you a $1000 rebate. Don't trade it in and you lose the rebate.

Fourth, we haven't even seen her trade! That's right we made a good faith buy bid based on never seeing the trade. We gave her $5500 for her trade, which is fair market value, she also received the $412.50 tax savings, and a $1000 rebate. By trading she actually recieved a $6912.50 value for her trade in, as opposed to the $5500 her ripoff neighbor was offering.

The ripoff neighbor is no longer calling and the customer is satisfied, and not overly happy with the neighbor that whipped her into a frenzy.

I guess the moral of this story is not to get advice from people that don't know all the facts, and have no real knowledge of the situation you're in. It's certainly okay if someone is trying to help you, but don't let them fool you into thinking they're an expert because they've bought a car or two before. An easier way to say this: Would you go to an Attorney and ask him to diagnose the pain you're having in your stomach? Of course not, you'd go to a doctor that specializes in stomach disorders.

I guess this is like this site, would you rather take advice from some self proclaimed "Car buying expert" online, that's never worked a day in the car business, or from someone that, still to this day, works in a dealership and is willing to spill the beans to you about what goes on behind the scenes? You decide.

In the mean time...

Take care and beware,
J the Car Guy