Financing Quote question

johnw549 · Apr 19, 2010

I have a question that I would just like some general feedback on. Suppose someone go to a tractor dealer looking to trade what they have for something bigger say. The potential buyer tells the salesman that he owes x amount on what he is trading in. So depending on what the dealer says what they will allow on the trade determines how much the buyer is either upside down or maybe ahead some. Then the dealer says that they will allow so much trade in which comes in just under what the guy owes by about 400 dollars. The dealer will even add that amount into the financing. Then customer / trade in guy asks the salesman to write him out a quote for the new tractor considering all of the aspects of the trade in. The dealer says at the bottom of the page after all of the numbers that you will be financing XXX amount for 5 years, no interest. The customer/trade in guy likes the bottom line number that the salesman tells him is what he is going to owe and finance upon and he gets pumped up about the potential new tractor and waits for the salesman to get together the whole package of added and needed equipment. All of it is just like the on paper quote.
Then the customer/trade in guy goes to the dealership on a following day to sign the papers. Then after waiting for about 45 minutes for them to come up with the deal papers, the salesman walks in with the finance girl with a figure that is $ 8000 higher that the quote on paper, with all facts disclosed. Unfortunately the customer/trade in guy can't afford this new price and has to go home. Is it the customer's job to make sure how they run their business correctly? Are paper quotes with all information on the table (no game, no funny business) worth anything?

American Pit Bull · Apr 19, 2010

What was the reason given for the increase?

johnw549 · Apr 19, 2010

He says he forgot to figure in what I still owed on the trade in.

Bird · Apr 19, 2010

Of course it may have been an honest mistake, but it sure sounds a lot like what we used to call low balling by car salesmen. Start low to get you excited and really wanting to make the deal, then boost the price. And that's when I leave to go to a different dealer.

American Pit Bull · Apr 19, 2010

What tractor and attachments were you getting quotes on and what were the two numbers? It should be very clear if they messed up.

You would have basically been financing the total price of the new tractor, plus $400 (your trade-in would have been a wash)... It will be easy to see if they accidentally gave you credit for your trade-in, in the first quote.

You stated that you were upside-down, by $400, on your trade-in.... So there is no negative adjustment in price to the new purchase.... You pay them $400 and it is a wash.

If they quoted you for example: $10,000 on a BX25.. Then you came back and they said it would be $18,000. The second price would be correct. Or else they would have been selling to you for ~$4,000 below dealer cost (which wouldn't happen)...

With that big of a difference, it should be clear if the first guy screwed up and took $8,000 off of the price by mistake.

/pine · Apr 19, 2010

Then customer / trade in guy asks the salesman to write him out a quote for the new tractor considering all of the aspects of the trade in.

customer/trade in guy likes the bottom line number that the salesman tells him is what he is going to owe and finance upon and he gets pumped up about the potential new tractor and waits for the salesman to get together the whole package of added and needed equipment. All of it is just like the on paper quote.

so was the $8k omitted from the "paper" quote?

abeal · Apr 19, 2010

It should be pretty easy to figure out on your own:

1. Your current tractor to trade in...what will the dealer give you for it (A)? how much do you owe on it (B)? A-B=C (C can be negative, which it sounds like is your case)

2. What is the price of the new tractor (D)? D-C=E (Since your C is negative, you will actually add that to the price of the tractor.

If you are not very upside down, a good dealer can get you taken care of. Say the price of the new tractor is 1000, retail on the tractor is 1200, and your trade is 200 upside down, he can fill out the paperwork for you buying the tractor for 1200.

You should know about what your tractor is worth, how much you owe and the price of the new tractor to give you a general idea.

johnw549 · Apr 19, 2010

The salesman wrote out a quote showing that they were giving me $ 7000 trade in value. On the quote it shows trade in of $-7000. He shows nothing about the amount owed on the quote. I asked him several times if they were going to pay off Kubota? He says of course. I said is this quote what I am going to have to pay and finance for the new tractor with a MMM, FEL, RAKE, TILLER, and tooth bar. He said it will be this amount as per the quote considering everything that I laid out on the table from the moment I arrived at the dealership.
What made me angry, is that he would never admit that he screwed up the quote. He even smarted off and acted like I had to sign the contract. The $ 8000 is more like 7500. I only added a couple of other less expensive attachments since I thought I was in pretty good shape on the deal.
If only he was man enough to admit that the quote was wrong, but he would still not. I explained to him that the quote omitted the pay off. He never could grasp that he failed to figure it in. I have traded cars in my life and I am not new to financing. I just don't think a dealer should write out a quote on a tractor and then hand you a contract with a totally different number.
He said early on that he wanted VERY BADLY to do business with me.
He totally made it out to be all my fault and I decided to leave with my trade in.
I called later to talk to a manager to explain the problem, but he wouldn't return my call. Guess I will keep my BX and go on.
I just don't like being given one figure to plan on and being given a totally different amount when it comes time to sign the papers. And then not to at least admit his mistake and try to work something out. I am not a hot head, whoop somebody's *** type of person. But this dude irked me pretty good.
I showed him on the quote his mistake and he still didn't understand my problem. Oh well...

American Pit Bull · Apr 19, 2010

At least you know that the first guy messed up and that it wasn't a bait and switch...
There was no way that they could have sold you the tractor for the original price (unless they were going to take a loss). You didn't miss out on anything since the deal would have never been possible.

The guy should have still took responsibility. Even if he explained it to you correctly and you misunderstood; it was his job to be sure that you understood the terms.