Dealership miscalculated sales tax

jsphlynch

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People swear they know good car salesmen. I think it's more so that they don't know the shifty things about them.
I discovered this fact a few years ago. Was shopping for a gently used SUV, and found a very helpful salesman at the local Kia dealership. He really seemed to be playing straight with me. He even pointing out some minor damage that I had missed on one of the vehicles we were looking at. When I said something about his candor, he said something along the lines of needing to be upfront and honest with customers, because they will figure out anything incorrect he says (especially with the internet in the palm of their hands!) and hold him accountable for it.

He ended up finding us a Sorento we really liked: only a couple years old, single owner, low mileage, and clean Carfax. A really big plus was when he pointed out that Kia's very good warranty was transferable.

At the negotiating table he used every single one of the standard car salesman tactics. I didn't really care about because I knew about them and was expecting them, and in the end got the price I wanted.

Fast forward 2 years: the car starts having really rough shifts when cold, and throws a code for a faulty temp sensor in the transmission (according to the internet, it's a common failure for the Sorento of its age). So I take it in to the dealership I bought it from, they likewise diagnose the bad sensor, and hand me a quote of several hundred dollars to replace the faulty component. I start insisting that it should be covered under the factory warranty, but the service advisor says it's out of warranty since I'm the second owner, and only a very truncated warrantee applies to the second owner. I tell him that I was told when I bought the vehicle at this very dealership I was told that the original factory warranty transfers. Service advisor turns a shade paler, and asks who the salesman was. Turns out he's "no longer with them." He offers to take me to the dealership's head sales manager, which turns out to be different that the one who was there when I bought the vehicle. Sales manager hears the problem and he turns a shade paler and says "well that's not right." But he says they'll pull the records from my transaction and if there's anything that indicates I was told I'd get the full warranty, or if I have any documentation in my files, they'll honor it. Of course, the promise of a warranty transfer was only something the sales guy had told me; it wasn't in writing anywhere. I was, to put it technically, SOL. However, the new manager admitted to me that the reason the salesman, the sales manager, and even the finance guy who had handled my sale were gone was because there was too much stuff like this going on, the dealership's owner learned about it and (to his credit) completely cleaned house. As I understood it, everybody on the sales side of things was canned.

Haven't been back to that dealership or any others in the same auto group ever since. I bought the sensor for something like $15 on Rock Auto and changed it myself, and the vehicle has been trouble-free ever since.
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Glocker

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To the OP; this seems to be a common dealer tactic. I've heard of it happening before, most recently from a coworker. Long story short, same exact thing happened with a car his wife really wanted. He traded her old car on it, and a month later gets the phone call about taxes and the out-the-door price having to be recalculated. He tells them he is not paying a penny more, they tell him to bring the car back to the dealership then. He says he'll oblige and for them to have his trade-in waiting. Well, they already sold/sent his trade-in off to auction. They ended up eating the difference they claimed he owed.

If I were you, I would either take that truck back to them and totally walk from that dealer, or find EVERY avenue you can to fight that and make them eat it. If you pay the balance of the taxes the state claims is owed directly to them, they have potentially won, because that is the difference they get to pocket out of your out-the-door price you've negotiated. Your only recourse then is to try to fight it in small calms court and potentially loose. Then your out the money you paid to the state at the full $1600 or so they said you owed. Plus time and effort. If you win, you get the satisfaction of that win, but you're still out the time and effort (wages not earned at work, filing fees, etc.).

If you want to keep the truck, I would blow them wide open on social media. Contact the Better Business Bureau. Contact your state and local governments about potential shady practices.

If it were me, I'd figure out how to get them to take the truck back and now that's their problem too. Then give your sale to a different dealership. And for an extra jab, let the owner of the offending dealership know what went down and how it drove your money to a different dealership!
 

r1ch999999

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Reminds me of when my grandparents, living on social security, were forced to move out of NH due to property taxes. They were proud 2nd generation granite state residents. At the 4th generation level they sadly moved.
I’m moving to Maine when I retire. Taxes are lower, less people.
 

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Dealerships are much like politicians. The more deceitful you are the more money you make. I mean look at local dealership advertisements and tell me that it is not the same format as political commercials around election times.

Some Profess:

- How they love freedom, America, etc etc
- How they promise to be honest with you and no hidden gimmicks
- How they lie straight to your face "I have to sell 120 cars this weekend or [enter catastrophic here]!" while keeping a straight face.
 
OP
OP

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To the OP; this seems to be a common dealer tactic. I've heard of it happening before, most recently from a coworker. Long story short, same exact thing happened with a car his wife really wanted. He traded her old car on it, and a month later gets the phone call about taxes and the out-the-door price having to be recalculated. He tells them he is not paying a penny more, they tell him to bring the car back to the dealership then. He says he'll oblige and for them to have his trade-in waiting. Well, they already sold/sent his trade-in off to auction. They ended up eating the difference they claimed he owed.

If I were you, I would either take that truck back to them and totally walk from that dealer, or find EVERY avenue you can to fight that and make them eat it. If you pay the balance of the taxes the state claims is owed directly to them, they have potentially won, because that is the difference they get to pocket out of your out-the-door price you've negotiated. Your only recourse then is to try to fight it in small calms court and potentially loose. Then your out the money you paid to the state at the full $1600 or so they said you owed. Plus time and effort. If you win, you get the satisfaction of that win, but you're still out the time and effort (wages not earned at work, filing fees, etc.).

If you want to keep the truck, I would blow them wide open on social media. Contact the Better Business Bureau. Contact your state and local governments about potential shady practices.

If it were me, I'd figure out how to get them to take the truck back and now that's their problem too. Then give your sale to a different dealership. And for an extra jab, let the owner of the offending dealership know what went down and how it drove your money to a different dealership!
That was my first reaction as well.

Deal is done, they've been paid by Ford Credit and I. One payment already in the books. The DMV delays caused by this COVID L (COVID Laziness) have thrown a monkey wrench into the situation.

I'll be taking the half payment from them. I'll be writing off the $800 I'll be out of pocket as the cost to find out they're douchebags.

I'll also be sharing this story enough to cost them $800 + worth of lost business.

Tomorrow morning I'll hit the DMV. As long as I walk out with my plates I'll be good.

I could turn this into some vendetta. But I really don't find $800 to be worth that.
 


Trigganometry

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That was my first reaction as well.

Deal is done, they've been paid by Ford Credit and I. One payment already in the books. The DMV delays caused by this COVID L (COVID Laziness) have thrown a monkey wrench into the situation.

I'll be taking the half payment from them. I'll be writing off the $800 I'll be out of pocket as the cost to find out they're douchebags.

I'll also be sharing this story enough to cost them $800 + worth of lost business.

Tomorrow morning I'll hit the DMV. As long as I walk out with my plates I'll be good.

I could turn this into some vendetta. But I really don't find $800 to be worth that.
At minimum I would file a report with the better business bureau. Just so there is a record of this. What was done was outside of the contract.

Additionally, these dealers are desperate for excellent customer ratings after sale questionnaire for factory grading. So FAILS for all do mucho damage. Factory might reach out too!
 

AutobotXJ

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That was my first reaction as well.

Deal is done, they've been paid by Ford Credit and I. One payment already in the books. The DMV delays caused by this COVID L (COVID Laziness) have thrown a monkey wrench into the situation.

I'll be taking the half payment from them. I'll be writing off the $800 I'll be out of pocket as the cost to find out they're douchebags.

I'll also be sharing this story enough to cost them $800 + worth of lost business.

Tomorrow morning I'll hit the DMV. As long as I walk out with my plates I'll be good.

I could turn this into some vendetta. But I really don't find $800 to be worth that.
A friend once asked me, if you loan a friend $20 but you never see him again, did you really lose anything?
how much is it worth to you to find out what kind of person they really are?
I hope your story reaches out locally so, at the very least, the dealer doesn’t do it again. They lost out on more than $800.
 

FoD

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I’m moving to Maine when I retire. Taxes are lower, less people.
Lol - A$$@ are A$$@ pretty much all over, even if there are fewer of them in Maine..;)
 
OP
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So made it to the DMV today. First day of them accepting a "limited" number of walkins after being appointment only then shut down for who knows how long. They were to open @7:00 a.m.

Decided to go right after work. Arrived at 5:30ish. There were already multiple cars in the lot, including another 5g on temp tags. About 6:00 people started forming a line at the locked door, I joined and was 5th in line. By this time 2 more 5gs had showed up. We waited, none of the other Ranger owners were there for the same reason/dealership, which I feared was the case.

At 7:00 promptly they opened the doors and told us 14 people @ a time w/ temp checks. Was so glad to be 5th. When I walked out @ 7:20 the line was 150-200 people deep.

She squared me away real quick. Spent $1600ish. $800ish for my part of the tax liability, $600ish for my annual registration/tags, and $200ish for the registration on my wife's CX-5. Glad to have it all squared away.

Now for my revenge.
 

Glocker

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So made it to the DMV today. First day of them accepting a "limited" number of walkins after being appointment only then shut down for who knows how long. They were to open @7:00 a.m.

Decided to go right after work. Arrived at 5:30ish. There were already multiple cars in the lot, including another 5g on temp tags. About 6 people started forming a line at the locked door, I joined and was 5th in line. By this time 2 more 5gs had showed up. We waited, none of the other Ranger owners were there for the same reason/dealership, which I feared was the case.

At 7:00 promptly they opened the doors and told us 14 people @ a time w/ temp checks. Was so glad to be 5th.

She squared me away real quick. Spent $1600ish. $800ish for my part of the tax liability, $600ish for my annual registration/tags, and $200ish for the registration on my wife's CX-5. Glad to have it all squared away.

Now for my revenge.
Make them pay! LOL And for some extra satisfaction, let them know why!
 

NickTheEnforcer

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I discovered this fact a few years ago. Was shopping for a gently used SUV, and found a very helpful salesman at the local Kia dealership. He really seemed to be playing straight with me. He even pointing out some minor damage that I had missed on one of the vehicles we were looking at. When I said something about his candor, he said something along the lines of needing to be upfront and honest with customers, because they will figure out anything incorrect he says (especially with the internet in the palm of their hands!) and hold him accountable for it.

He ended up finding us a Sorento we really liked: only a couple years old, single owner, low mileage, and clean Carfax. A really big plus was when he pointed out that Kia's very good warranty was transferable.

At the negotiating table he used every single one of the standard car salesman tactics. I didn't really care about because I knew about them and was expecting them, and in the end got the price I wanted.

Fast forward 2 years: the car starts having really rough shifts when cold, and throws a code for a faulty temp sensor in the transmission (according to the internet, it's a common failure for the Sorento of its age). So I take it in to the dealership I bought it from, they likewise diagnose the bad sensor, and hand me a quote of several hundred dollars to replace the faulty component. I start insisting that it should be covered under the factory warranty, but the service advisor says it's out of warranty since I'm the second owner, and only a very truncated warrantee applies to the second owner. I tell him that I was told when I bought the vehicle at this very dealership I was told that the original factory warranty transfers. Service advisor turns a shade paler, and asks who the salesman was. Turns out he's "no longer with them." He offers to take me to the dealership's head sales manager, which turns out to be different that the one who was there when I bought the vehicle. Sales manager hears the problem and he turns a shade paler and says "well that's not right." But he says they'll pull the records from my transaction and if there's anything that indicates I was told I'd get the full warranty, or if I have any documentation in my files, they'll honor it. Of course, the promise of a warranty transfer was only something the sales guy had told me; it wasn't in writing anywhere. I was, to put it technically, SOL. However, the new manager admitted to me that the reason the salesman, the sales manager, and even the finance guy who had handled my sale were gone was because there was too much stuff like this going on, the dealership's owner learned about it and (to his credit) completely cleaned house. As I understood it, everybody on the sales side of things was canned.

Haven't been back to that dealership or any others in the same auto group ever since. I bought the sensor for something like $15 on Rock Auto and changed it myself, and the vehicle has been trouble-free ever since.
Reminds me of something years ago at a Hyundai Stealership outside of Omaha..
I was active duty at the time at Offutt AFB and there was a young female Airman who was telling a group of us in the ready room that she was going to look for a new car. now I'm not being sexist b/c there were plenty of green-young guys as well I knew who got hammered buying a car out there. I offered to go with her and she said great b/c she had never bought a car before and her family was too far to come out. Well we do to this place and the sales guy was telling her that Hyundai was better than Honda, in 'fact' their engineering team were Honda engineers 'moonlighting'...[BS alarm went off in my head] Meanwhile my friend was nodding like she was actually believing this guy!
I was like hold on dude, so you are telling me you actually expect us to buy that Honda engineers in 1990 were first not under a non-compete? Second they are so hard up for cash that they would do side-work for a lesser manufacturer? Third you have NO proof of this claim, we are just supposed to take your word? Fourth if Hyundai was such a major up-and-coming player [at that time] dont you think they would be able to actually hire away those whiz-bang Honda engineers?
at that point he was speechless...
Needless to say she did not buy a Hyundai that day, I was glad I was able to help her out...at least not being had but such an obvious falsehood.

I'm trying to recall, but I can remember if she actually bought a car or not.
 

GTGallop

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Reminds me of something years ago at a Hyundai Stealership outside of Omaha..
I was active duty at the time at Offutt AFB and there was a young female Airman who was telling a group of us in the ready room that she was going to look for a new car. now I'm not being sexist b/c there were plenty of green-young guys as well I knew who got hammered buying a car out there. I offered to go with her and she said great b/c she had never bought a car before and her family was too far to come out. Well we do to this place and the sales guy was telling her that Hyundai was better than Honda, in 'fact' their engineering team were Honda engineers 'moonlighting'...[BS alarm went off in my head] Meanwhile my friend was nodding like she was actually believing this guy!
I was like hold on dude, so you are telling me you actually expect us to buy that Honda engineers in 1990 were first not under a non-compete? Second they are so hard up for cash that they would do side-work for a lesser manufacturer? Third you have NO proof of this claim, we are just supposed to take your word? Fourth if Hyundai was such a major up-and-coming player [at that time] dont you think they would be able to actually hire away those whiz-bang Honda engineers?
at that point he was speechless...
Needless to say she did not buy a Hyundai that day, I was glad I was able to help her out...at least not being had but such an obvious falsehood.

I'm trying to recall, but I can remember if she actually bought a car or not.
Never mind the fact that those moonlighting Honda workers would have to take a train from japan to korea just to build cars in their off time.
 

THLONE

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Lol - A$$@ are A$$@ pretty much all over, even if there are fewer of them in Maine..;)
It was better everywhere with fewer DUMB A$$@ES.
 
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WOADKIL

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Curious why DMV is involved in sales tax - was it license and doc fees ? Either way, dealer eats it, especially if you have plates in hand...
DMV has an Ace in the hole, they can suspend the tags...
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