If you’ve purchased a new car at a dealership, you’re probably familiar with the slew of possible options and add-ons for your vehicle — everything from tinted windows to extended service contracts. A new report claims that the price a customer is charged for these extras may be linked to their ethnicity.
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Report Finds Auto Dealers May Be Charging Hispanic Customers More For Vehicle Add-Ons
By 10.11.17
GM Offers To Buy Out 40% Of Cadillac Dealers
By 9.23.16
If there are fewer places around where you can buy a Cadillac, will that make the brand seem more luxurious and precious? That’s not really why General Motors has offered to buy out the franchises of 400 of its dealers that sell Cadillacs, but maybe it will help make the brand seem more exclusive, like its weird brand experience café/art gallery in Manhattan. [More]
Lawsuit Claims Honda Refuses To Fix Vehicles With Soy-Coated Wiring That’s Irresistible To Hungry Critters
By 1.25.16
If a car’s insides are an appealing snack for mice, squirrels, and rabbits, should the company that made the vehicle pay to fix the soy-coated wiring when those critters throw themselves a feast? The plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed against Honda think so, and say the carmaker is refusing to pick up the tab for repairs. [More]
Buick Wants You To Take A Vehicle On A 24-Hour Test Drive
By 7.20.15
Is taking a car for a brief spin around the neighborhood enough time to convince you to buy it? If not, Buick thinks it’s got just the solution for you, announcing a new program that allows drivers to leave their car at the dealership and take a Buick out for an entire day. [More]
Hyundai, Nissan Dealerships In Las Vegas Settle Deceptive Advertising Complaints
By 6.30.15
Back in March, federal regulators teamed up with their Canadian counterparts to crack down on auto dealers’ deceptive, fraudulent practices. While that operation culminated in six enforcement actions resulting in more than $2.6 million in judgments and consumer refunds, that wasn’t enough for the Federal Trade Commission, as the agency has now charged two Las Vegas auto dealers with similarly misleading practices. [More]
FTC’s Auto Industry Crackdown Includes Deceptive Advertising, Fraudulent Add-Ons & Improper Loan Modifications
By 3.26.15
A two-country crackdown on auto dealers’ deceptive, fraudulent practices culminated in six enforcement actions brought by the Federal Trade Commission resulting in more than $2.6 million in judgements and consumer refunds. [More]
Michigan Joins List Of Tesla-Hating States; Bans Direct Sales Of Cars
By 10.21.14
Even though only a few dozen Teslas have been sold to people in Michigan, and even though the electric vehicle maker has no storefront display operations in the state, the home of America’s auto industry has decided it needed to pass a law actually banning carmakers from selling automobiles to Michigan consumers without first going through a franchised dealership. [More]
It’s Against The Law For Car Dealers To Not Give Consumers All Relevant Info About Deals
By 9.3.13
Take a look at the ad to the left promising $12,000 off MSRP for a 2013 Ford F-150. That’s a heck of an offer for a truck that starts at around $24,000. But what you don’t see — and what you don’t find out until you try to buy the vehicle — is that the discount only applies to the $47,000 F-150 Lariat version, so instead of getting a 50% discount on a reasonably priced new truck, you learn that it’s around a 25% savings on a high-end vehicle. [More]
Giving A Ford Dealership Bad Survey Grades Is Basically Tossing Their Employees Out On The Street
By 4.4.12
Customer service surveys at car dealerships must be serious, serious business. That’s the only conclusion I can draw from Bob’s story about being bullied by the Ford dealership where he bought his Fiesta. They called him up to say that if he planned to rate his (unsatisfactory) service experience as anything but satisfactory, he would be hurting the dealership and practically stealing money out of employees’ pockets and yanking food out of their kids’ mouths. If he didn’t say nice things, the service manager insinuated, the dealership might decide not to service his car at all. [More]
Private Equity Bets Big Bucks On "Buy Here Pay Here" Dealerships
By 11.1.11
In the second of a three-part series on “Buy Here Pay Here” dealerships, used car lots that target subprime borrowers with easy credit and triple the national average interest rates, the Los Angeles Times looks at how private equity firms have flocked towards the growing industry, lured by 38% margins. [More]
"Buy Here Pay Here" Dealerships Investigated
By 10.31.11
The Los Angeles Times has an excellent investigation into the national “Buy Here Pay Here” auto dealership phenomenon. These used car sellers purposefully target bad credit borrowers and offer them what no one else will: the chance to buy a car on credit. All they have to do is agree to 20-30% interest rates, a price well above the car’s Blue Book Value, and aggressive repo practices if they fail to pay up. But it’s not a big deal if they don’t. Borrower failure is baked into the business plan. [More]
Economy: Used Car Dealer Becomes Used Horse Dealer Too
By 10.6.11
With the economy in the dumps, used car dealers are having to get creative with the trade-ins. There’s long been used car dealers advertising they’ll take any trade that’s “push, pulled, or dragged.” One dealership is adding trots to that phrase, as they’re now accepting horses. [More]
Car Experiences Top List Of 10 Biggest Consumer Complaints
By 7.29.11
No wonder car salesmen get a bad rap: it’s very much deserved! At least that’s according to a new report by the Consumer Federation of America of the top 10 consumer complaints. “Misrepresentations in advertising or sales of new and used cars, lemons, faulty repairs, leasing and towing disputes,” top the list. It’s almost enough to make you want to switch to a velocipede! [More]
Should It Have To Be Disclosed If A Used Car Was Smoked In?
By 7.28.11
You get into the seats, place your hands on the wheel and sniff. That’s not new car smell you’re getting, but the faint notes of incinerated tobacco leaves. Perhaps they’re peaking out from a cloying cloud of freshener, like a bra strap from a tank top. Dangit. You thought you found a good contender and wasted all this time to come out and check the car out, and now it turns out someone used to smoke in it. Reader Ethan wonders if this isn’t something that dealers should have to disclose, or at least something that should show up on CarFax. [More]
Upset At Being Sold A Lemon, Man Crashes It Into Six Cars At Dealership
By 7.21.11
A man who upset over getting sold a lemon by a dealership decided to vent his rage in an unusual fashion. After the salesman wouldn’t accept a return, the man waited until midnight and then drove back to the dealership. Then he revved the engine and began smashing it into the cars on the lot. [More]
The Hidden Fee That's Adding Thousands To Price Of Your New Car
By 5.12.11
You’re not supposed to know about it. It’s a secret fee that dealerships across the country are charging customers, that can add thousands to the cost of their car. KHOU got their hands on insider documents provided to them by a former dealership worker that shows how it works. [More]
Honda Spokesman Gets Screwed By Honda Dealer
By 5.9.11
An actor who pitches Honda cars in their ads says he got screwed over by a Honda dealership when he tried to get the very same deal he helps sell on TV. [More]
Buy Your First Car
By 11.24.10
Never bought a car before? Here’s a good guide that covers the basics, from going into the dealership with your price beforehand, the importance of doing all your researcher and resources for doing so, and the best tactic of all: always be prepared to walk away from a bad deal. [More]
