Read before buying a car

[ahjo]

I entered into a Sales Agreement with a sales associate, F for a Honda Fit. I was asked to pay a deposit of $5000 inclusive of booking fee and the guaranteed COE at $2,000. When questioned about the impossibly low COE, I was assured that I would be given COE regardless of the latest price of COE. Promise was given that the car would be delivered 5 days after the COE bidding.

 

On the eve of the bidding, I received a call from the F. She wanted me to top up $5,000 for their assurance (I did not take any loan) before the company could bid for me. I was not informed of this arrangem ent beforehand and thus explained that I was unable to accede to her request at such late notice. She then mentioned that unless payment was made, she would pend my COE bid. When I questioned her on the Guaranteed COE 1 bid @ $2,000, she twisted her words and said that unless the COE is at $2,000, I would not get it. I requested to speak to her boss however she told me that her boss does not speak to anybody and that I could go ahead and sue her company. Thereafter, she hanged up on me before I could even finish my sentence.

 

I then called up another sales associate, J who was around when the sales agreement was signed. He told me that he would discuss it with his boss and revert. I did not hear anything from him. The next day after checking online I realized that they did not bid for me at all.

 

I called J up and he told me that in order to bid, LTA requirement is $10,000. I then asked him if he could assure me and state it clearly in the revised sales agreement that upon payment of an additional $5,000, they will bid COE for me and to guarantee that the car would be ready for collection in 5 days as promised by F. He could not do it.

 

2 days later, I decided to head down to the office with the intention to resolve this issue. After some calculations, J said that he was unable to sell the car based on the stipulated price in the sales agreement drafted by F. He further confessed that his colleague’s motive was just to make me sign up with them. What she had given were empty promises.

 

J mentioned that I would have to take a minimum loan of $30,000 and also to top up another $2,400, on top of the car price without COE. Else my deposit of $5,000 would be forfeited as it would be deemed as I was backing out on the deal. Thus I gave in to their terms reluctantly.

 

I had to constantly enquire if he had the premium colour that I wanted. He assured me that he had it. He asked me to select another colour in case he was unable to provide the initial colour I wanted. I was then asked to sign on several loan application forms out of which “monthly installment of S$445-S$460” was stated in the Revised Sales Agreement. My self-calculations only amount up to $415 instead of the amount he wrote. When enquired on the discrepancy J assured that it was an estimated figure and told me not to worry. I asked if he was unsure what the bank rates might be and thus the amount and he nodded his head.

 

About 6 days later, three financial institutions called to verify my applications and all the personnel told me that the loan amount applied was S$33,000. However, when clarified, J insisted that the loan was S$30,000 and not S$33,000. He even told me that his admin might have raised the amount as the bank might lower the amount I wanted to borrow. And he went on to explain that if he were to write $30,000, the bank might have just approved it as $29,000. I called up the financial intuition and I was told that there is no such practice. However, the institutions require the company to re-submit the loan application with the amended amount.

 

J called me back and told me that if I were to change the loan amount I would have to pay them another $2,500. Reason being, the amount of monthly instalment stated in the sales agreement was $445. My instalment, if I would to take a $30,000 loan was $415. Hence he took $445-$415 which is equal to $30. He multiplied that by 84 months (I intended to take a 7 year loan) which came up to $2,500

 

The ironical thing was if I were to fulfill the monthly instalment of $445, my loan amount would be $33,000 but the amount to be deducted from the cost price of the car was still $30,000 and their more experienced car dealer, D insisted that the $3,000 was rightly theirs based on a certain clause in the sales agreement. It did not sound fair at all to me.

 

So D offered me 2 choices. (1) pay them S$2,500 or (2) to select the S$13,000 COE package they have for me. When I asked to speak to the boss, the boss who claimed was on the way down never did appear. And according to their sales agreement I had no right to cancel the deal. If I chose to do so, I would forfeit my deposit of $5,000. I disputed about 4 hours over it.

 

Prior to that I made a police report. However, I could not get the Inspector who was in charge of my case most of the time. In the end, D said to compromise and he reduced the amount of $3,000 which he claimed was rightly his to $2,000. I was stuck. I could not cancel so in the end I gave in yet again. D told us that we can bring it to CASE. Majority of the clauses in the sales agreement are favorable to them.

 

J also told me that I would not be getting the colour that I wanted. I would be given the alternative. He also claimed that they had only one car in the colour that I wanted and it had very bad scratches on it. When asked to see the car, he said it was at the port and rather inconvenient. He kept telling me that the colour he offered me is good and that the colour I wanted is hard to maintain. I gave them two colors which I would consider with the colour J insisted as the last choice. As I would be out of town the very next early morning I gave in to their unreasonable demand for the 2nd time.

 

They redrafted a New Car Division Sales Details. I decided on the amount I wanted to bid for COE. Delivery 7 working days after bidding is successful. No additional top-up from the customer. Failure to deliver will result in full refund of $5,000 to customer. COE is based on dollar to dollar.

 

I did the loan on my own. I had to print the copy which one of the helpful account manager from a bank emailed me and gave it to them. I had to liaise with the account manager so as to verify if what J and D said was true.

 

I was rather worried that I might not be able to get the car despite my initial deposit of S$5,000, and the subsequent two top-ups of S$2,000 each for the car price and car loan respectively. And the way we were demanded payment speaks volume of their credibility and completely wiped out whatever little confidence we have in them. I’ve contemplated cancelling the deal, but my S$5,000 has to be forfeited.

 

After taking the loan, they agreed to bid COE for me. I thought that all I needed to do was to wait for the car to be ready. When I was overseas I also received calls from them. They still could not confirm the colour of the car even on the morning of the bidding. J called me and asked if I wanted another colour which was not the other optional colour. I could not even enjoy myself when I was overseas. Ultimately, it was agreed that the colour would be the third alternate colour. I was left with no choice. Time was running out and I wanted to get my car and stopped all dealings with them.

 

I checked online frequently but there was no registration of the car under my name. On the 7th day, J called and claimed that the car was ready for collection. When I went down, the car was not ready at all. Whatever had already been done was sloppy work. D sent another employee K down to collect cheque for me. It was previously agreed that we would hand over the cheque when they handed us the keys. When I refused to give, D told me that he would then not register the car for me. We argued over the phone and then came to an agreement that if he were to deliver the car to me the next day (with everything in place, including the registration) I would give him a cash cheque.

 

 

On the same evening I received a call from D. He told me that he needed the cheque by the next morning. He said he had to have the cheque before he could register the car for me. When questioned further, he said to talk only when he arrived. He came down to my place with another employee. He drafted a letter of undertaking to assure us of the delivery of the car latest by 31 Dec.I questioned him on the failure to deliver the car within 7 working days and if I could get my refund. He was very stubborn and just insisted that he was doing everything he could to deliver the car to me.

 

When asked to cancel the deal and just to buy the COE which the company had bidded for me, he requested me to write in. In the letter, I was supposed to state to cancel the deal. However, it would make it seem like I am breaching the contract instead when it was him, who could not deliver what he had written.

 

After what seemed like 3 hours,he reluctantly pushed down the price of the car by $800 (after much dispute). With the letter of undertaking and some other documents which he provided us with, I handed him the cheque. It was then D admitted that he was the director of the shop. With some assistance from a friend, I managed to push him and the supplier and they managed to register the car for me the next morning at about 11 plus.

 

 

The befall of such an traumatic incident has brought about deep impact on my personal being; mentally exhausted aside, and the consumption of precious time spent searching for professional’s advices on how to deal with such a case. I also felt ‘cheated’ by the car dealers for having to fork out an additional S$3,600. The joy of my first time getting a car has been overwhelmed by countless worries and unnecessary unhappiness.

 

The intention of sharing my experience is to warn any one who wants to purchase a car to be wary of such dealers. I was considered quite lucky to be able to my car at the end of everything. Though I made a police report, the inspector-in-charge told me that there was no evidence of cheating and that if I wanted to pursue the matter, I could hire a lawyer to sue them or to go to CASE. By hiring a lawyer equates to investment of more time, money and energy. And as what D had said, the clauses are to their benefit so it is very hard for CASE to even win the case for me.

[DaN zI]

wAh wall of text , can summarise ?

[Guest newbie]

basically the dealer chut stunt make him pay

[MS]

That's why I go to big reputable agents or authorised dealers. There's no free lunch in the world. Paying the justified market rate with an absolute peace of mind.

[craz_03]

isit a PI company?

 

hmzz... PIs hardly can be trusted..

[GuiNNeSS]

cfm PI, is a HONDA FIT!!!! Just put out the name of the company la, dun need to hide one.

[GuiNNeSS]

wAh wall of text , can summarise ?

 

Summary = Wallet damaged, salesgirl is a b1tch, Disappointment

[Throttle]

sorry to hear of your poor experience in car buying, dude.

 

do take this higher up, businesses which dont do business the right way should not do business at all.

[JackDaniels]

don't worry bro...these people will eventually fail in life....they cheat people...one day..people will cheat them...BIG TIME, then they will realise what they have done. Car sales ppl are so money minded, they dont give a SH*T about ur life! they just want that credit card from your wallet, and the digits running to their bank account!!

[ahjo]

Sorry Bros and sis, can't post the name of the PI as my bro-in-law told me they can sue me for defamation. Msg me if there are anyone going to buy a car and wants to know which PI it is.

[biting_point]

PM me, i try to advise my friends to avoid it..

 

anyway, i still think it's good to ask friends if they had any SE to intro as they had been thru it..

My SE on the other hand is very prompt and efficient.. even 1 yr after the deal, he called me to renew my insurance for me.. i got my insurance, road tax and radio license renew all by him..

 

I still remember what he told me: "we are sales person, we can only offer good customer service to earn their pay, if we are not efficient, we eat dirt.."

[aalphaa]

TS: u could have been better off bringing an experienced friend when buying the car,

or read up from some of the more creditable car forums - the old birds do give good advice

but then still gotta take some things with a pinch of salt lah...

Think this would be relevant to all first-time car buyers lor

[Gemini]

Bro, for the benefit of everyone, i still think its more effective to post the name here. Theres always a creative way to go around it. You dont have to put the exact name.

[Terrible One]

Bro, for the benefit of everyone, i still think its more effective to post the name here. Theres always a creative way to go around it. You dont have to put the exact name.

 

He already kena once, dun wish to kena sue.. PM will be better..

[ahjo]

TS: u could have been better off bringing an experienced friend when buying the car,

or read up from some of the more creditable car forums - the old birds do give good advice

but then still gotta take some things with a pinch of salt lah...

Think this would be relevant to all first-time car buyers lor

 

Not to sound offensive or wat, but if you have READ more posts from the car forums, I bet with you even those who are extraordinary careful also STILL do get cheated. There is no old birds, young birds, big birds or small birds here, watever terms and conditions in their sales agreement are always to the PI's advantage. It's a matter how much they want to knock off from you and what stunts they wanna pull. I consider myself just pure unlucky and wanna share my story with others so that they will not go thru it. I have even read and there are even more unlucky people who might have down 10k yet still have not gotten their car even after 3 months...............

[MS]

Not to sound offensive or wat, but if you have READ more posts from the car forums, I bet with you even those who are extraordinary careful also STILL do get cheated. There is no old birds, young birds, big birds or small birds here, watever terms and conditions in their sales agreement are always to the PI's advantage. It's a matter how much they want to knock off from you and what stunts they wanna pull. I consider myself just pure unlucky and wanna share my story with others so that they will not go thru it. I have even read and there are even more unlucky people who might have down 10k yet still have not gotten their car even after 3 months...............

 

When buying cars/bikes, buyers largely depend on the integrity of the sales person. We can do many to deter the sales person from playing punk. But still it cannot prevent any undesirable consequences from buying from that Sales person.

 

I really have to agree with you on this aspect. That's why I go to familiar people or shops with reputation too big to be tarnished. In this way, there is a certain degree of control. Ultimately, their prices are not the best. But the better peace of mind offsets the extra amount put in. Every cent counts.

[Arcfire]

So... would it be a good idea to bring the agreement back to read thoroughly 1st before deciding to buy?

[Arcfire]

When buying cars/bikes, buyers largely depend on the integrity of the sales person. We can do many to deter the sales person from playing punk. But still it cannot prevent any undesirable consequences from buying from that Sales person.

 

I really have to agree with you on this aspect. That's why I go to familiar people or shops with reputation too big to be tarnished. In this way, there is a certain degree of control. Ultimately, their prices are not the best. But the better peace of mind offsets the extra amount put in. Every cent counts.

 

Believe me, even some of these shops do make mistakes too.

 

I had to chase one of them all the way to the Small claims tribunal.....

[Arcfire]

But seriously, if you had entered into an agreement with everything laid out in the agreement, why would it be hard to enforce the agreement? or even to declare the agreement null and void since they were the ones who breeched the agreement?

[wait4me]

i am more concern if what if we were to be in TS shoes in the same situation

what would wan do ??

 

 

bring to case to fight it out ?

[GuiNNeSS]

PM me, i try to advise my friends to avoid it..

 

anyway, i still think it's good to ask friends if they had any SE to intro as they had been thru it..

My SE on the other hand is very prompt and efficient.. even 1 yr after the deal, he called me to renew my insurance for me.. i got my insurance, road tax and radio license renew all by him..

 

I still remember what he told me: "we are sales person, we can only offer good customer service to earn their pay, if we are not efficient, we eat dirt.."

 

he renew need to pay any extra admin fee or anything?

[GuiNNeSS]

Not to sound offensive or wat, but if you have READ more posts from the car forums, I bet with you even those who are extraordinary careful also STILL do get cheated. There is no old birds, young birds, big birds or small birds here, watever terms and conditions in their sales agreement are always to the PI's advantage. It's a matter how much they want to knock off from you and what stunts they wanna pull. I consider myself just pure unlucky and wanna share my story with others so that they will not go thru it. I have even read and there are even more unlucky people who might have down 10k yet still have not gotten their car even after 3 months...............

 

we usually have our own standard dealer to do the stuffs, even direct purchase from owners we will still insist on the paperwork done at our side.

 

But does not applies to most car forums.

[GuiNNeSS]

So... would it be a good idea to bring the agreement back to read thoroughly 1st before deciding to buy?

 

IF can why not, problem is mostly CANNOT

[GuiNNeSS]

i am more concern if what if we were to be in TS shoes in the same situation

what would wan do ??

 

 

bring to case to fight it out ?

 

seek thru "No fee incurred" methods before really stuffs have to go so bad that you need to see a lawyer.

 

If the amount is big and no free channel way to recover the dough, why not? go for civil suit.

 

if the amount barely covers the law fee and time against the amount you will get back, then you might wanna reconsider. Anyway some might sue even amount is small but a matter of principles and face and blah blah blah. But is all up to the person.

[nhyone]

ahjo, what made you buy a car from them in the first place? How good was their offer? How much more did you pay in the end?