should i reveal problems during car trade-in? (d)

>and don't fall for that "how much do you want to pay a month " line
either...


I told the first new car salesman I ever dealt with "0 dollars" to that
BS question. And I didn't know any of their tricks at the time. Its
just that every time he pushed the negotiation further, it was with
some obviously crafted line. It almost makes me respect Saturd for
their (advertised) pricing policy...

"bob" > wrote in message
...
>
> > wrote in message
> oups.com...
>> My car is a 10 year old car, over 134K miles, drives well, but I'm
>> hearing sounds coming from the transmission. It drives well though.
>> I'm trading it in for a new car because I know repairs will be costly.
>> I don't want to sell it privately, too much hassle.
>>
>> during the car trade-in, should I reveal to the
>> dealer that my car has a tiny transmission problem? I live in Florida,
>> so is it possible that I might get sued if the dealer finds out that I
>> didn't fully disclose the details?
>>
>> Any advice please?
>>
> As others have said regarding trading in an old car, let them figure out
> what it is worth. My experience has been that they will lie to you to
> sell
> their car anyway (not just fail to tell you something but flat out lie to
> a
> specific question or tell you what you want to hear if they don't know the
> answer). So far, I've bought 2 used cars from dealers and in both cases I
> was lied to. First was sometime in the 70's I was looking at a 72 Caprice
> and was told it had a 400 engine. There were no stickers obvious but it
> turned out to be a 454. 2nd time looking at an 87 Cougar and asked if it
> had ever had body repair. The answer was of course "no" but when looking
> under the hood it was obvious that a fender had been repainted for some
> reason.... Luckily, in both cases, the cars were wonderful and "should
> have
> kept them"...
>
> I don't know what the laws are about disclosing problems but if you just
> hear a noise, then offically there is no known problem there is no way
> they
> could prove you knew of any problem. Also as others have said, anyone
> looking at a car that old with that many miles should expect there to be
> some problems. If they don't then they must be living under a rock
> somewhere.....
>

NO!!!! Please say it ain’t so. Would a car dealer lie? What’s the
world coming to if we can’t trust our car salesmen?

There was a nationwide survey done recently in which professions were rated
by integrity. People were asked which people had the highest integrity and
the lowest. Most people said that nursing was the profession with the
highest integrity. That surprised me, because I thought that doctors would
have been number one instead of nursing. The profession that people thought
had the lowest integrity was car sales. That does not surprise me at all.

If you are not one of them and you think for a minute you can get one up on
a car salesman you are only kidding yourself. Their job is to make you
think you got a super deal when in fact they are in the back room laughing
with their buddies over how bad they ripped you off. Screwing you over is
their job and these guys are professionals.

I am convinced there are no honest car dealers any where on the face of this
earth. They are all going to screw you over. You just have to find the one
that will screw you over the least.

The original poster wanted to know about trading his car in. In most cases,
with an old car that is a bad idea. He will probably will be better off if
he makes a deal with no trade.

On Mon, 3 Jan 2005 08:20:07 -0600, "bob" > wrote:

>
> wrote in message
roups.com...
>> My car is a 10 year old car, over 134K miles, drives well, but I'm
>> hearing sounds coming from the transmission. It drives well though.
>> I'm trading it in for a new car because I know repairs will be costly.
>> I don't want to sell it privately, too much hassle.
>>
>> during the car trade-in, should I reveal to the
>> dealer that my car has a tiny transmission problem? I live in Florida,
>> so is it possible that I might get sued if the dealer finds out that I
>> didn't fully disclose the details?
>>
>> Any advice please?
>>
>As others have said regarding trading in an old car, let them figure out
>what it is worth. My experience has been that they will lie to you to sell
>their car anyway (not just fail to tell you something but flat out lie to a
>specific question or tell you what you want to hear if they don't know the
>answer). So far, I've bought 2 used cars from dealers and in both cases I
>was lied to. First was sometime in the 70's I was looking at a 72 Caprice
>and was told it had a 400 engine. There were no stickers obvious but it
>turned out to be a 454. 2nd time looking at an 87 Cougar and asked if it
>had ever had body repair. The answer was of course "no" but when looking
>under the hood it was obvious that a fender had been repainted for some
>reason.... Luckily, in both cases, the cars were wonderful and "should have
>kept them"...
>

It's amazing, isn't it, how the experts in the car biz somehow don't
notice those repainted areas, or notice how that car with only 12,000
miles on it has a brand new set of non-OEM tires on it. I have met a
couple of reasonably honest salespeople - I suspect they didn't stay
in the business long.
--
Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts:

"What, sir, is the use of militia? It is to prevent the
establishment of a standing army, the bane of liberty. . .
Whenever Government means to invade the rights and liberties of
the people, they always attempt to destroy the militia, in order
to raise a standing army upon its ruins." -- Debate, U.S. House
of Representatives, August 17, 1789

"James" > wrote in message
...
>

> If you are not one of them and you think for a minute you can get one up
on
> a car salesman you are only kidding yourself. Their job is to make you
> think you got a super deal when in fact they are in the back room laughing
> with their buddies over how bad they ripped you off. Screwing you over is
> their job and these guys are professionals.
>

Now hold on there just a bit.

There's a world of difference between new car salesmen and used car
salesmen.
And there's also a big difference between used car salesmen at new car
dealers,
and used car salesmen at corner used car lots.

The used car salesmen at the corner lots are the worst of the bunch - that
is
completely a buyer-beware situation. On the other hand, though, a savvy car
buyer who is very familar with the type of vehicle he's looking for can get
some
OK deals as long as he understands that he's going to pay at least $1K for
overhead, no matter where he buys.

New car dealerships on the other hand, have a lot less leeway to negotiate
on
the price of new cars - as nowadays most of the information on dealer
incentives
and factory to dealer payments and other kickbacks have come to light and is
available if you do some research. Whereas a used car buyer is never going
to know
what the dealer paid for a particular used vehicle, a new car buyer can have
a good
notion of what the dealer paid for a new car.

All of these salesmen are going to try to rip you off, of course, that is
the name of
the game in this business. And if you don't do your research then your
going to
get screwed. But, a used car salesman at a used car lot has a lot more
leeway
and ability to do it than a new car salesman. If your a new car buyer and
you
do your homework, and your not hung up on buying the model that is hot and
that
is in short supply, particularly if your looking for a new prior year model
(like a
2004 right around now) then your going to be pretty immune to being ripped
off by the salesman. (now, being ripped off by the manufacturer, that's a
different
story)

>
> The original poster wanted to know about trading his car in. In most
cases,
> with an old car that is a bad idea. He will probably will be better off
if
> he makes a deal with no trade.
>

Yes, new car dealers don't really want your used vehicle, unless it's
something like
a 2 year old vehicle with 25K miles on it.

Ted

"James" > wrote in message
...
> I am convinced there are no honest car dealers any where on the face of
> this earth. They are all going to screw you over. You just have to find
> the one that will screw you over the least.

Sadly, I agree about the fact there are no honest car dealers. However, I
don't much concern myself with that since I expect it. I do my research on
the vehicle I'm looking to purchase and I know what I'm willing to pay for
it. I sell my old vehicle privately. In the end, there is little or no
haggling. I simply tell the dealer how much I'm willing to pay and they can
take it or leave it. Most of the time they leave it, in which case I move on
to the next dealer - be it down the block or across the state.

I understand some people are either too busy to sell their used vehicle
privately or perhaps they live paycheck-to-paycheck and are unable to make a
down payment on the new vehicle forcing them to use their used vehicle as a
down payment (assuming they aren't upside down - all too common). However,
with some careful planning and smart financial decisions, both of those
obstacles can easily be overcome.

Roger

In article .com>,
says...
>
>
>My car is a 10 year old car, over 134K miles, drives well, but I'm
>hearing sounds coming from the transmission. It drives well though.
>I'm trading it in for a new car because I know repairs will be costly.
>I don't want to sell it privately, too much hassle.
>
>during the car trade-in, should I reveal to the
>dealer that my car has a tiny transmission problem? I live in Florida,
>so is it possible that I might get sued if the dealer finds out that I
>didn't fully disclose the details?

Are you a transmission expert? Are you positive the noise is coming from
the transmission and not another part of the car? I would say nothing.
The dealer would be stupid to not have someone test drive the car and then
give it the once over. If he doesn't, then he doesn't care about the condition
and is not expecting to make his money on your trade in.
-------------
Alex