Sullivan Pontiac dealer relly *^&^@# us over

[djomlas]

we were looking for a car for my mom since she sold her beloved galant that she racked up over 100K miles realllllly fast
so we went to the dealer and 'bought' the car, signed what it seems like endless amount of paperwork like any other new car purchase.
got home and looked over at the paperwork closely to find out that there is a 7100 dollar payment due after 4 years.
those mother*&^*&% signed us up for a lease of some sort without EVER mentioning it, we walked in to buy one and they sign us up for a lease. so the car ends up being about 21 grand. we got the base model, came in to the lot, a nice sales guy comes and asks how he can help us, we said how much for a G6, he said 17, i said we were at other pontiac dealer and they were giving it to us for 13, so he said well beat that and we settle for 12,800, go in sign the papers and that was all.
if we were looking for a car for over 20 grand pontiac wouldnt even be in consideration, but it cought our eye with good price and warranty and all that good stuff, plus being a new car and all (we were originally shopping for a used car in tht price range)
we'we had a car for a week now, and theres like about 150 miles on it

what do you guys suggest we should do about this, or if we can return this, this is really retarted and we feel that we have been screwed really bad.
i will give them a call on monday and see what they say, but what do you guys suggest?

DJ, sorry about your situation.

1) Talk to the dealership
2) Go all the way up to the dealerships GM if needed
3) Maybe send a letter to the Illinois Att. Gen's Office
4) Always read all the paperwork prior to giving your verbal or written authorization.

[Paul]

Take it back, hire a lawyer if necessary.

It may not be a lease, it may be a "balloon Payment" loan.

If so the cost of the car didn't change, but your monthly payments should be a lot lower than a loan without the balloon.

[Paul]

Here's some info:

http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/balloon-loan-calculator.html

http://www.paranzasoft.com/help/pages/caBalloon.html

[djomlas]

well the payments ended up being 208 dollars a month for 48 months, and then a 7000 dollar payment at the end if you want to keep it.
now me and my parents went to get her a car, not lease it, so we would obviously say something if we heard lease in any way.

[Brucelee]

If you signed the deal you are likely in a hole (depending on the state).

You probably should run this by a lawyer, who should know if you have a legal remedy.

Clearly, most of us are NOT in a position to give you good advice.

Good luck!

[Cloudsurfer]

That is exactly a balloon payment loan, commonly called things like "Smart Buy" by GM. The ones I've seen give you the option to either pay the lowered payment like a lease and then turn the car in, or pay the balloon payment at the end and keep the car.

While it sounds like you clearly didnt get what you had wanted, you're looking at the math incorrectly here: When you wanted to pay say $13k for the car, if you financed that over say 48 months on a normal car loan, of say 8%, that winds up being a payment of $317.37 for a total of $15,233.66. Now, being that this is GM, if you have decent credit you should qualify for 0% financing or whatever current promotion they have, and at the end of the day you're not going to pay much interest on a $13k car anyway, but you cannot look at the sum of the payments on a car and compare that to the price of the car. In this case, the deal clearly doesnt work out being anywhere near attractive. For some, the reduction in payment of roughly $100/mo is enough to overlook the fact that one would be paying a $7k balloon payment at the end, but anyone remotely wise in their finances would recognize that this is not a good deal.

That said, I would first call the dealer and talk to the GM, if that doesnt get you far enough, call Pontiac and/or GM corporate consumer affairs and file a formal complaint against one of their dealers and/or consult your state's attorney general. A firm letter from an attorney would likely end this situation if you have a friend who would be willing to write it.

I would first call and talk to the GM nicely, but firmly, and explain that it appears one of the sales or financing gentlemen did not take care of your purchase properly and ask what he's willing to do to make things right. You might wind up with the car even cheaper after the mistake.

Patrick

[blinkwatt]

Originally Posted by djomlas

what do you guys suggest?

I would call ahead of time and ask if (person who sold you the car) is working,if so drive down there,find him,keep eye contact with him,walk straight towards him,kick him in the nuts,leave the keys next to him on the floor and stop all payments on anything related to it....BUT FIRST MAKE SURE IT IS 100% A LEASE!