Salesman lied about a selling point of a car I bought?

Question

Ok, I'll try to get this in a nut shell. I already emailed Ford, but was wondering some opinions on what else I can do in the time being. Ok, my Range Rover's fuel pump went out on my fiance on Friday, I debated fixing it or trading it in. We only have 2 vehicles and 5 jobs between us both. So keep this in mind, we NEED a second vehicle by Monday at the latest but if I fixed the truck I'd have to figure something out for a 2nd car till at least mid week. This turning out to be not an option I got a hold of a Ford dealership and asked what they'd give me for the truck in the condition it was in, the numbers matched I was happy and said I'd tow it, in the mean time I told him I would check out the website and pick the vehicle we wanted and put a downpayment on it. So, Saturday morning when I got home from work around 11am I called and put down a big down payment on a new 11 F150 for them to hold.(one of 3 left on their lot) they took me payment on my debit card and told me they put a hold sign on it, I called a tow company and paid the $355 it cost to get from my place in the boons out the the closest Ford dealership. As the tow guy is driving away at about 11:45 and we're on the way I get a call saying the truck has been sold and my card was never charged. I was mad, but they said they had other trucks in stock they could get me into and different one not on their site. I figured well I already paid towing, I'm already on my way, what else can I do? I get to the dealer and let me say one other quick thing. They were VERY nice, and VERY helpful.. but also VERY stupid. Most of all the trucks I saw there I didn't care for whether it be color or lack of options I wanted. I settled on a 2010 F150 king ranch instead with 4000 miles. Happy with my decision I gave my debit card back to put as a downpayment. Surprise! Declined! How is this possible? Turns out they did infact charge my car for the original down payment then cancelled it and guess what else? Takes 4 days to get back into my account!($7000!) my bank has a $10000 a month limit for my checkings when using my debit card. Well they actually ask me to use another form of payment! I don't have a credit card besides a $500 limit one for emergencies and I don't have cash on hand, nor do I have checks. So basically I get screwed, I'm already there, I paid for towing, I now cannot put down a downpayment and now cannot get approved for any new truck! 4 hours later I'm scrabbling to figure something out. Trying to condense this store I test drove a brand new 2012 Ford Focus. It didn't have cruise though but I liked it and the mileage was awesome so I asked for one specifically that was loaded with most all options but at LEAST had to have cruise/traction/ABS. They found me a black one an SE loaded with almost everything and also told me that it has all those features. I went ahead with the deal(it was 7pm at this point the dealership had been technically closed for an hour they aren't open on Sundays and I HAVE to have a 2nd car on Monday!) so now not only am I screwed out of the vehicle I originally wanted, I got screwed out of a vehicle I would settle on because they charged me for a held vehicle they didn't hold and now I get somewhat screwed because I had no choice at this point than to purchase something.(not 25 years old cannot rent a car) and now on top of everything when I got home I tore the car apart to see what it was made of and noticed it does NOT have ABS or traction..(does have cruise!) I wrote to Ford about this, the dealer said they can't help me or do anything about it. Really? Is there anything I can do? I feel like this whole situation when put into this context shows that they should be responsible for getting me something I want. I live in MinneSNOWta. I would very much like to have ABS and traction when my other vehicle for winter is a 08 Mustang that I drive year round. Actually I really wanted the 4x4.. but I was not going to just spend money to get something to spend money so buying something random 4x4 that I would just sell in a few weeks was not an option. 

Sorry this was long, needed to rant and hear an outside opinion on what happened here.

Stupid Flanders · Accepted Answer

I can't see anywhere in your rant where the dealer lied.  Sure, they charged your card, but if you would have been smart about it, they would have only charged a $500 deposit to hold a vehicle if you would have asked them.  

I would have fought for them to hold the truck with the agreed-upon deposit even though they refunded it because the whole reason it was declined was because of them.  Sounds like you just accepted what they said and ended up settling. 

I would say the blame is about 50/50.  You put yourself in a situation where they knew you were desperate and they took advantage of it to sell you a vehicle.  You allowed it to happen.  

And for Pete's sake, get a AAA membership.  $80 a year and you get unlimited towing and roadside assistance.

Pearls Before Swine · Answer

I feel bad for you getting jerked around, but you made some basic mistakes.

First, you got a value for your trade in over the phone - I'm sure the dealer would say (and likely did say) that really doesn't count until they actually see the vehicle. So you spent $$$ to tow based on a hoped-for value, not a for-sure one.

Second, you started the negotiations by talking about your trade in value, instead of first working out a price for the new vehicle. By doing this, you almost certainly did not get the best possible price on the new vehicle.

Third, you gave them a down payment on a vehicle you didn't actually see, over the phone, using a debit card. Aside from putting down $$$ for a truck without knowing if it really even existed, you also learned that debit cards can quickly move a lot of $$$ out of your account when improperly used, and the $$$ doesn't always go back to your account as quickly.

Fourth, you took them at their word when they told you the Focus had ABS and TC, without verifying that by also reading the sticker on the car. They may have genuinely made a mistake, or they may have intentionally misled you. But either way, you should have done some checking on your own. This is a new car after all, not a vacuum cleaner.

Finally, if you have 5 jobs between the two of you, and you can't manage with even a day without two vehicles, you probably don't have lots of extra money around. If that's true, why did you want a brand new vehicle when a good used one could have saved you thousands, and would be just as reliable as many new ones?

STEWIE · Answer

Holy crap.... ever heard of paragraphing?????

You did so many things wrong, you must be bordering on stupid. 

1. why would you pay $355 for towing???? Had you gotten AAA, it would have cost you nothing but a $100 membership fee!

2. never do anything over the phone, including downpayments!!!!!! you dont even f'n know if you'll like the car or if they still have it in stock.

3. why didn't you read the sticker which lists all the options included in the car??????????

4. Why did you have to have a car on Monday?? You could have rented a car for $120/week while you figured everything out!!!!!!

Dumb, dumb, dumb!

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Salesman lied about a selling point of a car I bought?

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