My daughter received a pre-approval in the mail so she called. Six different times she was told on the phone that she was 100 % approved and "golden". She asked them to be honest so she wouldn't waste her time because she knew her credit score was low. She asked about the bad reviews and was told it was all people who "lied about their income." She called back to double-check because it was a very long drive and again, she didn't want to waste time or gas. At 9:30am, she was told, once again that she was 100% approved and she just needed to come choose her car.
So, we drive an hour, arrive, and they immediately start paperwork before we even look at cars. I asked what they were doing because that isn't the way it's usually done. Hannah then says "Well, we have to see if you're approved." We were incredulous. I believe I may have cussed in response. My daughter was then told that her pay stub wasn't good enough and they needed three months bank statements. Mind you, my daughter was told several times by phone that all she needed was her last pay stub and her I.D. The first person she dealt with, Hannah, suggested she put that her husband pays half the rent by doing yard work or something (mind you it was worded like "well maybe he does yard work or something that pays cash that we can put here" so they could maintain that they didn't flat out tell her to lie). My daughter said "Look, I'm not going to lie on the application." The response was "Oh, I wasn't saying you should lie, I was just suggesting that maybe your husband does some sidework or something." She might as well have winked and said "hint, hint". Of course, she denied it later. But I was texting it to my husband as she was saying it because I was flabbergasted.
From there, it went downhill. We sat there for a long time while they sat in a back office pretending to work on it. But it really looked like they were all just goofing around. And the whole issue to us is that all they had to do was be honest and say that they weren't sure what would happen once she arrived. If she had been told that instead of assured she was 100% approved six times, we may still have come but at least it wouldn't have felt like she'd been duped.
Eventually, they turned her down because her pay stub has "something wrong with it" so they had to put it in as "self- employed". My daughter told him she was offering feedback and that when people call repeatedly, they should not tell them that they are 100% approved and "golden" when, in fact, the dealership does not know that with certainty. Greg kept saying "Well, we didn't know about this pay stub issue" completely missing the point that they can't say 100% approved, guaranteed (which my daughter has on two voice messages) when they don't have all of the information yet. The fact that their wording is what was upsetting and not the fact that she was turned down has gone completely over their head. And I'm sure if they are asked about this review, they will say "Well, people who lie about their income give bad reviews" just as they did to my daughter when she asked. For this reason, I felt the need to give more detail than usual and to add the final part of the story below.
We left the dealership and drove straight to another dealership who looked at her pay stub and said it matched up exactly with what should be expected at her wage and the number of hours worked. The man at this dealership said that since all of the employer's information was verifiable, there would be no reason to put it in as "self-employed" and even he felt that Tameron's behavior sounded shady. Further, he said that if the pay stub was good enough for the IRS, he couldn't understand why Tameron kept saying that they "couldn't send that to the bank". We will know soon if she is approved but, even if she isn't, we won't be upset because this second dealership hasn't been deceptive just to get us in the door like the salespeople at Tameron were. From start to finish, my daughter's first experience of buying a car from a dealership was bad. Fortunately, the second dealership dispelled the notion that all car dealers are liars. Whether my daughter is approved or not, at least the second dealership has been straight with her.
ETA: She got a car at a decent interest rate and with a reasonable payment at the third dealership we went to (which happened to be a major new and used car dealer in her area- we should have gone there first.) She ended up with a super low mileage, good quality 2013 car with lots of extras and a couple years left on the warranty. (The second dealership was better than the first but the only car she really liked had extremely high mileage and no warranty.) The third dealership also said her pay stub was fine and did not require additional paperwork. The salesman treated her and her family very well. Tameron could have had the money the third dealership got if they had been honest and treated my daughter's family with respect. read more