There are different ways car dealers scam buyers and it is important for us to know at least a few of them. The most common is the mark up scam and buyers should be aware of the unnecessary fees. There’s no good reason for these fees, other than pure greed. We should be aware that some dealers require additional money for no real believable reason. If we are asked to pay fees, we should ask dealer to remove it or we won’t pay for the car. In this case, we should know about the normal market price for the car, so we won’t overpay for no real reason. Another rather tricky scam is that the dealer will offer to pay off the balance of our car loan, regardless of how much we owe. This is a quite common sales tactic.

When buyers hear about it, they will think that they won’t owe money for the car. It is true that the dealership may help us to get out of the current contract, but they may fail to tell us that fees for breaking the lease can be excessively high. We will be required to pay the fees and it can be excessively expensive. It won’t be possible to refinance for the car until these fees are completely paid. The dealership may ask us to pay the cost of our contract at a significantly higher rate. During the trade off, the dealership could give a much less total value. This scam works when we want to trade our car that’s still attached to a loan to a newer model. In general, we will end up paying more than necessary.

In order to make sure that the monthly payments appear to be smaller, the duration of time is extended and we will be required to be committed to another year of payment. Car owners could avoid this scam by being patient and don’t buy new car until their loan is paid off. If we are truly determined to get a new car, we should sell our current car on our own and notify the lender. In some cases, lenders don’t allow car owners to sell or trade the car until the loan is paid off. Another common scam is saying that the car is entirely refurbished, but it is actually once a car wreck. We should be wary of the “as is” sticker and especially if there’s no warranty included with the purchase. This is the way unscrupulous dealers tell us that we need to assume all the risks.

Bounced check scam can also be quite dangerous and it happens when we walk into the dealership with the bank draft, but they say that it can’t be accepted, because the bank bounces checks too often. If it is possible and safe enough, we could pay the car in cash, especially if it is for a more affordable car model.