Autopia.org - View Single Post - Things that Stealerships do that might be illegal...

5IVE · 04-19-07, 11:13

I went in to purchase an 07 Honda Civic yesterday and test drove it, played around with it and such...The salesman was a VERY shady character though. He did the following that made me think twice...

He hand wrote one of those "I will buy the car I test drove VIN #### for $xx,xxx today." and he asked me to sign it. After I signed it and he turned it down. We didn't come to a deal so I asked for the paper with my signature on it. He refused and said that it was the dealer's property. Next I asked him to sign his name and write something like "not accepted". He refused. Finally I asked him to scratch out my signature, he then went on to ask me if I had test driven and why I test drove his car if I didn't wanna buy it! He did finally scratch it out in an angry manner. Now I have a few questions...

1) Can he even legally prepare a contract? He isn't an attorney, so he can't legally create a contract to which he is NOT a party. He's a salesman, not an agent of Honda.

2) Would this contract be held up in court or would it be void? (It only had 1 (my) signature.

3) I understand that the form is the property of Honda, however my signature is my property. No where on the form did it say mention anything about a test drive, so I don't know why he brought that up.

4) He also mentioned something about not having to disclose whether or not the car had been repainted or repaired until after a final price had been agreed on. I was under that impression that the dealer had to disclose material facts about the vehicle prior to negotiating a price.

I am not going back to this dealer, however if anyone could shed light on this I would really appreciate it. BTW this place is the best forum ever!

04-19-07, 11:13	#1 (permalink)
5IVE Glitz & Gloss Detailing 5IVE is offline Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Chicago Posts: 166	Things that Stealerships do that might be illegal... I went in to purchase an 07 Honda Civic yesterday and test drove it, played around with it and such...The salesman was a VERY shady character though. He did the following that made me think twice... He hand wrote one of those "I will buy the car I test drove VIN #### for $xx,xxx today." and he asked me to sign it. After I signed it and he turned it down. We didn't come to a deal so I asked for the paper with my signature on it. He refused and said that it was the dealer's property. Next I asked him to sign his name and write something like "not accepted". He refused. Finally I asked him to scratch out my signature, he then went on to ask me if I had test driven and why I test drove his car if I didn't wanna buy it! He did finally scratch it out in an angry manner. Now I have a few questions... 1) Can he even legally prepare a contract? He isn't an attorney, so he can't legally create a contract to which he is NOT a party. He's a salesman, not an agent of Honda. 2) Would this contract be held up in court or would it be void? (It only had 1 (my) signature. 3) I understand that the form is the property of Honda, however my signature is my property. No where on the form did it say mention anything about a test drive, so I don't know why he brought that up. 4) He also mentioned something about not having to disclose whether or not the car had been repainted or repaired until after a final price had been agreed on. I was under that impression that the dealer had to disclose material facts about the vehicle prior to negotiating a price. I am not going back to this dealer, however if anyone could shed light on this I would really appreciate it. BTW this place is the best forum ever!