Need advice and FAST!!!

Go in with a lawyer with you. I'd say that since your loan wasn't approved, then they owe you some money and whatever car you traded it. But since it was sold, then they should owe you whatever the car was worth.

I would buy an hour of a lawyer's time. And a good lawyer. The people you are going to deal with will screw you for a penny. That way you can always get that lawyer involved later down the road if you need to as well.

Those of us on here probably have nothing to tell you that you should take to the bank (figuratively)

chris

First of all sorry to hear what happen to you.Second is, 99% of the time the dealer can't and will not sell your car until its approved.I sold cars many years ago ,and some how I managed to retain a little memory of how it works.Now if they did sell your car "trade" then they will have to pay you what was on the contract as trade in value and also your cash down payment.It sounds like the deal went south on you im sorry to say.The lic. plates should of been sent from DMV directly to you not from the dealer.So they either want more down and or they are going to unwind the deal when you go down there.I also highly reccomend getting a attorneys advise or atleast a witness,a friend ect. or family member with you when you go back.I wish you the best of luck and Ihope im wrong.

When I bought my honda, the plates were sent to the dealership, it's possible that the dealership doesn't even know that the bank denied it, highly unlikely but possible. They would have called you directly to return the vehicle ASAP.

I had that happen to me at Thomason almost 3 years ago on a 94 GT but to my luck they still had the trade in and had actually cleaned and preped it already. They just returned the car and had no more problems with it. But whatever the case may be, just drive the heck out of the car before you take it in.

Since I average a new car every year, it is very common practice to send the plates to the dealer. Usually the parts counter or some admin has them. Obviously the dealer is not in the know about this loan or they would have contacted you to bring the car in.

I had a friend who had "so-so" credit. The dealership tried like 6 different loan companies before they finally got one that would take him. His interest rate was high but he wanted the car. Then he started getting rejection letters in the mail. The rejection letter were from the 5 companies that denied him.

Either this deal went terribly wrong, or it is something as simple as what I described above.

Good luck, and if you need a witness, give me a PM. I'll go in with you.

ZeroCool said:

When I bought my honda, the plates were sent to the dealership, it's possible that the dealership doesn't even know that the bank denied it, highly unlikely but possible. They would have called you directly to return the vehicle ASAP.

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I would not bring family as a witness, they are not "unbiased" I would concur that you should retain an hour of a lawyers time when you go in.

Maybe this would work, if you want to play it "dumb". Get in touch with a lawyer and find out about retaining his services for an hour. Then drive in another vehicle to get the plates. Then if they drop a bomb on you you return home, get the lawyer lined up with time/date and return with him and the vehicle to the dealership.

Also you should have loan info from when you signed for the car, it sound like you called them, but call the number on that paperwork and give them the loan/paperwork number you originally recieved from the dealership. Like was stated maybe they tried 2x with BoA and the 1st time was denied. Maybe even different branches of BoA, they have a bunch of different loan divisions..

I read where this is now common practice to send you home with the car and the finance dept. places your loan later where they get the best comission. When I bought my Denali I signed off on a 5% GMAC note, when the paperwork was mailed to me weeks later they had placed me with Wells Fargo, I called my credit union for the money and had it wired for a payoff. How about getting your own financing thru your normal bank or credit union? And yes at least call a lawyer.

Dan

I am willing to bet that you filled out a Ford Motor Credit application. The dealership wouldn't send you home with the car unless FMC was willing to do the loan themselves. Your interest rate might be higher than what you were planning, but I bet FMC will take the loan.

How they let you out the door with a car, I don't understand. They had to have received an approval, even if it was in error, before you left. Someone screwed up somewhere. And, how it went that long without them contacting you is even more strange. Their accounting people should have caught that by now, since no one has paid them as of yet. Very strange.

Dealerships have a plethora of options when it comes to financing. I know someone who bought a brand new car last month, and she had terrible credit. Divorce, bancruptcy, collections, etc. They got her financed, although it was at a high interest rate.

Chances are, you will get to keep the car, but you may be looking at a higher interest rate. The ball is in your court though. They WANT you to keep the car. Whatever interest rate they initially offer you, just say no. No matter what the problem is, the rate they offer you will probably not be as low as you can get. They make money on the financing. They "buy" the credit, then sell it to you for a profit. When you say no, they will offer it to you at a lower rate, and maybe tell you that you're getting it at their "buy rate". If that second offer is still considerably higher than what you originally agreed to, THEN you should tell them that you think you should contact an attorney. You did nothing wrong, acted in good faith, and you're looking for an equitable outcome. The lawyer would rip them a new one.

Hell, if the opportunity comes up, let them know that you post information on a public forum full of Ford lovers, and that you plan on sharing your experience (DON'T threaten them though; just say you're going to share your experience). They hate negative publicity.

Good luck with this. I'm looking forward to reading about how it worked out.