The "spot delivery" is a technique that car dealers use to get you to take delivery of a vehicle immediately after you agree on a car deal. But be warned: Just because you put down cash and roll away from the dealership with a new vehicle doesn’t mean you’ll get to keep driving it.
Car salespeople know they have to get you when you are "hot," or when you are at the dealership and all worked up emotionally. They are going to do everything they can to get you down the road in your vew vehicle. They do not want to give you a chance to change your mind or develop a case of "Buyer’s Remorse." Most consumers sigh in relief once the paperwork is signed and they are about to leave in their new vehicle. In their own mind the deal is done, so there is no reason to give it any more thought. Increasingly, buyers are signing purchase papers and driving away in their new cars, only to find out that the financing they agreed on didn’t fall into place!
Often, if you are allowing the car dealer to handle the financing—which is a bad idea—the Finance manager will put together some bank papers for you to sign. After you leave, he will then try to get the deal approved at the bank. If for some reason he can not get the deal put together with the bank whose paperwork you signed, he then has to go to another bank. He will then have to get you back in to sign new paperwork. At that point, the consumer is usually told that they must either return the car, unless you want the car to be repossessed, or sign up for sub-par financing at a very high interest rate per year. Sometimes the car-loan term will be for a longer time period. In other words, it is going to cost you more money.
Often, the people squeezed by these spot delivery schemes are the most vulnerable, those with tarnished credit or low income who do not have a lot of alternatives. The bottom line is take your time and do your homework. Think it through and do not let the sales person rush you into anything.
Some courts have found that the deal is complete when a dealer signs the sales contract, rather than when the banks come through with a loan. To see if you have any legal recourse, contact The Consumer Law Group at 804-282-7900.