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Love this comment because you actually read the article, unlike some other commenters…
My jaw dropped when I got to that part too! That’s a 4x value payment on a 5/yr loan! Beyond disgusting tactics needed to get someone to in go for that. It’s absolutely predatory.
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You may be more savvy than the average customer, or haven’t met a truly cunning salesperson. I’d guess if you’re able to articulate that, you’re probably not the target customer.
You’d be so surprised at how often people just look at the payments.
Aaand it’s gone. The whole comment. It’s gone.
He quoted the part of the article that stated a customer unknowingly purchased a Jaguar with 75% APR.
I’ll line up with everyone else who wants to tar and feather most car salesmen as scam artists, but surely there should have been red flags
Thanks!
This article pisses me off. Back in late 2020 I went to a dealership to buy a new car, very high credit score, 1/3 cash down, and qualified for a 0% interest deal that was going on at the time.
The dealership came at me with the most bullshit offers, tried to get me to take dealership financing at 4%, then 3.5, then 3% at a longer loan duration and acted like they were doing me a favor the whole time. Finance guy was being such a dickhead about it even the sales guy started getting pissed at him.
Took nearly 6 freaking hours to close the deal. Finally got my 0% offer and expected financing/cost because it was 20 minutes to closing time and I was like “fuck it, I’ll go check out your competitors tomorrow,” keys in hand, walking out the door. Sales guy literally chased after me and stopped me at the car to say the finance dude finally caved.
Fucking scumbag stuff. Dealership changed their name a year later and I don’t wonder why.
And then you kept walking because fuck those guys?
Nah, I bought it because there wasn’t going to be a better deal, I did my research for weeks and months prior and that 0% popped up in the middle of reviewing options.
I think they tried the push because it was the last day I could get it before the deal expired. The zero % financing was via the manufacturer, not dealership.
And they make less money on that than the dealer financing options. No surprise they were being pushy about it.
I mean, I was already preapproved for a 2.5% loan and qualified for the 0% offer, made that clear. I was very up front there would be no dealer loan.
I made it dirt easy, like “I’m qualified for this zero interest deal, I’m willing to pay up to $10k in cash up front. Make it happen for $300 a month or less with those terms and you have a sale.”
They still fucked around so hard. I really was ready to walk out empty handed, they made the deal literally with me unlocking my old car to leave.
I admire your patience. I would have walked out an hour in.
I had really specific requirements on the car in terms of capability and price since I was moving to a rural area and my old car was a 14 year old Hyundai Accent with bad suspension. Didn’t want a truck or anything too large, but needed a car that could handle some off-road and country roads, and had around 7" or better clearance, and couldn’t have a dual clutch transmission (either traditional or CVT with no dual only). Basically it came down to the Honda CRV, Kia Sportage, and Toyota RAV4.
CRV was my first choice, but its front bumper rides low, reducing it’s clearance below the frame height, it can’t even get over low objects. RAV4 was ideal, but like… $8k more expensive than the sportage, at the time the sportage was just under $24k new (crazy, since I was seeing used ones with up to 45k miles going for $27-28k).
So, I was sold on the Kia and just considered it kind of around my hourly rate. Even if it took all day, I was saving minimal $8k compared to my next best alternative and my hourly rate at the time for work was like $42. Even if the prices were the same, just factoring the 0% finance deal when my best pre-approved loan rate was 2.5% would save me well over $1k on the life of the loan, and around $400 in just the first year, so I figured it was totally worth a few hours of haggling and stalling on them.
When I moved I bought some nice all-terrain tires (Nitto Nomad Grapplers) for a few hundred bucks and it’s been solid. No complaints, decent performance, and I don’t get stuck in the mud at all. :)
0% interest rate is usually given in lieu of a cash back offer. So, you could get like $2500 cash back and a 4% interest rate or a 0% interest rate with no cash back.
My strategy would be to take the cash back, take the dealer loan to reduce friction, and then refinance immediately when you get home at a lower rate.
0% was a brand-wide deal (manufacturer, not dealership) to get rid of previous year stock, there was no cash back option on it. Plus, there’s no lower rate than zero, and best I could get with a different loan was 2.5%. Though I did reference said pre-qualification during negotiation when they made the crap offers. Made it clear I wasn’t walking out with a dealer loan.
How do you refinance? I was always curious about that. I’ve checked banks and my credit union but they always came in significantly higher than dealer loans, even if I chose the cash back
All Carsalesmen Are Bastards.
Defund the dealerships.
Are they just talking about the predatory “buy here, pay here”-type used-car dealers that have been around for a while, or are new-car dealers getting into the scam now, too?
I automatically think less of anyone who doesn’t buy Toyota at this point. Used or new, no other maker comes close to the value. I don’t even like their cars but I’d never claim that my personal flavor is better than Toyota’s offerings outside of my own niche interests (and I’ve still got a Corolla I drive most days in the summer). $1,400 a month for a fucking Tahoe is ridiculous and I have a hard time having any sympathy for someone stupid enough to make that their “dream car” or worth taking out a $84,000 loan for.
I did the math for the interest rate since they didn’t bother to in the article. The article says she had paid $1400/mo for 3 years and had only paid 10,000 toward principal. Assuming that’s 36 months of payments, the interest rate would be around 15.5%. The payment term would have been 10 years and total payments would end up being $168k.
Predatory lenders and financial illiteracy; a perfect match made in hell.
While whoever did that to her really ought to be in jail, she does need to take some responsibility
- most people dont need such a big vehicle - clearly it will be expensive
- most people shouldn’t get the top end trim of whatever vehicle
Unless she willingly went into this because she used to have higher income, I do t see how she could claim complete ignorance
That kind of interest rate indicates she was a bad credit risk, either because she made the same mistake before, or she couldn’t afford it. If she’d already made the same mistake, will she ever learn? If she just plain couldn’t afford it, yeah, a lot of that is on the scummy salesman
You mean Toyota, the same company that has spent years lobbying against emissions standards in Australia and dragging their feet on EVs?
If you’re a financially strapped consumer looking for a car, you’ll find no better deal than one of Toyota’s models, excepting some special scenarios. Their slow progress towards EV adoption doesn’t negate that.
I do own a Toyota, which I am happy with, and I still think that’s a shitty attitude.
So congratulations, you got me to think less of you.
It’s the big 4 Japanese brands for me: Toyota, Honda, Mazda, and Subaru.
Mazda’s been on a roll recently, I’ll admit, but Subaru has had issues forever and Honda cars are overvalued to hell.
I agree. Nissan was the solid #2 Japanese company until getting in bed with Renault.
I’ll defend the KA24 as being equal to or better than the 22R every day of the week, but that’s a good Nissan motor; the hardbodies never came close to the overall construction quality of Toyota P’ups
Toyota has raised their prices inline with inflation since 2021 (~24%). Nissan and Suburu have been under inflation in that period (~20%). Stellantis (Dodge etc.) have raised their prices ~50% in that period and Kia/Hyundai have gone up ~40%. People should look at which companies have been price gouging and avoid them.
Sticker price is only one part of the equation. Toyota cars are more reliable (read: consumer friendly) than any of their competion and have been for several decades now. If you want to save 4%, go for the car that’s almost garaunteed to blow a head gasket within its first 120k.
I’ve been very happy with Mazda over the years. I had intended to get a Toyota at one point, but the local dealership by me was scummy and kept trying to force me into buying specific models I wasn’t interested in which pissed me off. I went to the nearby Mazda dealership as my second choice and I’ve never regretted that decision.
I automatically think less of anyone who doesn’t buy Toyota at this point.
It’s almost like some people have different needs for their cars than you do? No, that can’t be it. They must be dumb for not choosing what you like.
I guess I’ll go buy the small Toyota EV… nope, can’t. I guess I’ll go buy the small hybrid Toyota truck… nope, I can’t. Or maybe I absolutely hate the entertainment system software that feels like it was designed 10 years ago.
It’s almost like some people have different needs for their cars than you do?
Toyota has one of the most diverse product ranges out of any automaker. Notice I said the brand and not a model? They make cars to fit 99% of people’s needs.
I’ll go buy the small Toyota EV…
You can run a Prius in EV mode.
I guess I’ll go buy the small hybrid Toyota truck
No you won’t lol. If you’re seriously concerned with that, get a manual transmission Tacoma (the only mid-sized truck with one) that gets better MPG than a hybrid Maverick. Then sell your Tacoma for 90% of what you paid for it and buy a hybrid truck when they’re the first to make one worth buying in the first place. Otherwise, have fun being a beta tester for Ford/GM.
Or maybe I absolutely hate the entertainment system software that feels like it was designed 10 years ago.
Skill issue, iPad baby, etc.
a manual transmission Tacoma (the only mid-sized truck with one) that gets better MPG than a hybrid Maverick.
You’re kind of a moron.
The Tacoma with a manual gets worse MPG than the automatic Tacoma and WAY worse MPG than the hybrid Maverick. The manual Tacoma is estimated 18/23/20 MPG, while the Maverick I currently own long term averages around 37 MPG, gets 36 MPG on road trips and around 40 MPG on my commute to work. As far as selling a Tacoma for 90% of what you paid, my Maverick could be sold today for more than I paid for it and a 2022 Maverick Hybrid is currently worth 91% of the MSRP of a 2024 Maverick Hybrid.
And while you can run a Prius Prime in EV mode for up to 44 miles, that’s a far cry from an actual EV that can do both a 60 mile round trip work commute and a 200 mile road trip in full EV mode. And don’t argue that I don’t need that full range, because my entire point is that everyone has different needs and maybe I actually do (I personally don’t, which is why I got the Maverick; but I’ve owned in the past both a 90 mile range Toyota Rav4 EV and a 240 mile range Bolt EV so I understand what each is like).
Yes, Toyota has a diverse range of vehicles. Yes, Toyota has very high quality. No, they don’t fit every use case. No, they don’t look all that great, which is both personal preference and also important for many people.
