Ok...I'll start from the beginning. Several months back I got orders to leave Japan and go to Florida. While on leave visiting family in Indiana I purchased a 2002 Dodge Ram. When I arrived in Panama City I had a decent drive to and from work everyday so I traded my Ram in for the Dakota. I went to a dealership named Allan's Auto Sales and discussed a deal with them. I had only made 2 or 3 payments on the ram and did not yet even have the title! They said that it didn't matter and we went about discussing the deal. They wanted $17,000 for the dakota and offered to completely pay off my ram, but...they'd have to raise the price on everything by $1,000 to show equity in the truck. They could not contact the bank that I got the loan for the ram through as it was fairly late at night so they asked what I THOUGHT i owed on the Ram. I said roughly $13,200. So they mark the Dak up to $18,900..i thought the "9" was a "0". It wasn't until a few days later that I realized this. Anyways I was under the impression that everything was good. So they type up the bill of sale as follows:

Selling Price: 18900.00
Trade Allowance: 14200.00
Difference: 4700.00
Balance: 4700.00
Process Fee: 295.00
Service Agreement: N/A
Subtotal: 4995.00

Sales Tax: 299.70
Title and / or Tag Fee: 35.35
Balance Owing on Trade: 13200.00
Subtotal: 18530.05
Total: 18530.05
Balance to be Financed: 18530.05

After all of this was said, done, and signed, I went home. About 3 weeks later I get a piece of mail from Indiana saying that the loan payment for my Ram was overdue. I thought there had been some mistake. There wasn't. They didn't pay the loan off for the ram until almost 1.5 months after the deal was complete!! Which obviously f*cked my credit up a little bit. The bastard then has the nerve to call me and say that I owe him $1184.06. In the letter he writes:

*Paraphrased But Exact Wording*

On April 30th, 2008 you purchased a 2006 Dodge Dakota and trade a 2002 Dodge Ram. At the time of the sale we were unable to verify the actuall payoff amount therefore we set up $13,200.00 based upon your recollection of the payoff.

Unfortunately the payoff amount on your trade is $14,284.06...leaves a balance of $1084.06 which is owed by you to Allan's Auto Sales. Also additional tag and title work was performed by us to complete the transaction on your trade. This totals $100.00. The total of these two debts you owe us is $1184.06. You must pay this money to us!! Please bring certified funds to us...we will pursue this matter in court.

*END LETTER*

He told me that anything under the allowed $14,200 for the trade allowance would be covered! I also wasn't aware that the truck had been wrecked before I bought it! My buddy pointed this out when he noticed yellow marking in the corners of quite a few pieces of glass on the truck. The front bumper and grill are also not an exact paint match!! Another reason the payment is over $14,200 is because the bastard paid it late! I do not really know how to deal with this. I have ENOUGH on my plate as it is. My son is in the hospital so my wife isn't working...so bills are stressing us a lot. **** just keeps getting piled up. Seems like I owe everyone money and I am barely keeping my head above water. If there is anyway you guys could help me figure this deal out I'd GREATLY appreciate it. You can PM me if you think you need to call me...I'll happily give up my cell number.

 

hummmm sounds like you got screwed by the dealer........ i would take the dak back and tell him u can keep it. give my ram back!

 

Yea, he's trying to get that $1184.06 off me in a bad way. What is the maximum number of days I would have to take it back and say I don't want it. By the way, he sold my old ram days after I traded it in and he didn't even have the title to it.

 

Wow...you never should have made this deal with so many loose ends...lesson learned???
I would consult a lawyer. If all of the numbers are written on a contract, I feel they have a baseless claim against you. They didn't do their homework either. Of course, the fine print may get you. This place is obviously shady if they sold your vehicle without a title. How can they even do that? And who is the moron that bought it without a title?

 

I believe the amount of days varies from state to state, I'd call your local DMV and ask them, if they don't know they might know who does. I wish I could help you out more but I've never bought any of my vehicles new so this stuff is new to me. If you have any lawyer friends I'd definitely talk it over with them, see what your options are legally. Biggest thing I can think of is whether dealers there are required by law to report previous accidents the vehicle has been in, that would definitely give you an edge if they are.

 

Lesson learned big time! Luckily I'm military and can consult with a lawyer for free. I just hope he has a bit of knowledge on this subject...They did not do their homework at all; and it hurt me, not them. I'm thinking of calling them and telling them not to take further action because I have an appointment with my lawyer tomorrow and I'm sure he'll be able to settle this. Something to that effect.

 

I'll def call the DMV, see what other info they can give me. My truck isn't new, I got it from a used car dealer. Supposedly my buddy knows quite a few people who have been to this guy and he's screwed (or tried to) a lot of people. So a few "threats" of sworn affidavits might go a long way as well. But if he wants to go to court I'm going to get them for real.

 

Definitely not a 5 star dodge dealership...I'm still researching their tactics and the best way to get back at them. I'm thinking newspaper article. With me being a veteran and all...I could probably put a nice hurting on them. Especially if I had more military buddies chime in on it. I've went this route before, starting in the 5th grade when girls were allowed to wear hats in school and boys weren't. Long story short...all hats were banned.