Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Common Interests Need some advice dealing with a recent purchase

sorry for such a long post, but he's the details of a pretty crappy situation I got myself into. now I guess i know why all my friends say i need to be supervised at all times. but if you have any advice for me that'd be great, thanks!

On 5/5/2005 I went to Longmont Ford, 235 Alpine St., to look at vehicles and potentially purchase one. I was dealing with a dealer by the name of Stephen Purcell who was being trained by another dealer by the name of Randy Jones. Upon finding a vehicle I was somewhat interested in, a 2002 Ford Focus, I was then highly pressured into making a deal. I had stated it was out of my price range and was not too interested in making a deal let alone would I be able to afford it or approve for it. They insisted that I fill out a credit application to see. So I made a poor decision and did fill out a credit application because I was sure I would not approve and it would just be a waste of everyone�s time even though I had already stated that I would not approve. Upon finishing, accurately, filling out my credit application Mr. Purcell and Mr. Jones over-looked it and then Mr. Jones grab a pen and started to alter what I had written on the credit application around the area where my monthly income was entered. They both left and came back shortly stating I had approved for the car. In shock I did not know what to do. I started to ask questions but no one would give me any helpful answers. My next poor decision was that I then finished filling out the paper work, but at that point I wasn�t sure really what was going on or had happened and I did not want to get really screwed over and pay for a car I didn�t even have. I left the dealership and went home and explained everything to my parents and contacted my own financial institution. Realistically there was no way I could afford this vehicle nor would have been able to approve for it.

The next day, 5/6/2005, I returned to dealership with the vehicle and said that I did not want the vehicle and my financial institution said that I would not approve for it. I was treated very rudely by the dealership and they stated that I approved for the car and that it was my car and my problem. I went home and spoke to my parents about what happened. They thought the best thing to do would be to take the car back to the dealership and leave it there until I was officially approved so that they could not charge me 50 dollars a day and .50 cents a mile for the time the car was in my possession. So I again returned to the dealership and told them what I wanted to do incase I did not approve. They said that I was for sure 100% approved and there was no need to do this.

Now the dealership stated that they would go through Addison Avenue Credit Union which is the financial institution that I am already currently a member of and already have a current auto loan with. Addison Avenue is also my financial institution that I had contacted and they stated I would not approve for the loan. Well, Addison Avenue never approved the loan of course and I had not heard from any other financial institutions except for letters in the mail saying they would not approve me for the car. I continuously tried to contact the dealership to find out if I really did approve and who I approved through. I never received an answer to my question.

Then finally on 5/20/2005 I received a call from Wells Fargo and they stated they had my auto loan. I presented them with the information I had on the belief that Longmont Ford may have given them false information regarding my credit application. The representative from Wells Fargo then started to go through all my information to make sure it was correct. When she came to my monthly income she stated a number which was almost four times greater than what I normally make in a month. Upon hearing this I was very irate. The representative said that she would have someone look into the matter, but stated I was still obligated to pay for the vehicle.

Since that date I have not had much luck in my contacting with Wells Fargo. And as of 5/27/2005 someone to whom I spoke on the phone from Wells Fargo had stated that they do not believe Longmont Ford would have altered my credit application.

I was wondering what legal repercussion I had to go about resolving this matter. I do not want this vehicle nor do I feel I have any financial responsibility to because of fraudulent activity done by Longmont Ford. I have not yet contacted an attorney yet to represent me in all this because I am not currently employed nor do I have any assets. My parents are unable to help me get a lawyer because of medical situations my family is dealing with.

What I want done is get rid of this vehicle with no financial responsibility at all. I want my credit fixed because I am unaware how many financial institutions my credit information was ran through, but I do not want them to appear on my credit report. I want any legal action that can be taken against Longmont Ford to be taken because I do not feel it was right how they treated me and took advantage of me and I feel they primarily did this because they thought I was young and wouldn�t deal with it. If there is a lawyer who sees this and thinks I have a civil case and would be able to sue and they think they have the resources to take on the dealership and win I would gladly be for that, but I will state up front I have not money and would not be able to pay. So the case would have to be fought for free and upon our winning their cut would have to be taken from that and I guarantee I would be extremely gracious with winnings.

Things I have done so far regarding this is; I have contacted the Better Business Bureau of Colorado and filed a complaint against this dealership. The complaint was submitted prior to me having all the facts and needs to be updated. I have contacted the local law enforcement agency as well, but the officer I spoke to isn�t sure if Longmont Ford did anything criminally wrong. I don�t see how they didn�t� I can easily see fraud. I also had written a check to the dealership for 500.00 which I had stopped. I�m not too sure how great of an idea that was.

So if there if there is any legal advice you can give or any advice at all that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Sounds like lawyer material to me. I wish I could help you with it.

Something to do if you can is get a copy of the credit application. It should be easy to see that it was modified and is likely in different handwriting and possibly in another color of pen.

Good luck! Be patient and keep your cool.

Any alterations, have to be initialed by you. Did you initial the changes they made to the initial app?? If not then its nul and void. Return the car and hand them the key and give thm your lawyers phone number. Call the bank tell them what happened and that the vehicle is at the stealership and that you will not be making payments on an fraudulant application that they made up

Dealing with criminals can be difficult. They might claim that you damaged the car, even after you take the car back. I would file a complaint at www.bbb.com

Be sure to tell the BBB what you want and tell them that the dealership altered your credit application without your permission.

It seems like the sales people think that you are a pushover. You have the right to stand up for your rights as long as you don�t violate the other people�s rights. If they see that you are assertive and stand up for yourself then they will respect your rights more.

Thanks everyone for your advice.

No I did not initial anything they altered on the credit application.

And I have already filed a complaint with the BBB, but I filed the complaint before I was ever in contact with the financial institution so I was unaware how much they actually falsified my income.

Utimately I made a lot of poor choices. The dealership is recently under new ownership, because I was very famaliar with the way the old dealership and the people who worked there, but when I was in there that last time it was seriosuly like being at a different dealership. I guess that's the image they wanted was that it was indeed a whole new dealership, but the image they gave me was a very negative one. All the times I had been there in the past I had test drove cars, talked numbers, but never felt obligated or pressured to purchase one.

Unfortunately with the way everything has been going with trying to contact people and so on it seems I am going to ultimately have to sell the vehicle and most likely take a loss. The car's not a bad little car. From what I have driven it (since my parents won't let me drive incase something does go my way) it handles quite well and sure beats both my CSVT and Mystique on gas mileage. I always had pretty much a negative mind set on the Focus until I drove this one. Also it has a pretty decent deck in it. Nothing fancy, but if I found a stock deck for dirt cheap I would probably swap them out, but if I do get to end up returning this car that'd put me on the same level of ethics as the dealer since I probably wouldn't swap them back... I guess I better just listen to my parents and leave the car alone!

Most states have from a one to a three day time frame for "buyers remorse" to back out of a deal. It definitiely sounds like you need to contact the consumer protection department in Colorado, or else your attorney generals' office.

IN the future always take someone with you, friend, Dad bro sis anyone else.

Yeah I had done some research to see if there was any time frame to back out of the deal, but there isn't anything in CO. I found a lot of things saying that there's a myth that there is a 3 day return policy on vehicles.