Yo-yo financing is a common car dealership scam used to trick consumers into signing paperwork that will cause them financial harm. Unfortunately, not everyone is well-informed of this car dealership trick and end up paying more for their purchased vehicle than they originally agreed to.
If you have recently purchased a car from a dealership or are looking to buy one, it is important that you know all the details about yo-yo financing. It may end up helping you, your family members, or friends from losing out on their money.
Yo-Yo Financing: AKA Spot Delivery Scam
Yo-yo financing is also commonly known as spot delivery scam. As the name suggests, spot delivery scam is designed to get you to purchase one of their vehicles on the spot. It doesn’t matter how bad of a deal it may be for the dealership. As long as the dealer can get you to sign the contract, anything goes.
After just weeks of signing the contract, the dealer calls you to say that the financing, unfortunately, did not go through. They’ll tell you that the only way to keep the car is to sign a new contract or else you’ll lose the car. How frustrating is that!
While this may sound like something that you’ll never fall for, you have to remember that dealers are trained to persuade people into signing a contract. Even if you don’t have the best credit or enough income to buy a car, dealers can tell you that they were able to lower the price to match your financial status, only to break the “unfortunate news” to you weeks later.
Can I Sue A Car Dealership For Lying?
You may be able to sue a car dealership for lying if you are able to provide evidence for your case. There are numbers of ways that a car dealership can lie to you including, but not limited to:
- Selling the vehicle for more than the advertised price
- Hiding and failing to disclose prior accidents
- Hiding and failing to disclose use as a rental car
- Hiding and failing to disclose defects or major repairs
- Hiding or failing to disclose frame damage, or
- Adding additional features to the vehicle without your knowledge or consent
If any of these situations have happened to you, there’s a good chance that you are not getting the vehicle that you were expecting. Chances are, you will be paying more for your car than previously thought, and the car may in worse condition than the dealer previously made out to be.
What To Do If The Car Dealer Lied About Financing?
If you try to confront the dealer for lying about financing, the dealer may pressure you into signing a new contract or else they will repossess your vehicle or report their vehicle as stolen, but don’t let their fear tactics get to you.
If your car dealer lied to you about financing, a good way to get your issue resolved is to take legal action against them.
When you hire an experienced auto fraud attorney, he or she will be able to ask you all the crucial questions needed that will allow them to gather the facts necessary to prove your case. Most auto fraud attorneys take cases on contingency, so your attorney will be paid a percentage of what they recover for you if they win the case.
Without an attorney’s assistance, you may miss out on some steps that are crucial in resolving your case. In the worst-case scenario, you will end up losing your car or end up paying more for your car.
Being Cautious of Dealer Scams like Yo-yo Financing
Buying a car is in no way a small financial decision. You want to make sure that everything that the car dealer informs you about the car is accurate and correct. Since there is no way to know for sure that the dealer is being 100% honest with you, it’s up to you to be on the lookout for anything suspicious or inaccurate.
One thing you can do is to know everything about your credit and financial situation when looking to buy a car. If you know that a deal sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. Make sure that you obtain copies of all the paperwork. It will be good to have records in case the deal turns south.
You can also ask the dealership to see the approval from the lender. If they tell you that the information is confidential or anything else to prevent you from seeing the approval, then there’s a good chance that the dealership is doing something fishy. The information about the approval is not confidential and should be provided to you should you ask.
Ultimately, it is up to you to spot any yo-yo financing or anything else of sorts. Many dealerships do make honest mistakes and may ask you to resign the contract or return the car. However, others knowingly have you sign paperwork knowing they would have to ask you to return in a couple of weeks.
If you do find yourself facing yo-yo financing, contact experienced auto fraud attorneys for legal assistance. Auto frauds happen on a daily basis, and they just keep getting better at it. It may help ease your stress by having someone defending your rights against these kinds of perpetrators.