Frustrated! Hard inquiry from local dealership without my permission.

[VashX]

Hi all,

Not new here, just newly registered. 

I have been keeping my credit clear of inquiries since I am planning to purchase a home soon. The last inquiry I have was in January and all other inquiries over a year ago. 

I went to the local dealership to test drive a vehicle. I asked if I could drive it for an hour to make sure I want to buy it. They said sure, and I would just need to fill out a form. 

They presented me the finance form, and I told them I don't want to finance the car, just test drive it, and if I like it, I will buy it with cash straight up. They said well we still need your information and to look at your credit and that it's only a soft inquiry and won't affect your credit. I told them if and only if it's a soft check, I am OK with that. 

So I filled out the form, and next to my signature, I put clearly "NO HARD CHECK INQUIRY!" and underlined it. They took the form, and the sales rep came back and said they would have to do a hard check inquiry. I told them I just want to test drive the car, why is that necessary? They explained blah blah blah and I said nevermind then I don't want to test drive it anymore. I took the paper I filled out and shredded it at home. 

The next day the manager from the dealpership calls me and asks what happened and I explained. He said no problem we don't need to run your credit we just need your ID and insurance and you can test drive the car. I said ok great I will be right over. 

I get to the dealer, they present the form again, and AGAIN, I said I don't want my credit run. The sales rep said no no we won't run your credit. So I filled it out and again, next to my signature, I put: "NO HARD CHECK INQUIRY!". 

I finally get to test drive the car for an hour, returned it, and left. The next day, I get an alert from FreeCreditReport.com that my credit has changed. I logged in and saw the dealership did an inquriy. I was furious. 

I drove right away to the dealer and from the start was shouting. The manager I spoke with earlier was saying how there is no such thing as a soft or hard inquiry blah blah blah and that he had to run my credit before letting me test drive the car and that was the only way of identifying me (even though he took my driver license and insurance card??) and blah blah blah it was a never ending argument. I spoke with another manager and he said Monday he will see what he can do and I left. I don't do well in arguments when I am so frustrated and upset so I just left. 

I want to know if the manager decides not to remove the inquiry, what options do I have and what are my chances? I know I can dispute it through the bureau. On Monday I plan to go back with my brother to see what they plan to do and get a copy of the finance form that has my info/signature with the "NO HARD CHECK INQUIRY!" written in the signature line. 

Thanks for your time and input. 

[pizzadude]

Sorry to hear that this happened ~ unfortunately auto dealers will sometimes take liberty to pull credit during test drives, sometimes even without "asking" you to fill out a finance application.

I'm not sure that it's worth the time to continue to fight it ~ the FICO ding for inquiries is relatively small, and if you apply for other financing within a few weeks then all of the auto inquiries will only be scored as one.

Also I will move this to the auto loans forum, you should get more feedback there.

[Elcid89]

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@pizzadude wrote:
Sorry to hear that this happened ~ unfortunately auto dealers will sometimes take liberty to pull credit during test drives, sometimes even without "asking" you to fill out a finance application.

I'm not sure that it's worth the time to continue to fight it ~ the FICO ding for inquiries is relatively small, and if you apply for other financing within a few weeks then all of the auto inquiries will only be scored as one.

Also I will move this to the auto loans forum, you should get more feedback there.

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+1 The single inquiry most liekly isn't causing enough of a hit to make it worth your time trying to get rid of it. Consider it a lesson learned.

Never, EVER fill out a credit application at a car dealer until you actually have a deal in front of you (WITH a trade-in value for your car), and even then only if you intend to pursue dealer financing. If they insist on something different, walk.

[guiness56]

I 100% agree with the OP.  To test drive a car does NOT require any type of inquiry and I would fight it.  An application would need to be filled out first.

Whether or not the ding will hurt is not the point but them having done it in the first place.

The FTC also agrees test driving a car does not constitute permissible purpose.

[VashX]

Well when I tell them over and over I don't want my credit run they should have denied me just like the first time instead of taking advantage of me the second time. As I said, I DO NOT want to finance the car, I am planning to purchase it cash. 

I will fight it, and just looking for any advice on that part. I am not going to just sit back and let this happen to me.

I guess I am the only surprised person to hear a sales manager of a dealership tell me there is no such thing as a hard and soft inquiry. 

[Elcid89]

You will go round and round with the CBR trying to get an inquiry removed, and again, the best that you can hope for is that the inquiry goes away.

Even then only if you didn't sign a credit form. It doesn't matter what you were told verbally. If you signed that form, you gave them permission to pull your credit and you have zero leverage here beyond asking the dealership to remove the inquiry.

Hence my advice - it isn't worth the time and effort involved to obtain the minimal benefit you'd receive. If you are determined to fight it though (AND you are 1000% positive that you did not sign a credit form), then start with a dispute to the CBRs.

[VashX]

Thank you guiness for pointing out the FTC. I am going to look over it some more, but found this statement. Does this help me in my argument when I talk to the general manager tomorrow?

Automobile dealer. An automobile dealer does not have a permissible purpose to obtain a
consumer report on a consumer who simply asks for information about vehicles and prices,
because there is no “credit transaction involving the consumer” at that point in time. For the
same reason, the dealer will usually not have a permissible purpose when the consumer test
drives one or more vehicles.125 See also discussion in comment 604(a)(3)(F)-5.

Source: http://www.ftc.gov/os/2011/07/110720fcrareport.pdf

[VashX]

Also found this:

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1998/02/coffeypr.shtm

[guiness56]

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@VashX wrote:

Thank you guiness for pointing out the FTC. I am going to look over it some more, but found this statement. Does this help me in my argument when I talk to the general manager tomorrow?

Automobile dealer. An automobile dealer does not have a permissible purpose to obtain a
consumer report on a consumer who simply asks for information about vehicles and prices,
because there is no “credit transaction involving the consumer” at that point in time. For the
same reason, the dealer will usually not have a permissible purpose when the consumer test
drives one or more vehicles.125 See also discussion in comment 604(a)(3)(F)-5.

Source: http://www.ftc.gov/os/2011/07/110720fcrareport.pdf

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You can point it out to the dealership manager.  They may recode it to a soft which doesn't hurt your score.

To me it isn't the point of a HP, it is the fact they did it in the first place.,

[bettercreditguy1]

I purchased a car last year. I had my own financing lined up and the dealer pulled my credit although I did not want or need them too. Anyway, there is a new Federal requirement, related to Homeland Securiy thingy, (I'm sorry I forgot the name/statute), which requires a dealer to positively identify their customer and by doing so, your name is run against a terrorist data base when they run their report. If they do not do this and you are found to be on the "list" the dealer faces heavy fines and could loose their license/franchise for supplying/selling a vehicle to somebody on the list. I  attempted to get the inquiries removed, however, I did not have any luck and was correctly enlightened by the Credit Manager that "impact of inquiries" are greatly over blown. As it turned out, I only dropped 5 points and I had them all back in less than 90 days. The dealer pulled TU and EQ, which are the primary CRA's in my locality. Yes, they will show up for two years, however the impact is fully gone after one calender year at max.