So here is a story it is a bit long but entertaining I think. Some people will think I am an arse but that is their opinion as I think finance people are the scum of the earths at dealerships.
I went into Mercedes last saturday to look at the Mercedes cle 53 amg as like the looks of car. I drove it and dang it is quick around 3.6 secs 0-60 and was nice. If I could make the #'s work I was going to trade in my 2024 Porsche Cayman S (I already miss it but needed more practical car with a bit more room for my dog and at least one person). Anyways asking price for one that had interest in was 89.5k. Anyways drove it liked it overall so let start to talk #'s. They offered me more for trade-in than owed on my Porsche so had positive equity which is obviously good after going back and forth for a bit and also the tax savings so another bonus. Went back and forth on the price of the car and talked them down to about 84k I think from the 89.5k. Just a numbers game whether more on trade or going down on price it is all the same. Anyways here is where it gets interesting with financing department as told sales man I wouldn't do higher than 5.5% and likely would refinance and don't have finance guy push all kinds of stuff on me and if they pulled more that 2 pulls one for dealership and one for the lender I would walk as had a 840 scores across board.
So walked into finance and talked and finance guy was a bit abrasive due what sales person said to him as they being finance love to make money and I know this. So went over the hard pulls and agreed on the two one for dealer then one was initially going to be for BofA. He then said something snarky like I am not going to make any more off of you on prepraid maintenance or any tire and wheel, etc. So if I finance with you I am going to mark up the rate so I make money, etc. anyways we talked and before pulling credit he say I had a 3k incentive with MBFS I believe for being a past customer. They interest rate though would be 8.49% for 72 month term thought but he said I could refinance in 6 months and keep that 3k incentive and come out ahead of the 5.5x rate we initially talked about did math and indeed I would. I then agreed and pulled credit and pulled a 885/900 TU FICO score A+ tier etc yet got the 8.49 rate lol. Anyways I took gap for 1250 is all and walked out with a sales price of approx 82k due to positive equity in trade-in and talking price down in theory and 3k incentive. So took delivery of car and that was that.
Did some research when got home and this last week and found out some interesting stuff when got all the paperwork in PDF format I read it then had AI scan it and their is no prepayment penalty mentioned anywhere in the paperwork nor mention of paying back the 3k incentive for using MBFS. Also it is Illegal in FL where I live to have a prepayment penalty on an autoloan as you can pay it off any time per the law without them just hating you for it basically. I then start to think what he said that he would make money off me then the rate and various other things and was on a mission. I saw the MB loan on their site and then it hit my credit report etc. My car was up for sale mid week and was just waiting for my NFCU auto loan to be paid off and it was. So today I applied for a loan with NFCU and got their best rate of 4.59%. I went and picked up the check then went to UPS store and sent off payoff by NFCU check that is good till the 12th on payoff to them 3 day. So got an extra 3k got my gap mainly all refunded of the 1250 as part of payoff and paid NFCU 499 cash for GAP today. I will save about 200 a month on loan even if it was only for 6 months as we "agreed" that would of been 1200 extra in payments approximately although still come out 1800 ahead due to incentive.
So am I a arse for doing this? Possibly... Was the finance person an arse for making those comments and also marking up rate and lying to me about 6 months, absolutely. Nothing they can do due to FL law on the refinance and the incentives. I am sure the Finance guy will be fuming here in a few weeks when he sees his commission or much of it go goodbye. Don't lie to me or mark up rate a point or two and lie about 6 months as it is illegal in FL and he should know that. Likely burnt the bridge at that dealership but others exists whether Mercedes or other cars for future.
Would you of done the same as I did? Just a story to entertain or possibly some in the finance world fume at people like me. They think we are uneducated lol.
I wonder if I will get a call in a week or two when they realize what happened? I guess I really don't care.
Gotta do what is best for you as they are doing what is in their best interests and pocket is how I see it. That is why good credit and education is key and both of them are power and can be leveraged.
@cashorcharge What are your thoughts? I know you like auto loans as well 
PS they still owe me a TINT we talked into deal as well a week after next that makes me nervous going in their then hopefully they don't realize they didn't make what they thought they made prior to this
@JoeRockhead wrote:I would have done the same and not felt one bit guilty. I loath people like this. Reminds me of an investigative report I saw a few years back where they caught several dealers selling people on one interest rate, but then when they got their loan docs in the mail the rate was bumped up.... crooks!
Nicely done on your part!
Thanks. Also thanks for not thinking I am a jerk lol. I have no illusion the dealer made some money still although the finance person certainly made less than he would of. So a small win for the little man. I really don't think they will call and complain if they do I am ready of basically too bad too sad. People get bent over all the time at dealerships to different degrees just makes me feel better i made my situation better. I feel bad for people that don't have the credit or other means to do so as you echoed on investigative reports. This dealer has awesome ratings as well but doesn't mean they don't try to get away with whatever they can and prey on uniformed people.
I can sleep better tongiht know you would of done exact same
@IaBoy62 wrote:@CreditCuriosity You are my HERO!
Lol Don't know about that. Just sharing a story. See they received my chekc today and signed for at 10 am est. Hopefully shows paid off tomorrow with 0 balance. Always worry when send a big check althogh has to be endorsed by me which i did and another party which would be MBFS so pretty safe
@coldfusion wrote:I enjoyed reading this thread lol
No worries about the dealer making a profit barring a bad screwup on the valuation of your trade-in but as for Biff the Finance Guy geting his comeuppance hey, sucks to be him.
Lol Biff.. Nah they wanted the car badly as manual and one of last ICE versions of the Cayman S and under 10k miles in mint condition always hand washed etc, etc. Dealerships will always come out on top they aren't dumb but Biff the sales manager he got to close to the sun and lit a fire under me to make things better than my initial deal with his greed.
Glad I gave you a good read
