Misrepresented contract Sportsback not satisfied!

[lancer2008]

I rang the finance company and told them that I was mislead when I asked to look at finance.
I was told that the finance company would look into it.
I have since had 2 people from Australian Motors ring me to try and refinance the car. Indecently they can only reduce the repayment by $10 per month!

I asked the finance guy If he had asked the sales guy about what had happened in the sign up process. He said he had not done this! It seems that you can't even complain and get them to look into your story!

I keep referring them to this website as I think they should be aware of how I feel about being stitched up by them!

The finance people at Australian Motors are asking me what I expect to achieve from this....(they just want me to refinance or sell the car at my loss). I would like to hear from them that they have looked into my story first and maybe acknowledge the problem! Then we could work out what to do.

I think the next step I take will be writing to consumer affairs as I am not getting any real help from them!

[rgg066]

1. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES TAKE POSSESSION OF THE VEHICLE. Do not even sit in it again. and advise the dealer that given the salesman fraudulently misled you and that in accordance with your verbal instructions at the time, you do not want to purchase the vehicle.

2. Contact the financier and advise them you were deceived, making the contract invalid.

3. Write to the dealer principal and state your case.

4. Write to Consumer Affairs lodging a formal complaint in relation to the conduct of the salesman.

5. Write to Mitsubishi Australia lodging a formal complaint in relation to the conduct of the salesman.

6. Write to A Current Affair and Today Tonight.

Keep us posted.

[mhz]

You had no obligation really to sign the forms for any contract in the first place.

You could have found out about finance without even signing a contract to purchase the car.

I have been stung in the past when I was younger and purchasing a car.
I went to buy a car and signed the contract and left a deposit. I was getting an RACV test done on the car and told the sales guy I would not be buying the car if I was not happy with the RACV report.

The report came back and we found that the car had been in a major accident. I refused to go ahead with the purchase but the salesman had worded the contract so that it read "subject to RACV test, no major mechanical defects".
As the car did not have any major mechanical defects (only structural and cosmetic defects) I was obligated to complete the purchase agreement or forfeit my deposit.

After seeking legal advice I now have the following put in the terms of the sale
"Sale subject to customer satisfaction with RACV test and subject to customer finance"

That way if i can't afford it through whichever finance company I choose, I can easily back out.

[julslovesjesus]

I feel for you I really do. Once bitten twice shy huh? I guess you'll never do that again - and on paper, they are in the right - it is a he said she said type of situation where you'll have to try to prove what they agreed to. I really think you might be stuck. Having said that, the conduct of the sales guy was unconscionable. I don't know how people like that sleep at night. Just remember - what goes around comes around.
I'm hoping you get a good outcome though!

[lancer2008]

I have just rang the legal services commission and they think that I shouldn't have had to sign the sale of contract just to look at finance figures. She said i might have been tricked or coerced into signing.
I am making an appointment for Monday.

[lancer2008]

I rang the office of fair trading.

They said because I signed the finance agreement (under pressure) that I don't have a leg to stand on.

I was given the impression by the finance guy and the sales guy that it was too late to back out before I signed.

I did tell the finance guy I was not happy about what was happening, he never mentioned that it would be ok to not go ahead with the deal.

I was just trying to do the right thing by them. They made it sound like (after I signed the contract for the purchase of a new vehicle) that it was too late to back out even though I complained to 3 different people.

I even rang consumer affairs twice and the only advice was this. I was told to not give bank statements and see if the financing would fail. Unfortunately when I went into the shop again the finance guy said straight away that finance was approved. I felt like I was already bound by the contract to follow through otherwise be in breach of their conditions.

I explained to consumer affairs the added clause of subject to finance approval and was told that this was on behalf of the finance company.

Anyway, my business seems to be failing due to the economic downturn. I feel like my world is going to fall apart.

I will try to be positive in the face of it all.

[TheLoanMan]

Under the Consumer Credit Code, you should have been given a Letter of Offer, which becomes the contract and discloses what the payments are. This is to be signed by you before they can draw down the loan.

If the repayment amount was unacceptable, you should not have signed the contract.

The way you have explained the situation there may be a breach of the Consumer Credit Code, by the person selling the finance at the car yard.

I would contact the office of fair trading and explain the situation to them, because once the person selling the finance knew that you were not happy with the finance he should not have pressured you into it.

[lancer2008]

I went to Mitsubishi late last year in October to test drive a Lancer Sportsback.

I told the salesperson that I had serious doubts about buying the car that day. I told him it was above my budget spending but I was prepared to find out how much per week it would cost through financing.

The sales guy told me in order to go through the finance steps he needed me to sign a form. He drew up a contract and said that I would not be buying the car unless I was happy with the financing side of things. He added a clause in the contract for me saying "pending finance approval". I thought that this had covered me. He handed me the pen to sign the form and I again checked with him asking him" so If I sign this I still haven't bought the car. He said correct and I signed it.

As soon as I signed it he shook my hand and congratulated me on buying the car. I told him I was not ready to buy a car. I immediately complained to 3 people, the after sales lady (who told me to go back to the sales guy and that it was probably to late), the finance guy and the sales guy. The sales guy just kept shaking my hand saying it was too late!

A couple of days later I had to go back and finalize the finance ( i felt obliged to not breach the contract). The new finance guy asked me how I was going and I told him my woes. I told him that I might loose my license in 2009 and he told me not to worry that I would probably still be able to drive to work in my situation.

I finally found out how much per week it was going to cost and it is way too much for me to comfortably afford it and I am really worried about what will happen when I loose my license.

A lady from Mitsubishi rang me to see If I would fill out a customer satisfaction survey and I told her over the phone that I was not happy. After hearing my story she said that it sounded like the sales guy had done the wrong thing and that I should seek legal advice! I intent to write to Mitsubishi regarding this and have also rang legal aid immediately following the signing of the contract.
Legal aid have told me that a) the contract was misrepresented to me and b) it is very difficult to prove!
I believe that a consumer should be able to know there weekly repayment figure before signing up to buy a new car and this should be legislated!

I also feel that the sales guy mislead the finance company into signing me up as I warned him that I didn't feel like I could afford to buy the car. The finance should have failed and I wanted to ring the fiance company to say that I was in financial trouble(legal aid told me not to ring the finance company)! I feel that the sales guy misrepresented me to the finance company and I wonder if this is a company owned by Mitsubishi or the Australian Motors Group and that they just wanted me to sign up to make a sale!

I feel like I have been tricked into buying the car!