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Guest
Guest
I'm going to describe every little detail so I don't leave anything out
TL;DR will be at the bottom
Some info before you read:
This dealership is not some luxury car place.. it's a pretty cheap and affordable brand (applying to the 10k deductible you will read later)
I entered a dealership with my brother, I'm 19 and he's 22, to look at and hopefully purchase a car. The purpose of us being there was so I could look at the car of choice and maybe take it for a spin and so my brother could try to come to a decent price. My dad was supposed to come later and co-sign for me if the price was right.
We went outside with our salesman, let's call him Tom, and Tom said, "You could drive it if you want" and my brother went with the idea so I agreed. Tom pulled the car out of the parking space and I entered and began to drive it. After making some turns, Tom asked if I wanted to ride the freeway. I immediately said, "Not until after I buy it" because I didn't want to end up crashing the car because it wasn't mine. Tom said something else but I couldn't understand because of his heavy accent (sorry Tom) and he pointed me to go left. When I went left I realized I was turning in to the freeway. It was a heavy curve and I basically ran over (didn't slow down enough) the curb of the curve and scratched the underside of the car on some rocks.
After we got back to the dealership, Tom asked for my license and went and made a copy of it. After that, we were seated and basically we were pressured in to buying the car. My brother called my dad and told him what had happened (my dad was in LA, even if he wanted to come it would've taken him around 2 hours or longer) and we asked Tom if we could leave and come back later because he has our info and he said, "no." I assumed that now we were trapped into buying the car and I had no choice because I did damage it. We asked for their insurance policy and Tom said that we needed to ask his manager so we did. The manager said sure and he would check up on it for us and told us not to worry because the damage didn't look too bad and that it'll be okay. Later he came back but without a copy of their insurance policy and told us that damage expenses will be around $400-$500, more or less. We asked why we had to pay when he said it was okay earlier, but he said, "That was before I checked the actual damage." We went out with the manager, I'll call him Bob, and Bob let me take pictures of the damage.
Bob asked us if we were still planning on buying the car and my brother said that if they lower it a bit more then we will because we got a cheaper deal at a different dealership. Bob asked us if we thought that was fair, implying that we shouldn't be asking for a lower price because I damaged the car. He couldn't give us an exact price on the repairs and told us that they would get the results by the next morning. So we asked for their insurance policy again but he kept saying, "Can I see yours?" We had it with us the whole time but didn't show them first because we wanted to see theirs first. Bob kept saying that their deductible was $10,000 so if it was under 10k then I would have to pay for it. My dad (my brother was on the phone with my dad through this whole process) said that he asked other dealers and they said there's no such thing as a 10k deductible so it was a bunch of BS. We kept asking for a physical copy of their policy but Bob said, "Well there is no paper.. we just have a $10,000 deductible. Can I see YOUR insurance?" and it basically went back and forth from there and my brother and I just ended up leaving because my dad's lawyer told us to just leave.
TL;DR
Took a car for test drive at a dealership
Didn't sign any waivers
I damaged the car
Told to pay for damages by dealership
Dealership avoids giving us a hard copy of their insurance policy and beats around the bush
Am I liable to pay?
----I looked this issue up and most places I looked said that the dealership is liable and some places have test drivers sign a waiver just in case but I didn't sign anything. But I'm not sure if I'm safe because my situation may be different.
Thanks everyone
TL;DR will be at the bottom
Some info before you read:
This dealership is not some luxury car place.. it's a pretty cheap and affordable brand (applying to the 10k deductible you will read later)
I entered a dealership with my brother, I'm 19 and he's 22, to look at and hopefully purchase a car. The purpose of us being there was so I could look at the car of choice and maybe take it for a spin and so my brother could try to come to a decent price. My dad was supposed to come later and co-sign for me if the price was right.
We went outside with our salesman, let's call him Tom, and Tom said, "You could drive it if you want" and my brother went with the idea so I agreed. Tom pulled the car out of the parking space and I entered and began to drive it. After making some turns, Tom asked if I wanted to ride the freeway. I immediately said, "Not until after I buy it" because I didn't want to end up crashing the car because it wasn't mine. Tom said something else but I couldn't understand because of his heavy accent (sorry Tom) and he pointed me to go left. When I went left I realized I was turning in to the freeway. It was a heavy curve and I basically ran over (didn't slow down enough) the curb of the curve and scratched the underside of the car on some rocks.
After we got back to the dealership, Tom asked for my license and went and made a copy of it. After that, we were seated and basically we were pressured in to buying the car. My brother called my dad and told him what had happened (my dad was in LA, even if he wanted to come it would've taken him around 2 hours or longer) and we asked Tom if we could leave and come back later because he has our info and he said, "no." I assumed that now we were trapped into buying the car and I had no choice because I did damage it. We asked for their insurance policy and Tom said that we needed to ask his manager so we did. The manager said sure and he would check up on it for us and told us not to worry because the damage didn't look too bad and that it'll be okay. Later he came back but without a copy of their insurance policy and told us that damage expenses will be around $400-$500, more or less. We asked why we had to pay when he said it was okay earlier, but he said, "That was before I checked the actual damage." We went out with the manager, I'll call him Bob, and Bob let me take pictures of the damage.
Bob asked us if we were still planning on buying the car and my brother said that if they lower it a bit more then we will because we got a cheaper deal at a different dealership. Bob asked us if we thought that was fair, implying that we shouldn't be asking for a lower price because I damaged the car. He couldn't give us an exact price on the repairs and told us that they would get the results by the next morning. So we asked for their insurance policy again but he kept saying, "Can I see yours?" We had it with us the whole time but didn't show them first because we wanted to see theirs first. Bob kept saying that their deductible was $10,000 so if it was under 10k then I would have to pay for it. My dad (my brother was on the phone with my dad through this whole process) said that he asked other dealers and they said there's no such thing as a 10k deductible so it was a bunch of BS. We kept asking for a physical copy of their policy but Bob said, "Well there is no paper.. we just have a $10,000 deductible. Can I see YOUR insurance?" and it basically went back and forth from there and my brother and I just ended up leaving because my dad's lawyer told us to just leave.
TL;DR
Took a car for test drive at a dealership
Didn't sign any waivers
I damaged the car
Told to pay for damages by dealership
Dealership avoids giving us a hard copy of their insurance policy and beats around the bush
Am I liable to pay?
----I looked this issue up and most places I looked said that the dealership is liable and some places have test drivers sign a waiver just in case but I didn't sign anything. But I'm not sure if I'm safe because my situation may be different.
Thanks everyone
