Dealer wants to renegociate after contract signed and car delivered?

[Concerned VW Buyer]

Jurisdiction

Florida

Bought a used VW on Saturday for what I considered to be a good deal. This morning, 2 days later, the dealer calls and says that they sold me the car for the wrong price as they pulled the jacket for another car when they did the deal. I have a contract signed by the GM, finance guy, and myself for the car and the financing is all in place so they can't say I can't be financed. The VIN and description on the contract is the car I am in possession of, I just have a temp tag as I'm waiting for plates. They want me to come in and renegotiate the contract as they sold it for 7k below what it was listed for and they claim to owe more than what they sold it to me for. They said they'd be willing to split the difference for the error and only charge me 3.5k more or else they will void the contract. Can they unilaterally void the contract when my financing is secure and they made the mistake?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Glad to hear that at least you got the good end of the deal. The following cannot be considered legal advice in your specific situation - we'd need to know all the details, see the contract, etc. But I can provide you with a general understanding of the law from my experience and opinion.

Unless there is a clear and obvious mistake, the deal is done. In contact law, this issue is known as a "unilateral mistake" in contract. One party makes a mistake without realizing their error. The law is quite logical. In order to declare a contractual agreement as unenforceable, it must have been obvious to the party that benefits. They either knew or should have known that a mistake was made to the other party's detriment (the car dealer.)

The car dealer has another problem in declaring this agreement void and unenforceable - they drafted the contract and intended to provide you with the price. It is not as if this is a clerical error which was overlooked to the detriment of both parties. An error of $7,000 for a used Volkswagon (which I'm assuming sells for under $30,000) is a very large percentage of the sales price. Would the dealership really not be aware that the price of the vehicle was 25% to 30% off the price they were selling the car? My guess is that they didn't price it properly and that, later, someone realized they could have received more money for the car.

From my perspective, while you could always choose to be very understanding (assuming that even such a "mistake" was made), you are probably under no obligation to renegotiate a done deal. The dealership has a very weak and questionable claim that a mistake was made, especially after the financing and extended paperwork was performed. This is a hassle that could have easily been avoided at some time during the extended period the car dealership drafted the agreements.

Enjoy your new car.

 

[army judge]

In addition to the excellent information provided to you by the professor, the lien-holder (the lender) now owns the car and you're going to repay them to receive the title.

Even if you were inclined to agree to pay the dealer $3,500 more, the lender would need to void the existing contract. Plus, that makes little to no sense, because the dealer, according their revelation is okay with LOSING $3,500, but not okay with losing $7,000. It's just a ploy to make you feel better about screwing yourself.

I agree with the professor, enjoy your car, and a great win. Such wins are rare in this life. Let's hope the car affords you many miles of safe, happy motoring.

 

[txls]

Based on what you've told us I don't see where they have any way to require you to renegotiate. If somebody messed up then they just need to suck it up.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I'm a firm believer in working with people to remedy obvious mistakes and to do the right thing. But there really isn't any indication that the dealership made an error other than one in judgment after the sale. It's not an assembly line where a few dozen cars are sold per day. I'd be shocked if they didn't have a manager review each sale. Rethinking the deal after all the paperwork is done and then having the hassle of trying to go through financing -- again -- which will require the lending bank to hit the credit report of the buyer again... and to question whether an additional $3,500 may be the difference between approving or denying the loan...

Sorry, this is life. It's not an earth shattering loss but still a sizable one. They will move on. The repercussions of trying to do what isn't even clearly "the right thing" are too great. And I tend to agree with @army judge who called this a clever ploy. The decision is ultimately yours but I probably would politely decline.