Philadelphia Pennsylvania Consumer Protection Blog

Are you looking for the right vehicle at the right price? Of course you are. Everyone wants a good deal when buying a car. It seems as though the auto industry is one of the last places where bargaining still happens, and let's be honest, it can be fun.

However, auto dealerships are aware of this fact and will exploit your need for a deal any way they can. Perhaps you have heard that dealing with a "fleet manager" will get you a better price because he or she doesn't work on commission, so they don't care about trying to up the price. Sadly, this is often just another scam.

There's nothing illegal about selling your car through a private sale -- as long as you aren't running an illicit car dealership.

"Curbstoning" occurs when dealers pretend to be private sellers offering their used vehicles for sale to the public. In reality, they're operating a "curbside" lot of used cars. They just want to avoid having to comply with pretty much every regulation or law out there that's designed to protect consumers.

Water damage is one of the worst things that can happen to your vehicle. Once a car has been in a flood, the odds are good that it will never be "as good as new" again. However, that won't stop used car dealers from snapping them up for pennies on the dollar and transporting them well away from the flooded areas and reselling them (at a much higher price) to unsuspecting consumers.

How can you spot the signs that a car has been water-logged in the past? Here are some clues:

1. The dealer has a large lot of vehicles that have salvaged titles or says that the original titles have been lost. That's usually an effort to keep consumers from seeing that the car was purchased as salvage-only and rebuilt.
2. Check the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System. Even if the dealer has a clean (looking) title, you have to be wary. Some states have pretty lax regulations, and that makes it possible for unscrupulous dealers to "wash the title" before they resell a damaged vehicle.
3. Check Carfax for flood damage. If the original owner never declared the damage to their insurance, the Carfax report won't show it However, it can show you if there were floods in the areas where the car has been. The free flood damage checker will give you the odds that any given vehicle has been in a flood.
4. Finally, do a careful inspection. Look at the carpets for damage and see if you smell mold. Look for waterlines on the car's lights and reflectors that were never cleaned away. Check under the hood for mud, and look in the bottom edges of door panels where debris can settle and be overlooked during cleaning. As always, be suspicious of any signs of rust.

When you visit any of Philadelphia's auto dealerships to find your next vehicle, you may intend to own it after your final loan payment. You did not intend to "rent" the vehicle for a while and then return it to the dealership as would happen in an auto lease agreement.

You went through the process of choosing a vehicle, going back and forth on the price and negotiating financing terms before driving your new vehicle off the lot. However, at some point, you discovered that you did not actually purchase the vehicle, but instead entered into a lease agreement. How did that happen? After all, that's not what you thought you agreed to and certainly isn't what you wanted.