Complaint Review: Niello Infiniti

Found a car we wanted at Niello Infiniti in Concord, CA on Saturday afternoon 8/21/04. Explained to saleswoman what we wanted in the way of financing. Made a deal with them at financing terms they showed us on paper. Shook hands with saleswoman, (Jackie) and were then introduced to the Finance Director (Sharon). We went into Sharon's office and she showed us all the terms of the contract on a computer screen. We agreed to the terms of the contract details on her computer screen and the contract was drawn up stating a certain % interest.

Sharon showed us where our credit was at in the "tier" format and implied we would be getting the interest rate we signed the contract for but said we might be able to get the interest rate lower through my employer, a local Credit Union. Sharon introduced us to Rob Clarkson who she said would be handling the contract as she was going on vacation the following week. She told us to contact Rob in the event we were able to get a better interest rate with my employer.

We signed the contract, they gave us their little dealer "gift" of olive oil/vinegar, the keys to the car, handshakes and hugs. We left the dealership on top of the world in the car we wanted and were led to believe was ours at that point. At no time were we ever told there could be a problem getting financing at the rate we signed the contract for.

Two days later, upon learning that we could not find a better rate or even get an approval through my employer, we advised Niello of the situation. Rob and Jackie said they would work on securing the financing. During this time, Rob kept putting the ball in my court and asking me to try to find financing. We felt this was his job but it was apparent that he was not committed to doing so and acted with no sense of urgency whatsoever. He said we could come in and put down a large down payment which we told Jackie we would not do from day #1. By Wednesday Rob said he had exhausted all of his sources and could not find a lender.

By Friday, I called Dave Niello (owner) and explained the situation to him. I told him we were going on a week now with a car in our garage that we still did not have financing for and were getting extremely frustrated. I told him I wanted to wrap this situation up today (Friday) because Saturday would be the only day I would be available to return the car if it came to that. Without promising anything, he said he would talk to his general manager and he would call me back. I never heard from him Friday and on Saturday, we received a certified letter in the mail demanding we return the car within 24 hours. We immediately called Niello (Rob) and told them we were bringing the car back, would be there in one hour, and to please have our trade-in vehicle waiting. He said he would have it ready.

We got there and Jackie came out to meet us. She then informed us that they (Niello) had in fact found us financing, however, it was at a higher rate than what was on the contract that Sharon indicated we would qualify for. We told them that financing at the higher interest rate would not work for us and that we were returning the car as per the certified letter. We then surrendered their car and got our trade-in back.

Upon doing some research, we found out that this is called the "Spot Delivery" Scam, also known as the "Yo-Yo" Scam and "The Financing Fell Through" Scam. It is not illegal but it sure is unethical! This is where a dealer leads you to believe that you are getting a lower interest rate, and then after you take the car home and fall in love with it and show it to all of your friends, they drop the bomb on you and tell you that you do not qualify for the lower interest rate they had initially written the contract for. It is a scam because they have your credit report and your credit score and they know before they ever write up the contract what you can and can not qualify for. But they release the car to you banking on the fact that by then you will have fallen in love with it and you will do anything to keep it including putting huge sums of money down or accepting a higher interest rate which significantly raises your monthly payment.

I told the GM, Greg, that we knew this is what they did to us but he tried to deny it. Well, it can't get any clearer folks, that is EXACTLY what they did to us and we are here to let the rest of the world know! On top of that, the dealer has a rather silly big banner hanging up saying "TRUST TAKES TIME" but in this case they totally lost ours. We will never buy a car from any of the Niello dealerships and you won't either now that you know what scammers they are. Beware! They KNEW the whole time exactly what they were doing!

Robert
Cotati, California
U.S.A.