A lot of men and women hate car dealers. Needless to say, there are always nice guys, but many car dealers just have to cheat their way to profits. Here are the top 5 auto scams that you absolutely must avoid, or risk paying way too much for your vehicle.

The Yo-Yo Financing Scam
The dealer sells you a car and permits you to take it home immediately. You finance your car through the dealer, but a couple of days later, the dealer calls and informs you your financing has fallen through. You’re then told to put up new financing through the dealer, in a significantly greater price to you, and also a much greater profit to them. Avoid this at all costs! For those who have terrible credit, do not fund at the dealer. Arrange your own financing. If you finance through the dealer, never push your car instantly. You need to wait at least 24 hours prior to taking your new vehicle, in order to make sure funding is complete. This permits the trader no way to perform the scam on you.

The Window Etching Fee
This is one of the most absurd but frequent scams I’ve heard off. Basically the trader offers to window etch your VIN number from the window of your car for you, at a cost ranging from $300 to $1000. Some people have tried to talk down the purchase price, and they often succeed, but the dealer still makes a couple of hundreds off you. The simplest way to solve this issue? Just buy a diy window etching kit in any good auto parts store. It only costs $20.

The Dealer Preparation Fee
The dealer charges you a preparation fee to prepare your vehicle. Some often charge an outrageous $500 or more just to peel off the plastic protection on the car, test drive the vehicle and set in the fuses. Many MSRP stickers indicate that these costs have already been covered by the manufacturer. In actuality, some dealerships permanently publish it to the purchaser’s order to make it seem mandatory, but one way you can get it removed is by telling the dealer to put in a charge (of the exact same amount as the dealer prep fees) on another line. Should they refuse to do this, you should just walk out of the dealership.

The Market Adjustment Fee
In this scam, the dealer tells you your car is a popular car, and so to sell you the vehicle they must include”Market Adjustment Fees” of a few thousand dollars. This amount is usually indicated on an orange sticker beside manufacturer’s MSRP sticker. A car might be popular, but if it’s in stock, it’s not worth paying extra for this. Many buyers, particularly trade-in buyers, have been ripped off before. They focus only on what they get for their old car, and thus they do not see the big image. They may find an extra few million for their car, but they do not observe that they’re charged a much greater Market Adjustment Fee. The dealer sells the car, gets the trade-in, and makes an additional off the buyer. Never pay more than the manufacturer’s MSRP.

The Extended Warranty Scam
The Extended Warranty scam is old but it’s still in use. And several individuals still do fall for it. Basically, when you take a loan on your vehicle, the dealer will say you need to get an extended warranty because the lender requires it to get the loan. Avoiding this scam is quite simple actually. Tell the dealer to write down in black and white that the extended warranty is required for the loan and they will most probably find some excuse to eliminate the extended warranty. Should they refuse to do so, then please don’t buy from that dealership. In fact, the extended warranty is a terrific thing to have, but do not ever get it from the dealer. You can get better deals elsewhere, particularly online.Don’t get ripped off by auto dealers!