Dad was sweet talked into signing an agreement form to sell his car on the spot

[pocketadventure]

My father got sweet talked into signing an agreement to sell his vehicle on the spot by a dealer located in Turf City. He is 62 years old and doesn't know how to read English. No other person was present when he signed. The person who referred the dealer is from a workshop where my father send his vehicle for repairs. And this same person kept telling my father this is the best price to sell liao. So shady imo. I checked with other dealers and not surprised to know that my father can get a better price elsewhere.

I called the dealer and asked him nicely why didn't he explain to my father what he was going to sign. My father thought it was just a letter of offer but turns out it was the sales agreement. The dealer rudely replied say buy and sell car is like going to supermarket buy chicken. Very simple no need to explain. He even told me, if you all change your mind just compensate me because your father signed liao. You better do your homework before you call me. If not we go court lor. This dealer who I spoke to apparently is the boss.

I know there is nothing much I can do when my father is too embarrassed to pursue this matter. No unkind comments please. Already feel damn down liao.

[PSP415]

12 minutes ago, pocketadventure said:

My father got sweet talked into signing an agreement to sell his vehicle on the spot by a dealer located in Turf City. He is 62 years old and doesn't know how to read English. No other person was present when he signed. The person who referred the dealer is from a workshop where my father send his vehicle for repairs. And this same person kept telling my father this is the best price to sell liao. So shady imo. I checked with other dealers and not surprised to know that my father can get a better price elsewhere.

I called the dealer and asked him nicely why didn't he explain to my father what he was going to sign. My father thought it was just a letter of offer but turns out it was the sales agreement. The dealer rudely replied say buy and sell car is like going to supermarket buy chicken. Very simple no need to explain. He even told me, if you all change your mind just compensate me because your father signed liao. You better do your homework before you call me. If not we go court lor. This dealer who I spoke to apparently is the boss.

I know there is nothing much I can do when my father is too embarrassed to pursue this matter. No unkind comments please. Already feel damn down liao.

It is unfortunate that your dad trusted too easily. The person at workshop and car dealer. 

I only have 1 question. Why did your dad go alone? You were too busy or he is independent in such matters?

Anyways, other than throwing good money after bad by going to court which your dad is understandably embarrassed and will not want to take this course of action, you left with not much choice. 

At the end of the day, am sure when the dealer quoted your dad the buy price, he is OK with it.

Why not leave it there?

I mean it was his car, his money and he is probably upset with himself as well. Its a lesson even educated and language proficient individuals still make today. 

Rant here to release frustration. After that, pls do not keep at it with your dad ya like a nagging dripping tap. 

No offence. 

Stay safe 

Cheers 

 

 

[Ct3833]

3 minutes ago, pocketadventure said:

My father got sweet talked into signing an agreement to sell his vehicle on the spot by a dealer located in Turf City. He is 62 years old and doesn't know how to read English. No other person was present when he signed. The person who referred the dealer is from a workshop where my father send his vehicle for repairs. And this same person kept telling my father this is the best price to sell liao. So shady imo. I checked with other dealers and not surprised to know that my father can get a better price elsewhere.

I called the dealer and asked him nicely why didn't he explain to my father what he was going to sign. My father thought it was just a letter of offer but turns out it was the sales agreement. The dealer rudely replied say buy and sell car is like going to supermarket buy chicken. Very simple no need to explain. He even told me, if you all change your mind just compensate me because your father signed liao. You better do your homework before you call me. If not we go court lor. This dealer who I spoke to apparently is the boss.

I know there is nothing much I can do when my father is too embarrassed to pursue this matter. No unkind comments please. Already feel damn down liao.

Your father case is not an isolated case, many other innocent sellers ran into similar situation. Why did he go to those places alone without telling you guys and why is it that he still want to inform you all when the deal is sealed? Looks like the workshop cannot be trusted as well, dont tell me that is his regular workshop.
The other question is how much is the diff? if the  diff is a just a few hundred dollars or a msall % of the total price,  then the dealer has no wrong doing, price different from place to place in a open market economy. Do also note one point, when you start asking other dealers to quote after you have sold your car, they will quote you a very high price  to discredit the other dealer, this is a common practice in the market. 
Last, if the price is so much different from other dealers, then you may want to check with the existing dealer how much would be the penalty if your dad will to back out the deal and see if the diff is worth doing so.

If you feel that the dealer is being unscrupulous, then do share their name here to benefit others. Otherwise, my take is accept the fact, move on and no point getting upset anymore.

 

 

[pocketadventure]

@PSP415 We won't nag at him for sure because he is already feeling so down because of this whole matter. He did not make a trip down but the dealer came to my father to take a look at the vehicle. We were all at work that's why none of us was present when he was coaxed into signing the agreement. He told us he wanted to sell his vehicle and we were planning to help him do it soon. I guess he mentioned it to the person at the workshop and then this happened. 😞

[Fcw75]

Is it his regular workshop?  
 

Boycott it because he will get a cut from the dealer.

Edited February 11, 2022 by Fcw75

[PSP415]

20 minutes ago, pocketadventure said:

@PSP415 We won't nag at him for sure because he is already feeling so down because of this whole matter. He did not make a trip down but the dealer came to my father to take a look at the vehicle. We were all at work that's why none of us was present when he was coaxed into signing the agreement. He told us he wanted to sell his vehicle and we were planning to help him do it soon. I guess he mentioned it to the person at the workshop and then this happened. 😞

That's good. 

If you stand by what you shared here as 100% truth, then you can share the car dealer here for ppl to take note and made aware, to avoid. 

Meanwhile, your dad and family may do well to let go of this unhappy episode. 

Hehe.... go buy $10 toto and who knows, may get lucky. 😂😂😂

No buy no hope. Got buy got hope. Pls ah, dun become addicted and blame me OK.

Yada-ing 

Stay safe 

Cheers 

[pocketadventure]

27 minutes ago, Ct3833 said:

Your father case is not an isolated case, many other innocent sellers ran into similar situation. Why did he go to those places alone without telling you guys and why is it that he still want to inform you all when the deal is sealed? Looks like the workshop cannot be trusted as well, dont tell me that is his regular workshop.
The other question is how much is the diff? if the  diff is a just a few hundred dollars or a msall % of the total price,  then the dealer has no wrong doing, price different from place to place in a open market economy. Do also note one point, when you start asking other dealers to quote after you have sold your car, they will quote you a very high price  to discredit the other dealer, this is a common practice in the market. 
Last, if the price is so much different from other dealers, then you may want to check with the existing dealer how much would be the penalty if your dad will to back out the deal and see if the diff is worth doing so.

If you feel that the dealer is being unscrupulous, then do share their name here to benefit others. Otherwise, my take is accept the fact, move on and no point getting upset anymore.

 

 

He didn't inform us, we found out. And yes it is his regular workshop. Yes I do understand and appreciate where you are coming from. The price difference is more than a few hundreds. The problem is the dealer transferred a $10k deposit on the spot. We don't want to pay the penalty based on the deposit amount. The deposit amount is so high that it makes us feel that something is wrong. Like a death trap for my father so he cannot back off the deal.

[pocketadventure]

12 minutes ago, Fcw75 said:

Is it his regular workshop?  
 

Boycott it because he will get a cut from the dealer.

Yes it is his regular workshop 😞

[Ingenius]

As I understand, the industry norm is that if a buyer back out of a deal, his deposit is confiscated.  And if a seller back out of the deal, he just have to pay back double the deposit he gotten.  Even if brought to court, this should be the amount of compensation awarded.  This is just a case of buyer\seller remorse, which is within an acceptable human error of judgement, the penalty awarded won't be high.

Edited February 11, 2022 by Ingenius

[Ct3833]

9 hours ago, pocketadventure said:

He didn't inform us, we found out. And yes it is his regular workshop. Yes I do understand and appreciate where you are coming from. The price difference is more than a few hundreds. The problem is the dealer transferred a $10k deposit on the spot. We don't want to pay the penalty based on the deposit amount. The deposit amount is so high that it makes us feel that something is wrong. Like a death trap for my father so he cannot back off the deal.

I don’t know how much different in % of that few hundreds from the total sale price but the fact that the dealer paid 10K  deposit, the car price should be high, and that few hundred would be a small %. We have to understand that  price varies from shop to shop, there is no standard benchmark to follow.  Since the dealer has paid 10k immediately, I have to say that they are sincere and genuine. Of course they are quick to lock in a good buy price, but it does not look like they have scammed your dad. The way  the guy spoke to you is a different story, I have no mannerism  expectation from car dealers.

The other thing is the workshop that recommended your dad is his regular workshop, i dont think he would send your dad to a scam shop, at best i would see it as he was recommending a lobang to his friend who is a dealer.

Edited February 11, 2022 by Ct3833

[Unltd]

1) there will always be a better deal, hence buyers / sellers remorse

2) your dad is not too elderly, he can make his decisions, did the dealer cheat by changing the price? Or it’s as agreed? 

3) you indicated your dad spoke about wanting to sell the car, family didn’t work on it and procrastinated? When he spoke with the workshop, they probably tried to help and worked on it immediately since it’s his regular workshop

based on your posts, your dad had the intention to sell, the family sat on it. In passing he spoke to his regular trusted workshop and they helped him by introducing a dealer. The dealer probably made a decent offer (there will always be a better deal, especially after the paperwork is done and you go ask around, or you are checking the selling price based on online platforms without taking into account the work that goes in to making the car nicer, storage, discounts etc) and your dad accepted. The dealer transferred $ in the spot which is sincere…

 
 

[Kopites]

TS has no case unless he can prove that his dad isn't in the capacity to understand the contract or/and there are misrepresentation in the process.

Also your dad in providing his personal banking details to the dealer also spell more like willing buyer/willing seller. 

Let it be. Nothing you can do now. If your dad are still feeling down, as his child probably you can make up the different in margin for him personally. 

Edited February 11, 2022 by Kopites

[Freeder]

20 hours ago, pocketadventure said:

He didn't inform us, we found out. And yes it is his regular workshop. Yes I do understand and appreciate where you are coming from. The price difference is more than a few hundreds. The problem is the dealer transferred a $10k deposit on the spot. We don't want to pay the penalty based on the deposit amount. The deposit amount is so high that it makes us feel that something is wrong. Like a death trap for my father so he cannot back off the deal.

Can you just tell us the car details and the price?

From there we can see how’s the deal like? 
Without any specific details, we can only deduce it like COP…

[D3badge]

36 minutes ago, Freeder said:

Can you just tell us the car details and the price?

From there we can see how’s the deal like? 
Without any specific details, we can only deduce it like COP…

Agreed,

for TS could just search sgCarMart for the same make and model with similar registration year and mileage , then minus a few thousand or more to 5 digits ( higher end make and  model) for consumers to bargain ( sure need to build buffer for Low ballers by dealers) and dealer margin as all business need to make money. nobody works for free!

best you let formers hear know the make and model plus year registration like many suggested! From this you can see was it really a deal that bad? 

Edited February 12, 2022 by D3badge

[Beregond]

There is no standard price to sell any car.

Its like buying tyres, there is alway another shop who can quote u cheaper on the phone.

My best guess is the regular ws your dad go to is not the direct dealer. but introduce only. The dealer will need to give that WS  angpao, 

If the car is sold at 5 digit cost, a different of a few hundred frankly is very very small.

The key is the translation go through smoothly and your dad is happy.

[Datsun366]

Hope TS can let go of the car deal. The more important is your Dad.

Please get professional such as a trained social worker who is acute and will advise you accordingly...go family service centre.

Family will get emotional and upsrt after all, our parents teach us to be protective and loving against self harm.

Even cable company agreements or telco agreements as well...

Some early onset of health problems might interfere with choices...might want to look into that. But the approach needs to be soft. Not what you think is soft but some professional help, not in a forum but face to face.

Lord knows the gek sim for a $900 tiong phone but it is his decision.

Take it easy. Car can replace. Get pro help as you are emotional now.

Guys i had a young cute girl willing to call me daddy if i bought her a car...blur until i said coe car with few months oso call me daddy? 😁

[Arogab]

TS, note I am not trying to be unkind. I just be rational to this. From what you mention, a deposit of 10k was given on the spot. Thus, this cannot be an offer to your dad. 

To argue further, may not be viable in such situation. Just my 2 cents worth. 

If the dealer you mention truly tell you all those words that you say. Then expose them, expose the car workshop too, they should be more courteous to talk to you. If I am the dealer, I would be saying politely, "I am sorry if your dad thinks that way, we did mention to him this is right time to sell and we offer him, we also paid the deposit on the spot and now the car is taken up, I cannot refund...."

Then you will not have any chance to complain here too.

And by the way, if the amount within the one to few thousands, then also no words to argue further as everyone buying and selling will price it differently. I do get a few k more when I sell my car cos my car is absolutely clean that no one thinks a car that age can be that clean and well maintained. 

Just need to be more careful in future over such case. Spend some time consoling your dad and make him happy. Not think about it too much already.

[Freeder]

2 minutes ago, Datsun366 said:

Hope TS can let go of the car deal. The more important is your Dad.

Please get professional such as a trained social worker who is acute and will advise you accordingly...go family service centre.

Family will get emotional and upsrt after all, our parents teach us to be protective and loving against self harm.

Even cable company agreements or telco agreements as well...

Some early onset of health problems might interfere with choices...might want to look into that. But the approach needs to be soft. Not what you think is soft but some professional help, not in a forum but face to face.

Lord knows the gek sim for a $900 tiong phone but it is his decision.

Take it easy. Car can replace. Get pro help as you are emotional now.

Guys i had a young cute girl willing to call me daddy if i bought her a car...blur until i said coe car with few months oso call me daddy? 😁

Bro, u ok boh?😰