Should I/can I walk away?

Going to try and make this long, unintersting story as short and interesting as possible, and hopefully get a few replies before the tow truck comes and takes me back to the dealership.., okay then [?]

Was driving to the mall in my 1987 Buick Somerset last sunday when I passed by a car dealership and thought well, hey, it couldn't hurt to look (how wrong I have been)

Was shown a 2002 Malibu for around 10 grand, was told about the 150 point or whatever inspection it was put through, and how I could get into it RIGHT NOW and have LOW monthly payments. So, I was like, cool!! [!]

Thinking my credit application was approved, I gave them a check for 2000 for the downpayment, called an insurance company to get full coverage and put a 300 dollar deposite down for that, and handed over the keys to my old car, because I wouldn't be needing it anymore, because I'm apporved and the new car is mine, right? wrong.

I get a call Tuesday saying my application has been declined, but they (the dealership) are still working on ways to get me approved, and that they will know something by this friday ( tomorrow ), and I can go ahead and keep driving, and relax and not worry.

Okay, I'll go to bed tonight (wednesday) and not worry at all and sleep a full 8 hours, then wake up early in the morning and go to work and have a good day at work.

So.. I wake up this morning, head out the door at 6:45 AM, get in my nice new 2002 Malibu with cold ac and cd player and sun roof, I place the key in the ignition, turn the key, and noticed my nice new 2002 Malibu with cold ac and cd player and sun roof WILL NOT START.

.. I keep trying for a good 25 minutes, and nothing, and because of this, I had to miss work. ( Which is not a good thing, you can only miss a limited amout of days where I work before they fire you, and of course if I lose my job I can't pay for my nice new 2002 Malibu with cold ac, cd player, and sun roof, or my apartment, or food or anything like that)

I call the dealership, they give me a number of a tow truck driver to call, so I call the guy and he's like I'll be there in two hours, so now I'm all sitting here waiting, not sure what I should do.

The dealership said they would put me in something else, until the Malibu gets fixed, but now I'm not sure if I want the Malibu. I mean I've only had it four days, and it has already broke down, and caused me to miss a day of work. My 87 Buick that I had for four years had never broke down and had caused me to miss a grand total of 0 days of work.

So I can either wait for the Malibu to get fixed up and hope for the best, or try and get out of this. I mean, they told me my application was declined, so that means I have a chance of walking away. I can just ask for my 87 Buick back and hope they won't be asshats and give me the actual car, instead of the book value price for it (like 200 dollars)

Whether this car is a nice new BMW or a somewhat trouble prone used Malibu I would walk away if you can.

The first hint of this was when your credit was declined. If they have to go to alternative lenders you are going to pay through the nose in interest.

Keep the Buick and pay cash when you can. However, a car that won't start can be many things, the kids leave lights on in my Suburban all the time and run the battery dead or you could have major electrical problems.

Good Luck getting out of the deal.

Thank you for the reply.

Was up at the dealership all day, what a headache. Tow truck came and got me back to the lot, they told me it was just a dead battery, I said okay, and left thinking everything was fine. 30 minute drive later I get to the four way stop sign near my apartment, car dies out and won't restart for a good 10 minutes.

One hour later I'm back at the dealership. They tell me they're going to keep the car over night and get it fixed it for me, so hopefully when I wake up monday morning I'll be able to drive to work.

While I was waiting on my one day replacement car I went on to talk to one of the managers and she tells me one of their banks approved my application and she was able to drop my interest from 15% to 8%

That sounded okay to me, being a first time buyer with a few credit problems. Oh well. Maybe it will work out.

One final thing you should do. When I bought my used car from the dealer it had a 2 month 2000 mile warranty (or your Malibu may be under factory or extended factory warranty). Take the car immediatly to a third party mechanic and pay for a complete check of the car. A lemon check service will also do this and they sometimes come to your house or work. Have him put in writing anything he finds that may be wrong and take it back to the dealer and have them fix it under warranty if applicable (brakes, tires, etc. won't be).

Good luck. 8% is not bad rate. The best out there (very high credit score) on a used car is about 4.5% or so.

Also do the following on your own or through another service.

1. Replace the oil with Synthetic (Mobile 1 is a good choice).
2. Have the fuel filter replaced. This should be done every other year.
3. Check/replace the air filter.
4. When the brakes need done have them done at a good shop and put on quality semi-metalic or ceramic pads. Brakes are a recurring problem on this discussion board, but getting a good set should help reduce any problems according to other people on this board.
5. If there is any factory warranty left just before it runs out have the intake manifold checked at the dealer. They should check it for free as a warranty check, but you will have to check with them to be certain.

Just because the car had that 10,000 point inspection doesn't mean they did anything. I peeked at my service records at the dealer and the only thing they did on my "Certified Pre-Owned" vehicle was change the oil. The air filter was very dirty and the car ran much better with the new fuel filter as well.

I looked at getting an extended warranty on my Malibu especially due to some of the common complaints but the warranties are far more expensive that even the more common repairs will run you, so put a little in the bank each month to pay for some of the in-evitable repairs you will see with this vehicle. Expect to have about $1000 in non-wear repairs over a 5 year period. The intake manifold is almost a given and costs about $750 to repair.

I would have asked for my car back and told them the deal is off. If they said they did not have my car, I would have called the police and said they stole my car.

How about a 98 for 2,800 is that cool or is there something wrong with the car that they are selling for 2800 do tell me

Each used car is going to be unique and the price is more a matter of what a customer is willing to pay for a certain vehicle. Malibus have suffered low resell price due to a number of factors including a flood from the rental fleets.

If you like a car, have it checked by an independent mechanic and go from there. This is particually important for a car of that age and make.

Good Luck.

My STRONG advice, TAKE IT BACK!!!. Don't waste your time, seriously.

What the dealer did to you is called "Spot Financing" and is unethical at best, Illegal at worst. This was done to me also, because I was so "enamored" with the new car smell I guess. Fortunately the deal went over ok, but our local NBC news affiliate did a whole piece on this. Some people are forced to either accept payments much higher than they had anticipated, or the cars have even been repossessed by the dealers, who had disposed of the persons trade already.

Just be careful. I have a bankruptcy from 1997 and pay 8.95%. If you have good credit you should be paying significantly less and may qualify for the 0% to 1.9% offered by most manufacturers.