Overhaulin' - They would not sell us a car for cash?

They would not sell us a car for cash?

My husband is a CPA who works from home. He makes very good income he was however, turned down when he went to buy a car today. He wanted to purchase a 2003 Range Rover from a car lot in Santa Monica, Ca. They checked his credit before he went in; they told him that he qualified. But, when he arrived at the lot to inspect the car/purchase the salesman referred him to his boss who was unfriendly. He would not let him finance because, he works from home. So he offered to pay 15,000 down cash on an 18,000 vehicle. And he told him that he needs to check with his boss first. We suspect racial discrimination: he did ask my husband if he planned to send this car to Nigeria. My husband is African but not Nigerian. I would like to have the incident investigated but, I m not sure who to contact.

Public Comments

I would file a report with the better business bureau for your state
Sounds like a jerk but I suspect the guy was a little scared about how you were going to pay for the car the Nigeria may refer to a common scam that involves shipping a car and taking a check, cashing it then keeping the extra for the trouble the scam comes from emails from Nigeria. It also sounds like a buy here pay here lot. Those guys do not like to do cash sales because they lose money on them. I would say go to another lot. If you still want the car get the cash and take it to the lot but I wouldn't buy from him.
15000 down on an 18000 car isn't paying cash for it. It's certainly possible that the lender needed proof of income in order to process the loan, if your hubby works for all cash and doesn't pay himself via paycheck or other means and has marginal credit, he may not qualify for any loan amount. Racial discrimination????? Are you out of your mind??? To a salesperson everyone is one color,,,,,GREEN. There is no black, white, brown, yellow, everyone represents another opportunity to make a buck.
Dealer was a jerk. He probably didn't want to negotiate down to $15K. Buy a car somewhere else, it's a dealers loss. By the way, Range Rovers are not reliable and you'll be constantly repairing it like the guy I worked with. At least once a month he had problems with a car. Buy something more reliable like a Lexus or a BMW.
well sometimes if you don't pay the state tax that might be a problem. you may not register the car unless you can find help from a close friend. or just go to someone else if you feel it's discrimination.
Sounds like the salesperson thought that maybe they were getting scammed somehow? nigerian scamming is all over the internet i know but i have never seen a nigerian scam at a car lot Lol anyway i don't think it was a racial issue but maybe an overly cautious salesperson and that really don't make much sense considering he was gonna get 15,000.00 down payment on a 18,000.00 Suv ? who knows what their thinking is in this screwed up economy now a days I would just take my 15,000 else where and buy from another dealership.
dealer was probably thinking "419 scam." In any event, I would say that it was racial discrimination, clearly. The BBB doesn't do sh!t...you can report them, but ultimately nothing will happen to the dealer. Car dealers are like walmart--complaints are not going to put them out of business. I'm sorry that happened to you, I hate car dealers. They are the most cheating, lying, scum and everyone knows it!!
Why not just buy one priced $15K from a private party? There are tons of Range Rovers in So Cal. http://www.autotrader.com I seriously doubt a dealer would turn down a deal over racism espcially in this economy. What happened is they could not finance someone who is self employed and lacks the proof to get lender approval. $15k doesnt exactly cover the cost of a $18k car which is over $20k after tax & fees. So you would still need to finance $5k+ which the dealer felt would be difficult.