Is This Your Contract

BUS 311: Business Law I
Instructor:

What is something that we all go thru at one point in our lives, something that makes our word our bond. We agree to something and we decide to put it on paper for how long no matter what comes up we stick to it. Now contract can be so testy we don’t know if we are breaching it or right on task. There are contract almost everywhere that we go, when we get a car, buy a house, even when you sign up for a credit card you are putting yourself in a contact. Now every time that you think about something that you want to get into a contract with, it's always smart to think research and make sure that what you are doing is great for you. For example people everyday get into a new car contract because they really need it. Now I have done this in the past but before we got into the contract I made sure that we were able to afford it. Now something that my wife does is takes all the information that we gathered from the car lot and made sure that it would fit in our budget. Now after a long talk we were able to come to the decision that we would take the car. But we wanted to make sure that this is something that really wanted to, I know that if we were not going to be able to afford it then we would be in more trouble for not having that ability to pay for it. Now we are really going to get into this car contract a little deeper and by that I mean we are going to see what is good and what is bad about all decision that will be made in the final hours of the contract. So we will skip past the months that you test drive, and research everything about the new vehicle that you want. And when I mean new I mean 2014 or 2015, the reason why is because having a new car is a lot better then having used new car. Plus there are so many laws that protect you from certain scams that can happen with a used car. Now you are at the lot and you are talking about trading in your old car for this nice new one. Make sure you have the Kelly blue book and the Edmunds report on what is the right cost for your car. Never say yes to a blind deal that the dealer will give you, because in the long run they might be stealing out of your pocket and you didn’t even know it. So you have the offer for your car and now in your head you know how much you want to put down out of your own money but never let them know how much cash you really have on you because they will squeeze every cent out of you. Be cautious and start small because the higher you start you can't go back after you said that number. So once you have the price of your car and the price that you are willing to spend out of your own pocket. Then you can start to talk about the car that you want. Now the reason why you want to do everything separate is because dealer get on a track to throw so much at you, the reason why they do this is because they don’t want you to catch on that they are really trying to rip you off. So taking it one step at a time you are getting everything that you want for your car at a fair value. Also you are making sure that you don’t offer high cash payment so you can save a little money here. Now you remember that research part that we talked about this is what takes place now because when you go to the dealer and you tell them what the rates are that are offered on the car really puts them on there toes because they have just found out that they can't give you a high rate because you told them about what they are offering and plus you show them that you should get it because your credit score is going to meet the criteria of everything. Keeping the dealer on there toes tends to make them pay attention of all your needs and not want to put you in a car that is going to make you unhappy. At this point they want to not mess up because they know that if they do you will get up and say goodbye. Now that is something that you can be afraid to do because there are dealers out there and don’t think people who are prepared to do. The only reason why is they think you really want a new car because you 1. Came in 2. Talked about trade in value and 3. You did all your research. But the real beauty about this is that you do have the power, you don’t have to take the offer they give you because you know what you can afford and you haven’t signed one paper that you accept this. Once you sign that paper stating you want the car then the car is yours, but until then the dealer need to learn how to meet your needs. Now after you get everything that you want and you got the right price then you can sign but only if you are really happy with the car. you always want to make sure that this is the car that you want. Now picture you are the car dealer and someone came up to you and said they want a new 2014 car of course you will be all over that because that means money in your pocket. You as the dealer are going to ask what cars they are looking at and if your aren’t prepared they will put you in something that you will love but in the long run you are not going to be able to afford it. But as the dealer you are not thinking that you are trying to get information from them that is going to make them fall in love with the car that you have them in. such as pricing on the car they are bringing in or how much they want to put down on this new car. Now like I said earlier you don’t have to tell them nothing but you want to make it seem that you have some money but not a lot. Now you have told them how much you want to pay for the car, he has how much your trade is worth plus your cash that you are willing to put towards the car. The dealer goes away for a while and comes back with your offer if and tells you want he prices and everything is going to be. At this point you still haven’t signed anything so you still are not obligated to take the vehicle. Just because the dealer said that this price would be your monthly payment, doesn’t mean that there is still a better offer out there. You can tell him that once I get to the price that I know I should be at I am not going to take that deal, or do what I do and that is thanks for your time but that is not what I know I can get have a great day, goodbye. Doing that get you more motivated to really get that sale and without the customer telling you what they can get you are throwing other deals that you forgot to say earlier because your didn’t think that these people really did the right research for the vehicle. Now everything is done you have the finance guy start the paper work so they can go over everything with you and let you know all of the other things that you did earlier and now been approved and ready for last step before driving your new car off the lot. Now the finance man is gathering papers like a bill of sale, warranty papers, etc. everything that you sign is basically telling you that you are responsible for whatever may happen to the car from the time you leave here and when you want to resell it later. Now you can still back out of the sale now but once you start signing you are taking the reasonability from the dealer to yourself and it's going to be all you soon. There are some laws that you have as a new car owner and that is the lemon law meaning that it covers new automobile buyers who find the experience, or the vehicle, is sour. Lemon Law refers to legal rights and responsibilities of buyers and car dealers in the state, and Oregon's law on the matter can help buyers of bad vehicles obtain a new vehicle or refund. The spirit of the Oregon Lemon Law covers serious defects that impair use and value of vehicles during the first 24,000 miles or 2 years, whichever is first. Manufacturers must be notified of issues in writing so they have a chance to remedy the situation. Now if we are to look at someone that was pushy to you trying to get you to do something that you didn’t want to do right now because you know it is not right for you. Then yes we can all agree that it is not ethical, because you should have to feel rushed about making a purchase that is going to be apart for your for the next 6 years. Because lets say you are happy now what might happen in five months that might not make you so happy. You know you want to make sure that you couldn’t find anything wrong that everything you are about to do is right and there is nothing out there that is going to stop you on this car right about now. My wife and I just went thru something like that at a car dealership that I will leave nameless because the sales man was pushy and said you are missing out on a great deal. I don’t care about missing out I care about my family a little more and when I told him that we will not have certain things that my kids are really going to need he didn’t get the picture so I had to say I'm not taking food out of my kids mouth so I can have a new car, Goodbye. People like that really get under my skin because my kids are important to me and I want them to know that I want the best for them and I'm not going to take anything from them so I can have new stuff that is not fair. Sales man from the beginning know what you can afford because they ask you and for them to sit there and say it's not that much more I think is bad because they are telling you whatever you are going to use that for later is not going to be better than this. Now trying to get someone to get upside down is only going to put them in debt and then they are going to almost lose everything because they may not be able to afford the car in the first place and you are trying to get them to get something that may not even work for them in the long run. Now everything that comes out of this has to be backed up. Although everything we sign is on paper evenly everything that you signed it sent over to the lean holder and then they are going to have all the information that was provided to me because if something may happen they would be able to provided me with the right information. Although that every time I have bought a car everything was done on paper. Lately when I have been finishing my taxes at H&R Block they have to do everything thru computer where it remembers my signature so all I have to do is agree and hit the sign button. It is nice to have that but I think that there is a lot wrong with that because if you just keep hitting agree you might be agree for 30 business to give you credit cards and next thing you know you have all this inquires on your credit because you didn’t take the time to read thru it like you should have. There is a reason all of that is there for us. By signing the paper we are taking our right for fighting for it off the table later in life. We made the choice to not read it and if it haunts us in the future than that is our entire fault the dealership put it there to read and we choose not too. Now if there is a problem about something else with the car it is new so we have rights to that. But there might be something that we might need to look up later having certain things at our fingertips to show us ohh yeah we did do that or ohh crap that is my fault tends to keep us on track and make sure that we don’t do anything wrong because in reality almost everything will come back to us later. But sometimes you can find information that will work out for you, but you have to make sure that it is all correct. Because I don’t know how many times I have thought that I had some one right where I wanted them then boom I was completely wrong. Now if we are to think what is going to be better for everyone make sure you aren’t pushing something on someone that they might return. A great example I worked at a jewelry store, I know what you are think man the guy has had a lot of job. And yes I have but all of them are still awesome. Anyways I worked at a jewelry store and some customers would come in a buy something on their credit account well just like everyone else they all have a 30-day return. Now making sure that your customer has the right item they want they will not come return. But when you tell someone to just try it out for a week in the back of there mind they will return it, and the money you just got from the commission will be going back to the company. So my thought process is make sure everyone is happy and that no one will have buyer’s remorse and regret what the got. Because if you can get it right the first time then you tend to have a customer that will always see you no matter how busy you might get later. I still have customer that come into my paint store say please come back to Kay’s so we can buy from you no one there really knows us the way that you did. To me that is more important making everyone feel special. Now that my customers found out where I was to tell me to come back makes me smile because I know I did something right because now they are my painting buddies. So in the long run if we sell it right the first time, less people would have something that they would not be happy with in the long run. But also you will have someone that will always come back to you no matter what. So with contract we have to make sure that we are doing what we need to in the first place to make sure that we are not getting into something that will destroy us later in life. By making sure we take care of what we have to before hand because one you are in that contract you are stuck for the next 6 years. Also know that you can get up and walk away anytime that you feel the need to because you don’t have to do something that you really don’t want to do in the first place.

Reference Page:
Pakroo, P. H. (2014). CHAPTER 10: Entering Into Contracts and Agreements. In , Small Business Start-Up Kit for California (pp. 181-196). Nolo.

Moskowitz, D. J., Abrams, N., & Martin, A. (2006). Legal issues of securitized auto loans in an e-contract world. Asset Securitization Report, 6(27), 10-11.

http://www.doj.state.or.us/consumer/Pages/buying.aspx

http://www.doj.state.or.us/consumer/Pages/buying_3.aspx

http://www.doj.state.or.us/consumer/Pages/buying_2.aspx

http://www.dmv.org/or-oregon/buy-sell/used-cars/paper-work-when-buying-a-car.php