Demand Letter To Dealer: Fill & Download for Free

Indian auto sales have been declining for almost 10 months now.[1]The linked article already mentions two of the key reasons for this — the government’s push for EV (Electric Vehicles) and the Bharat VI emission norms.The EV push, along with lucrative tax incentives to drive adoption, would have forced some prospective buyers to postpone the purchase. EVs are far more economical per mile, and tax rebate of upto 1.5L on interest paid for an EV loan are now tax deductible[2]. For a household earning above 20LPA, paying a 30% marginal tax rate, it would mean that the effective interest rate you would pay on the loan would come down from 9–10% to 6–7%. At the same time, you can use the money you would have paid if you had not taken the loan to invest in some sturdy medium-risk portfolios that would earn you 10–12% returns.The Bharat VI emission norms were announced last year in Oct.[3] The implementation deadline is in another 7-8 months. To make vehicles compliant with the new norms, the engines would need to be modified. As such, the cost would go up both for the vehicles and the fuel (which would also be costlier[4]). Also, while the new norms will be costlier to implement for the automobile manufacturers, the diesel variants will become even more costlier.[5]The prohibitively high cost of upgrading diesel engines to meet the new BS-VI emission norms is why leading carmakers have pulled the plug on their diesel options. The economics of the conversion does not make it worthwhile to continue with the diesel option after the transition to BS-VI. The difference in the price of a petrol and a diesel car, now around Rs 1 lakh on average, could go up to Rs 2.5 lakh.Almost half the cars sold in India run on diesel since it is less expensive and more economical than petrol. Above a certain amount of KM driven, it would be economically profitable to go for the diesel variants. So, people who would have preferred it to the petrol variants might again be postponing their purchase.There is another reason which is the liquidity crunch currently, owing due to the recent crash and burn of the NBFC sector. [6]Dealers also depend on NBFCs for the funds to buy vehicles from manufacturers. According to the letter written by Siam to the finance secretary, 70% of two-wheeler sales and 60% of commercial vehicles sales are financed by NBFCs.Siam, in its letter to the finance secretary, said NBFCs have exposure to vehicle financing in every category especially in the semi-urban and rural markets and the lack of credit has hit every stakeholder in the value chain. The industry lobby also pointed out that with the upfront payment of the goods and services tax dealers are facing a crunch for working capital loans.A softer reason would be the fact that in a lot of major cities, huge investments in public transport infrastructure are being made. In Mumbai, there are more than dozen metro lines being developed right now. This has actually worsened the traffic conditions, but at the same time, people are expecting far better connectivity once the work is completed. As such, having a car might not sound really compelling at the moment also considering that on-demand cabs are available in most large cities.Footnotes[1] India Motor Vehicles Sales Growth[2] India looks to lead electric vehicle race with latest push in budget[3] Bharat Stage VI norms: Know how they will impact you[4] Cleaner fuel comes at a cost! BS VI to spike petrol, diesel prices by up to Rs 2 per litre[5] Explained: The problem with diesel[6] NBFC liquidity crisis hits India’s auto industry hard

In June 1950 my father received an official letter notifying him that his reserve status in the U.S. military was being changed to ACTIVE DUTY due to the impending “Police Action” in Korea. I still have that letter: when I slowly close my fingers while it rests in my hand, the rumples in the paper perfectly match my clenched fist, which is the same size as my father’s. Almost as if he’d crumpled the paper in despair while saying “SH!T!!!!” in June of 1950 (I can imagine it, anyway). My parents were engaged to be married in 1951, but they decided to move the wedding up to the weekend before he was to report for re-activation at Scott AFB in Belleville, Illinois.On to the car dealership scam. Having decided to marry sooner rather than later, they would need a car quickly. So they headed to a Kansas City Chevrolet dealership. They ordered a new well-equipped black 4-door that could be quickly made at the local assembly plant and put down a $200 deposit (equivalent to $2,000 today). The week of their wedding, the dealership called to tell them their new car was in and ready for them to pick up.Below, the car they ordered:They went to the dealership and a porter drove around a pea-green stripper business coupe without a back seat, no radio, no heater, no whitewall tires, no outside rear-view mirrors, no turn signals, no carpet. The basest model available. My parents were stunned. The dealership explained that was what was available and was offering it to them. My parents were not pleased and declined the car, asking for their deposit back. Here comes the scam part.“Nope,” the sales manager replied, “take this car or nothing and no refund of the deposit.” Due to heavy demand for cars, the dealership had a tiny print clause in the sales contract they’d signed that said, “or reasonable substitute.” Of course, my parents argued to no avail that a stripper car with no back seat was not a reasonable substitute for the expensive model they’d ordered. The sales manager just laughed and walked away. “Pay for the rest of it and take it, or don’t pay the rest and leave it, “ he said. They left it.Below, pretty much the stripper car delivered, (minus all the charm of this one):Hurriedly, my parents went to a used car dealer who treated them nicely and fixed them up with a used 1947 Ford 4-door sedan, even taking $200 off his asking price when he heard about the lost deposit. My parents figured the used car dealer barely broke even on the car, which proved to be a good one.Below, a kind and honest dealer sold them this excellent car model:My father reported for induction, but it was delayed and eventually cancelled. So my folks returned to Kansas City and got on with their lives. But the final part of the scam: they were in their ’47 Ford at a stoplight when, just as it turned green, a new black ’50 4-door Chevrolet — identical to the one they’d ordered — rolled past them… driven by the sales manager at that Chevrolet dealership.Below, possibly the very GM sales manager driving their car:To this day, nobody in my extended family has ever since purchased a new car made by General Motors and likely never will. That’s how long the outrage over their treatment has extended and lasted. Old GM continued allowing their dealers to pull crap like that on customers for the next 58 years. Now “New” GM still makes no effort to rein in the shoddy practices of much of their much diminished but still sketchy and often outright-criminal dealer network.Below, how GM dealers see themselves:Going bankrupt with all stockholders losing ALL their investment and many dealers forced to close still hasn’t changed how they do business. If anything, they’re worse today.Below, how the general public mostly sees GM dealers:

The interstate might be a problem. Did they tell you they could register the car in New York? Was this a new car or a used car? Finally, do you have the car in your possession?Normally in car transactions sales tax and registrations are done in the state if purchase. Then if you want the car registered in another state you do that yourself, and usually at extra expense.I am not up to date on how these big companies like CarMax and other large sellers are handling things when selling used cars. You likely have to be a resident of at least one of those states.If it was not a national company but rather a local dealer, that is likely where the problem lies. If they promised you they could do an out of state registration and found out they cannot. Obviously Ignoring your calls and those of the bank are not good signs.My suggestion is to call the government agency in Florida that oversees car dealers…DMV or Bureau of Motor Vehicles or whatever they call themselves. Lodge a complaint with them and ask for their guidance. There is also a Consumer Affairs department…each state has different terms. Lodge a complaint with that department as well.Send a Registered Signature Required letter to the dealer and demand that they respond with the status of your registration. Tell them you are discussing this issue with DNV and Consumer Affairs due to their lack of response.You might still have to do your own registration in New York. I think that is going to be one thing they cannot do for you.