House of cars representing a buyer - is it legit?

[RX_EVOLV]

Hey guys. My gut says it's sketch but love to get you guys' feedback on this.

I'm currently selling a car on Kijiji/Autotrader. A guy from House of Cars sales they have a client interested in a car with my exact specs/color/condition and they are acting as the financing company to provide financing for this client to buy my car. They want me to drop by their place to have the car checked out, and then proceed with the transaction.

Sounds sketch.. is this legit?

[ercchry]

I had them do that to me too, wasn’t seeing much action on it so figured why not? Ended up having the buyer flake and was a waste of my time

[msommers]

House of Cars seems like such a sleezy place. Wouldn't surprise me one bit if they got shut down for illegal activities.

[max_boost]

That's probably to get you in the doOr and then maybe sway you in another direction. I gotta becareful how I word this. I don't want raj to get a letter lol my name is Sam so add a c in there somewhere and you'll get my point.

Are they charging a fee to sell your car?

Funny how they have a buyer interested in your car, that's like someone reaching out to me online saying they have a girl interested in me but I have to pay the finders fee first :rofl:

[Maxx Mazda]

Typical Kijiji scam. They’ll want a fee, the non existent buyer “won’t be able to get financing” they keep the fee, and you’re still stuck with your car.

[JfuckinC]

Just tell them to buy the car from you at full ask and deal with the rest themselves

[ercchry]

Also: there was no hard sell... they were super nonchalant about it all... more focused on sinking free throws in their mini basketball hoop than selling me on anything... “yeah, just leave the keys there, thanks”

[max_boost]

Just tell them to buy the car from you at full ask and deal with the rest themselves

Yes.

Dealer: I have a buyer for your $20k car but my fee is $500.
Me: Sweet. Cut me a cheque for $19,500 and the car is yours.
Dealer: It doesn't work like that. You have to pay $500.
Me: But you have a guy? This saves a step.
Dealer: ....
Me: ....

:rofl: :rofl:

Yes. Sometimes I was born yesterday but not today. :thumbsup:

[spikerS]

is this e-z cars and trucks . com scam part 2? James? is that you?

[Disoblige]

Couldn't hurt as long as you determine price before going down and wasting your time.

[ganesh]

Couldn't hurt as long as you determine price before going down and wasting your time.
OP mentioned in his post ' they are acting as the financing company to provide financing for this client to buy my car'

[colinxx235]

IIRC house of cars has extremely high financing rates correct? So I'd assume most of the clients are of lower education or made poor decisions. See house of car ads, salesman tells them they can get them in for the low payment of X/month (for 8years or so but thats Marth). Person with poor credit/concept sees the car they can get knowing they don't have the cash to purchase online and have been denied at other dealerships. HoC then approaches someone online looking to buy the car knowing they will get a huge financing fee plus mark up flip for doing so.

[rx7boi]

I used to get letters from Country Hills Hyundai about how a client is looking for the exact year and model of the car I owned :rofl:

Same shit, I suppose.

[you&me]

I'll play contrarian - HoC does serve a segment of the market that is ignored by most sources of vehicle finance, aka sub-prime and they're actually pretty good at it (good at it, as in they have a bunch of loan sharks on speed dial).

It is entirely possible that they do have a buyer for your car. It would go something like this -

Guy with a 500-something credit score is at one of their lots and they get him to fill out an app... *wow* suddenly he's approved. The crux of the deal is that he's only willing to bend so far over and if he's going to grab his ankles, he'll only do it for 'one of those' (insert RX_EVOLV's car here). The guy at HoC, not wanting to miss out on a deal at 20%+ interest, plus the $900 doc fee, plus the $500 "because we can fee", plus the $700 "why not one more" fee that they're going to heap on to this poor sap, scours private listings to find a car for this, er, client.

If you're not getting the results you want from the ad, I'd give it a shot... Make sure they out line their offer before you make the effort to show them your car.

It may not be conventional, and someone's likely getting fucked, but I don't think it's RX_EVOLV in this case...


Edit - I should mention that the situation with their buyer doesn't necessarily have to be that questionable. I know people that have had very reputable dealers 'broker' private sales for reasons such as tax-credits or wanting a lease (rather than finance that most people would get from their bank or LOC)... It could just be that someone wants to trade their car, not lose out on the tax credit and doesn't know where else to turn...

[rage2]

That's probably to get you in the doOr and then maybe sway you in another direction. I gotta becareful how I word this. I don't want raj to get a letter lol my name is Sam so add a c in there somewhere and you'll get my point.
Nah, the owner will just call me. We know each other haha.

With that said, while I know the guy and have hung out, I know nothing about House of Cars.

[RX_EVOLV]

hmm interesting guys. Thank you for all the comments. I told him I would think about it and let him know by end of day, but he's persistent and been calling.

I figured if someone is looking for alternative financing, they would at least, in person, look at my car first.. and then have HoC step in to close the deal. I'll see where this goes but will be extra cautious with the process.

[lilmira]

The manager at one of their shops bought my last car with a company cheque. It was straight forward with no complication. That's all the experience I have with them.


Have them look at the car and take nothing other than cash or bank draft. It's a sale opportunity and it costs you nothing other than time, why not?

[rage2]

I figured if someone is looking for alternative financing, they would at least, in person, look at my car first.. and then have HoC step in to close the deal. I'll see where this goes but will be extra cautious with the process.
You overestimate the folks that look for these financing deals. :rofl:

Looks good in pictures, makes me look cool, financing approved, SOLD! Seriously, we had someone like that in our extended family, $6000 car at best, can't qualify for shit, car had 2 claims including hail damage on it so $6k was generous. Sold for $14k, TCO including finance was as something like $35k.

Was there a test drive? Nope. Was there a carfax pulled? Nope. We pulled the carfax when trying to sell the car for his wife to find 2 major claims on it. Seriously, these people's #1 criteria is "approved", second criteria are the payments more than my paycheck. Then get whatever the fuck you can get ASAP before the approval is reversed.

[SKR]

I've asked dealers before to keep an eye out for trades on specific things I was looking for. Maybe that's the case here too, where they actually do have someone looking for that exact car.

Whether the dealers actually did put any effort in, I don't know. It never panned out. Maybe everyone thought it was a scam.

[RX_EVOLV]

Well I gave him my final price. He replied saying his client has been approved for financing and will be going in tomorrow to sign the documents. Once it is signed, the manager will come pick up the car and hand me a certified cheque...

Seems too easy.. we will see..

[bigboom]

Had the exact same discussion last week from HOC with a car I was selling. In the end a buyer from Kijiji purchased the car for more than what HoC offered me but I was tempted to go down this route with them as they told me all I had to do was drop the car off and I would have a cheque (i requested bank draft) waiting there for me.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Is HoC selling these cars to people before inspection, carproof, etc. if all you guys had to do was drop it off and hand over the keys?

[rx7boi]

Probably, because inspection and carproofs aren't their job, it's buyer's diligence.

[max_boost]

Whoa plot twist. This might be legit!?

[ercchry]

Probably, because inspection and carproofs aren't their job, it's buyer's diligence.

I could easily see them having this conversation:

Hey, what’s your dream car?

Oh man, I would totally love a :insert horrible financial decision:

What if I told you I could get you that car, for $400/month?

SOLD!

Okay, sign this... :gets on kijiji and starts trying to find said car, within parameters of what he can pull off for that payment with the products his lenders offer:

Boom, 15% financing, 84 month term, 5-10 year old car with unknown history :rofl:

[you&me]

Bingo

[RX_EVOLV]

Should I feel bad about going through with this? lol

I'll keep you guys posted within 24 hours if this is legit or not...

[rage2]

I could easily see them having this conversation:

Hey, what’s your dream car?

Oh man, I would totally love a :insert horrible financial decision:

What if I told you I could get you that car, for $400/month?

SOLD!

Okay, sign this... :gets on kijiji and starts trying to find said car, within parameters of what he can pull off for that payment with the products his lenders offer:

Boom, 15% financing, 84 month term, 5-10 year old car with unknown history :rofl:
That’s literally what happens. HoC wouldn’t even be doing the predatory lending, they just get commission for setting it up.

[ExtraSlow]

The subprime automotive market is bigger than most of us would ever guess. And more profitable than "regular" dealerships by far.

[ercchry]

That’s literally what happens. HoC wouldn’t even be doing the predatory lending, they just get commission for setting it up.

Yup, sprinkle in some setup fees, dealer markup on the car, nitrogen tire fill... and the ~150bps on the lending and it’s not a bad day’s work! Haha

[Sugarphreak]

...

[corsvette]

Is HoC selling these cars to people before inspection, carproof, etc. if all you guys had to do was drop it off and hand over the keys?

They Can't sell the car without a AMVIC inspection or Carproof as per regulations. Unless this is some sneaky loophole.....

[Skrilla]

The subprime automotive market is bigger than most of us would ever guess. And more profitable than "regular" dealerships by far.

Exactly. 10 or so years ago I worked for a dealership for a little while and they had a sales guy that just targeted sub-prime people. He made money hand over fist, and the banks then would put an 84-96month loan on almost anything. I remember one couple who was $35k in the hole on a Malibu. I think banks have gotten more stringent now, but those 25-30% interest rates and $900/month payments for a Cobalt are not that uncommon. Best part is they always want to trade it in a year or so later on something more expensive but don't realize they owe 6x what it's worth and haven't paid off jack shit.

EDIT: OT, I only ever had the pleasure of being at HoC in Medicine Hat once. Friend was looking at a car there and the only thing the sales guy kept saying is how is manager is a "race driver" and was saying how fast this car was, even for him...the "race driver" :rofl: It looks like a scene from The Goods there.

[dj_rice]

The subprime automotive market is bigger than most of us would ever guess. And more profitable than "regular" dealerships by far.


Very true. My dealership started their own Auto Loans company to cater to the sub-prime people. I've seen them install GPS trackers on some of the "high risk" customers/loans.

[RX_EVOLV]

Well. It's done. They walked around the car. Pulled the carproof, signed the Bill of Sales and cut me a cheque. Whole process was maybe 10 mins. Took the cheque to the bank and it was deposited immediately without hold. The teller was very aware of them and said she sees these cheques/deals all the time.

[Disoblige]

Whoa nice. A happy ending.

[revelations]

Holy crap - great insight into these clowns ..... glad to hear it worked out for OP, but someone is paying dearly now.

[spikerS]

Well. It's done. They walked around the car. Pulled the carproof, signed the Bill of Sales and cut me a cheque. Whole process was maybe 10 mins. Took the cheque to the bank and it was deposited immediately without hold. The teller was very aware of them and said she sees these cheques/deals all the time.

Man, you are more trusting than I. I don't mind them cutting me a cheque, but I would want it certified before I sign the bill of sale. But that is just my paranoia.

Glad it all worked out for you man.

[ercchry]

Holy crap - great insight into these clowns ..... glad to hear it worked out for OP, but someone is paying dearly now.

You can’t fix stupid... those type of people will always find away, better to have a properly structured loan with an accredited company, than the alternative

[NissanFanBoy]

That's awesome, assuming OP got a figure he can live with, sounds way less stressful and time consuming that kijiji. Who cares how much House of Cars makes, that's on the idiot who buys it.

House of Cars seems to be really good at what they do, they've opened so many locations. Good on them. They can't be that sleazy to be this successful. They're just taking advantage of a market that exists. No different than a lot of other types of businesses...and I assume there's nothing wrong with OP's car, at least they sell cars that're actually decent.

I've never walked into a House of Cars, but from all their marketing and ads, they seem professional....we only think they're shady because we're car people and we know more than the average person but overall, I don't think they're actually that bad.

[max_boost]

Welp, excellent conclusion. :thumbsup:

[RX_EVOLV]

House of Cars seems to be really good at what they do, they've opened so many locations. Good on them. They can't be that sleazy to be this successful. They're just taking advantage of a market that exists. No different than a lot of other types of businesses...and I assume there's nothing wrong with OP's car, at least they sell cars that're actually decent.



My car is in mint condition, but otherwise they have done no inspection on the car whatsoever. It felt like a car rental return where they just walked around the car once, turned on the car to check the mileage, and that's it.

Personally I wouldn't trust buying a car from them knowing the lack of inspection they do, but whoever bought my car got a good car, even if it's not a good deal...

[NissanFanBoy]

My car is in mint condition, but otherwise they have done no inspection on the car whatsoever. It felt like a car rental return where they just walked around the car once, turned on the car to check the mileage, and that's it.

Personally I wouldn't trust buying a car from them knowing the lack of inspection they do, but whoever bought my car got a good car, even if it's not a good deal...

There can't be too much that has gone wrong with R's... I'd imagine they did all that after, it's still under warranty no?

[Darkane]

3-4 years ago I sold them my TL-AWD Manual.

One of the salesman said he wanted it for himself. Regardless we made a deal (wasn’t even a lowball) and was done. He drove it, and we met at a TD so I could verify funds with him in person. It was a HoC cheque. Went through, pretty painless.

I don’t know if the car got resold, or kept. It was also 9.5/10 mint. Someone got a great car.

[Aleks]

People are so quick to call scam and sleazy these days online. It must be really hard to run a used car dealership just because everyone always assumes the worst before even checking it out.

[infamous]

ok, so first off i used to be a HoC salesman (only for 3 months because they took over the location i used to manage).

these deals happen more often than not, and not everyone who walks in the door is a 20% interest sub prime loser. prime example is my brother, he was looking for a semi specific truck and wasn't having any luck tracking one down. we found one for him that was advertised privately, went and checked it out and handed the guy a check on the spot. brought it back, inspected it (11k on the odo so no issues), and delivered it to my brother. that was over 3 years ago now and he's still loving his truck.

now on the shady side yes, they do deal with some shitty cars at times and shitty lenders and shitty customers. it can be a very negative place to work but you can also make a LOT of money off sub prime customers. so about average for a dealership :rofl:

[Mitsu3000gt]

Probably, because inspection and carproofs aren't their job, it's buyer's diligence.

Not when you buy from a dealer though. That is the case only with private sales.

- - - Updated - - -


Well. It's done. They walked around the car. Pulled the carproof, signed the Bill of Sales and cut me a cheque. Whole process was maybe 10 mins. Took the cheque to the bank and it was deposited immediately without hold. The teller was very aware of them and said she sees these cheques/deals all the time.

Was it a bank draft / certified cheque? If not you are one very trusting person haha. Glad it worked out for you though :thumbsup:

[Skrilla]

People are so quick to call scam and sleazy these days online. It must be really hard to run a used car dealership just because everyone always assumes the worst before even checking it out.

While I get what you are saying, it is hard not to as a seller, especially when you receive 15 calls a week from scams if you have something listed (although most ask for money to secure a deal). Turns out this is legit, and worked out for OP:clap:

[Mitsu3000gt]

People are so quick to call scam and sleazy these days online. It must be really hard to run a used car dealership just because everyone always assumes the worst before even checking it out.

So many of them are though, it would be irresponsible to assume anything different when doing due diligence. It's not the case of a few bad apples - nearly every one I've ever been to has been extremely shady.

[Tik-Tok]

People are so quick to call scam and sleazy these days online. It must be really hard to run a used car dealership just because everyone always assumes the worst before even checking it out.

It's almost as if the entire industry has a well earned reputation of being sleazy.

[HiTempguy1]

There certainly is a place for these things.

And if you do the marth, $15k at 15% interest for 84 months is under $300/month for the car.

Now I know it may be hard for some Beyonders to understand, but there is a legitimate market for this. I always find it humorous how we can have arguments about things like "collecting cars or shoes as an investment" which is hopelessly inane and stupid, but then someone is crazy for paying extra money on a month-month basis to get a car they otherwise couldn't have.

Yes, they SHOULD be in a $10k penalty box with 0% financing. But they don't want to be. And if $300/month forever gets them into the car they want :dunno: Is it smart? No, not really. But if it gets them into a reliable vehicle that they want, its not awful.


That's awesome, assuming OP got a figure he can live with, sounds way less stressful and time consuming that kijiji.

I've always loved Kijiji. Easily owned and sold 50+ vehicles in my life. My duramax which I just sold was the most expensive, time consuming, pain in the ass cluster-fuck of a sale I've ever made. So I can see the appeal of this.

[ExtraSlow]

Yes, they SHOULD be in a $10k penalty box with 0% financing. But they don't want to be. And if $300/month forever gets them into the car they want :dunno: Is it smart? No, not really. But if it gets them into a reliable vehicle that they want, its not awful. I've worked with some people for whom that $300/mo car is the thing that lets them get or keep a job. Actually lots of them. Not all of them are stupid, but there are few options for new immigrants or other people without credit history.

Now that's only a portion of the market sure, I know people who have resources and credit and still choose stuff like this. Those people are worthy of ridicule sure, but not everyone.

[rx7boi]

So did you sell it for a fair/above market price? What was the vehicle?

[revelations]

I've worked with some people for whom that $300/mo car is the thing that lets them get or keep a job. Actually lots of them. Not all of them are stupid, but there are few options for new immigrants or other people without credit history.

Now that's only a portion of the market sure, I know people who have resources and credit and still choose stuff like this. Those people are worthy of ridicule sure, but not everyone.

Yea this - even as a student I had a credit card, which I could have used to purchase a 3000$, decent shape corolla if I needed to. People dont understand that just because a vehicle is old/cheap, doesent mean its a pile of garbage automatically.

[max_boost]

Your friends who you think lead normal lives could be the ones using this service. I honestly had no idea until a gf asked me for loan/financial advice and I referred her to my boss Sorath who got her out of her sub prime loan. It caught me by surprise by the number of ppl who have seriously fked up credit. Ppl don't have time to worry about the future when they are trying to survive day to day.

[RX_EVOLV]

So did you sell it for a fair/above market price? What was the vehicle?

I would say it was fair market price as I tried to get that price myself on Kijiji/Autotrader for over 6 weeks with no luck. Definitly did no take a hit on the price because of the 'easy' factor of this transaction.

[Mys73ri0]

Jalopnik put out a great article in regards to this recently. A good but long read -- https://jalopnik.com/how-a-subprime-auto-lender-consumed-detroit-with-debt-a-1829527899

[btimbit]

House of Cars seems to be really good at what they do, they've opened so many locations. Good on them. They can't be that sleazy to be this successful. They're just taking advantage of a market that exists. No different than a lot of other types of businesses...and I assume there's nothing wrong with OP's car, at least they sell cars that're actually decent.

I've never walked into a House of Cars, but from all their marketing and ads, they seem professional....we only think they're shady because we're car people and we know more than the average person but overall, I don't think they're actually that bad.

This. I've dealt with them before, got a VW for my now ex a few years back. They seem like a normal used car dealer for me, not shady (well, in relative terms. It is a car dealer, lol) and the only knock I'd have against them is their pricing wasn't super competitive, (I was there a few years prior and backed out of a deal after finding a similar car at a main dealer for a tad less) and their inventory seemed like it was a lot of ex-rentals and fleet vehicles but they were up front about it and had full carproofs for everything. We liked the specific car and it worked for us.

While they might do subprime lending they don't 'specialize' in it like the Gallery of Fine Cars and Roadsport Auto Credit places that we're used to reading about, so it kinda sucks that they get lumped into that crowd. We ended up getting the financing through House of Cars and got a good rate from TD, not some 8%+ nonsense from a loan shark

[you&me]

This. I've dealt with them before, got a VW for my now ex a few years back. They seem like a normal used car dealer for me, not shady (well, in relative terms. It is a car dealer, lol) and the only knock I'd have against them is their pricing wasn't super competitive, (I was there a few years prior and backed out of a deal after finding a similar car at a main dealer for a tad less) and their inventory seemed like it was a lot of ex-rentals and fleet vehicles but they were up front about it and had full carproofs for everything. We liked the specific car and it worked for us.

While they might do subprime lending they don't 'specialize' in it like the Gallery of Fine Cars and Roadsport Auto Credit places that we're used to reading about, so it kinda sucks that they get lumped into that crowd. We ended up getting the financing through House of Cars and got a good rate from TD, not some 8%+ nonsense from a loan shark

Ummmm...

:rofl:

[infamous]

Ummmm...

:rofl:

oh fuck.....lololololololol :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Disoblige]

What is a good rate?
To me, a good rate means under 2%

[Mitsu3000gt]

What is a good rate?
To me, a good rate means under 2%

Yeah 0-2% or so is what I consider good as well. It definitely has to be lower than HELOC rates.

[Hallowed_point]

Where do you get these rates on used cars? I'm at 5.9% which I thought was decent.

[Disoblige]

^^ You typically don't, unless it's some sort of certified pre-owned special at a dealership. I think we were just talking about what we would consider a good rate is in general.

[Hallowed_point]

Fair enough, that makes sense

[shakalaka]

Bank financing will rarely ever get you rates any less than 4%. Typically big dealers that have their own Financial Services like BMW, MB, Audi etc - they can negotiate lower rates with the banks simply because of the volume of business they do. That's how they are able to offer rates like 0.9% or even 0%. That's my understanding anyway.

[ercchry]

Bank financing will rarely ever get you rates any less than 4%. Typically big dealers that have their own Financial Services like BMW, MB, Audi etc - they can negotiate lower rates with the banks simply because of the volume of business they do. That's how they are able to offer rates like 0.9% or even 0%. That's my understanding anyway.

Depends... all of the sales they have surrounding low rates are simply bought down by the dealer/manufacturer.... and of course that’s passed onto the end customer. This is why you usually see a cash incentive or 0.9% financing

[HiTempguy1]

Depends... all of the sales they have surrounding low rates are simply bought down by the dealer/manufacturer.... and of course that’s passed onto the end customer. This is why you usually see a cash incentive or 0.9% financing

But again, for new, not used.

Servus had the best deal I've ever seen on new car rates provided directly by a bank, just strictly a car loan, 3.49%. They extended this to basically anything with a registerable VIN, and had to be 3 years old at most, so I bought my brand new 2 car enclosed trailer with it, would have been silly to have paid cash at that rate.

As for the rates manufacturers offer, that all depends on so many variables. A lot of the advertised "20% off msrp" deals the duhmestic manufacturers do are based on cash sale. 0% interest loans aren't really 0% interest (they can be if negotiated right).

[The Cosworth]

But again, for new, not used.

Servus had the best deal I've ever seen on new car rates provided directly by a bank, just strictly a car loan, 3.49%. They extended this to basically anything with a registerable VIN, and had to be 3 years old at most, so I bought my brand new 2 car enclosed trailer with it, would have been silly to have paid cash at that rate.

As for the rates manufacturers offer, that all depends on so many variables. A lot of the advertised "20% off msrp" deals the duhmestic manufacturers do are based on cash sale. 0% interest loans aren't really 0% interest (they can be if negotiated right).

Not true actually. Hyundai bought the interest rate down on my wifes SUV and it was used. Had to be 'Hyundai Certified' or some shit. Negotated down, inspection cost $1500, they fixed some stuff, Hyundai Canada bought down the interest rate saving us like 3k. So we saved money, Hyundai got our money to pay for shop rate, and Hyundai Canada paid down the rate.

[ShermanEF9]

Ummmm...

:rofl:

Roadsport is also in the category of sketchy

https://calgaryherald.com/business/local-business/calgary-car-dealership-owner-facing-38-charges

[max_boost]

Roadsport is also in the category of sketchy

https://calgaryherald.com/business/local-business/calgary-car-dealership-owner-facing-38-charges

Weren't they giving out a free shitty car after each Flames game? haha

[ShermanEF9]

Yup, after they win or something. "TODAYS PRIZE, A 2001 PONTIAC SUNFIRE!"

[btimbit]

Ummmm...

:rofl:

What?

[hurrdurr]

I’ll bump this.

I had a couple House of Cars locations reach out to me for consignment or to help with providing financing but on Tuesday the Olympic location let me know that they could sell my car for me and to bring it down.

It’s a 40 minute drive and I wasn’t feeling like driving 40 minutes to potentially be lowballed so they asked me to send multiple pictures so that they could show their client. Photos sent. Couple hours later they said the car is sold for asking conditional on inspection. Next day they send someone with a D plate to take the car for inspection. Couple hours later they sent me a bill of sale to sign and the sale was complete.

Completely painless and they were extremely accommodating to work within my schedule.

I’ve never had an opinion on House of Cars before but this experience was incredible. I fully expected that I would be in a situation where I would have to keep lowering my price or accept a lowball but they didn’t even try to negotiate price with my whatsoever.

I dealt with Justin (Sales) and Ethan (Manager)

[Jeeper1986]

old thread but i cosigned house of cars to sell my car hasnt sold yet but hoping soon