r/legaladvice • u/Business_Nose6782 • 7h ago
Car dealership sold me a car, had me sign paperwork for the wrong vehicle, and now wants me to pay $10,000 more. What are my options?
Location: Minnesota
I’m curious if anyone knows what my options are or has been in a similar situation. I bought a car this past weekend after shopping for MONTHS. The vehicle I was looking at was listed around $29,000. I asked the salesman if they would take $25,000 for it. He told me he cant negotiate the price and went to get the manager. The manager came back and told us they could do $22,000. I was obviously really excited about that price and agreed to buy the vehicle.
We signed the paperwork, which was only one document, I paid for the car in full, no financing, and we left the dealership with the car. Once we got home my husband noticed the paperwork we had been given was actually for a different vehicle. It was the same make, model, and color, but a different year and, of course a different VIN.
On Monday, the dealership called us because they had noticed the mistake as well. They are now saying that if we want to keep the vehicle we actually drove home, we need to pay $10,000.
I understand that a mistake was made somewhere in the paperwork, and I probably should have more carefully read what I was signing. But it’s frustrating that the $22,000 price wasn’t something I came up with, their manager offered that price after I had offered $25,000, and that is the price that made me to agree to buy the car in the first place.
So can the dealership make me pay $10,000 more after the fact? Since I signed for the other vehicle does that make this transaction totally invalid? Do I even have a leg to stand on to ask that the dealership honor the price I paid? ($22,000) should I get a lawyer before I give them any more money or just bring the car back?
I’m not trying to get something for nothing, but going from being told the car would cost $22,000 to suddenly being told I owe another $10,000 after everything was signed and paid for is really big difference. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!