The dealership contract, also called the retail installment sales contract, contains a provision that gives the dealer the right to cancel your contract if the dealer is not able to find financing, and informs you within 10 days of signing the contract that the dealer was not able to get financing approved.  The dealer can inform you in writing that they are cancelling the contract or the dealer can tell you orally over the phone or in person that they are cancelling the contract.  If the dealer does not inform you within 10 days that they are cancelling the contract, the dealer becomes your finance company and the dealer can no longer cancel the contract.  This is commonly referred to as the "10 Day Rule"

If you purchased a cancellation contract option, you may have the right to cancel the contract.  If you are purchasing a used vehicle, the dealer must offer you the option to purchase a contract cancellation option.  You can decide whether to pay the additional fees to have the contract cancellation option.  If you did not pay extra for the cancellation contract option, then you cannot just decide to cancel the contract.  However, even if you did not purchase the cancellation option, if the dealership violated certain laws, you may have the right to cancel the contract.

The dealership could be harassing you by threatening you, calling you too many times, calling too early or too late, among other ways.  The dealership could also be harassing you by contacting your family or friends, by contacting your employer or coworkers.  If the car dealership is harassing you, the dealership could be violating fair debt collection practices, and you could be entitled to damages. 

Yo-Yo financing generally occurs when the dealership tells you that your financing is approved at the time you signed your contract, but later informs you that financing is not approved and you need to sign a new contract that increases your down payment, or changes your interest rate, or changes your monthly payments and length of payments.  Dealerships do this to get your commitment in signing a contract knowing that you will become attached to your newly purchased vehicle and are more likely to agree to less favorable terms when they call you informing you that financing fell through. This type of issue is sometimes referred to as "Spot Delivery" as well.  Dealerships are not allowed to mislead a buyer about if their financing has been approved.

If the dealership failed to disclose information about the vehicle, you may be able to cancel the contract and get your deposit back in addition to any payments you made.

A dealership is required to disclose all finance charges to the buyer pursuant to the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), 15 U.S.C. section 1601, et al.  TILA protects you against inaccurate and unfair credit billing and credit card practices.  Your dealership contract, or retail installment sales contract, contains the costs, finance fees, and other charges, that you are agreeing to and therefore the dealership must give you a copy of your contract so that you are aware of the fees you are being charged.

If the dealership refuses to fix your vehicle in violation of your warranty, you have the right to pursue the dealership for damages such as the costs of repairs.  You may also have the right to a refund of your deposit and payments and cancel your contract.  The Magnusson-Moss Warranty Act protects you and provides you with certain rights when the dealership will not honor a warranty.

If the dealership provided you with a warranty and you had issues with your vehicle that began during the warranty period, the dealership is responsible for fixing your vehicle.

You will need to provide a copy of your contract, all your payments, and your monthly statements to an attorney to review the accuracy of the monthly statement.  If the monthly statement is not accurate, there may be a violation of the fair debt collection practices act as well as a breach of contract.

A dealership can sell a salvaged vehicle as long as they disclose that the vehicle is salvaged.

A used vehicle is a vehicle that was previously owned by someone other than you.  A certified used vehicle is a vehicle that the dealership has inspected and certifies the condition of the vehicle that was previously owned by someone other than you.  A dealer must provide you with a copy of the certified inspection report.

According to the California Car Buyer’s Bill of Rights, a car cannot be “certified” if:

• The vehicle’s title has been labeled as a Lemon Law Buyback, manufacturer repurchase, salvage, junk, non-repairable, flood, etc.
• The vehicle has frame damage, or was sold to you “as-is.”
• The odometer was tampered with or does not show the true mileage of the car.
• The vehicle was damaged by accident, fire or flood, unless it was repaired to safe operating condition before the sale.