My cousin (28M) is a good guy but kind of shy and not the type to stand his ground. He wanted to buy a car, so I went with him to help out since neither of us knows a ton about cars. Right away, the dealership felt off. The sales staff was busy, so a senior manager came over. He acted like he was doing us a favor even talking to us.
But once he realized my cousin wasn’t going to argue or push back, he switched his tone and became super friendly. He cracked jokes, got my cousin to laugh, and eased him up a lot. I tried to stop him from agreeing to some of the extras they were offering because I didn’t think he needed them. But the manager basically told me to stay out of it, saying, “Your cousin knows what he’s doing. Let him handle it.” That boosted my cousin’s confidence, and he shut me down when I tried to help more.
The deal he signed doesn’t seem great to me, especially with all the add-ons. I wanted to share this here in the forum to see if anyone else has advice. Maybe I can show him some of the comments, and he’ll reconsider.
Here’s the deal he got:
Car: 2025 Toyota Camry XSE CVT
Down Payment: $20,000 (he saved up for this)
Trade-In: 2017 Hyundai Accent SE, 35,000 miles, valued at $4,000
All those fees and extras are ridiculous. That trade-in is worth way more than $4,000. Did he even check other dealerships or get a second opinion? Also, it sounds like the manager just took advantage of his lack of confidence. You tried to help, but you can’t force someone to listen. Hopefully, he learns from this. Maybe he can still cancel some of those extras.
I recently got a 2025 RAV4 XLE Premium on a lease, and I didn’t pay for any of those extras. The only add-on I got was a lease package for basic maintenance, which is $35 biweekly. Seems like your cousin didn’t know how to say no to those add-ons.
Sometimes people have to learn the hard way. You tried your best as a family member, but he’s an adult. Hopefully, he sees where he went wrong and doesn’t make the same mistakes again.
He might be able to cancel the extended warranty, especially if it’s not from Toyota directly. A lot of the third-party warranties are useless. Also, depending on the state, there might be a cooling-off period where he can unwind the whole deal. If possible, he should take that $20k and buy a used car outright instead of dealing with a loan like this.