Mercedes Benz of Escondido They increased the APR rate from 1.99 to 2.99 after a week of purchasing the vehicle Escondido CA

If the contract does not give the dealer or finance company an out, such as "Not final", "Subject to finance approval" etc etc , then the customer is being screwed with and possibly in their right to fight this, or at least extract the additional finance cost out of the dealer.

I figure though that all these contracts do give the dealer and finance arm that out. My advice to the customer would be to make sure your lawyer isn't just looking for a quick payday at your expense by instigating you into fighting a battle yoir contract wording may make impossible.

Regardless, I do call these finance loopholes a rip off, even if they're legal. These dealerships are all scumbags that knowingly let you drive out in a new car thinking the deal is done, only to come back at you like this weeks later with this garbage.

It was NO mistake, but normal modus operandi by legalized thieves.

I would accept the canceled contract without further fight only if they make you whole, return your trade in in the same condition you gave it to them and sign in writing not to ding you for a week's use of the car.

Maybe for that your lawyer can earn an honest buck and not further drain you.

First off it looks like you were given a "spot delivery". This is where the dealer thinks they can get you a loan at given terms, and lets you take the car at those terms. Financing can take several days to get approved, and this is used by most dealers as a way to get you in the car while it is being finalized. As in your specific case since you bought it on a Saturday, without this you would not have been able to take the car until at least Monday, when the bank could go through the final approval and underwriting process.

Unfortunatly some dealers use this for less than honest purposes with sub-prime borrowers. In these cases they give a person a deal they know won't get approved, and after 2-3 weeks have the person come back to the dealer under false pretenses. When that person returns they take the keys to the car to "check something out", and then refuse to return the car unless the person signs the new deal(at much worse terms). They do this because they know that most of the people will not want to give up the car.

Based on what you posted here, it sounds like it may have been just a legitimate mistake. But as you stated even a mistake is not without concequences. However, if you were looking for specific terms such as "NOT FINAL"...It is unlikely you will find those terms. Instead there is very likely clauses to the effect that the sale is "contingent" on final approval of the financing. Where the dealer still retains the right to cancel the deal if they can't get the financing approved at the specified terms.

I would be very shocked if that was missing from your contract. If there are terms to that effect you can say that it wasn't "clear", but in the end if push comes to shove you would probably lose that argument.

Good Luck

Your analogy simply doesn't work.  The company didn't demand the car back, nor did they demand more money.  If either had happened, you'd have a point.  This is about the interest rate they want you to pay. 

It's not good practice to up the interest rate after a week and for no other reason than that they made a mistake, but it's NOT A RIPOFF because you do not have to accept the new rate if you don't want to.  You can simply return the car.  

I would not blame you if you never did business with this dealership again, but they did NOT rip you off. 

 John, thanks for your comment but olease read it again. It is not last minute. It is after a week. Admitting made a mistake does not cover it. Lets be realistic. Im really surprised with your approach. So if someone sell you something and a week later call you and say made a mistake, ask the item back, there is nothing wrong? There is absolutely something wrong! And Im not going to be the one who oys that mistake

The company offered you a certain rate, then admitted they made a mistake and were not able to offer you that rate.  They gave you the option of accepting the new rate or cancelling the contract.  Very simple.  This is called a MISTAKE, and it's very different from a "Rip Off."  It would have been a Ripoff if they had changed your rate without informing you and then refused to allow you to return the car and cancel. That didn't happen, so it's kind of hard to understand why you are throwing such a fit over this. 

If someone offered to sell you something at a certain price, and then at the last minute realized that they couldn't offer you that price and apologized, would you call it a ripoff?  Because that's what happened here.