Board 8 > a rant on car-buying and terrible money management skills

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When my dad died in December, he left me and my sister with a variety of assets. My sister has a family and four kids, so he gave me sole possession of the house, but because of that, the total net worth of the inheritance was balanced disproportionately in my favor. My sister's also going through a divorce and a decent chunk of that money will probably be effectively lost thanks to the proceedings, at least in terms of lost spousal support. So I told her that of the two financial accounts I got from Dad, I was keeping the one all to myself, no questions asked, but I might be willing to put some of the money in the other toward helping with a few things. Two of her daughters are about to go to college, and the eldest is looking to buy her first house.

I got pulled aside on Easter to talk about the niece going to college this year, and how Anne (my sister) doesn't think the car is going to hold up. Alyssa (the niece) is poised to do a lot of driving this summer, and I found it hard to argue with her. She asked if I would be willing to help her find another car. Anne knows a guy who buys cars at auctions, etc. etc. I said, fine, within reason.

Last night I get a text saying that they went out and bought a car. From a dealer. And severely overpaid.

I had no idea what a 2004 Honda CRV with 99,000 miles was worth, so I checked on KBB. Expected dealer price around 6500. Edmunds said 5800 from a dealer, for the top-end model. My sister tells me she paid 8300. And when I questioned her on that, she said, yeah, but then there's the taxes and tags and we got a roadside warranty and blahblahblah. I stopped and considered. Taxes here would be around 500; I dunno about the rest. But maybe she didn't completely have her shirt taken.

Then I find out that wasn't included in the 8300 and she actually spent 10k. At that point, I was livid.

Turns out, she showed up at a lot, allowed herself to be pressured by the salesman, convinced herself the "people behind her" might buy the car out from under her, and didn't try to negotiate or explore other options. Effectively, she just walked onto a lot, pointed, and said I want that one, how much?

When I started to give her flack for that, she started trying to pull guilt-trip BS on me about how her husband forced Alyssa to spend the weekend with her against her will, and she came back in tears, and he also ruined the day they had planned to do legit shopping, and...

and I don't freaking care. You overpaid for a car by arguably THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS. You're the one who has always complained about finances. You're the one who said your husband wasted money on stupid shit, even though you're no better. You're the one who's probably lost craptons of money to interest on debts because you don't know how to use a budget. And now you're going to turn around and expect ME to bear the burden of your stupid choices just because Dad's no longer around?

You could have waited for your guy who buys and fixes up cars to find a good one, you could have stopped and actually looked up the prices these things go for online, you could have stepped away and returned later to employ a scrap of negotiation sense, or you could have at least CHECKED THE FUCKING CAR FAX.

But, of course, I didn't say that. I couldn't. So I just smiled, and nodded, and pleasantly made my disposition known, and will discreetly walk away from helping out with anything else in the future. Good luck paying those college tuitions, and hope that there aren't any problems with the car that you didn't look into.

I need a new car wanna help me buy one?
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Sure. I'll be happy to do some online research and find something within your price range.

Oh yeah, I went over to my sister's today to hand her a check and discreetly tell her how she burned some bridges, and you know what she tells me? The car didn't start today. Alyssa took it to work, and couldn't get it started there. She was too embarrassed to ask anyone for a jump.

Ironic, considering the ad I'm staring at right now while I type this is for carfax.

If there's a problem with the car, doesn't that mean there's a chance they can trigger a Lemon Law and get a refund on the car?
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Do lemon laws apply to used cars?

Lemons laws don't apply to used cars in most states, but it's probably worth looking at.
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I don't understand why you weren't present when she was buying the car. Did she go without telling you?
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She told me she was going to look at cars. I didn't expect her to snap purchase one.

Text from my sister:
"well it's back at the dealership. They have to fix due to lemon law. I can also cancel my credit card within 72 hours of purchase."

Guess you were right, TRE. I even checked the DMV site and it said nothing about used cars.

Maybe the dealer was also stupid.
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That whole situation is really bogus. Adults who make dumb money decisions constantly yet complain of the consequences that result just serve to frustrate themselves and those around them.
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