Dealer gave me the car, but purchase not finished yet?

[R01k]

Hello everybody. Basically, me and the guy at the dealership agreed verbally on the trade in value of my old car, finance interest and payment period. I gave him the down payment check and signed two papers: one authorizing him to check my credit and one for the DMV. They were about to close the dealership, so he gave me the new Mirage with a dealer plate and told me to go back on Monday to finish the paperwork.

My worry is that they come up on Monday with different (higher) numbers and I wouldn't be in a very good position to negotiate because I would have driven the car for dozens of miles.

What do you guys think?

[TheTransporter]

Nope if the deal is for what you agreed and they cant give that too you thats a break in the deal.

To which you dont have to accept

[MysticMirage]

You should never take a car without completing the deal. They could go as far as report it stolen if they wanted to....

[R01k]

You should never take a car without completing the deal. They could go as far as report it stolen if they wanted to....

Well, my girlfriend witnessed everything.

[cinder]

What was the price ? Maybe posting it here will help as us as witnesses .

[cinder]

We had a car dealer let someone test drive the car before we picked it up that day . It was with our insurance . Knew this because the mileage was checked before we left the night before . Told us as well , because we asked why about 15 extra miles were on the odometer . Also had one dealer switch the % rate higher without telling us before the paper work was signed . We were younger and trusted people . Best to watch your step once on the lot of a dealer .

[IchabodCrane]

Drive it worry free.
with the dealer plate on it you are simply taking a test drive. You are not obligated to anything without a signed contract.
Carefully go over everything with your dealer before signing, do not accept any changes. If it's not exactly what you agreed on, walk away.
Take pics of all 4 profiles of the car upon return to dealer (get dealership in background of at least one pic) and record mileage in case deal goes south and you have to walk away. This will protect you from false claims of damage or excessive mileage in a worst case scenario.

[aydu]

Not a good practice to take the car before the paperwork is signed and you have a copy for your records.

Running your credit is a red flag as they can use that as a way to jack up the interest rate.

Having the dealer plates on the car is a positive. That designates that ownership of the vehicle is still with the dealership.

I hope all goes well, but in the future recognize that the dealer is not a friend and is looking at you as a way to maximize profit. Part of that profit comes from the sale of the vehicle but often more comes from the business office. Financing, warranties, paint protection, etc.

Taking the vehicle, before the deal is done, at the very least transfers the leverage in the transaction to the dealer. At most, you bought a car without knowing what you paid for it, or the finance terms.

I hope all works as promised, but I always remember the easy trick to tell if a sales person is lying to you - their lips are moving.

[chris2004]

Always get the deal in writing. The guy could say anything now.

[R01k]

By one side, they're just letting me test drive the car for a whole weekend. By the other, I'm implicitly taking ownership of the car by driving it.

In the worst scenario they could retain part of my down payment for excessive mileage or whatever they come up with.