First,My disclaimer,not all salesman,or all stores,do or approve of this,keep the faith but watch your 6.This is not a ford,chevy,or dodge thing,this a group of unethical people thing.

2 stores of my brand tried this.

Back when I was looking for an 08 I had a silverado I bought used,I decided to buy new,I owed 3000.00 on it,it was worth 3000.00 I figured I might take a loss but hoped for the best.

Enter the dealership,the salesman barks me rite away,I explain what I want he says ok clean deal or trade I said trade and I have good credit,he says ok I will have our used car manager look at your trade,do you owe anything on it?I state yes I do 3000.00 he says ok lets see what we can do,he takes my keys to drive the truck.I tell him I want the white long bed plain jane out front lets talk numbers,we agree on the price for the new one,he says well when we get a number on your trade we will put it all together,fast forward,he comes back and say's good news the wholesaler likes your truck and will pay 3000.00,I'm like cool!out from under that one and in a new one,good deal,goin pretty good so far rite?

So going over the numbers on the sales contract,theres this and that and a long list of numbers and 3000.00 for the trade,and destination and tax and blah blah,then I said hey it looks like you added my trade instead of subtracting it,:Heres the catch:He say's "well yeah we have to pay off your loan on the trade"BUT HE IS ADDING IT TO THE CONTRACT YOU ARE PAYING FOR THE TRADE AND GIVING IT TO THEM! here have this truck Ill pay for it and give it to you NOT!!!!They use this scam so often its like its there right to rip you off!
I left end of that story.

Same again on the next truck only a little more blatent,when I said oh so I should take the 08 with me seeins how I'm payin for it the guy got completely peooed LOL

Keep the faith,know what your doing dont reimburse a dealer for your property,The question to asked is what is the difference in dollars ie in simple math

your truck you owe 3000.00
they put 3000.00 in your truck
balance 0

your truck you owe 3000.00
they put 2500 in your truck
you owe 500.00 difference plus the new vehicle thats it

 

Some salesmen are pros at creating confusion with the numbers & I'm sure lots of people just take the guy's word & assume accuracy & pay the amount. (getting ripped off) Good that you caught on quick. That $3K probably would have gone right into his pocket along with his commission. I would have spoken to the gen. mgr. of the dealer & told him the story. There is a chance he doesn't know his sales staff is trying to stiff some customers, thus chasing them away. Then there is the chance he is the one instructing them to do what they do. Its worth a try.

 

That's why you ALWAYS read the written contract. The written contract always overrides the verbal aspect of the contract. Bottom line, it is what the written contract states and not what you are told.

 

I walked out on a 2009 Sienna for this exact thing. I had got into the finance office too and that's when I realized what I would actually be borrowing. They were pissed and spent 45 minutes on the phone trying to scare me into making the deal. Telling me it wasn't that simple, I couldn't just walk out, they put this deal together special to help me out, they couldn't sell it to someone else who came in right after me to look at it, blah blah blah and a bunch of other crooked crap.

Dbags. Next used car I buy will be from the guy I bought my truck from (family friend) or will be bought privately.

 

There are good salesmen out there. When I go into a dealership I just BS a little with the person to see how they come across. If they seem to be honest I proceed with what I want to look at. If not, I just leave and either go to another dealer or come back another time and see a different person. If the salesman cannot give me a price without going to see his manager, I am not doing business with him.
I expect the salesperson to be helpful to me in the purchase process - not an opponent that needs to be played.