Wow!  That's a mouthful, huh?  But, according to a recently released report by the Consumer Federation of America, the National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators and the North American Consumer Protection Investigators, this has been the #1 consumer complaint for 2007, 2008 and 2009.  Anyone taking bets on what might make #1 in 2010!!??  This one topic beat out credit complaints and construction.

I figure that pretty much everyone reading this would have bought at least one car in the past, maybe you're even thinking of changing right now.  Honestly, when you start shopping for a replacement car, find something you like and take it for a test drive, are you really thinking about what you're going to have to sign very soon?  No, we get caught up in the moment.  And car sales people know that (trust me, in a previous incarnation I was one!! I know how they work!) and use it, consciously or otherwise, to their advantage.  We're told that it's "...just the usual legal stuff..." when we ask what's in the pages and pages of fine print.  And we never read it, right?  The frightening bit is this.  Those pages of small print are just what will turn around and bite us if the handwritten bits are wrong or misleading.  Be afraid of the fine print, and be very afraid of the information handwritten in.

Most of the fine print is well tried and tested in law, and will, generally, say the same thing.  However, the parts that can change are on the front few pages.  The cash price, trade-in allowance, APR, term, etc.  Those are the items that can really kill us if we aren't aware of what they say or mean.  THEN the fine print denies us equality because we signed our rights away.  So, is there a better way?  Yes, and it's simple and easy and affordable.

The last car we bought we signed up for about 4-4.30pm.  We'd spent the day hunting - in fact 2-3 days - and we were tired.  The salesperson had told us it was a 4WD, which is a feature we requested.  As we were about to sign it turned out it was just a 2WD.  I don't think the sales person was being dishonest, just lazy and uninformed.  This is NOT uncommon.  We all "fake it" sometimes if we don't know the answer, rather than look stupid.  We ended up buying the car as we decided it wasn't a huge deal breaker. 

But what if it was something else that WAS crucial and we'd signed?  Unknowingly.  Sure we may have gotten recompense, but at what cost?  I had a business back in Auckland, New Zealand doing house plan design.  I did some work (without a contract - bad bad move!).  The people didn't pay and I sued them.  Although it was pretty clear they owed the money (and we all knew they did!) they dug their toes in.  From a $10k bill, I got $7k and paid about $14k to win it.  Is that a win, really?  Better I'd had a legal team behind me to begin with - a legal team that had drafted a solid contract.

The same goes for your car purchase scenario.  You could win a battle with the car yard, but end up being a loser.  What if, just as the car dealer says, "Just sign here and it's all yours!", you could reply, "Sure.  Right after my attorney looks it over."  Unheard of, right?  Who gets their attorney to look over a car purchase contract?  But, with pre-paid legal, that's exactly what you can do, and should do.  Never be in doubt of the terms, or of your rights or obligations, again.  Get expert legal advice before you sign, anytime, up to 10 pages, at no charge.  How many heartaches could that save you?  But not just you, your partner and kids too - all under one plan.  And this service covers any document or contract you need to sign.  And much, much more.

We all believe we must have car insurance, home insurance, health insurance.  Now you can get legal insurance too - and for $1000's less than health insurance!