Employee Spotlight on Rocky Camilo

One’s location to a car dealership is more important today than ever before. We rely on our dealership for regular vehicle upkeep and keep to us up to date on what’s new with safety, recalls, and so much more. Fortunately, with Liberty-Buick GMC’s location right down Independence, we are in the perfect spot to take care of our customers. The modern car dealership has changed, morphing into something more of a one-stop-shop where one can buy a car as well as have it serviced for life. At Liberty, we see ourselves as knowledgeable technicians tasked to help customers find the best vehicle for their needs. We like to keep a relationship with our customers, offering the best deals on oil changes and brakes and more, and our location at 9028 East Independence Blvd., truly helps us serve our growing customer base. And if you think about it for a moment, it makes sense. You live in the Charlotte area and you are looking for a car dealership, so you will most likely have to choose between driving down South Blvd. or Independence Blvd. Now, we know traffic is bad all over Charlotte, and it only seems to be getting worse, but now that a lot of the roadwork that has been taking place (for years it seems) on I-77 and Independence is finishing up, and the dust and rubble have settled, it seems traffic patterns have changed a bit. It’s difficult to say exactly why traffic has changed lately, but one thing is for sure: Independence Blvd. has much less congestion—even during rush hour. It could be the fact that Liberty-Buick GMC is located next to intersections for both Highway 51 and I-485, or it could be that traffic has calmed down on Independence (or maybe a little bit of both), but regardless of what has caused the ease in drive, our customers have noticed how quickly they can get to our dealership these days.   Maybe it’s true what they say, location is everything.

Car loan scams are more common than you think. Car dealerships, as well as, independent lenders can run a scam—but make it look so legit that you would think it is a normal, run-of-the-mill loan company. Scams are scary and dangerous, can ruin your credit, or overcharge you with exorbitant loan rates, fees, and high interest. We at Credit Capitol want to help you understand what sort of scams to watch out for, in general. Because we are a legitimate lending agency, registered with the Better Business Bureau, we can inform you about some of the scams we have seen take in some of our customers, who came to us to get out of the scam they had gotten into. If it is too good to be true, it probably is—that’s the best rule of thumb when considering a loan. A loan should be advantageous to you the borrower, but it should also benefit the lender—honest loans do help both parties in the loan agreement. A scam loan will make a too-good-to-be-true offer, which hides just how badly they will fleece you. Let’s look at a few common scams, and how they work. Guaranteed Approval Have you seen the advertisements from car dealerships, guaranteeing your loan approval? They often say “no one turned down, no one turned away” or something like that. Sure, those dealerships could deliver on such a promise—but at what cost? Often the dealer has to work with near-predatory lenders, in order to get people with poor, or no, credit into a loan offer. That means high interest rates and high fees. It is best to avoid such dealerships, because their main aim is to sell you a car at any cost—you want to choose an honest dealer that will put you behind the wheel of a car with honest loan terms. Yo-Yo Financing You are given one set of terms, for a loan, and drive off the lot with your new car. Great!—until they call you a week later and tell you that your loan fell through and now you have to work with a new loan company to refinance the fallen-through loan. So you drove off, having originally budgeted for $275/month but now, with this “new financing” deal, you are paying $375. The dealership might even threaten repossession or calling the police on you, if you don’t agree to the new terms. How to avoid such a scam? Be sure that the loan offer has the phrase “subject to credit approval” in it, so that you know you are not driving off the lot before all the paperwork is signed and the loan terms sealed. Upfront Fees A proper loan is structured in such a way that the loan origination fee comes out of the borrowed total. So, you borrow $25,000 and the loan origination fee is $400; you would have that fee as part of the total loan that is financed, and it becomes part of the repayment structure. The “upfront fees” scam asks you to pay a loan origination fee upfront, before the loan is approved—or, even, in order to apply for the loan! This is a scam! Do not continue to do business with any lender that seeks for you to pay loan fees separate from the loan itself. Think of the fees and interest as a package deal: you pay for all of it through structured, monthly payments. Packing Payments Instead of getting you to see the whole picture—the monthly payment which breaks down the amount allocated to principal, the amount to interest and fees—this strategy pushes the idea that “I am only paying $250 a month” and gets you to overlook or ignore the added fees. So a $10 fee here or a $20 fee there—a fee added in order to authorize to make the monthly payment—adds up to hundreds upon hundreds of dollars over the life of the loan. Avoid this by insisting to see all of the language about the payments in clear, precise terms. Honest lenders have nothing to hide. Loan Modifications You took out a loan you cannot pay for? Suddenly companies send you emails or make calls, telling you that they are a credit counseling service that can renegotiate the loan and save you money—but for a fee. It is too good to be true, so don’t do it! These companies scam you by charging you fees to do things with your loan that really cannot be done. You cannot renegotiate a loan once the terms are set. If you are in over your head, you really need a new loan with new terms, rates, and repayment plan, so you can use that loan to pay-off the troublesome one.   Remember, honest lenders have nothing to hide because they want to be reputable companies that do honest business. Always do business with lenders, like Credit Capitol, who are upfront and honest about the entire cost of a loan. Most honest lenders are listed with some kind of watchdog, like the Better Business Bureau. Be wary of any lender that wants to give you a too-good-to-be-true loan—they are scammers!   --Samuel Nicolosi

With 882 Google reviews and a rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars, customers have a lot to say about Liberty Buick GMC. We pay attention to these reviews because Google ratings are probably the most transparent in the industry.  It’s not easy to fake a Google Review and we help safe-guard this process by monitoring every review for authenticity. We understand that adherence to the Google Guidelines creates transparency that illuminates our bad reviews, as well as, our good ones.  We’re not perfect.  Every company drops the ball now and then, but we want people to know that we are paying attention to those imperfections and are constantly trying to improve our services. Often times, what our customers write about us is the most transparent form of information, and a great way to get a glimpse into how our dealership operates. For example, have a look at what one reviewer had to say about her recent experience at Liberty: “Had such a great experience at Liberty Buick GMC last week. Justin was really helpful during my shopping experience and had a lot of patience while looking at several vehicles on the lot! There wasn’t any pressure to buy, unlike most car dealerships. This company really values their customers and their employees really seem to care about finding the right vehicle for you instead of it just being another purchase for them! Again, thanks so much, Justin! We will definitely be back.”   “Helpful,” “patient,” “wasn’t any pressure,” “values their customers,” these are some impressive pieces of information, ones we like to hear. Nice work Justin!   Here’s another from a very happy customer: “Where do we start?! Ben was AMAZING to work with! He respected what we wanted and what we were looking for and made it happen! His customer service was impeccable and attitude was great!” Alright, Ben!   What both of these reviews—as well as hundreds of others—represent is that we care for our customers. In fact, we love working with them, providing excellent service by always placing their needs first. Above any sale, any special offer, what matters most are the wants and needs of every Liberty customer.   Liberty Buick GMC loves its customers, and it shows.