Legal Question in Consumer Law in California

Hello. I have a contract/auto sales question. My wife and I attended the Barrett & Jackson classic auto auction yesterday. My wife was the high bidder on a vehicle and intended to purchase it with financing she believed they offered on-sight. However, upon gaining further information he was informed that their financing only pertained to older classic cars and the car my wife purchased did not quality. Anyways, after the auction they came and got my wife and hustled her to the back room and asked me to run to the car to retrieve my insurance information. While I was doing so they had my wife sign the sales agreement and other documents while I was away. However, upon learning that they did not have financing for the car she won she alerted them that she would have to secure a loan and submit payment after doing so. They responded, "We have nothing to do with that. We will just expect payment to be wired to us by Tuesday. You won the car and you are expected to pay as agreed". They would answer no other questions that she asked them. After experiencing their refusal to answer her questions she informed them that she no longer wanted the vehicle and dd not feel comfortable proceeding with the sale. At that time they informed her that she had bid for the car, signed the sales agreement and that they would enforce the agreement. To my knowledge they never offered my wife an option to purchase a 2 Day Cancellation Option as required by California Buyer's Bill of Rights FFVR 35, which she would have gladly paid purchased considering the had grown uneasy with the purchase.
She attempted to call B&J today to discuss the matter further. They refused to discuss the sale with her and told her that she had two options, 1) she could purchase the vehicle as agreed which would be approximately $23K or 2) they would allow her to "Buy Out" of her contract for $5K. Those were her only two options and if she did not give them an answer they would contact their legal department to start legal action against her for breach of contract. After my wife telling me of their response I attempted to contact B&J. The representative refused to speak to me stating that I was not a party to the sales agreement and that they had no legal duty to speak to me. Further, she had already spoken to my wife, given her the available options and that she was too busy to discuss it any further.
My wife and I would like to cancel this sale if possible. As previously stated, they never offered by wife the 2 Day Cancellation Option as require by California law FFVR 35. When she did attempt to inform them she did not wish to go forward they refused to acknowledge or discuss her request. Are we able to utilize the Car Buyers Bill of Rights FFVR 35 as a means of canceling this sale? Per FFVR 35 we understand that we would be liable for a $500 restocking fee of the car, which we would be willing to pay, however, their offer to charge us $5000 to "Buy-Out" of the contract seems to be an attempt to circumvent FFVR 35. I have tried to call and speak to B&J but they refuse to speak to me and my wife has grown intimidated because they threaten her with legal actions when she tried to discuss the matter with them. Please help. If you need to you can contact me at (909)754-7960.
Steve Vasquez

Asked on 6/27/11, 1:42 pm

Joe Marman Law Office of Joseph Marman

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0 attorneys agreed

I think the normal car purchase rules do not apply at an auction.

Answered on 6/27/11, 2:40 pm

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