Credit Check at Car Dealers.

I NEVER give ANYONE my DL to photo copy. Just don't do it! An unauthorized credit check is not legal. If the dealer refuses to let you drive a car if you say no to this request, find another dealer to do business with.

 

Actually they do not do it for a credit check... They do it if you drive off with the car - they can get you... I have never had to give my DL - unless I am taking the car out by myself... If they ride with you - you should only have to show them that you have a valid DL. And don't think that you don't have to show them - they should validate that you DL is valid - to allow any test drive.

 

Most of the time they are just looking to have a record of contact info.

 

I work at an exotic dealership and we require copies of DL for several reasons. 1. You have to have a valid license in order to test drive a car for insurance purposes. 2. It's for security reasons as well. If you want to steal the car or hijack the car, we want to know who you are if the car and salesperson doesn't come back...it has happened! 3. It proves that you are at lesat 18 years old....another insurance issue. 4. We match the picture with the person in case of identity theft. We would never run a credit check using a DL. It doesn't have enough info on one to run credit and NO ethical dealership would do that without the customers permission. I guess there are exceptions to everything. But, in this day and time with identity theft being so rampant, everyone has to protect themselves.

 

Up until recently, states used to use a person's social security number as the driver's license number. So yes, car dealers made a copy of the license and ran a credit check while the customer was taking a test drive. By the time the customer got back, the dealer knew whether the customer could afford the car or not.
Because there is so many identity thefts,the states have removed the ssn#. Now the dealers make copies for various reasons. A lot has to do with security of the car and the safety of the salesman. It's not uncommon for salesman to be killed on test drives. Also a copy of the license proves that a salesman spoke with a customer incase the customer comes back and buys the car from a different salesman.

 

I was curious about this as well, as I am now convinced that you can obtain a person's credit information just by having the data listed on your DL.

A buddy of mine went for a test drive. He provided his DL for the dealer to copy. When he began negotiating on the car, the salesman already had information on his credit, including his FICO score. Since this was in California, only your name, address, DOB, and DL# is listed on your DL, IIRC.

For a long time, I thought you needed a person's social security # (and your consent) to obtain your credit info. So, anybody know how/if this information can be obtained w/o your ss#?

Another point: an accountant friend told me that if you give the dealer a copy of your DL for the purposes of a test drive, that can constitute as some sort of implied consent to check your credit. (Don't know if this is true).

 

Yes, it is possible. You do not necessarily need a SSN to obtain a credit report.

I doubt that they will run it on just anyone, even given the low costs for pulling a report from a dealer. The dealer will end up being charged somewhere around .10 to 8.00 per pull, depending on how the financing channels are funnelled.

The only problem here would be the unauthorized part in regards to the credit pull. If you did catch someone, then what?

Same thing goes for vendors/restaurants that are still printing out the full credit card number and expiration date on receipts which was supposed to halt back in August IIRC. You catch one and then what? Call a lawyer regarding your $15 meal and credit card slip?

 

Thanks Wayne and Randy, for the responses to my questions.

As for the guy suing for unauthorized credit check, do you know what damages the fellow is claiming? I guess the credit check might have been unauthorized, but other than punitive damages, I wonder how much, or more to the point, *what* he can sue for. (what's the damge the purchaser incurred)

Without knowing the full details, I feel bad for the dealer. Seems a little bit like a "setup". Then again, dealers often seem to flout laws regarding privacy w.r.t to financial info, so these suits might just be inevitable.

 

4REman hit it right on the head why we need a copy of a DL. Insurance and security reasons. If we want to run your credit, not only do we need your written permission and a filled out and signed credit app, we also have to have a legitimate need to see you credit info. Meaning we can't run your credit report just because you want to see your credit info. On a personal level, I like to have copies of the DL so that I can put a name with a face, which you can't do with just a business card. Some customers are in shock when I can call them by name 6-12 months after they orignally stopped in.

 

Wayne,

If either party modifies the document wouldn't both parties have to initial the change?(to make it binding)
I would think if the buyer modified this document(without saying anything) and it holds up in court, whats to prevent a Dealer from doing the same?