[ACG2x]

What in the hell is all this discussion about "moral balance" and such? If the OP wants moral balance and wants to feel better about himself, donate $1,500 to a good charity vs. giving it back to a car dealership who screwed up in their apparent haste to make a sale at any cost.

That's not to blame the dealership, they were doing what they do for a living, making sales. Under no circumstances, sans if I was ordered to by a binding legal entity, would I give the dealership one red cent.

Plus, IAW about how does the car lose $3K of value in a few months? That's asanine.

The $3K in "lost value" is an arbitrary figure. You can't say for certain what the car would be sold for three months ago because in any kind of sales job, an object (in this case the car) is worth what a consumer is willing to pay for it. Maybe they sell it for $10K, maybe not. Maybe nobody buys it at that price and it sits on the lot for two months.

What I'm getting at is you can't say what the lost value is on something that has a variable price. Again, a car is worth what a consumer will pay for it. On the last car my wife and I bought, the dealership ended up dropping the price several thousand dollars because we refused to buy at their original offer. So there is no way this guy can accurately tell you the lost value to him is $3K.

Do not go to a meeting with him. Do not engage in conversation with him. And absolutely do not pay him a dime. Tell him if he ever wants you to buy a car from his dealership again or have you recommend his dealership to anyone else, he'll leave you alone and never bring the situation up again.

The dealership has no legal claim to force you to pay any of that money. All this moral high ground stuff to help smooth over someone else's screw up is making my head spin.