I leased a VW GTI through Timmons Volkswagen in Long Beach, CA in the middle of September. I had a 2015 VW Passat as trade-in that was leased through VW Credit, which was paid off by the dealer.
Today, almost 40 days after I signed the lease papers, I get a letter from the dealer demanding payment. They claim the payoff figure on the Passat was $1300 more than what they were quoted and I’m responsible for the difference.
I was cross-shopping VW Dealers and received the pay-off figure several times. It was always the same amount, which is what was used on the lease paperwork. Even if there was a discrepancy in the amount, the dealership should be responsible for verifying any numbers with VW, prior to presenting and signing paperwork. How on earth is this my responsibility?
Anyone have any advice here? I feel like the dealer hasn’t a leg to stand on.
The other super fishy part of the story is, I had to call 25 or so days after I signed the papers, to verify everything had gone through because I hadn’t received an invoice yet (and my old account was showing open with VW)
Magically I get a payoff statement from VW within 24 hours ($0 balance). About a week later I get a voice mail from the sales manager, which I never returned and today get this certified letter demanding payment.
It has expiration date, so who knows. The dealer might have sat on it and submitted the payment after payoff quote had expired. But I doubt it would differ by $1,300 within a short period of time or even a month.
Call VW credit and see what they say. I’ll bet the dealer let the next two payments become due before they paid it off. I’m sure the dealer can pound sand. Tell them to review this before you review them on Yelp and Google and file a complaint with VW.
FAX/email the dealer a copy of the payoff statement. It sounds as though the dealer is liable as they have taken the vehicle into their care and custody.
I’m going to call VW Credit this afternoon, but not sure how much it will help. There was only 1 payment left on the trade-in and was accounted for in the payoff amount.
You are responsible for the payments on your old car until it is paid off. So the dealer probably tried to sell it before paying off VW. Did you get any late payment notifications on your old car from VW?
Yes I did receive about a $10 late fee, which is why I contacted the dealer in the first place to see what was going on. The next day I received the Lease-End statement showing a $0 balance.
So, I guess they just did not pay VW for 1+ month and payoff amount probably changed. But it is their problem. You should have some document from them when they took your car, stating the payoff amount.
If the Financial Company (VW) has no issue with your current lease and your previous lease, with all accounts being settled on their side, then there is literally nothing the Dealer can do to you at this point.
Your responsibilities ended when VW Financial received the payoff and cleared your balance to 0 on your old lease and the current lease is paid for on time. You have satisfied the contract requirements and the sales contract that you have entered, it sounds like the dealer dropped the ball.
I would pay no mind to it, short of them sending a lawyer after you, in which case you should lawyer up as well. They do not have ground to demand anything from you. They took your car and your old lease was paid off. End transaction.
