I’m under the impression that OP checked with VW Credit and then his contract with the bank and numbers in both areas checked out? It was only a problem when VW Credit informed OP that there was an outstanding balance left on the account to which OP did the right thing by going to the dealer and asking, what happened?
I would have thought the dealer would have informed him immediately of the discrepancy if it were an issue?
The OP is in CA, I believe. Normally a VW dealer should be able to look up a VW payoff, but maybe the system was down or it was after hours for a phone call. Extra fees could be attached to that car for parking tickets or something.
Here in FL, those go on your tags which are transferred to your new car. same goes for unpaid tolls
Yeah - I would call the dealer and warn them that you will return the car. Then take the car back to the dealer to unwind the contract and take your business to a different dealer that won’t play games with you.
In FL, it goes to the tag owner. which is the registered owner of the tag which in this case would be OP but I guess CA is one of those states where the car sells with the plates ??
You are right about California being a state where the tags stay with the car.
Yea, in this day and age (of online portals, etc.) it is best practice to get the payoff confirmed prior to rolling a deal to avoid this very problem but not required. it is also possible that a payoff was not available through phone or online due to either the lease being one month away from maturity and/or after hours (who knows). And being faced with not rolling a deal (and possibly losing the sale to cold feet or another dealer) and rolling it knowing you can collect later (based on the signed agreement) the dealer would go with the latter and roll the dice.
I am curious why it took them 40 days to try and collect the money though. One would be able to find out the payoff the very next day with one phone call. I think OP said he didn’t respond to a couple of phone calls from the manager early on and then received a demand letter. The delay may also be some what his doing.
Yes, I meant there is no reason it would ever go to a dealer, but to VW if not to the lessee.
As mentioned above, in CA the plates follow the car. So fees due go to the previous owner. If trivial, most dealers will just eat them. A diligent F&I person would mention the payoff is estimated and if higher, the customer is responsible. If lower, it’s refunded to the previous owner by the lender.
Dealers out here will often wait until they have the title in hand before giving a check to a customer for an outright purchase because these kind of things happen- like liens from the DMV for parking, towing, booting, late fees, etc.
No parking tickets, extra fees, etc associated with the trade-in.
The only thing due was 1 remaining payment and the residual vale on the lease. I cross-shopped several dealers and even called the original dealer from which I purchased the Passat from. They ALL called and verified the payoff figure, which was the amount used on the lease paperwork.
If the payoff figure ballooned from them paying it nearly a month late, how on earth is that my problem? The lease numbers were agreed upon at signing.
As I said before, the trade in account AND the new account with VW Credit are fine.
If the payoff figure was suddenly $1300 more than they were expecting, wouldn’t they call me to ask me if I still want to go ahead with the deal? Of course not, because then they would have to take back what would essentially be a used car.
Instead they played Bullshit tactics and decided to blame the customer for their own mistake.
Did you call the dealership yet?
This is only the case when dealer actually buys the car, not if they just take lease return for VW which is still the owner in that case? Right?
You mentioned you got the payoff a few times prior. Did the payment due date pass before you finally did the deal. Did you turn in the lease or trade in the car? A dealer can take your word on the payoff and if they were diligent, they would have verified it right away. I think they dragged their heels and encountered another payment, or something that’s your responsibility could have increased it. You could have an answer from VW Credit a lot quicker than another 50 opinions on this forum…
If you mean buying a car outright, a dealer often will wait until they have the title in hand before issuing a check. If they took a lease return, it would be between the DMV and the OP. If it was traded in, everything has to be settled.
Getting answers from VW Credit is harder than you’d imagine. I’m still waiting for a call back.
The car was traded in, NOT a lease return. As I already explained there was a $10 late fee from the payoff being nearly 30 days after the deal was signed. I was actually the one that had to bring this to the attention of the dealer. They are completely and utterly incompetent.
Make sure VW Credit doesn’t report a 30 day late on your credit. That should be easy enough to accomplish.
Back when I use to deal with VW lease returns, you would return the car via a website, once that process was complete you would be able to print out a receipt showing the car was turned into VW. Find the guy that handles lease returns at the dealer and watch him turn it in and make sure you get that print out. This will avoid allot of this BS, I was always amazed how many people didn’t care about receiving something in writing that their car was returned. Once it’s turned in he, no more payments are billed. They either send you a final bill or reconcile it with the pull ahead program.
UNWIND the deal !!!
I mean we are trying to see where this extra $1300 came from, could it be they screwed up and thought they could buy the car and sell it for more but then realized it wasn’t worth more? It should have been a lease return if anything instead of a buy out with only 1 payment left you would think there might be some pull ahead program since the OP is sticking with VW for their cars as someone pointed out a buyout instead would be what they did. Because if I am the OP, why not just keep the car until the payment is due, pay the payment then return the car? Seems like the dealer was trying something, screwed up and now want the OP to pay for their little tricks.