Call your local news station/newspaper, they looooove car dealership stories.
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They canât. The lender already funded the contract (you mentioned that you already have a new open account with VW). In order for the dealer to repossess at this point, they would have to cancel the contract with the bank and then repossess (which would be stupid for them to do). A this point the path of least resistance is to collect the $1,300 by whatever legal means they have available.
I am not questioning your version of events but are you sure you had nothing to do with it? Or what was the reason for the delay? Do you know? That is, did a new contract have to be written and signed (other than the original one on the first day you drove off)? If so, and you took more than say one day to respond and re-sign this may be a reason that paperwork did not get processed in a reasonable time. Again, not sure if this even happened but is one example of why they may have delayed funding. Dealers will not payoff a car until a contract is funded by the bank.
I agree. Time to go directly to the GM at this point and plead your case, which is to say that the payoff increased due to the dealerâs delay in paying off the car. Also, get a clear story of what exactly happened and why the payoff increased $1,300 and why they didnât payoff the trade until 21 days later.
This ^
Tell them, before you even consider paying anything, you need to see all the paperwork and understand why they think they are entitled to charge you the difference. I would assume there is some legal standard that says the dealer is compelled to do everything in their power to process everything quickly (in order to avoid changes in payoff or DMV fees, or whatever) as they are the ones driving the ship. If they had a 10 day payoff and OP agreed to that 10 day payoff then the dealer needs to do all in their power to payoff within 10 days otherwise it is no longer on OP.
I didnât see this before writing the above. I would still start a dialogue with the GM, though. You need to get all the facts and/or negotiate with this dude.
Did they make a mistake though? What exactly happened (other than âthey called me 40 days after to collect $1,300â)? What do they say the $1,300 is related to and why to YOU owe it? you need to get this information as clearly and concretely as possible (then share it here - 
)
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OP how many miles were you over on your mileage if you donât mind me asking?
Having traded tons of cars over the years, some leases some not, I thought Iâd chime in to help OP.
Iron Gunner is right especially about the main 2 points of consideration. 1) the boiler plate contracts put you on the hook for any payoff difference.
- You need to request, in writing by certified letter, the dealer provide you with all supporting documentation to support their claim your payoff was deficient given all the other terms of the deal.
The last one is key to this whole thing. They canât just demand money without an accounting that demonstates the deficiency is due to your representations. Phone calls without auditable recordings arenât considered official correspondence. Protect yourself with paper. Iâve also found out the hard way that dealers are independent businesses from manufacturers. VW has little influence over dealer business by design. Theyâre basically authorized resellers.
I donât know how sales tax on leases work in CA, but I had a dealer forget to consider sales tax on a lease buyout I traded on a purchase. They handled it a lot better than trying to stick me for it all. So maybe tax is the issue here - just guessing.
As for waiting 25 days, itâs common practice from my experience that dealers donât payoff trades until the new loan funds. It not only manages their cash flow but it makes for a cleaner unwinding of the deal if your new financing falls through. But as stated before, that wouldnât account for $1300 unless their delay kicked in some automatic lease extension clause.
Iâd like to hear the outcome so we can all learn. Sorry youâre going through this. One big takeaway is Timmons sucks.
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I may have missed it but why not just return the car and unwind the deal? Whatâs their answer to that?
You missed it. Itâs not up to him. You canât just arbitrarily decide to unwind a deal There is no cooling off period in the state of California.
VW also has a $250-$350 disposition fee on a returned lease. It should have been waived when got a new VW but if the dealer did something weird taking in the old car, he may be responsible for that.
My gut tells me that $1300 is partially disposition fee and excess mileage. Thatâs my hunch at least.
Sorry I havenât had a chance to update, this week has been super busy.
Disposition fee is waved when getting a new lease with VW Credit.
Excess mileage would be way more than $1300 (30k miles+). Regardless itâs totally irrelevant because the car was bought out and not lease returned. I already took the hit on the trade-in value.
I had thought that as well but then OP wrote that VW Finance confirmed that the dealer actually used the buy out option meaning they bought the car from VW Finance instead of returning itâŚ
I just put a certified letter in the mail to the dealer demanding a paper trail of the payment date to VW Credit, as well as a break-down of the exact payoff amount.
Are you unable to find out how much was paid to VW Credit and compare that to your contract? If it was $1,300 higher than what you thought it would be, that would explain why the dealer is pursuing you. The question is what is the $1,300 for. What will VW Credit tell you, you being the original borrower?
VW wouldnât say because it wasnât his payoff per his original lease, it was the dealerâs purchase option offered only to the dealer. We all figure it is because the payoff is higher than what is in the contract but we donât understand why it changed from the date he bought the car or why it changed so much. Even if they waited 21 days to payoff it shouldnât have changed that much if it were a normal payoff situation.
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There is no cooling off period in ANY state, for that matter. Not sure how this mystical absurdity came into play in the first place, but many still believe it.
@Irongunner - lease payoffs jump on the payment due date.
- when did @Palestar get his payoff quote?
- what day of the month is his payment due?
- did he trade it in after the payment due date?
The dealer that sold him the new car owes him an explanation of what they paid, especially since they used a lower amount on his new lease contract.
What happened to you contacting the dealer and telling them you want to unwind the deal since they are now changing the agreed upon terms. That is likely your best option prior to engaging a lawyer and incurring costs there.
If they said OK and want the car immediately, tell them you are out of state for 2 weeks working, vacationing or visiting family for Thanksgiving, to buy time to find another lease.
weâve had it happen with lease buyouts where we purchase the car, do the dealer payoff. GM may have thought it was a lease return and didnât realize it was a buyout because different departments donât talk to each other.
So they were trying to charge end of lease fees when it was purchased.
i was over mileage on my audi, did the dealer payoff and traded it in not lease returned, i actually got a $2600 check back from VW credit for overpayment.
wheres the contract so everyone can investigate 
^ This guy. See below.
@KD6-3.7 - Yes, but not by $1,300 (unless his payment was $1,300 in which case, I would prefer to talk abou that. haha)
- Not 100% clear on that and whether it was a payoff given to dealer by OP or payoff obtained by dealer. I think OP mentioned several dealers he talked to gave him a payoff and all were the same amount prior to visiting last dealer.
- Who knows
- Again, not clear
We all agree with your last point. That is why OP sent a certified letter (although I would have just called and talked it out with the GM).
Yea but the dealer would typically be able to call the bank and clear stuff like that up but they are still going after OP even after VW corporate called the dealer after he complained.
I asked already but we never got it. In any case I donât think it will help as VW wonât give what the actual amount paid was. SoâŚ
THIS IS JUST MADNESS I TELL YOU
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itâs not making sense because somethings missing in this tale 
its like tarantino made a car movie.
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Iâve been in correspondence over the last week with CBS 2 in LA. They have put me in touch with a consumer attorney who is providing assistance, which should be a huge help.
Itâs kind of incredible to me that Timmons would open themselves to so much negativity over what to them is a very small amount of money. Same thing with VW Corporate, they are losing a life-long customer over this. Itâs completely absurd!