Let me start this by saying I know I am responsible for all payments in a contract.
So I got a company car and my personal leased vehicle was at miles and thus sitting there while I pay insurance on it. I have never turned in a lease early so after reviewing my contract I called to pay off the remaining 3 months and schedule the inspection. They suggested I turn it in then wait for a final settlement because I will not owe the entire amount if the sell it for more than the RV-their words in a recorded conversation. I get the inspection (he says it is the easiest inspection he has ever done and it looks brand new) and turn it in at the dealership. I drive by everyday on my way home and notice it was listed at $18,695 and basic research puts the market value at $17,925. It sold by day 6, off the lot, not in the overflow lot, and no long online. I received my settlement letter which shows I owe $X amount in remaining payments and of course the disposition fee and a random line item for taxes. After calculating taxes + the remaining monthly payments it is exactly what would have been 3 months payments, but does not break down the bill any further. There is a paragraph explaining this and it states “we used the proceeds from the sale to determine what amount, it any, you still owe us.” I calculated that they would have had to sold it for $16,061 and were for some reason in a hurry to do so after it had been on the lot for less than 10 days.
I kindly called the finance company and they were very nasty, kept trying to explain how a lease works, and alas would never tell me what they sold the car for or give any further information regarding the invoice. Granted, I know asking how much they sold it for is unusual, but how else would I be able to check their calculations? The letter literally states this bill is based on the selling price of the vehicle. But they can’t tell me what they sold it for? Do people just pay these bills not know how the company calculated them? I tried Googling to find the selling price based on VIN but am not having luck, except for scammy looking sites. I am prepared to pay the bill but now they are being so sketchy and rude…
BTW, this was a 2016 Mazda CX-5 in California financed through Chase.
I doubt you would ever find out how much the finance company sold it to the dealer for, unless it was at auction. If it had any equity, you should have traded it in or sold it yourself.
You’re missing some details here, like the residual and the amount of your last three payments. And why are you stalking your old car, bored? You talk about allot of other meaningless details. If they sold it for more than your residual plus the remaining payments then yes they would owe you money. Oh and no details like miles, options etc about your car, just how great it is.
The RV was $15,992. Three remaining payments of $266 after taxes on nothing great, just a basic CX-5 Sport with 35,992 miles. Although I am pretty bored, the dealership is on my way home and they parked it in front, with the overflow lot right under my overpass.
They probably sold it to the dealer for $15500, the dealer adds whatever used car pack, minimum of $500, does oil change safety check and detail for $250, so that puts their cost at $16250. They listed it at $18,695. Mister expert used car customer comes in and plays hard ball and gets it for $17800, dealer makes $1550 in profit, plus or minus $500 on all these numbers. I don’t see your car selling to the dealer for more than your residual, that’s not even considering your payments. I still don’t see how any money would be coming back to you in this scenario.
Plus they probably financed the used car, marked up the rate and made some money from the bank. Maybe took in a trade at their lowball offer. maybe they talked the buyer into a very profitable maintenance plan or extended warranty.
All told maybe they made a few grand or more on the deal.
Well of course, what good dealer wouldn’t? Aim for the fences! Was also going to mention that captives seem to be allot more transparent than regular banks or Chase in the case of Mazda and other manufacturers that use outside banks to do their in-house financing. VW sent me my final statement with a clear break down on my Jetta.
They have it all figured out, they know what the cars are selling for at auction and price the vehicle appropriately to the dealer. Chase did some Saab leases back in the day, 1999 models if I remember correctly, we’d crush those people that bought their leases out. The dealer buyout was way less than the residual.
