Hi all,
I leased a MB GLB 250 back in May, and I just received an email from the dealer saying I need to pay additional $250 for the registration so he will send the permanent NJ plates and registrations.
I understand that sometimes dealer do not estimate correctly the cost, especially if it’s out of state dealer, but can I do anything now or I need to pay? Is there any way the dealer will pay for it or split the cost?
Thanks,
Dor
If the dealer is short on dmv, it’s likely because you’re out of state and there’s no way to estimate dmv fees. 250 isn’t a small amount for them to eat, but they can hold your plates until they are made whole on the deal.
What did you originally pay for registration?
I paid $245 for license/Registration/Title fee.
That sounds about right, maybe even overpaid by $10-20.
There’s no chance you owe them $250.
Oh sorry, my bad, I payed $245
It should be somewhere between $280-311 usually
Ask for a photo of the reg. It will say “Receipt: $xxx” at the bottom
Thanks, I’ve asked for the receipt. I will wait and see what they have to say.
Depending on if they use a third party. Nj plates are 325 plus whatever fee any third party takes
Right I bet it’s the 3rd party fee
Ask for the itemization
Ok I will ask. But if that is the case it means they did not add the registration fee to the lease agreement to begins with, and now they are saying they have incorrectly estimated the fees, can they do that?
Thanks for the help.
Did the OP agree to pay a third party fee?
Plus, depending on the state, the costs related to paperwork (ie documentation) are covered by the doc fee.
Dunno ask him
A dealer can hold a state issued document because they underestimated the cost of DMV on a fully executed contract? Not so sure about that. But it is PA, so who knows.
I did not agree to pay something like that during negotiations.
Have you read the MBFS Lease?
Basically the contract you signed says you owe them any fees related to registration and title and if they pay it for you, you agree to reimburse them, and if you don’t pay them and are fined, it’s your problem… In addition they have “no duty” to provide you an itemization of these fees . Your best bet here is to play the nice guy card and hope they help because you have no legal recourse.
IANAA but that paragraph relates to govt fees. Otherwise a dealer could claim they paid $1,000 to a third party. Why not $5,000? Does it even need to be an arms-length transaction?
I had a “luxury” car dealer call me about 2-3 weeks after sale for another $75 for reg. I’d dealt with the GSM for the sale anyway and I knew the $ paid for TTL covered the actual amounts due to the state so I asked him why his minions were trying to pull a fast one.
Permanent plates were overnighted the next day, with not a peep about the supposed undercharge
