In October, I signed a 12month lease for a vehicle for business use by my company. The dealer was located in PA and the vehicle would ultimately be titled, registered, and insured in MD. Shortly after I drove the car home, the dealer told me that I owed $5k+ more in MD taxes than was agreed to and included in the lease agreement. It would have essentially doubled the lease payments. I was shocked - I figured they would be familiar with a close neighboring state’s tax laws (slightly more understandable if it was a distant state with obscure tax laws). But we came to a compromise and I paid most of the $ and the dealer also contributed some. For the several week period while we were resolving this issue, I did the responsible thing and did not drive the vehicle since the dealer said they would need to come retrieve it if I did not pay the add’l taxes.
3 months later, I have not received the tags. I have not been able to drive the car as the dealer tags have expired a few weeks ago. The dealer is now telling me that the car is not registered yet and that the title company they use needs more information about my company for verification. My company has leased, registered, and insured numerous vehicles before (and 4 or 5 with the same car manufacturer and finance company) and never had these issues.
I’m over 25% of the lease term and don’t even have the vehicle registered yet. I haven’t been able to drive it for a good chunk of that time. I don’t think I’m getting played by the dealer and think/hope they are honest mistakes, but it’s getting to be too many mistakes, too much $, and too much hassle for such a short lease. Does anyone have any suggestions or advice for me if this continues?