Hard time with Lease Return

Hello, hackrs I have a dodge that I need to ground for lease return and the dealer I leased it from is pretty far away from my house. I called Chrysler capital and they said I could drop it off at any dodge dealer and they would take my car. I called two dealers so far to schedule a return and both said if I did not lease with them I cannot drop the car off. Chrysler told me to try one more dealer and if they refuse to give them a call back. I was just wondering if this is a FCA thing or does this happen in other brands too?

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if it’s a non desirable car they don’t want to make it their problem, they’re just trying to blow you off. Try another dealer if not just show up and hand them the car, they really shouldn’t be refusing you.

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That’s the thing how am I suppose to lease confidently in their brand if they have no control of lease returns. I just find it odd i’m having a hard time returning a car. It’s not like I’m returning damaged goods.

I think Chrysler dealers will truly be the bottom of the barrel until the day they finally go away.

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Call me obnoxious, but I’ve never had to schedule an appointment for a lease return ever for any brand. Just showed up, said I was returning a car, they took an odometer statement and had me sign a lease return form. In and out in 5 minutes. Always have done it in the middle of the week, mid-morning, so it isn’t a busy time for the dealer.

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They just don’t want that car in inventory, costs money to put it back up for sale or take it to auction. I’m not surprised they would try to do this to avoid this car. Doesn’t mean you’re not entitled to return it there, they are just trying to discourage you hoping you go away.

that was my suggestion earlier, just show up and hand them the keys

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I was under the impression when you ground a lease return that it isn’t the dealer’s responsibility other than to park it somewhere safely and let the finance company deal with it? My understanding was the finance company will probably offer it to the dealer, but if not, they’ll send transport to take it to auction - just may take some time and the dealer has to hold the car during that time…

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From what I was told from Chrysler they just need me to inform them where I dropped it off so they could pick up the car from the dealer. So I don’t see what the big problem is. I understand it will probably take up some space on their lot but the car will be picked up eventually?

no point in wondering, do what they say, drop it off and let them know where you dropped it off.

ok will do that. Thanks.

if they give you attitude when you get there, call Chrysler while you’re there and tell them the dealer is refusing to take the car. Make sure you do it during times when they have phone operators working.

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The one time I actually had to return my lease, finance company sent a tow truck to my house.

All good advice, especially on a weekday. Showing up unannounced on a weekend is an imposition. They lease new cars that get dropped off at other dealers- what goes around comes around. Those two dealers are being lazy and inconsiderate.

Dealerships keep the cars that are obviously good to CPO them or simply sell them used and make a profit, but a certain numbers of cars can be sent back to the manufacturer. They can’t send every car back so they would rather not deal with it all together.

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That is helpful insight - thanks, @Samson.

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Returning my $99 a month Dart lease was actually harder than getting the lease deal.

  1. No one wanted to deal with it on the weekend (when I wasn’t working)

  2. One dealer wasted two of my evenings/afternoons. They said I couldn’t turn it in because Ally wasn’t open (it was past 5PM), then they told me I needed a pre-inspection. (Ally doesn’t even do pre-inspections). I ended up calling them a bunch of morons and they asked me to leave.

  3. I finally lucked out by getting a Sales Manager on the phone who offered to help me out…

Whatever you do, don’t talk to salesmen… Ask for a manager.

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FCA cars are so bad, even their own dealers don’t want them.

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I’d just lie and say you leased it at whatever dealer you’re calling, I doubt they would bother to check. Grab one of their license plate frames and throw it on for extra credibility.

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Is this BAU for dealerships? The reason I ask is I just turned in a VW Tiguan - that was very clean and under on miles - to a different dealership than the one we pleased at. To me, a perfect car to CPO or just stick on your VW lot(The car needed nothing). But the car ended up 2 states away. Any reason a dealership would take this route, rather than putting it on their lot? (Just assume the car really was in near perfect condition.)

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