I have a family member that has Hyundai lease that is ending next month, planning on buying it out the residual amount is around 13,500 I am under the impression that buyout usually means payoff amount plus tax ( Florida 7%) and dmv/reg/tag fees, apparently with Hyundai that is not the case, you have to do the buyout at a dealership, and you guessed it they went and were told there are additional fees like a certification fee to recertify the car ( sounds like absolute bs to me) I was told this is because the warranty is non transferable, but the vehicle was never really titled it was leased, the certification fee was almost $2000 lol, plus additional documentation fees total ended up almost$17,000…
What options does this person have in trying to buy this car out? are they at the mercy of dealers and whatever fees they decide to charge? sounds ridiculous when there is a contract with a set residual ?
I did some digging and apparently the transaction can still be done but it needs to be done by someone that possesses a dealer license not necessarily a dealership , I am not sure what this means entirely? I wish they have the options of just giving the car back , but they are over miles…
What you do is call the FL Attorney General and report them for violating the Consumer Leasing Act of 1976. The only fees they’re allowed to charge are the ones that are stipulated in the original lease contract. Typically, this does allow for them to charge a doc fee, but the certification fee and such are illegal and they should be reported. Hopefully they were “kind” enough to give you the buyout fee breakdown in writing.
the buyout sheet the sales person was super defensive when they asked for it , and when called on it asked the patron to leave the dealership. I am afraid if this is normal practice does that mean there is no way to buy this car out without any of these bogus fees?
Any Hyundai dealer can process it without the bogus fees, except the dealer doc fee, which there’s no getting around. You could probably gently remind this dealer that if they process the buyout without charging any of the fees, you’ll lose the Attorney General’s phone number. I’d still report them though.
They’re being super defensive regarding this because they’re knowingly violating federal law.
This family member wasn’t aware of this limitation in Florida when it comes to Hyundai, I myself was surprised by it and insisted they might be able to do this online directly with Hyundai Finance, but nope…
looks like I’ll have to help them shop around the lowest fees possible which is ridiculous at the end of a buyout . This begs another question then what if the buyer were to obtain financing via credit union/local bank etc do they still have to go to the dealer? in normal buyout the check is sent to the financing lender in this case Hyundai no?
Florida requires buyouts to be processed by someone with a dealer’s license. If the bank doesn’t possess one, you run into issues. You can certainly call up Hyundai Financial and tell them that the dealer is trying to violate the law by charging all these extra fees and ask how you can pay them directly so that the buyout can be done legally and see what they say.
This is a Florida law that requires a dealer process the buyout and is not specific to a brand. When the dealer lobby throws enough money at something they typically get what they want.
Thank you for your responses btw, I am bit confused by the someone with a dealers license, how can they use that to their advantage? have someone with a license buy it then sell it back? or find a bank that has a dealer license? I’d have to search this, but even then how would that even take place do both entities just communicate without involving an actual dealer? Hyundai really complicates this or should I say dealers in Florida
The bank (Hyundai Financial) would need to have the license. Not just any bank.
I would call Hyundai Financial, let them know that you are trying to buyout the lease in accordance with your lease contract, but that the dealership is trying to violate the law on the bank’s behalf in processing the buyout, and ask them where you can send the check so as to have the transaction not violate federal law. Put the ownership of the legal issues on them.
And then call the Attorney General and report the dealership.
I’m in S. Florida. I used a company called Leaseend.com. I avoided the dealer experience because of this very reason and they did all the paperwork online, including lease payoff and auto financing, title work etc. I did some negotiating through them with Capital One financial on the APR which I compared to a CU and they accepted. They can give you quotes before accepting
I don’t recall their fees as I financed my lease a year ago, but they would be able to provide you a quote which you would choose to move forward. I do remember the process was seamless and the agent took care of everything. You get updates provided every step of the way (bank funding, lease payoff, tile processing). Best of all, no bs, no runaround and you don’t have to step a foot back into the dealer
