Question Re: Timeframe for Refunds on Excess TTL Fees

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We leased our vehicle in mid-June from an out-of-state dealer.

Finance collected $425 for estimated title and license fees, and said that if the actuals were less we would get a refund for the difference.

The plates and registration arrived about 10 days ago, and the registration fees were $55.25. I believe the title fee in Ohio is $15.

How long does the dealer have to reconcile this and refund the difference?

Dealer is in Virginia if that matters.

I searched for old threads and only found this: License fee refund?

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This is actually a good question. Unfortunately I do not know the answer to it. But, I can’t say for sure that the timeframe involved on yours seems entirely too long. When I have received refunds for excessive tag fees, I don’t recall them ever taking longer than one month to arrive.

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The other thing to consider is, since it was done using an out-of-state dealer, they probably used a “tag runner” as well. Those costs will be over and above the actual state fees.

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They did say that they use a third party for out-of-state registrations for the convenience of all parties, and I’m okay paying a reasonable premium for the service.

While I wasn’t expecting a refund of precisely $425 - (55.25 + 15.00), I did expect to see a check in the mailbox by now.

5

We estimate out of state sometimes and use a third party. Just give them a call. They can’t legally keep the difference. Can get in big trouble!

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Thank you.

Based on every other interaction so far, I have no concerns that they’ll try to pocket the difference, I was just curious.

I will follow up with them if the check doesn’t arrive in the next couple of weeks.

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The other thing that I thought was odd was that the plates and registration were sent by Ohio BMV to the dealer.

The dealer sent the plates to us via UPS Overnight.

8

Yup…That has been how it has gone on every out-of-state registration I have done as well.

9

This^^^^

I just don’t like having the fees be overstated because then they get boiled into the lease. Even if they give you a check for the difference, you are paying interest on the overage throughout the lease term, Pennies as it may be :slight_smile:

10

Three of the four cars I bought when we lived in California were from out of state, and If I recall correctly I registered all of them in person and paid the sales tax at the same time.

This was a first for me.

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Now this is going to bug me every time I make a lease payment. :woozy_face:

I am the guy who won’t get cheese on my burger at Five Guys because it’s 80 cents extra.

That’s ridiculous for one slice of processed cheese.

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It’s been almost a month since I created this thread, and almost 3.5 months since we took delivery of the vehicle and paid the estimated fees.

Time to reach out to the dealer and ask for a reconciliation / status of refund.

Stay tuned.

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I procrastinated this task until today. It’s now been 90 days since we took delivery of the vehicle.

I just sent a follow-up email to the sales manager and the finance guy, with the relevant details/screenshots from our lease agreement and the state’s documentation that arrived with the plates.

I’ll post further details as they present themselves.

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I leased my car on 6/22 from a BMW dealer in PA. I’m in NJ and got the TTL refund check in the mail on 9/9.

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No response so far.

By sheer coincidence I am in Northern Virginia on business. Looks like it’s a 15-minute Uber ride from my hotel to the dealer, so if I can find the time I could just show up and resolve this in person…

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I connected with the new sales manager today by phone. Detailed breakout is coming via email.

From his explanation it sounds like they under-collected for sales tax and over collected for registration, title and license, so they used some of the overage on the BMV fees toward the sales tax shortfall, which apparently left $35.25… which is now miraculously on its way to our mailbox.

Is this legit, or do they still owe me the balance between the $425 they collected for title, registration and license and what the actual costs were for these specific items?

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I suspect they are using this as a hidden profit center, but Im not sure youll be able to prove this and/or getting more than the $35 back…….

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Ive had the same thing happen…dealer shows tag/title fees that are way over actual and they claim they put the costs for their doc fee in this line as well. I suppose one could push this legally (as dealers technically cannot make a profit on registration and “on paper” it appears they are), but its probably not worth it.

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Update:

I re-clarified my request and asked again for a refund of the difference between what was collected and what was actually paid out for title/registration:

$ 425.00 estimated amount for State of Ohio fees, collected at lease signing
(140.00) fee the dealer paid to a third party to handle the out-of-state paperwork
(104.25) actual cost of title and registration (they provided a copy of the check)
=180.75.

In a reply email on 10/18 the sales manager confirmed that a check for $180.75 would be mailed to me this week.

I’m traveling all week, but I’ll check the mail when I get home on Sunday night and post an update.

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