I leased an Acura MDX on July 30th and went into the Acura Financial Services website two days ago to ensure I had access to submit my second months payment. There was no record of my lease and they did not have my VIN # on record. I also never received a welcome package. They mentioned that I needed to call my dealership because they had no records of the purchase and could not provide guidance. I reached out to my dealership and spoke with my sales rep and the general manager. I just received a call from their head of finance stating they made a mistake and they asked me to come in and resign my contract. I believe, and will admit I do not know for sure, that the issue was the initial months payment (I am working to get the real answer as I send this). I had agreed to pay only the first month of my lease upfront, but when I went to the dealership to sign they added a +/-$200 additional payment to cover the taxes (washington, dc) on a specific incentive. I told them I would not sign unless the upfront payment was solely the $420. They agreed to this, I signed, paid, and left. I believe the $200 tax payment caused the issue and this deal structure somehow made the contract either invalid, or unacceptable to AFS.
I hope this is enough information for someone to provide some guidance on this. I found a few references to similar situations on the forum but most focused on the ability to renegotiate. My priority right now is to ensure I know what to look out for in the new documentation/contract. A few questions of mine for the forum:
1.) I know this has happened to a few others, how have others handled this situation?
2.) I obviously will bring my old lease documents/contract with me so I can review side to side. Is there anything in particular I should pay special attention to?
3.) I have put 950 miles on the vehicle this past month. Will this have any impact on my overall mileage? Does the contract back date to July 30th (signed a 36 month lease)?
4.) I received a 6,000 mile credit from my previous Acura lease on miles I did not use.Anything special to be aware of when ensuring these miles are still noted?
5.) Finally, the dealer made a legitimate mistake here. I know mistakes happen, but it took over two days for the dealership to figure it out, after I notified them. Meanwhile I was concerned that I was going to miss my second payment which may have impacted my credit. In addition, I now need to drive out to the dealership and interact with them during the pandemic a second time which puts my family at risk. I think some sort of compensation would be reasonable and am simply curious if anyone else has been in a similar situation and received something?
I’ve had to re-sign a contract, in my experience, it fails in finance for arcane reasons (someone forgets to check a box in my case).
You basically have the option to accept their terms or walk away. The bank won’t buy it otherwise. I don’t know for sure but I would assume contract will be backdated.
Appreciate the insight from your experience. I assume the main thing you did was just confirm all documentation was consistent with the original contract.
It sounds like the contract was returned as not cashable because they bogeyed the taxes, which I will assume is an honest mistake.
you can refuse to resign and return the mdx, ask the dealer to pay/split the difference, or sign it as presented. $5/mo (to me) isn’t worth blowing the deal up, but will almost 1,000 miles you have enough leverage to push back (they want your signature, not the car).
They should highlight the difference, just the taxes and due from customer should be different
they will want to start your lease at whatever you rolled out with originally. Since you rolled miles from the prior lease that may not concern you. If it does and you think 1,000 miles makes the difference, you could pay the tax and ask them to do a new odometer statement that you started the lease with the current mileage (should be low enough not to count as loaner or adjust residual)
just that they’re noted the same way on old and new contracts
your payment isn’t late because the contract hasn’t been funded yet. If, when the post it, it appears to be, just calls AFS and make your second payment. Late pay shouldn’t be an issue
If I were you, and the mileage as-is isn’t a concern (don’t need the 1000 you burned for the duration), I would ask them to eat it, if they refuse ask them what happens to your trade if you return it, see if they’ll split it, and if not, if you end up signing and covering their error, I’d roll it back into the lease (payment goes up $5-ish a month). Most important is to be polite, respectful, but firm (an honest mistake is still their honest mistake).
Appreciate the additional feedback here. A few things I wanted to mention as a follow up to jeisensc. With regards to your numbers above:
1.) The only thing I am told I owe tomorrow, I am confirming this once more before going in, is the second months payment of $420. To my knowledge, they are not asking me to pay the taxes. This leads me to believe they are somehow backdating this contract and my lease will still have a start date of June 30th.
Side Note -cruiserchick will also be requesting electronic copies.
2.) Great point. I will make sure they do this.
3.) Just want to make sure I understand this. Are you assuming they will have me sign a new 36 month lease starting August 29th? In this case, I would lose the current 1,000 miles on the back end of the lease as it would appear I took delivery of the vehicle with those existing miles. If the actual lease date remains at June 30th I wouldnt have an issue as I agreed to a 12K/year + 6K additional miles originally so I am not looking for anything extra.
4.) Will do
5.) Should I not make my second payment at the dealership tomorrow, as they requested, but rather with AFS directly after they process the deal tomorrow? Separate note, I actually now think I need to call AFS to confirm they know I returned the Acura RDX lease (3 months early) that I traded in for the MDX. Don’t want them requesting payment for another month.
Again I really appreciate everyones help and will provide an update when complete to help others.
No I assume they’ll have you sign a new contract dated tomorrow for the lease that began in (June? July?) using those programs
Someone else may have a different opinion: either make that separate check out to AFS and note on memo it’s payment for month 2 of 36 month lease, OR the contract should reflect (far right column) payment is X due in month 3 (where it probably says two).
I haven’t looking at a Honda or AFS lease contract in a while so don’t quote me here, but lease should have started the day you originally signed, you are signing with tomorrow’s date (resign) and either check for payment 2 is made to AFS and they are collecting it and sending with the contract, or if it’s payable to dealer then “first payment you owe” on contract should be #3 and not #2.
What’s the date on the new contract, you either got a free month or the dealer had to eat the second payment to get the deal funded(if the due date was passed or very close).
When I leased my tacoma back in February the dealer (or their corporate office, at least that was the story I was told) dragged their feet on fixing the contract and had to make two payments for me… Lol. I literally emailed the finance manager the day after I signed and said it was missing the dispo fee and would get kicked, I think they just ignored it or didn’t think it was an issue. Two months later after resigning it finally funded and my account reflected two payments made by the dealer… Lol. Had the truck for 3 months before paying a dime
Remember, if the dealer made an error YOU have all the leverage. Take advantage of if. Nothing in life is free, especially your valuable time and effort.
Appreciate all the help folks. Went back to the dealership this morning. Contract is still dated 7/29 when I purchased and my payment was technically due today, which I paid. The issue was the Residual they put in at 55% (I didnt even catch this originally and new it was supposed to be 54% - I guess shame on me too) when it was supposed to be 54%. They assumed all expenses associated with this change and did not try to change the amount I owed. Ultimately it dropped the buy price by about $500 at the end of the lease. They stepped up and explained the difference in numbers and were quick to deal. I made the decision to limit my time at the dealership (covid) vs. negotiate for something in return. Thanks again all.
Great news: if they walked you through numbers and it all made sense, I probably would have done exactly that. Enjoy your MDX! Thanks for asking before you signed again.
