I signed a lease EQB 24 month 75k for $219 in CA. But I think I may have been scammed by the Stevens Creek Mercedes-Benz dealer, and I’d like to share my experience to get some advice.
What Happened:
Price Change at the Last Second
I initially worked with a broker and secured a deal for $199/month, but when I went to the dealership, the salesperson changed the price to $219/month at the last second and refused to honor the original deal.
Misleading Information About Protection Plans
During the signing process with the finance guy, he handwrote the Lease Vehicle Protection Plus Plan for $639 and told me this was the total cost for two years ($26/month). I confirmed this multiple times.
I was only told about this plan, and no additional costs were mentioned.
Based on this, I calculated my payment to be $219 + $26 = $245/month (pre-tax).I trusted what he said, signed the e-documents without double-checking, and later received a payment notice showing $288/month (pre-tax)—an extra $43/month I didn’t expect.
DAS (Due at Signing) Breakdown:
The total DAS was $7,500 rebate + $2,700 from me = $10,200, which included:
First month’s payment: $315 ($288 + $27 tax)
Cap reduction: $8,423
All other fees: $1,460
Payment Details:
Vehicle Protection Plan: $1,398 (I was told it would be $639)
MB 1st Class Lease Protection: $1,549 (This was never mentioned to me)
Acquisition Fee: $1,095
Vehicle Capitalized Cost: $36,561.50
Total Capitalized Cost: $40,603.50
Adjusted Cap Cost:
After the cap reduction: $40,603.50 - $8,423 = $32,180
Residual Value: $28,285
Depreciation: $32,180 - $28,285 = $3,895
Rent Charge:
Rent charge: $3,032
Total lease cost: $3,895 (depreciation) + $3,032 (rent) = $6,927
I was told the Vehicle Protection Plan would cost $639 total, but the contract lists it as $1,398
The MB 1st Class Lease Protection plan costing $1,549 was never mentioned during negotiations
But if these two protection plan would add $96/month which doesn’t match my number so I can’t pinpoint where the extra costs came from during the signing process.
How do these protection plans impact my monthly payment?
Is this a common issue with this dealership or others?
What’s the best way to escalate this and potentially resolve it?
Thanks in advance!
**** Update ****
Thanks for all the replies, but I want to focus on the unawareness of protection plan charges. The only number I was told regarding the protection plan was $639 total. How could they add other charges without informing me?
I spent 5-6 hours at the dealership working on this deal, and now I’m wondering—is this their tactic? Exhaust customers and hide extra charges in a pile of paperwork?
Additional Context :
Actually, I worked with this excellent broker who helped me secure a great deal. The broker even let me delay the broker fee until after I saw the car and signed with the salesperson.
The price difference I experienced was explained by the salesperson as due to “new car registration plus tax on the rebate.” I contacted the broker about this, and while he said it’s a drawback of working directly at a dealership (since he have less control), the broker generously offered to reimburse me for the price gap. I didn’t ask for the full amount because I truly appreciate their effort.
In the first place, you should have worked with your broker to resolve this or walk away.
You signed the paperwork and drove off - it’s basically a done deal.
Lucky for you, you’re in CA so these products can be removed within 30 days IIRC. Check the plan documentation/contracts for cancellation specifics; it should list the steps pretty clearly.
Reach out to your broker. This is why you paid them $1000 if they’re in CA.
Secondly, you didn’t get scammed. You just negligently signed a contract without reading it. Cancel any warranties or lease protection now and your lease payment will go down
No need for me to repeat what others have said here, but as far as lessons go, at least this one is not all that expensive in the grand scheme of things.
If the broker is aware of their dealers practices like this, they should be disclosing or at least checking for discrepancies between their quote and what dealer gives. Otherwise they are not doing their job/role properly.
The MB broker I used on the East Coast proactively noticed something off in the numbers and addressed it before we got to the paperwork stage.
If what OP said is true, he did in fact get scammed. Verbal offers must still be honored.
In my opinion, the broker should take responsibility for the discrepancy, and refund the money if thats what it comes to. Its up to the broker to “broker” the deal. If the dealer trys to pull a fast one at the last minute or makes a mistake, its the broker’s issue.
I disagree. The broker brokered the deal. The customer signed up for excess products at the dealer. I’m not a broker, but I’m sure a decent chunk of broker’s clients choose to add similar protection when in the finance office.
The contract explicitly states this is the entire agreement between the parties and expressly disclaims all verbal contracts. So no, he didn’t get scammed, he just didn’t read, for that there’s no defense
Yeah, I’m a little confused. While I don’t think anything illegal happened (disclaimer: IANAL), I don’t understand the point of using a broker, if this kind of upsell can still happen? I mean, don’t most of us say here, if you don’t know what you’re doing, hire a broker?
OP, have you reached out to the broker to explain what happened? And was this a broker that advertises on LH?
There was a 2nd protection plan added which was never discussed with the customer. This is a scam, pure and simple. It cannot be more simple. Just because you hide it in the mountains of paperwork you must sign at the dealer doesn’t make it not a scam. C’mon dude.
As for the broker, they have a responsibility to ensure their customer isn’t scammed, abused, taken advantage of, or however you want to put it. The broker should call the dealer to sort this out.
Question for you: when you broker a deal, is it common for the dealership to upsell the client? I would assume (and perhaps I am totally wrong) that, when a client is using a broker, the dealership would normally simply present the paperwork for signatures and that the deal would match exactly what the broker had presented.
Yes, the client should still double check and read through all the paperwork, etc., but are my assumptions that the paperwork should match what had been previously discussed when using a broker and that upsells at the dealership shouldn’t [commonly] occur when using a broker reasonable ones?
It depends on the broker and the relationships they have with the dealer. For example, a lower volume store that doesn’t see a lot of turns each month may only work with a broker if they get an opportunity to sell additional product. A very large volume store may not care as much because they will beat non-broker clients up in the box.
Again, every broker/store is different but most of my deals do go through finance and I prep the clients in advance. Personally, I don’t think all product is bad and you must say no to everything. I take EWU for $895 on all of my personal XC90s because my kids beat the bag out of it. Many clients take Audi Care, etc…
When I had my Jag XF, I popped 4 tires in a winter but I’ve never popped a tire with any other car.
For m550 owners, I’ve heard of people popping 10-15 in 3 years.
Yeah, and I think that’s really all I was expecting (since, as you say, not all products are a waste, and the client is, of course, free to choose whatever they like and whatever works for them).
OP, if you are willing to do so, please do post your contract w/ personally identifying info (and maybe even dealership information) redacted.
There are 3 issues with this deal as a scan it (of course the paperwork is needed to prove anything.)
The price was incorrect
The protection plan chosen by customer had its price roughly doubled w/o customer knowledge
2nd protection plan added without customer knowledge
In my opinion, #1 and #3 are fully the broker’s problem, even if its buried in paperwork, AND even if the customer signs on the dotted line at the dealer. The customer has a contract with the broker to provide a car at a certain price, and assuming what OP said is true (awaiting proof), its the broker’s responsibility to deliver it.
#2 is the between customer and dealer, because its he said - she said, but the broker would be smart to sort this out too.
