I am trying to purchase 2018 Infiniti QX60 lease from IFS due to chip shortage issue and lack of 3-row SUV’s in the market at a reasonable price. I got the payoff letter from IFS and my bank dispatched the check to them. Unfortunately they received it 3 days late but they still applied to the account. A few days later they sent me a letter saying they can’t release the title because the payoff amount is short due to sales tax required in the amount of $1300. I called them ask what the heck that is and to explain the calculation involved. First rep I got hold off simply disconnected the call. The second rep was a bit decent and explained that due to chip shortage they increased the residual value from my contract because the payoff check was received 3 days late from the date stated in their payoff letter and they sent me a letter stating that it is sales tax required. I asked for a resolution and he said he has to create a ticket and escalate it to “mgmt” to reconsider the original payoff letter and waive the $1300 amount. Also, he asked me to pay the current month’s rent otherwise they may report it to credit agencies as missed payment. He says I can’t miss the call within 48 hours from their “mgmt” because they are the only ones who can do something here. Have anyone of you experience similar issues ? Looks like the only option is to wait for their “mgmt” to contact me so that they can waive that fake charge ?
I’m confused. Are you questioning if you have to pay sales tax or are you upset that their buyout quote didn’t originally include sales tax?
For real ? The payoff letter contains sales tax, security deposit, any extra lease payments made all things considered already. As per their agent they are simply trying to extort extra money under the disguise of ‘sales tax’ towards ‘chip shortage’ without any explanation. I tried asking for a legit explanation for that extra amount but he didn’t have any. Why would he create a ticket to waive off that amount and escalate it if it was real ‘sales tax’ ? I calculated on my own and the check sent to them already have sales tax factored in.
I’d think that the sales tax was in there all along, and that you’re really just being charged $433/day for the 3 days you were late. Why? Because imo they can in this market and they’re taking full advantage.
If this hunch is right and it’s their markup, a manager may waive it if they choose to given the circumstances and how close it was - I’m doubtful a manager can waive sales tax liability.
This is certainly not always the case. You wouldn’t be the first person think it did when it didn’t or vice versa.
Has the lease ended? Or are you still leasing the car?
I’d assume if the lease has ended, they can tack on any extra charges.
But if you’re still leasing the car now, the pay off should go down each day (month?) that passes, not up
The lease has ended but I have an extension till Feb 2022.
Of course but I have checked with them and also calculated on my own to confirm that the 6.625% sales tax was already part of the payoff amount they quoted which I sent to them.
I think this is the what is happening most likely because they realize I am buying the vehicle from them little cheaper than the market. Surprisingly there is no documentation or updates from them e.g. A new contract document due to change in residual. I am not sure if they are allowed to do so legally.
When did you do the extension? IFS changed their policy where they don’t adjust/lower the RV for any extension payments.
Can you post a copy of the letter Infiniti sent you laying out the payoff info? Redact your personal info of course. May help make things clearer.
October-end
That’s when the changed occurred. If after 10/25, your RV will not be adjusted.
When I did my QX60 buyout 5 weeks ago - the payoff letter did not include sales tax, buyout fee, inspection fee nor doc fee. Those were all added at the dealership.
Call IFS and have them manually calculate your payoff. They should have the math with a manager and will call you back and walk you through it.
The rep and I got the exact same number but all my lease modifications were prior to the change in policy.
I went through this and got the manager rep who did the manual calculations.
12/8 Update: So an IFS manager called me today and explained about their policy changes during late October and a mistake in calculating my final payoff amount. He recalculated the payoff and raised a request to not only waive that fake charge of $1300 but also explained that I overpaid and originally quoted payoff amount should be reduced by $1100 and I will be refunded back that difference as well once the account is closed off. He explained that you received a deal assisted payoff amount not a client direct payoff amount. I am not sure why dealer assisted has $1100 more quoted thou. He said he notated everything on my account for reference but asked me to wait couple of days until his request gets approved by his manager. Now I don’t have to pay that bogus sales tax of $1300 and I should hopefully get a refund of $1100 from IFS. Fingers crossed.