I recently finalized a lease agreement for a new vehicle. Following extensive negotiation, the dealership agreed to a deal with a monthly payment of approximately X. However, upon returning home and reviewing the lease contract, I discovered that the scheduled payments fluctuate throughout the lease term. For example, over the course of a 24-month lease, the payment starts at X for the initial 8 months, then increases to X+40 for the subsequent 10 months, and finally rises to X+50 for the remainder.
The dealership had explicitly stated in the initial lease worksheets that the payment would be a consistent X and this is what we agreed. Unfortunately, I overlooked this changing payment structure when signing the lease. What are my options? I did trade in a car, and some quick research indicates that the dealer can choose which months to apply the tax reduction (WA). Not sure if that is what is happening here. What are my options?
I dont have it right now. Will post when I am back home. I was in a rush and verified the worksheet and initial payment amount in the contract, assuming everything was correct. What frustrates me is that I was holding out for that specific number, and they offered it to get me to sign the lease. I didn’t realize it was only for the first few months.
Valuable lesson here: get contracts ahead of time via email. Then read them thoroughly. And only after doing this, go and sign in person at a dealership.
Yes, I drove the car home. However, this is outright unethical. This isn’t a mistake or a misunderstanding. The dealer knew this was a very specific requirement. I’m usually very careful about these things, but a combination of specific factors made me let my guard down.
Do you have any pre negotiation trails which state the original monthly you negotiated? If so, that may help you. Otherwise going to be tough since you signed. You could push a case with Cadillac. This is a definitely first for me.
When I gave them the lease amount I would agree to sign the lease with 0 down, they showed me a worksheet with 0 down and payments close to the numbers I was asking for. Apparently, in Washington, tax credits for trade-ins can be applied unevenly over the lease term. So, they applied a higher credit in the first few months to reach the number I wanted, and the remaining 15 months were at a higher lease rate. They made me beleive thats the lease over the entire lease because inwas not even aware of a lease that could have carying amounts.
Found this, which aligns with what you said about varying lease amounts. Sadly, there probably isn’t anything you can do now since you signed the contract.
Doesntt sound right. I ran Cadillac Dealership for 2 years and Chevy/Cadillac prior to that and never seen or heard anything like that. Lease payment is fixed, AS LONG as you don`t change zip code, if you do, Tax will be adjusted.
