Bad leasing experience- Advice

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Steve Forbes

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Location
Clinton Township, MI
Hey guys,

So heres my story. Last week I went into my local ford dealership to look into trading my 2006 Mountaineer for a new, more fuel effciant vehicle. Long story short I ended up getting a decent offer on my Mountaineer, so I ended up leasing a new Focus. Couldn't of been happier with the vehicle, and the deal. Well, until the next day that is. One day after signing all of the paperwork, and agreeing on a price of 251 a month, for a 24 month lease I got a call from my salesman. He explained to me that there had been a mistake on the paperwork and that Id be looking at a higher payment than orignally expected, about 20 bucks more a month. I asked him why and he said that I was put under the wrong discount plan. He said that I was put under the A plan when I should've been put under the Z plan. Still wasn't happy, but I guess mistakes happen. Before signing any paperwork I wanted to do a little research. I contacted the person who got me the discount and he told me that they were both the same discount. A- Current working Ford employee, Z- Retired Ford employee. I then went to look on my paperwork to see where it said A plan, nothing. It actually said Z plan in more than one spot on my paperwork. I questioned the saleman the next day when he called back. "So your telling me that I was put under the wrong discount" salesman- "Well yes... and no". Thinking to myself... well it has to be one or the other, you did or you didn't. He then went on to tell me how the paperwork was all messed up and that they even put me under the wrong vehicle, he said the Vin# they wrote me up for was completley different than the car I was driving. Questioning him again, I checked my paperwork. My vin# and everything match up with the Vin# on my vehicle to a tee. At this point I was completley irrated. He called me back soon after and said that they would have to "take back the vehicle" if I didn't come and resign the new paper work. I then called him out on his lies, wrong plan and wrong vin #, of course he just kinda avoided it. He also threanted to not pay off my trade in, which still hasn't been paid off yet. Its been over a week. Anyway, I guess my question is has anyone ever had this kind've experience? Can Ford void my lease contract? My guess is no, since everything has been signed and the deal is done. I called Ford, and of course they were no help whatsoever. They told me that each dealership is independently owned, and they could not do anything. Anyway, any advice would be greatly appreaciated.



Steve.
 
This is definitly one for our lawyer members.

IMO though, unless there is fineprint covering their or his butt. You have a binding contract.

The salesman might have screwed up. Trying to save his job...

I hope someone can help you.
 
Call:

800.392.FORD



Ask for Cory.



He is Ford's customer service representative on another forum and it seems he gets things taken care of.
 
My guess is if everything matches up on the paperwork, it's a binding legal document if signed by both parties. Might want to talk to a lawyer, $20/month will add up pretty quick. Maybe the salesman did the math wrong and that's the problem, but that's their fault not yours.
 
To be safe I would contact a lawyer and the Better Business Bureau. I hear of more and more dealers doing tricks to get you to pay more after people have taken the vehicle home.



That being said, if it were me I would tell them to come and get the car if they feel that strongly about it and if they do, I will report both the Focus and your Mountaineer as stolen vehicles and see you in court.
 
I would contact Ford customer service with the number I provided first. They take care of dealers who do not practice in Ford's best interest. If that doesn't work, speak with a lawyer.
 
Something similar happened a few years ago with Bill Heard Chevrolet in Colorado. The guy takes in a used vehicle and trades it for a truck. They give him x amount for a trade-in and he pays the truck off with cash - it's a done deal.



He gets home and the next day, the sales guy calls up and says they messed up and sold him the truck for less than they should have and that he needs to bring it back in.



Of course, he refuses and they REPOSSESSED the f-ing truck in the middle of the night. He calls in a stolen vehicle report and the police refuse to press charges, telling him it's a civil matter and he'd have to sue.
 
Read your contract...Most sales/lease contracts clearly state that the Dealer has up to 7 days to make corrections to the purchase/lease contract if they made a mistake. But you also have the right to refuse the updated contract and get your money and your old car back. If you stand your ground and refuse to sign the new contract, they have to refund everything back to you minus a small fee for the miles you put on the new vehicle.



Most dealers will bite the bullet on such a small mistake (about $480 over 24 months since a lot of that is interest). Even if you don't mind the extra $20 per month, I would push them to honor the original deal, or there is no deal, and see what they offer. Remember, you can probably get the same deal or better at another Ford dealer, and even if you can't, that dealer loses the sale and a customer which will hurt them more than loosing the $480 (which they won't lose all that anyway)



That still does not waive your right to file a complaint with Ford, the Better Business Bureau, and the various consumer advocacy agencies to include the local news papers and TV stations.



I would demand they stick to the original deal, or you will walk away from the deal after they give you your 2006 Mountaineer back, and any money you may have gave them. Also, since it was their error, I would demand that they not charge you for any mileage you put on the vehicle. I would also make sure they know that you can get a similar deal at another, more competent dealership and so they will lose the profits from the sale as well !!



PS: If they will not agree to stick with the original contract, don't drive to the dealership with the vehicle since that will increase the mileage you may have to pay...Insist that they deliver your Mountaineer to you and they can drive or tow the new vehicle back after the exact mileage is noted...That just makes it more expensive for them to back out of the old contract.



...Rich



 
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Wings,



Maybe it is for the better. That doesn't sound like that great a lease price. I'd walk away.



I know the prices have gone up, but that seems like a hefty price to pay to lease a Focus. Next month I make the last payment on our Focus, and my payment is within $10/month of what you quoted; and I did pretty much no money down 5 years ago.



TJR
 
Do you have signed paperwork stating the deal is as is? If so, don't think they have a leg to stand on(no pun there). But Richard does make a good point, there is usually a "grace period". I would contact your/any attorney to see what legal recourse you have. Go back and get your old truck and tell them you're going "down the street" to get a better deal. Wonder what they would do? Sucks, I feel for you! Bob
 
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Les,

Yes, they may claim they do not have his old Mountaineer, but it would be stupid if they sold it already...although they may have. But they may say they did just to put more pressure on him to sign the new contract. If he sticks to his guns, he can probably force them to pay him what they sold it for at least what they sold if for so they make no profit. That can put more pressure on the dealer to just eat the $20 a month and stick with the original contract even if some of the $480 comes out of their pocket to pay for Ford Credit for the dealer's mistake?



I would also recommend that wings00192 contact the owner of the dealership and inform him of the problem. He may just say forget it. Some times they don't let the owner know the mistakes they made, and hope he won't find out.



I know when I purchased my 2003 Sport Trac, I had a leased 2001 Sport Trac. I was sent a letter from Ford that if I wanted to buy a new Ford, they would waive the $250 Turn-in Fee. I had already pre-arranged my financing and the dealer could not get me a better finance deal than I already had so I bought the ST with my pre-arranged Financing. A few days or weeks later, I got a call from the dealer's Sales Manager that the Waiver of the $250 Turn-in Fee only applied if I financed my new ST purchase through Ford Credit??? That was not specified in the letter I got from Ford, and so I contacted the Dealership owner to complain.



He said that was BS and he would take care of the $260 turn in fee. I had to contact the sales manager several times to insure that the dealership had paid the $250 Turn-in fee for my 2001 Sport Trac, and that I finally got a receipt indicating that the lease had been paid in full since I was getting threatening letters from Ford Credit.



In the end everything worked out, but you have to stand your ground or many dealers with just walk all over you if they think you will be intimidated by their demands.



PS: Of course, if the dealer still refuses to honor their original deal, contact and attorney immediately. That may be enough to convince the dealer that he will lose even more money in a legal battle over some relatively small change.



...Rich
 
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Thanks for all the info guys! I ended up calling the owner of the dealership today and explained to him what happened. Oddly enough he knew nothing about the situation. I would've thought by now he would've gotten wind of it. He assured me that my trade in will be paid off this week, and that the miscalculation was a mistake on their part. He said that they would pay the difference and I would not have to worry about my new car being taken away, or having to pay any extra towrds my monthly payment. So I guess it all worked out, for now lol. But, I hope the salesman get what he deserves for putting me through all of this uneeded BS.
 
wings00192-steve,

Just exactly what I said happened to me. The owners often don't know what their sales/finance people are doing and they will often take the side of the customer when it involves errors they dealership personell made. In my case the Finance Manager was no longer working for the dealership when I went back to the dealer a few months later. The Sales Manager said he made too many mistakes...but the Sales Manager was the one who told me that they would not waive my Turn-in fee. I guess the owner changed the Sales Manager's mind...:grin:



Glad it worked out for you as I predicted.



...Rich
 
Make sure it all gets taken care of as the owner says. If you don't have it in writing you don't have it.



Hope everything works out. If you have more trouble, I would LAWYER UP and also file a complaint wity your state's Attorney General.



Hope the salesman chokes and dies on a piece of meat this week. :fire:
 
Gavin,

Most salesman do not get involved in the Finanaces or Leases. That is done by the Financial Manager at the dealership. If anyone should choke on a piece of meat, it should be the dealer's Financial Manager.



I once heard a so-called expert advise that you should sign the loan/lease papers, but do not take the new vehicle or give them your trade-in or any cash until after the 7th day so after that, the deal cannot be changed. That way if they discover a mistake, you are under no pressure to agree to the new changes since you have not invested any money, lost your trade-in, or put any miles on the new vehicle. It's perfectly legal to do this, but most dealers don't like to do that...but it does eliminate dealers from pulling a scam by changing the negotiated deal.



...Rich



 
Wow, this sounds like a common practice for dealers to change the contracts after the fact. It happened to my wife on her new Escape purchase too. They called her 2 days later to say the financing wasn't right and they needed to add 2 more months to the loan or pay $xx more per month. :fire:
 
If a dealer pulled this with me after I signed the papers and took delivery I would tell them they are SOL, and their only mitigation is to take the vehicle back, give me back my trade in, and pay me a rental fee for my trade-in for while they had it. Fair is fair. If a "mistake" was made the "other way around", I am sure I would have to fight to get my money back.



If they tried to pull this BEFORE or AS I was taking delivery, I would tell them to go F(ondle) themselves, and keep their car.



TJR
 
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