Dealer messed up contract, how much sway do I have?

[LRM5777]

Jurisdiction

New Jersey

My husband and I leased a VW about two months ago. We received the plates and temp registration about a month ago, just before our payment was due—after never receiving a bill I was concerned about being able to make my lease payment on time so I called the dealership. After a week of telephone tag with them I found out the finance manager who drew up our original contract made an error, the lease contract was never accepted by VW, and that finance manger had quit.

They tried to brush me off like I was stupid and sent me new contract to sign. They also told me I could pay them and they'd get my first payment to VW for me (which seemed odd to me). I had a pretty good relationship with the sales manager from negotiating the lease so I told him I thought the right thing to do was for them to eat the payment and I'd pay when I received my proper bill. He agreed to do so.

I wound up reading over the contract only to find the exact error they mentioned on the new one too! I decided to do the manager a solid since he did what I thought was the right thing by eating my first payment since they made the mistake in the first place, and called to let the finance manager know they did it again. I had to play telephone tag with him and apparently while I was away he finally called once and left a message saying I'd need to fill in "N/A" on that line and sign / send the contract back.

At this point it was a week before my next payment was due and I was losing my patience. I called the sales manager back and told him what happened and he barked at me "I'm not making your payment again" after he apparently misheard a joke I made about earning a mug (I was trying to keep it light and maintain a relationship).

Now I'm angry—what are my options? I think the right thing is for them to do is eat another lease payment, then I'm happy to write "N/A" and sign their contract again so they can get paid for the car (He informed me that VW won't pay them until hey accept the contract). But now the mood has changed and I'd like to know what leverage, if any, I have to be able to get out of this without feeling like they messed up and I paid for it. Also, is that a thing? Can they have me pay them and then pay VW when I don't even have lease payments yet because they haven't gotten the contract accepted?

Thanks for any info / advice!

 

[Disabled Vet]

You could get sued.... Read the back of the contract. They have well written rules that protect them in case of mistakes. Your refusal to sign a new corrected contract in a timely manner could result in the car being repossed. Then you will look at a large expense to get it back plus making the payment.

 

[mightymoose]

You have had the car the entire time. I don't see why you think they need to "eat the payment" at all. You have not been deprived use of the car.
As noted, failure to pay may result in repossession which is expensive and damages your credit rating.
You might have the option of returning the vehicle since the contract had not been completed, but you will still owe for the time you had the vehicle.
Your options are few. And they all require you to pay for the car. They dealer extended a courtesy by not requiring the last payment. They do not have to do so again.

 

[LRM5777]

You have had the car the entire time. I don't see why you think they need to "eat the payment" at all. You have not been deprived use of the car.
As noted, failure to pay may result in repossession which is expensive and damages your credit rating.
You might have the option of returning the vehicle since the contract had not been completed, but you will still owe for the time you had the vehicle.
Your options are few. And they all require you to pay for the car. They dealer extended a courtesy by not requiring the last payment. They do not have to do so again.

Thanks for your response. As I mentioned in my post, I never expected them to eat thisnpayment until he mentioned not doing so again. My inquiry was if I'm required to pay the dealership, since VW credit hasn't established the line of credit / lease payments yet. Where's that money go, the dealership? I told him I'd like to be set up with a way to pay VW direct so I can make my payment and he got all avoidant with me. This is customer service, they screwed up and not me, so yeah—there's no reason I wouldn't want them to "eat the payment." I've literally been doing their finance managers' job for him, at least I should get something out of it.

 

[LRM5777]

You could get sued.... Read the back of the contract. They have well written rules that protect them in case of mistakes. Your refusal to sign a new corrected contract in a timely manner could result in the car being repossed. Then you will look at a large expense to get it back plus making the payment.

Thanks for your response. I never refused to sign the contract—in actuality, not only did I agree to sign a new one but I caught a mistake on the second that would cost the dealership another month of VW not paying them for the vehicle. In addition, I called about 7 times trying to straighten this out before finally getting the sales manager in the aforementioned interaction. I've been pretty nice about the whole thing, even doing the finance manager's job for him. I'm wondering how the financing works with VW because I don't want to pay the dealership my payment, I want to pay it to the company financing the lease—VW. The manager did not offer an explanation on how it's possible to pay VW when they haven't even generated the financing of the lease yet. That seems super sketchy.

 

[army judge]

he manager did not offer an explanation on how it's possible to pay VW when they haven't even generated the financing of the lease yet. That seems super sketchy.

VW credit may not have yet approved you for financing.

In isn't unusual for people NOT to be approved for credit and 90 to 120 days will elapse before all potential lenders have been exhausted and no one can be found to finance a certain buyer.

I suggest you read the documents you signed and were given to see what happens when a person isn't approved for financing.

You might be shocked at the amount of money you will owe the dealer when you are instructed to return their automobile.

Yeah, it sucks but is is legal.

 

[LRM5777]

Thanks for the info, but we were approved. VW wouldn't accept the contract from the dealership because they forgot to write "N/A" in the sales use tax line.

So it's an issue between the dealership and VW, and I caught the same mistake on the second contract and was courteous enough to call them, instead of signing it and sending it like they asked. It took the finance manager almost a week to call me back to tell me I was right and that contract would also not have been accepted.

Bottom line is the dealership is a mess and I did them a favor. The only thing in question currently is whether the dealership can take a payment from me when VW hasn't billed me yet, because the dealership screwed up the contract. That's what I'm looking to find out. Sorry if I wasn't clear in my question.

 

[army judge]

That's what I'm looking to find out. Sorry if I wasn't clear in my question.

No one here has the authority to give you an answer sufficient to resolve your dispute.

Your answer might lie in a court of law in your state, should the matter rise to litigation.

 

[mightymoose]

Your contact should have made clear where payments should be made and when. You should abide by it unless you receive some notice in writing to not pay.
Payments made at the dealership until paperwork is complete are not uncommon. You will have receipts to prove you held up your end if the agreement.
As it is now, you may be risking repossession if payment is not made soon.

 

[txls]

If you pay the dealership, then VW will take that amount out of the dealerships money when they fund them. VW may not fund them without it. Make your payment by check and clearly mark it second payment. They may also accept your check made out to VW but give it to the dealership to send with the contract.

 

[LRM5777]

Thanks for your reply. However, looks like I had even sway than I thought. The sales manager got back to me today, not only are they sending someone to us with the new contract so we're not inconvenienced by driving to the dealership, but he's eating this payment in addition to last month's (I have it in writing). Good info for anyone else who encounters a problem like this—stand your ground, be firm but fair, and make sure they know the error was there's and you're on board to forgive them once they rectify it.

 

[LRM5777]

Your contact should have made clear where payments should be made and when. You should abide by it unless you receive some notice in writing to not pay.
Payments made at the dealership until paperwork is complete are not uncommon. You will have receipts to prove you held up your end if the agreement.
As it is now, you may be risking repossession if payment is not made soon.

Got my apology and notice in writing today that the dealership will cover ANOTHER payment, in addition to the one they already ate. They're also sending someone to us with the corrected contract so we don't have to make the trip.

 

[LRM5777]

No one here has the authority to give you an answer sufficient to resolve your dispute.

Your answer might lie in a court of law in your state, should the matter rise to litigation.

Thanks for your reply! My answer was definitely outside any court of law. The sales manager got back to me today, not only are they sending someone to us with the new contract so we're not inconvenienced by driving to the dealership, but he's eating this payment in addition to last month's (I have it in writing).

 

[army judge]

Thanks for your reply! My answer was definitely outside any court of law. The sales manager got back to me today, not only are they sending someone to us with the new contract so we're not inconvenienced by driving to the dealership, but he's eating this payment in addition to last month's (I have it in writing).

Like I care, or believe you.

Thread closed.....

Don't open another one to cock-a-doodle-doo!!!!!