derrickczn
New Member
I just leased a 2011 Honda Odessey from DCH Paramus honda in NJ. This will be my second leased commercial vehicle with my company.
At the time of the sale our salesman and the sales manager knew this was going to be a commercial vehicle requiring commercial registration and plates. We gave our down payment and proceeded with the lease and all went well, we drove the car off the lot and brought it to our decal guy in NYC, who proceeded to put our company address, telephone number, and information on each of the front doors,as required by law.
The problem arose when it was time to pick up our license plates & registration for the vehicle. After a few days after picking up our plates & reg. we noticed that they were for a general passenger vehicle and not for commercial use!? So i called the salesman to let him know what had happened and he assured us that he would take care of it. needless to say that 2 weeks, and 6 different people (from the dealer) later we had no commercial plates.
the dealer asked me what proof i have that i wanted this to be a commercial vehicle? we had given them a copy of our previous lease which spelled out our needs. when i gave this information to the dealer they didn't acknowledge it nor return my phone call (we also gave them these documents prior to setting up the lease)
the dealer then proceeded to notify me that we would need to modify the van in order to obtain commercial plates (which i didn't have to do on my last lease). we would have to permanently remove the seat belts (cut), seats, blacken (not tint) the back windows, and remove any latches that held the rear seats into place.
now here is where the problem is. A) why was my van registered as a general passenger vehicle? if there was a problem with registering it as commercial shouldn't i have been notified? B) honda does not support any modifications to any of there vehicles, which would void my warranty. at this point i would have to pay a mechanic (because you need a letter stating what was done) to do this work to the van. which brings me to another problem, when i return this van i would have to pay for all these modifications to be put back to spec. i feel that this should have been mentioned to me up front in which i would NOT have leased this vehicle.
i also had to hire a second driver through this situation because you can not park the van on the streets of nyc with out commercial plates during business hours, which is really an expense i shouldn't have to endure. i also have been paying the commercial rate on my insurance for the past 4 years, and currently this rate for the present van which is not commercial.
do i have any legal grounds to stand on? At best i would like to return the van.
i am also really upset about there management telling my on the phone that i am incompetent and have no idea what i am doing.
At the time of the sale our salesman and the sales manager knew this was going to be a commercial vehicle requiring commercial registration and plates. We gave our down payment and proceeded with the lease and all went well, we drove the car off the lot and brought it to our decal guy in NYC, who proceeded to put our company address, telephone number, and information on each of the front doors,as required by law.
The problem arose when it was time to pick up our license plates & registration for the vehicle. After a few days after picking up our plates & reg. we noticed that they were for a general passenger vehicle and not for commercial use!? So i called the salesman to let him know what had happened and he assured us that he would take care of it. needless to say that 2 weeks, and 6 different people (from the dealer) later we had no commercial plates.
the dealer asked me what proof i have that i wanted this to be a commercial vehicle? we had given them a copy of our previous lease which spelled out our needs. when i gave this information to the dealer they didn't acknowledge it nor return my phone call (we also gave them these documents prior to setting up the lease)
the dealer then proceeded to notify me that we would need to modify the van in order to obtain commercial plates (which i didn't have to do on my last lease). we would have to permanently remove the seat belts (cut), seats, blacken (not tint) the back windows, and remove any latches that held the rear seats into place.
now here is where the problem is. A) why was my van registered as a general passenger vehicle? if there was a problem with registering it as commercial shouldn't i have been notified? B) honda does not support any modifications to any of there vehicles, which would void my warranty. at this point i would have to pay a mechanic (because you need a letter stating what was done) to do this work to the van. which brings me to another problem, when i return this van i would have to pay for all these modifications to be put back to spec. i feel that this should have been mentioned to me up front in which i would NOT have leased this vehicle.
i also had to hire a second driver through this situation because you can not park the van on the streets of nyc with out commercial plates during business hours, which is really an expense i shouldn't have to endure. i also have been paying the commercial rate on my insurance for the past 4 years, and currently this rate for the present van which is not commercial.
do i have any legal grounds to stand on? At best i would like to return the van.
i am also really upset about there management telling my on the phone that i am incompetent and have no idea what i am doing.
