Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

How much would you charge for the letter, oulaw?

oulaw29

Pro Bono. But limited to just the letter and give them my work cell to call me at. If I can't get them to make any movement from the letter and working from the initial call it generates and a few follow up calls, they may just not give a shit. At that point, I would adivse my client to sue them in small claims for just the depreciated amount (to keep it under $5,000 in damages and keep from exceeding your local jurisdiction small claim court $$ limits). You pay $45 to file and for service usually. The second their in-house counsel gets service he would call you and work it out.

The letter is one thing, they will either take it seriously to avoid legal fees, or just wait to see if you go the next step. If you put it in small claims, it goes straight to in-house counsel, or outside counsel, and Honda will want a review of the claim and estimate of expected legal fees. When they see it will cost a minimum of $3K to 5K to defend even a small claim case, they would likely offer $1,000 to $2,000 off the contract price.

Remember, they knew the transmission was fucked up when they sold it to you and lied to you (the dealership). You have a 100% win @ small claims b/c small claims judges HATE corporations that take advantage. The only question is damages and the great thing bout small claims is you can prove up damages just by showing those articles about the tranny and the blue book value.

Dont let this go, they screwed you. They induced that buy-out price through fraud. Anyone on this board who tells you it is a contract and you signed it so thats that, does not know a damn thing about what the law is or what is fair.

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

I sent the payment out today. I have to meet the deadline, which is Thursday.

Do you think I could still go ahead with this, even though I sent in the payment? I'm kicking myself in the ass right now for not doing it sooner.

CL Platano

Actually PA you may have a case I remember when my boy had a Ford Explorer the tranny went right before his lease was up and they were giving him a hard time until he got a lawyer involved and they took the car back and put him in a lease with a Lincoln Aviator

phipark

Just to let you know and maybe ease your mind, all the big auto finance companies do not negotiate the buy out price.

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

The supervisor at Honda Finance told me that GM does negotiate. The reason Honda Finance can't do that was because they don't have agents for negotiations or something like that.

On edmunds.com, they have an article about negotiating the buy-out price, and they got like 3,000 dollars off on their Honda Odyssey.

True story.

your_mom

I'm confused. I leased a Grand Am once. At the end of the lease, the buyout was $9,000 and fair market value of the car on KBB was $6,000 so when I turned it in, I saved $3,000 minus interest I paid on the lease. Sounds to me like you're in a very similar situation. Why are you worried about buying the car out? Is there something special about your car that makes you want to keep it? I mean aside from the tranny that you know is going to blow up?

oulaw29

Hmmm.........well you already sent the payment.........possession in 9/10 of the law. Now that they have your $$ it would be a little tougher to get it back.

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, the deadline is up and I didn't want to create a situation where I was labeled a non-payer and risk something going on my credit rating. Like I said, I should've done this a while back.

I could always put a stop-payment on the check.

But how would the situation develop if I did that? I would be past the deadline of the buy-out payment, and suing them simultaneously? I doubt they would extend the deadline when I'm suing them.

DudeLuv

I had leased a '98 Honda Civic through HFC back when, EX, 5-speed, upgraded stereo, sunroof, etc.
Don't remember the down payment....maybe $2100, but a nice low $149.00 per month payment for 24 months was what attracted me.
Paid around $6k when all was said and done....My buy out was $11k but they were selling for 15 at that time.
Was relocating so the timeing was right....bought it out for the $11k and resold it a week later for $14,900.
So this was an instance where the residual value, estimated at the begining of the lease, was way under the market value and I was able to recover some of my cost.

Look at leasing this way; When you lease for 2 years, you pay for half of the car.
When you buy a 2 year old car you pay for half of the car as well
So, do you want to pay for the first half of the car or the second half of the car.

fast-tl

What happens when you lease fpor 4 years?

fsttyms1

I got a few k reduced on mine It took alot of phone calls and working with teh dealer and the fact i had been thru 3 trannies but they reduced mine

DiveforTL-s

What all this means is that leases SUCK. I had a friend who had a Jetta and had the same problems and more with VW. Leases only bennifit the car company by getting people into more car than they can afford and then screwing them for the next 3 yrs.

snorman

A lease is what it is. The only problem comes in assuming your lease is something else.

schen72

Exactly. The key is understanding what exactly a lease entails. The reason a lease's monthy payment appears so cheap is because you are only "renting" the car. You have to give it back at the end of the lease! And you are charged interest for the priviledge to rent! The car companies also set up the contract in such a way that it benefits them, such as the residual price.

My *personal* opinion is that leasing is only for two types of people:

1. Wealthy people: they are so wealthy that wasting money is not an issue.
2. Poor people: they desperately desire a "nice" car, but can't afford one. Leases allow them to "afford" a more expensive car.

MikePA

Leases are also good for people who can deduct the lease payments as business expense.

I've also known people who, for whatever reason, decided that they will always have a car payment and therefore want the smallest monthly payment.

People who lease cars are no different than people who rent an apartment or house. They get a place to live and at the end of the lease, they have nothing, except for the stuff they bought to furnish the apartment/house.

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

Like I've said, the car was only supposed to last me through college. Hence the reason I leased it. It was my decision and my fault, in retrospect, to modify the car. For comparison, my brother's '05 TL was bought and paid for outright, because he planned on keeping it for a while.

I've learned my lesson. To be honest, the lease deal was fantastic. But they made up for it in the buy-out price. If I hadn't bought it out, it would've been a great deal.

Live and learn, I guess.

Pure Adrenaline

iTrader: (2)

Car's for sale, by the way.

vzuptnguyen

man i have no clue what u guys are talkin about but i know the car is for sale =]

parts?

lip kit =]

Scj

How much price difference are we talking?