I just leased a new Black 2002 Acura TL-S, and after looking over the details of the lease I discovered the honest smooth talking Finance manager swindled me.

My Honda lease was going to expire in 2 months, so I went to the Acura dealership to look at the new TL’s. I immediately fell in love with the car. The sales associate introduced me to the finance manager. He asked me what he could do to get me to drive home with the new car today. After thinking about it I told him if he would discount the price of the car by the amount remaining in my existing lease I would buy the car today. He agreed with my proposal, so we proceeded to do the paperwork.

He drew up some figures, so I could decide if I was going to lease or buy. I reminded him to take $590 off the price of the car. He told me it was their procedure not to take $590 off the car, but he would write me a check for $590 dollars. I agreed, and he drew up the lease agreement.

The finance manager went over the lease very quickly. I signed the lease (MISTAKE) trusting he would accurately put in writing what we had just discussed.

After reading the lease carefully when I got home I discovered he raised the price of the car by $590 dollars to make up for the $590 check he had written.

I spoke with the Finance manager today, and asked him about what I discovered. He said he does this all the time, and this is a common practice. He told me he was sorry that we had a misunderstanding, and there was nothing he could do.

Has anyone had similar experiences with their dealer? I feel like I must be the biggest sucker in the world.

 

Sorry to hear about your experience, this sort of thing shouldn't happen at ANY dealer let alone Acura. I guess the moral of the story is to scrutinize before you sign.


Well ... don'ttake it lying down. Make a noise.

 

Talk to the General Manager of the Dealership. Ask him if this is something that his Finance Manager was taught to practice. If he says no, then tell the G.M. to write you a check for the amount overcharged. If he says he can't do it, then he's full of it and knows exactly what the Finance Manager is up to. Also, if he says no, tell the G.M. that you will then stand outside of his dealership (just off their property) with a big sign saying "Do not buy from this Cheating Dealership". See if he changes his tune.

If that still doesn't work, you gotta figure those big picture windows are worth at least $590 bucks each (just kidding....just got done watching the Sopranos). Seriously, talk to the GM and tell him you'll make a big stink about it if they don't correct the problem. I'm sure the local newspaper would love to hear about it.

Good Luck!!

 

this is why .. when you can plain out buy .. then buy.

 

Dealers are REAL big on the satisfaction surveys Acura sends to all new owners. Take advantage of the opportunity to express your dissatisfaction. Or better yet, talk to the general manager of the dealership before you do the survey. Maybe he will satisfy you before you get a chance to let HIS bosses know what happened to you - don't forget to let the GM (or Acura) know that the F&I guy told you this happens all the time. It makes it sound like they are running a racket. Maybe you can get the dealer to make it up to you by throwing in a spoiler, body kit, or FACTORY extended warranty. Good Luck !

 

When I asked the finance manager who the GM was he told me he was the GM for that dealership, and offered to split 50/50 the cost of an aftermarket spoiler. The price he offered me was the same if I were to buy the painted spoiler from this site, and pay $100 for installation cost at his dealership. Didn’t sound too much like a discount to me.

I spoke with Acura’s customer service, and they said they would investigate. They did stress the importance of the customer survey form. I’m so glad I haven’t filled it out yet.

By the way I LOVE my car. I only wish I bought the NAV system, because I got lost last week.

 

what are the laws in your state. As far as i know, in PA you have 3 days to change your mind on a contract and you could just take the car back. Point that out and maybe a call to the Better Business Bureau. Don't settle. That 590 is going to be more since you are paying interest on it for the life of the lease.

 

Good idea!

Give us the dealer name, the location with state, and the peoples' names you dealt with, and we can all email Acura's customer service rep. and ***** about it. I'm sure you'll hear from them in no time!

 

31,230 Sticker
480 Destination Charge
590 Increase for the dealer writing me the $590 check.
========
32,300.00 = Cap Cost

450 Acquisition fee
99 Documentation Fee
=========
32,849.00 Gross Capitalized Cost

My term is 48 months, my base payment is 517.14 + 25.86 Tax. (543.00)
They calculated my residual value to be 17,440.50.

I only paid my first months payment at the dealer, so I drove off with the car only paying 543.00.

If I disclosed the dealer's name and information here, could I get in trouble? By the way I bought the car on March 13th, and didn't notice I was overcharged until 30 days later where my friend questioned me about the dealer writing me a check verses just marking down the car.

 

DMan, you have more to complain about. Based on you figures, it appears your lease rate uses a money factor of .0041 while I have seen several posts stating that most dealers are quoting .00345. That comes to about $35 per month more. Try doing your complaining when the dealership is full of customers.

 

It does look like you got screwed on the money factor also. I got a TLS w/navi and lots of options (spoiler, underbody kit, etc.) and my payment is only $560/month for 48 months and 15k miles/year. The drive out price on my vehicle was $4k more than yours, which should translate to about $80/month more.

They did do you a favor, however, on the residual value - yours is only $500 less than mine, which means that either my navi and rear spoiler are only worth $500 in 4 years (they don't include body kits in the residual value), or they gave you a little higher residual value. Maybe your F&I guy had a tiny bit of a conscience after all.

I feel for you, man. You definitely have to pay attention when leasing, because the language and calculations are so arcane, there are even more areas where they can screw you than a regular deal.

On the bright side, your still getting a great car, and the price you paid is still way less than any comparably equipped competitor, so you still are getting a good deal overall.

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">[This message has been edited by mikester on April 19, 2001 @ ]</font>

 

So your cap cost ended up being $590 over MSRP? What is your lease duration and monthly note? How much did you pay to drive it off the lot?

 

What's the dealer name and location? Let us know who that no good dealer is.