So my boss traded in his wife's MDX in October because it was at the end of its lease. He picked up a new '08 MDX fully loaded for her. They signed the paper work, took the car and have been driving it ever since.

So, i was sitting at the office on Wednesday night and i got a phone call from some Finance officer from the dealership. He was very insistent on talking to my boss, telling me if he did not return the call within 24 hours, the car would be reported stolen! I immediately told him to call the guy.

Turns out when they did the deal, the "deal bag" got misplaced....none of the forms were registered, the plates remained licensed to the old car.....and, the best part? The paperwork had not been submitted to AHFC. My boss has an outside company take care of all the bills, so he never realized he hadn't made a payment.

The dealer decided that since it was their mistake, they would "help him out". Instead of having to make a huge payment for 6 months; the dealer just began the 36 month lease this morning. So, basically....they drove the car for free since October. The starting mileage on the lease is 4,900 miles, so they can't be screwed that way either.

Why couldn't this shit have happened to me!

 

I dont see that as being lucky.

If that was case, he was now leasing a used car. I would have demanded another new vehicle for their error, or lower monthly payment, with a lower residual because the vehicle was now officially used.

Granted its under 6k...still the dealer fucked up something HUGE.

 

Not bad. I wouldnt have mind that happening to me.

6 months no payment and got 5k miles for free. Nice!

 

So this guy was driving around without plates for 6 months?? Did he think they were optional?

 

No, the plates were physically on the new car. The dealer just never transferred them on the state's computer system. Luckily she never got pulled over, or there would have been some questions from the cop why the plates were registered to a Maroon '05 MDX...

 

Surely, they had some kind of paperwork stating that they leased the vehicle.

Which would have made it REAL interesting if they dealer had tried to report the car stolen.

 

She still got the whole "new car thrill". Technically, they probably could have made him come up with the past 6 months payments right away. To someone who doesn't care too much about cars and getting a new one exactly every 36 months, she basically rented a brand new MDX for free for 6 months.

Residual value/mileage doesn't matter during a lease (As long as you are within your parameters). That's the point of a lease.

 

I understand that, but the terms of the lease change when the car has 0 miles vs 5k miles.

So, the residual value of the car should be less now, which affects the payments.

 

You guys do it different then. All new cars sold here get new plates in the mail.

 

And either way, they both figured it and are happy.

But that is one HELL of a fuck up from the dealer.

 

Technically, you are right. But SHE was the one who put every single mile on it. Nothing negative has come out of this for her. Basically the dealer is just losing a ton of money. If this mistake never happened, she would still be leasing the car at the same terms.

 

Yeah, we do it different. You have the choice of new plates or just transferring the old ones. Most people just transfer the old ones because otherwise you lose the balance of registration you technically already paid for....and most people don't like driving around with big yellow plates on the rear while waiting for new ones.

 

Peeps out here love driving with "dealer plates" on their cars for quite a long time.
They love to let everyone know they got a "new car".

 

We don't get dealer plates. We get fugly yellow cardboard that makes the car look like shit.

 

But he also wouldnt get a good rate leasing a used car.

 

Actually they started stocking dealers with real plates now. They gave me real plates when i bought my S2000 couple months back.

If none in stock then yea, they use those ugly yellow boards.

 

With leases the DMV also likes to take their sweet ass time sending plates. Took over three months for a friend once.

 

Thats why i said demand a new one

shouldnt you be selling your new used car

 

Too much work, rather just keep it.

 

Friend of mine didn't put his plate on till he got caught speeding almost 8 months after .... his reason? so that the camera won't be able to red his plate number if he gets caught crossing red light ... LOL

He reluctantly put it on after the cop gave him a fix-it tix ...

 

 

Too bad it wasn't a cool car or anything...