So I believe my mom was conned. Usually when she's in the market for a new car she'll bring my dad along or someone else who is car savvy (and aware of clever sales tactics). She previously owned a 2010 Lexus ES350, which she was still making payments on, and decided on her own she wanted an upgrade.

She went to the dealership (Once again on her own) and spoke to a salesman who convinced her that her monthly payments would be less if she upgraded to a 2013 lease. She signed a contract before she told anyone and now the payments are almost double what she was paying before (Big surprise ).

Its more than any of us can manage, so my father took the car back to the dealership and spoke with the salesman. They told him they couldnt take it back and if she stopped making payments the car would be repossessed. This would obviously ruin her credit. Anyone have a similar situation? Any suggestions?

 

contact the local news? Tell a really heart rending story and let them roll with it.

 

There isn't much she can do unless she can prove fraud.

 

From a legal standpoint, charliemike is correct. I'd suggest, at the very least, this issue be brought to the attention of Lexus North America. Perhaps they can put some pressure on the local dealer for the unscrupulous sales activities.

 

Thats what I figured too. I wanted to be a little more optimistic about the outcome but I know this type of thing happens everyday. She really doesnt understand the number game and car value. Our last option will be calling the complaint hotline at lexus and appealing to any sense of morality. Thanks guys

 

+1

 

lawyer up

 

Not trying sound like ass but didn't she see that the new payment was higher than the old payment? And if the dealer didn't put the correct payment on the forms that she signed then that might be her way out. Other than that she might be sol.

 

^ Agreed.

Not sure how this could have happened. If she has something in writing that shows her payments will be lower, then they suddenly doubled from her current payment after she signed, she may have something.

But if she has nothing in writing to prove anything, it's just a bad deal on her part and nothing can be done. Caveat emptor...

 

It is not impossible to believe that they used one set of numbers and then the final number was different. That is some old school shit right there.

However, what is most likely is she wasn't paying attention and they tricked her but didn't commit fraud.

 

How about talking to the general manager at the dealership? How much time passed before your dad contacted the salesman? Hope nobody is putting many miles on the new car.

 

Number comprehension was never her strong point (I know how dumb that sounds) But charliemike posted exactly what I was thinking

Since she went by herself we're still unsure what she was told. We do know what she thought she understood. Its a problem because they live in Fl and Im in NY. When she told me what happened I immediately knew they took advantage of her gullible nature

This is exactly what I thought. She doesn't know any better. Doesn't excuse her actions but still makes me mad as hell. I figured Id ask here (shot in the dark I know ) hoping someone else has seen/experienced something similar and could offer a decent solution

My father tried that already. They gave him the "She signed the contract, theres nothing we can do" response. She's had it a little over 2weeks now. Im pretty certain he went after the 1st week.

 

man im sorry to hear about that. but I just cant understand how the payments will double. and on a lease?

can you post some numbers? was she buying the old one or leasing?

what were her payments before and now? What did she upgrade to?

 

How much did she owe on the other car / how much was carried over?

 

So hard to know without details. They could have given her a 3-yr lease at 19% equivalent money factor and gave her a shit trade-in too.

They could have made a ton of money off her.

They could have given her a decent deal but because her previous car had a huge downpayment or trade-in the payments were low.

 

No I understand its hard to know without much details but thats why I asked they probably did make tons of money off the trade. Probably also included some bs add ons and thats easily another 3-5k

 

Maybe they told her one price for the car and then factored in any negative equity she had on her trade.

 

My guess is they did the old "Your car + $X" so she has no idea how much the trade was or the price of the new car.

Then they add all kinds of silly shit like lifetime maintenance, rust proofing, a lo-jack, extended warranty, or anything else they could think of ...

And while this is the OP's mom's fault, this are also representative of the shitty scumbag tactics of a mysognist industry.

 

My guess is that they gave her a rough estimate of what she would be paying and she thought that was the final price.... and then they switched up the numbers when they factored in the trade-in value etc.


But we'll never really know without any more details and pics of your mom.

 

i wasnt lying about going to the local media. A story about a car dealer taking advantage of (elderly?) women, would make a good story.

 

She's had it for two weeks?

Squeaky wheel gets the grease... otherwise they'll tell you to pound sand.

 

Some dealerships/salesmen definetely know how to take advantage of a person.

I had a experience similar to this at a Florida Lexus dealership. My aunt who is in her upper 60's went to a Lexus dealership to look at a CT200h and they gave her numbers for the new car and her trade that were pretty crappy but somehow convinced her she was getting a great deal. Luckily she didnt sign papers that day and I went to the dealership with her and got an extra 3,000 for her trade and got her monthly payments down another $75 a month.

 

I think she is SOL.

Your only option is the media and that may not help. As others above note, we don't know enough detail to truly judge.

 

Kinda late to the party, first sorry to hear this about your mother, and secondly you know that long paper that you sign that the finance guys go over. The one that tells you what you will receive for your car, the payoff, and NEW Monthly payment...etc. What does that say? If that states what she is paying, then she is SOL. If so why wasn't this questioned before the papers where signed?

 

It sounds like the OP's mom had no idea what she was doing when she walked in there. And depending on what happened she might have gone to a dealer that is full of scumbags.

 

Maybe she might be better off with bad credit

 

I'm sure it all adds up. No way that sheet isn't accurate. Unfortunately it just sounds like she was taken advantage of by the salesman/dealership. But in the end, it's on her to know what she was signing. Sucks... and if it happened to my family member I'd be pissed too... but doesn't look like anything illegal occurred.

 

http://www.leasetrader.com/

then chalk it up to "lesson learned".

 

At the end of the day, I don't understand why people have so little intellectual curiosity. I could understand if this was 1990 and there wasn't a way to easily check what the car normally sold for and what hers was worth. But with the internet and Edmunds, etc there's simply no excuse other than she possesses a sort of cluelessness that I can't understand. Sorry to the OP for that but I think it's true.

But, if this happened to my mom, I'd be very pissed at the dealership too for being such scumbags that they'd screw everyone that didn't catch their tricks while it was happening. The dealership system is horribly broken. They can do what they want with relative impunity as the manufacturer has very little say in what dealers do to the manufacturer's reputation.

We need to get rid of these state laws that prohibit the manufacturer from owning a dealership. It's not 1958 anymore. If BMW or Honda want to open a dealership that they run in order to make sure their customers get the best experience during and after the sale, they should be able to do so.

Laws like the one in California prohibiting it are asinine and anti-competitive.

 

I'm assuming the trade in had negative equity on it so she's actually paying for both cars now. I think you're stuck with it. The bill of sale will have all the numbers and terms of the agreement in plain english and her signature on the bottom.

 

Here's two posts from Edmunds on their lease experience of new 2013 Lexus's. I've seen online leases for new 2013 ES's from $436 to upper $600's. I would think her 2010 lease would have been in the mid to upper $400's, so if it doubled and she's paying $800 for a new ES, that's crazy. If it's in the $600 range, loaded and in NY, that's fair.

ES300h by rbirns1
Dec 06, 2012 (7:55 am)

Being quoted the following in NY:

2013 ES300h, luxury and nav packages
$46,300 MSRP
$45,300 selling price
27 month, 10k miles
71% residual, .0017 MF, $700 bank fee
Taxes (8.625%) and fee rolled into payment, only 1st month + DMV at delivery
$682 per month

I am told that the hybrids are not eligible for Lexus first month waiver, applicable to most other Lexus models.

I know the only flexible item in this deal is the selling price. Is 1K under MSRP (2K over invoice) fair at this time?

REPLY
#2787 of 2795 Lease 2013 ES 350 36 month by netsplit
Dec 06, 2012 (8:25 am)

Here is what i got from Pembroke Pine Lexus ( south Florida) 2013 ES 350 white with premium package.

i was upside down on my 2009 ES 350 - owe 21700, Trade in 18000, CarMax print estimate for 19000.

So, i trade my ES with upside down, no money down what so ever. Only first payment 500$

Lease 36 month /10000 miles per year
Package 39400 ( pretty much everything except GPS.. who would want that crap anyway this days.

$500 per month ( including taxes)

At closing all i paid was first payment $500 since i had to pay for my old lexus 560 anyway.

36 month, $500 per month and they took my upside down 2700 ES350 and 0 down ( no fees, no delivery charge , nothing)