On June 5, 2006 I 'turned-in' an 02 S6 that was coming off lease at the beginning of July, the next month. I had ordered an 06 S4 that had arrived.

As the car wasn't upside-down, I assumed that I could swap it for the newly leased S4, and the remaining 2 months of payments for June/July would be irrelevant. The dealer would then sell the car or turn it in. I have done this 4 other times and it's always a moot point. If the car being turned in was upside down, then we negotiated the terms for the adverse amount at the negotiations for the new car. This S6 however was not upside down. This fact was never disputed, nor were any outstanding balances or contractual obligations brought up in getting the paper work together for the new lease.


An inspection company had called to schedule an appointment to look at the S6 before turn in. I asked my dealer what the best course of action would be, since I would be coming in for the new S4 before the inspection. He said just bring the S6 in and they would take care cancelling the inspection, which they did.

I left my old car with them on June 5th and drove off in the new car.

The next month I get a lease settlement statement from AFS requesting the last two months payments on the S6 plus a couple hundred in damages (the car was nearly mint when I turned it in). I emailed my dealer and he said, "fax me the invoice". In an email he said, and I quote, "We will take care of the this bill". The next month I got a second notice. I called my dealer, he said, "I thought this was taken care of, I'll look into it".

Yesterday I got a third and "final" notice, this time just requesting the final two months payments, not the damages.

I emailed the dealer again, and he said that they took care of the damages since it was damage that they caused after taking the car from me, but that I was indeed responsible for those two months of payments, even though they had taken the car and turned it in.

I want to take him at his word that this was his understanding all along, but this seems preposterous to me, based on my previous dealings with leased cars, including my car before the S6 which was turned into this same dealer in a similar manner.


His emails concerning bringing the car back in don't specifically address the final payments. I'd like to handle this in a civil fashion. I had one conversation with the dealer and I was fairly upset. Please advise.

You are responsible for making all lease payments unless you have a written deal from your dealer that they will cover the outstanding payments as part of the new car deal. AFS as a seperate entity just wants their money as per contract you signed, whether the payments come from you or from the dealer is irrelevant to them. Your dealer would have to do a lease payoff in order to settle the last two payments, but it sounds like they didn't agree to that or they gave you their word, but are now backing off. Unless you have the deal in writing, you are pretty much screwed. AFS will hold you responsible for making the final payments.

well...I think if you didn't formally do it as a 'trade-in', which it sounds like you didn't, you're legally responsible for those last 2 payments. Obviously it's too late now, but if you had done it as a trade-in, you could have avoided those last 2 payments AND paid less sales tax on the new vehicle (depending what state you live in).

It sucks, but if the dealer is going to play hardball, you're probably going to have to make those 2 payments. I still think it's worth bitching about it to them a little bit...you never know, they might at least agree to absorb one of the payments which would be better than nothing.

So that's the crux of the bisquit, really: I understood it as a 'trade-in' or early turn-in, whereas they didn't view it as such.

I'll have to see if I can reach a compromise with them.

Thanks.

Go to see the sales manager or general mgr personally. Take your paperwork and a printout of the e mails if you still have them(hopefully). Explain to them your position. I would try to get them to pay one month and you pay the other. Its better than nothing. BUT do it in person. It will be harder for them to say no!

...i heard that goes over really well.

;-)

...no, I'm just going to call either AoA or AFS tomorrow and explain my situation (already explained it to AFS). Hopefully they can help bring about a compromise.

My guess is that the dealer's hands are tied somewhat and it might take a more corporate oriented person to help moderate the situation.

After seeing your comments and talking to a couple of friends, I do think that it was just a misunderstanding between us. However, I think it was important for them to clarify the situation at the time of the turn in. He claims that he told me about the additional payments, but I know for a fact that I NEVER would have agreed to such a scenario. So it's your classic he-said, she-said situation.

Thanks again for your advice.

...by the way, kidding. you might have drawn that from the comments above :-D

But make sure you do it in person