Automobile leasing has traditionally been used by high end automakers as a way of making their vehicles more accessible for consumers. High used car prices, low interest rates and Americans’ tendency to buy vehicles based on monthly payments, now has automakers using the strategy to sell more moderately priced vehicles as well. This selling tactic has resulted in strong sales with leases accounting for approximately 26 percent of new vehicles purchased, the highest it has been since 2007. Continue reading
Tag Archives: automobile lease
California Laws on Early Auto Lease Termination
Consumers in California have lease holder laws that offer protection beyond the federal laws. Whatever your reason for wanting to get out of a lease, if you do not have a “cooling off” clause in your contract, it is recommended to proceed with caution. The laws allow consumers in California to terminate a California automobile lease at any time, but Continue reading
Beware Of Deceptive Auto Ads
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is cracking down on automobile dealerships around the country who have been running ads that mislead consumers into thinking the dealership will pay off the remaining loan balance on their existing car when they trade it in. These dealerships then add the cost of the old car loan into the price of the new loan. The buyer ends up with a loan that they must pay off for a longer period of time because they are paying off their old car and new car at the same time. This is known as negative equity auto trade ins. In some cases, dealers force customers to pay off the old loan in cash before they could get their new car.
The dealers named in the FTC’s complaints include:
- Billion Auto, Inc., in Sioux Falls, South Dakota
- Frank Myers AutoMaxx, LLC, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
- Key Hyundai of Manchester, LLC and Hyundai of Milford LLC, in Vernon and Milford, Connecticut
- Ramey Motors, Inc., in Princeton, West Virginia
Three of the cases allege violations of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and its implementing Regulation Z for failing to disclose certain credit-related terms, and the complaints in two of the cases allege violations of the Consumer Leasing Act (CLA) and its implementing Regulation M for failing to disclose certain lease related terms.
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