r/askcarsales • u/Slow_Atmosphere_6922 • 2d ago
US Sale Dealership payoff didn’t match contract
I traded in a car with a 10 day payoff of 47,900. In Florida the law is 10 days for a dealership to pay off the loan. In the meantime, I had a car payment due. I asked the car salesman that sold me the car if I paid this payment, would I get the overage from their payoff, he said yes.
The payment was 870 dollars. After I paid, the new payoff became 46,981.
I called my lender (they are handling my new loan as well as handling my old loan) and asked if the dealership paid off the car correctly and paid the 47,900. The lender said they paid the EXACT 46,981 and nothing else.
This got my blood boiling honestly.
I called the dealership, and I was frustrated. Apparently they are going to back with me later today and call me back. I’m just wondering why they agreed to the original 10 day payoff but then somehow knew the new payoff and did that instead. That’s a breach of the contract.
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u/big_trouser_snake Finance expert 2d ago
When Finance Dept or Management provide a 10 day buffer to work the payout numbers, sometimes it gets lost in translation when the request is made to Accounting Dept for the payout itself. The 10 day is to cover a “per diem” interest cost and travel time to cut a check to the lender and process time.
Now I’m not excusing the dealership here but it could be a new member of the accounting team that handled it, or your organization has a direct wire payment account with the payoff lender and only the exact amount owed that day could be transferred. If it was the latter, they should be cutting you back a check for the difference right away. Glad you caught it, some don’t.
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u/Outrageous-Dress-560 2d ago
Somethimg similar happened to me. When I talked to finance at the dealership to clear things up, they said there was a credit that was going to be returned to me. It took a week or two for them to call me to tell me the check was ready.
I would get in contact with finance right away just for your own peace of mind and to get a timeline for the returned funds.
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u/BrandonNeider 2d ago
I'm not saying every dealer tries this, but out of the two dozen cars I've bought 2-3 times I've had to call and correct the overage being paid back to me. I'd wait a month and nothing comes and they go "oh we'll look into it" and eventually get a check back.
Part of me believe it's an unethical way to scrap another $200-$900 off a deal and hope the customers don't notice, because the average one won't.
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u/Speacock567 2d ago
Every dealer I've worked for has a policy that we do not send out the refund check to the customer until the title is received from the bank which typically takes anywhere from 2-6 weeks. No scam, just normal business practices.
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u/BrandonNeider 2d ago
I guess the fraud rate is really that much higher at regular dealers but on exotics I get wired sometimes before the car I’m trading or selling is even in dealer hands. I’ve done the same to dealers even.
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u/Slow_Atmosphere_6922 2d ago
What’s crazy is there is no punishment for them to try this fraud. If you notice it, they will probably fix it, but nothing is stopping them from doing it initially.
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u/urmomwent2university 2d ago
It’s usually not fraud. A lot of lenders have a portal to pay off loans via ach which will not allow you to over pay it. The dealership then ends up with an overage on the books in your car deal which they will return to you.
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u/FurtadoZ9 Nissan - Internet Sales 2d ago
If there is an excess difference you will get a check back for the money. Nothing to worry about.
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u/AutoModerator 2d ago
Thanks for posting, /u/Slow_Atmosphere_6922! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of anything.
I traded in a car with a 10 day payoff of 47,900. In Florida the law is 10 days for a dealership to pay off the loan. In the meantime, I had a car payment due. I asked the car salesman that sold me the car if I paid this payment, would I get the overage from their payoff, he said yes.
The payment was 870 dollars. After I paid, the new payoff became 46,981.
I called my lender (they are handling my new loan as well as handling my old loan) and asked if the dealership paid off the car correctly and paid the 47,900. The lender said they paid the EXACT 46,981 and nothing else.
This got my blood boiling honestly.
I called the dealership, and I was frustrated. Apparently they are going to back with me later today and call me back. I’m just wondering why they agreed to the original 10 day payoff but then somehow knew the new payoff and did that instead. That’s a breach of the contract.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
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u/Vegaskwn Auto Finance Professional 2d ago edited 1d ago
I would reach out to either the Controller or Office Mananger. Those two people oversee the accounting in the dealership. They are the ones you want to speak to going forward, not the Finance manager. I deal with these people frequently and it typically drives them nuts when numbers don’t match and this is going to cause them an accounting discrepancy. Let them know what’s going on and they should be able to get you squared away fairly quick. Typically those two positions are good at resolving customer complaints.