Firstownerf150

When I bought my 2015 F150 on 9/20/15, I traded in a Honda CRV. I've been checking my account with Honda Financial Services and see that it still has not been paid off. Is this normal? When I bought my CRV, the check to pay off the remaining balance of my trade in was sent within 3-4 days and everything is handled.

I've tried calling the accounting dept. in the dealer I bought the f150 from and just keep getting voicemail and when I leave a message, I never get a call back.

Please advise!

Thanks!

Ohiohntr

This just happened to me....After not getting anywhere with leaving voicemails I ended up contacting my salesman and explained the situation. At this point they were 12 days away from damaging my credit and according to Toyota Financial the only way I could keep from my credit being dinged was to bring the account up to current (2 payments).


I stayed on the salesman and they ran it right up to within a day of being 60 days late and finally overnighted a check to Toyota.....I was not happy.


It left a bad taste in my mouth with the dealer.....they originally said "well, we figured your trade would sell quicker that that"....my response "this isn't a consignment effort". The next excuse was "the paperwork was mishandled".


Bottom line what I found out through all of this is that your financial responsibility does not end with the trade in of your vehicle....I contacted an attorney and he suggested that I make the payments on my trade until the 90 day mark, I wasn't happy but was prepared to do it in order to not affect my credit score and hope that Toyota sent me a check for the difference....luckily it did not come to that!!

live4speed

I traded my Accord Coupe (financed through Honda) for my F-150. It takes a while (i think it took a week and a half for mine) before the Honda site will show a zero balance. If you are concerned you could always march on into the dealership and demand answers..

Firstownerf150

Completely understand its my responsibility until it shows up as a 0 balance on my Honda Financial account. I'm going to the dealer on Thursday to have a backup camera installed and will talk to someone face to face if they dont call me back from now until my appointment. I'm going to try calling the salesman I dealt with since he was very helpful in making the deal, but it seems like the Finance/Accounting dept. are slow to ensure the check has been written and sent out to Honda for payment. The next payment for the Honda is not due until 10/20, but I do not want to get anywhere near that date.

Are there any legal actions that can be done if for some reason it goes past that date? Seems troubling that there are no laws to protect consumers from dealers who are too lazy or try to take advantage of customers.

Ohiohntr

I know that answer.....no, there is no time stipulation they have to pay off your trade according to law. Although, when they do pay it off payment has to be made for the contracted amount agreed upon in your sales paperwork. Then the lien holder would logically write you a check back for the difference in the full payment made vs. what is actually owed at that time.


Is it slimy...yup....In the dealers eyes they really don't NEED to pay off your trade and access the title until they sell your trade.


I've gone through a lot a vehicles between my wife and I.....this is the only time I have ever experience my trade not being paid off immediately (3-4 days).


If I had to guess in my case.....The dealer was short on cash flow and did not want to hold my trade as an asset.

EricTheMarine

Depends on what state you live in. Here in California most of our laws protect consumers. In the case of something like this, the dealership has 21 days from date of contract signing to pay off, in full, the trade in. Mine waited 20 days and resulted in us having to make a payment on my old truck to protect our credit (Something NOT everyone can afford to do!) About the only good parts to CA

This time going in I knew the laws. Last time (different dealership) didn't pay off my trade in for 3 months, and I refused to pay on a truck I didn't have. I took a 67 point hit on my credit for it. Too late now to pursue that dealership, but they get no more business from me.

Same goes for resigning the contract. In CA after 10 days of having the vehicle/ signing the contract you are under no obligation to resign or return the vehicle. If they can't find you financing at the agreed upon amounts then THEY ie the dealership must carry your loan and payments are made to them.

Look up your state laws, some have no such law to protect you or go off of what your contract states. There have been some cases where the dealerships have gone under and didn't pay anything off. So keep on them!

Firstownerf150

I left a message again at the accounting department and got no call back. I called the dealer I worked with and he told me that they have a 5-10 business day policy for completing the trade off. I bought the car on 9/20 so technically, it is not the full 10 business days yet. He said to continue to follow up later in the week and if it still does not show up as completely paid next week (after the full 10 business days), then to immediately call him so he can talk to someone.

It's kind of annoying that the accounting/financing dept. just cant pay it off, but the dealer I dealt with has been excellent so far and picks up every single one of my calls so the best I can do for now is to just monitor the situation.

Ricktwuhk

That's the salesman, not the dealer...

In the future, have them cut the check and mail it while you do the deal, or you mail it. Or pay it off then do the trade.

gregsf150stx

when I turned in my MKZ lease, it took Ford Credit almost a month to close out the account and report it as PAID OFF......Maybe a little different, but it is a process.

ScrewBalled

This guy nailed it. If they don't have the funds to pay off your vehicle without selling it, you're in the wrong dealership. I don't even TOUCH the pen without them cutting the check and slipping it in an envelope with the verified correct mailing address. A lot of you are probably thinking that this is overkill, but it only takes ONE time for a dealer to drag their feet before you're looking at two payment due notices. The up side is whatever you pay AFTER the deal on the new vehicle is made, will be returned to you from whoever carried your old loan. I despise buying from dealers, but they're the only ones selling new vehicles.


Imagine making an agreement to come in the next day with the money down in cash and then finding out after you've paid them that they already ran your debit card for the money down AND dragged their feet paying off the previous loan. Twice the money down was taken out of my account, My self and the dealer, I had to make a payment on the trade in AND the new vehicle. That was a stressful month.