leasing a car is a big mistake

I leased a Volvo SUV from Power Volvo Cerritos in 2004. Chase Bank financed the lease. Two years later (2006), in the course of having the car serviced by the dealership, I spoke with Mr. Kimo in his office regarding the procedure of returning a leased car (I had never leased a car before and wanted the information so I would be prepared). He told me I should return the car early, that it would have lower mileage and less wear-and-tear, and that my turn-in fee would be less because of this. He also said he himself would be happier because he would receive a better car (lower mileage, etc.) to re-sell (or lease). He said any minor scratches etc. would be overlooked and I would only be responsible for overage on my allotted miles (if any). A few months later while leaving the car for another service appointment, I spoke with Mr. Kimo again. He restated the same things and I asked him to tell me what my turn-in fee would be. He didn’t know the answer and said he would call me with the figure. He never did. I travel frequently and was not concerned about this. Again, at the time of another service visit (still in 2006), I spoke with Mr. Kimo a third time about returning the car. I mildly chastised him for not calling me with the calculations as per our last conversation. Our meeting was cut short ~ he had salesmen coming in and out of his office~ but it ended with him telling me to return the car as soon as I wanted (as in our previous meetings) and the mileage would be calculated at that time.

In June, 2007, I called Power Volvo and said I wanted to make an appointment to return my leased car. I spoke with and subsequently met Mr. Eddie. He examined the car and noted the details and mileage on a contract which both he and I signed. He said an appraiser had to come from Chase Bank to evaluate the condition (it was very good) and I would receive a bill from Chase for the mileage and condition. And we were done. I left the dealership and immediately called to cancel my insurance on that car. I bought a new car approximately a week later.

In August 2007, I received a delinquent bill from Chase Bank. It was not a bill for closing costs, it was a bill for the regular lease for the past two months. When I queried Chase, I was told Power Volvo had never notified them I had returned the car. I called Mr. Eddie at Power Volvo who told me he had called Chase and the appraiser was supposed to have arrived in three days. Six weeks later he still hadn’t arrived. I asked Mr. Eddie to look into the problem and report back to me.

Mr. Eddie called later to say the problem was that I still had a year remaining on my lease. I didn’t understand that this was a problem since I had been told repeatedly to turn the car in early, that it was better for everyone especially myself. Mr. Eddie said I owed the money for the remaining year of the lease even though I didn’t have the car. Of course I told him that that was ridiculous, I had bought a new car two months earlier and wasn’t going to pay two car payments, especially one for a car I didn’t have. (When I originally returned the car to Mr. Eddie, I brought with me my monthly lease statement from Chase Bank so he could have the account number and other lease information. The “term” and “months in service” ~ the amount of time remaining on the lease~ are clearly reported. He examined the statement throughout the time of our exchange and prior to our signing of the contract, which was done at the end of our meeting.)

Mr. Eddie said he would speak with the general manager the next day about the problem, that he could resolve it. A week later I called Mr. Eddie because I had not heard back from him. He said I would need to speak with the general manager myself, that he had briefed him on the case but he (the general manager) didn’t see his responsibility.

Mr. Mohammad, the General Manager of Power Volvo in Cerritos, returned my calls the next afternoon. He agreed that Mr. Kimo may have repeatedly told me that it was in my better interest to return my leased car early but he also said that Mr. Kimo was wrong about that and didn’t work for Power Volvo any longer. Mr. Mohammad said that if I didn’t come to take the car off the lot he was going to charge a storage fee.

Before I could think, Chase Bank called me regarding the delinquent account. I started the story from the beginning (again) and was transferred to a very nice, rational woman who put the notes of this case into their computer system. She then explained to me that there is a six-month, no-penalty period for returning a leased car early. What this meant was that I was only responsible for six months instead of a year (the last six months of the lease would be the grace period). Six months of the lease would be less than $3000. While I didn’t feel responsible for this amount, I also felt I would like to be done with the whole business and was willing to take the loss. But she told me it needed to be finalized with another department which would decide if I was responsible for any other fees (such as mileage).

She transferred me to a very hard man (Mr. Mark) who told me that nothing the nice woman had said was valid. I did not owe Chase Bank for six months of a lease; he said I owed them for a year of the lease (almost $6000 + mileage and condition) plus I owed them for auction fees to sell the car at a wholesale car auction (fees unknown as of yet) plus I owed them the balance of the retail price of the car (over $24,000).

He then told me not to raise my voice to him.

I asked to speak to someone else, to a supervisor. Mr. Mark told me a supervisor would tell me the same thing and that I would have to wait 24 to 48 hours to speak with one. I gave him my cell phone number.

Chase Bank
JP Morgan Chase & Co.

800 227 5151 lease department
800 604 1011 lease department
800 242 7396 re-marketing department (Mr. Mark)

Power Volvo
Power AutoGroup
an AutoNation company

Mr. Mohammad (General Manager, Power Volvo, Cerritos CA)
Mr. Eddie (Lease Returns, Power Volvo, Cerritos CA)
Mr. Kimo (Lease/Financing, Power Volvo, Cerritos CA ~ no longer employed)

18303 Studebaker Road
Cerritos, CA 90703

562 207 1200 general number