Payback On Lease

[knmaynard]

Has anyone been refunded their lease payments for the amount of time their vehicle was in the shop?

I was checking on the car the other day and some guy in the service dept told me I would be refunded a prorated lease payment.

I called yesterday to follow up on the details, and the lady kept avoiding my questions, saying she had never heard of this and neither had anyone else there she just asked. Sounded kind of nervous, like they had committed an "uh-oh" by this guy telling me this, and now wanted out of it.

If anyone has any input or knowledge of this, please let me know.

Thanks.

(It's our RX330 that is in for 3 different things, including the brake booster.)

[RX in NC]

You can certainly pursue a lease payment refund for the time you lost with your vehicle in the shop but if the dealership provided you with a loaner car for the full length of time that your vehicle was not available to you, you're probably not going to succeed in that particular effort.

If you're dissatisfied with your vehicle and prefer to seek a more permanent solution, your best bet may be to familiarize yourself with the "lemon laws" in your state. If you have a persistent problem that your dealer has been unable to repair during multiple visits, you may qualify for a "lemon law" solution. They vary from state to state, but four unsuccessful attempts to fix the same problem or your vehicle being in the repair shop for more than 21 consecutive days often get you over the hump as far as the "lemon law" requirements are concerned. Check your owner's manual package for the "lemon law" brochure pertaining to your state, and contact the Attorney General's Consumer Affairs Department in your state capital for more details. Good luck with your issues.

[knmaynard]

You can certainly pursue a lease payment refund for the time you lost with your vehicle in the shop but if the dealership provided you with a loaner car for the full length of time that your vehicle was not available to you, you're probably not going to succeed in that particular effort.

If you're dissatisfied with your vehicle and prefer to seek a more permanent solution, your best bet may be to familiarize yourself with the "lemon laws" in your state.  If you have a persistent problem that your dealer has been unable to repair during multiple visits, you may qualify for a "lemon law" solution.  They vary from state to state, but four unsuccessful attempts to fix the same problem or your vehicle being in the repair shop for more than 21 consecutive days often get you over the hump as far as the "lemon law" requirements are concerned.  Check your owner's manual package for the "lemon law" brochure pertaining to your state, and contact the Attorney General's Consumer Affairs Department in your state capital for more details.  Good luck with your issues.

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Thanks. My life loves the RX, and the only reason they have it for so long is that there is a backorder (nationally) on the brake booster, the part is scheduled to be in on Jan 20. So we don't want to get rid of it.

They did give us a rental (a cadillac), which has been a moderate nuisance since we have two young children and switching cars was a royal pain, and she wants her RX back.

[Lexusfreak]

I'm not sure I'm following what your trying to ask.....what year is the RX & what has been the problem(s) with the vehicle?

[knmaynard]

I'm not sure I'm following what your trying to ask.....what year is the RX & what has been the problem(s) with the vehicle? 

   

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It's a 2004 RX330 that we have a 3 year lease on.

Some guy in the service dept. told me that Lexus would refund what would be 2 months of lease payments (or however long it was they had the car in the shop) since we were technically paying to use a car (since that's what a lease is) that wasn't in our possession due to something that was their fault, not ours.

So it's like paying for a service and not getting it, so thus being refunded. Different than if we had bought the car, because then we aren't paying for the right to use the car, we would outright own it and have a lein placed against it.

Sounded too generous to me, but I'll take it if it's true.

[SW03ES]

They gave you a Cadillac loaner? Thats kinda strange...

I HAVE heard of refunded lease payments before, but like RX in NC I doubt if that'll fly when you were recieving a similar stature loaner car.

[knmaynard]

They gave you a Cadillac loaner? Thats kinda strange...

I HAVE heard of refunded lease payments before, but like RX in NC I doubt if that'll fly when you were recieving a similar stature loaner car.

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Good news, I get the refund!

It is through Lexus, not the dealership, and they acted like it was no big deal, didn't give me any grief, and treated me like royalty. It is a simple process and they will pay me back based on how much our lease payment would be (we did the one-pay thing, prepaid the whole 3 years, so they will divided that by 36).

I'm impressed. I put this out on the SC board, too, to get feedback, and as I said on that forum, THAT is why Toyota will be the #1 auto company in the world.

Oh, the Cadillac was through Enterprise, who has an office on sight at the dealership. This dealer has 10 different brands, it's a massive complex including lexus, cadillac, bmw, volvo, honda, and others.

This wouldn't work on a purchase, because you would be buying an infinite life, unlike a lease where you buy the rights of use for a set life, and they owe you that period of time in the vehicle. (For those wondering about refunds that purchased their cars.)

[SW03ES]

That is very cool that they did that for you!

See it only cost them a little bit of money and they made a customer forever, thats how you do business. I'm glad to see Lexus still recognizes that.

[RX in NC]

Yep, that's an unusual and noble gesture, no doubt about it. Particularly since you were provided with a loaner for the duration. The LOC members who lease their vehicles should sit up and take notice of your situation in the event they find themselves in similar circumstances down the road.

Leasing doesn't work for us. My wife puts far too many miles per year on her primary vehicle to consider leasing it (the mileage penalty would be astronomical at turn-in time), and I prefer to keep my primary vehicle for 8 to 10 years since I average only about 6,000 miles per year on it.

[SW03ES]

I wonder if they would be as kind if the car weren't leased through Toyota Financial Services.