Lease Termination
Dealers generally assume that a customer who leases a vehicle will have the right to buy it at the end for the residual value. That is not always the case. Pricing for a lease is generally based on...
View ArticleWho is Filling In the Customer’s Credit Application?
In a recent story, Automotive News reported on an informal online survey of F&I managers in which 29% responded that salespeople or sales managers fill in credit applications for customers at their...
View ArticleProper Dating of Contracts: Avoiding Liability After Nelson v. Pearson Ford
In July of last year, a California appellate court handed down a very nasty, published decision that makes backdating retail installment sale contracts even riskier now than it was before. I have been...
View ArticleFTC to Dealers: “Pay Us a Penalty No Matter How Much You Owe”
You’ve seen (and maybe even used) ads claiming that a dealer will pay off customers’ trades no matter how much they owe. The Federal Trade Commission has announced consent agreements with five auto...
View ArticleBackdating is Often a Management Issue
There has been a substantial amount of publicity recently concerning backdating retail installment sale contracts. The practice can lead to serious problems. The problem can arise when a dealership...
View ArticleBundling? Really?
Bundling is suddenly a hot subject for F&I consultants. Bundling is the practice of packaging F&I and after sale products. This strategy may lead, overall, to more sales than á la carte...
View ArticleNew Mexico Issues New Spot Delivery Regulations
The Office of the New Mexico Attorney General recently adopted new spot-delivery regulations. The regulations took effect June 1 and impose a wide-range of dealer requirements related to spot-delivery...
View ArticleFTC Looking at Safeguards Compliance
by Michael Charapp On June 7, 2012, the FTC announced that it had agreed on terms of a consent order with a Georgia Toyota dealer stemming from the dealer’s failure to maintain adequate control of its...
View ArticleA Doc Fee by Any Other Name…
Car people speak in their own shorthand that is not always precise. For example, a franchisor is the “factory”, even though the franchisor may simply be a distributor that does not manufacture...
View ArticleLucky 13 for ‘13
Oh, what a difference a few years make. In late 2008, many auto pundits lamented that we might never again see sixteen million annual new vehicle sales. Proving that their memories are as faulty as...
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