Q: Can car companies add a “market value increase” charge on my car buyout that is not in my original lease contract?
I recently went to my dealership to purchase my car and pay the rest of the lease off. The object was to not have a car payment any more. My husband and I estimated my total buyout and everything to be around 15,000 since my residual value is 11,000 and I still owe 2000 in lease payments plus tax, title and the buyout fee they put in the contract for 650. However, the general manager of Hyundai presented us with a quote for 21,000 due to my car being worth more money now. The new fee was written as a “market value increase” of $5,000-6,000. That is not mentioned in my contract written 4 years ago.
A:
Generally, if any important change is made to a contract without being part of the original contract, the change cannot be made.
However, without being able to read every page of your original contract plus read any other attachment addendums, or similar changes it is impossible to answer this question.
I will say that just because you cannot find any mention of "market value increase" in your contract does NOT mean there is no other language that could encompass the meaning of the dealer's choice of words.
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