By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our
Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our
Visitor Agreement.
Comments
Richard
Richard
http://www.jimpattisonlease.com/
Another time I was at a dance and one of the girl's father picked her up his daughter to take her home. The made it as far as the driveway when a drunk driver in a 1957 Pontiac hit them head on and killed both father and daughter. I didn't see it actually happen but I remember people running and screaming. People kept us away from the scene which I'm sure was a very good idea.
The guy in the Pontiac was unhurt as I recall.
Theresa was a very nice girl from a large Italian family.
A memorial to her still stands at our high school.
We had another memorial for a guy who dropped dead during a football game. It stood for many years in the Senior Court before vandals distroyed it.
Ain't that the truth. At the ripe age of 30 I was introduced to cancer/surguery/radiation treatments. What I had was fixed pretty easy but just hearing that word is really tough. Two years later (almost to the day, oddly) I am in good health and aside from semi-annual blood tests and CT scans all is well.
In other words, just backing up Imid's statement.
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
We lost a member of our graduating high school class to the old different states having different drinking ages. He was just turned 18 and drove into NY State just over the border to the bar that was there specifically for that purpose. Coming home on the twisty road that winds around a big reservoir he missed a curve and went right into a tree.
The one that has stayed with me to this day was a girl I went out with a few times when I was 17 and she was 15. Would have likely done so again. I go off to college at 18 knowing she had an issue with a cyst pressing on her brain and that when it got too bad they'd have to operate. I came home for a weekend only to find that they'd done the surgery, she seemed OK and then suddenly all her vitals dropped and they said she'd either be a vegetable or die. That was Friday. By Saturday night she was gone. Six weeks before she would have been 17.
I hope that when it's my time to go in the visit will be nothing but boring!
My father's best friend in first grade contracted TB and died halfway through the school year. TB was a fairly common occurrence in the depression (I even remember the constant public health TB commercials even in the 60s).
The little boy was an only child and his mom was a teacher at the high school. My dad had her for several classes in high school ten years later. Imagine how painful it must have been for her to teach the young adults--like my father-- who were the same age as her son would have been had he lived. I'm guessing attending graduation must have taken a supreme effort.
Gogiboy
I once sold a car to a urologist. He was quite the joker so I suggested to him that our jobs were a lot alike.
" How to you figure?" he asked me.
I responded by saying that both of us have to deal with a lot of A-holes!
He totally agreed!
Calling Dr Howard Dr Fine Dr Howard ...
Richard
LOL!!! That was priceless!
Richard
Richard
Richard
Tom
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
That's funny, but embarassing. We had a guy who would go after volley ball to a place that gave us free wings. He said the free wings were for him, so he didn't have to order anything.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
Just to be sure there wasn't miscommunication...I think he meant digital as in finger, not digital as inserting some kind of computer gizmo up the rear.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
as to that lease return story, to some extent, I actually agree with the dealer. If thee was damage (although in this case, sounds padded), it is the leasee's responsibi8lity to pay for it. Then, if the dealer decides to fix it or not, is up to them. In theory, they will get lesss on the resale.
so technically, she was not paying to put a new bumper on the car. She was paying because she damaged the old one.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
These terrible events do leave such an impression, and though this happened about 45 years ago it doesn't seem that long ago.
The high school had organized a field trip on big busses. When the bus got back there were parents waiting to take their children home. One girl leaned out the window to wave to her parents, and the bus just passed a tree that was too close. She was killed and her parents saw it all unfold. What a sad thing to happen to a young person. I have always watched that people don't lean out or have any arms out when I am driving.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
The dealer did say they were going to install a new bumper and it would cost $600. But, they didn't, and I am sure they got the same price for the car because the guy who bought it didn't even know the bumper was damaged.
I suppose there is an arguement they might get less for the car, because the bumper had a bit of a dent, that might mean a charge of $100 or $200, in fact from what I could see it looked like normal wear and tear.. But, even the government will step in if she lodges a complaint, because they weren't being truthful. They charged her $600 to replace a bumper they said had to be replaced...but it wasn't.
And if that was true, why did the dealer try to fix things up by giving her a refund?
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
2013 LX 570 2016 LS 460
But, they really did not owe her any explanation as to what they planned to do with the money. You think everything that gets charged on lease returns always gets fixed? Not likely.
And they decided to refund the money because they got caught and were getting bad publicity. I would bet that if it went to court, the dealer would win.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Wow. There's frugal and then there's cheap. I'd hate to sell a car to that person.
She was so cheap that she yanked the lousy floor mats out of it before turning it back in so I'm not surprised she's calling "foul" over the bumper.
It's possible they had planned to replace it but then they decided it wasn't so bad that anyone would complain. The person who bought the car either didn't notice or didn't care. Others would have.
And it's possible they sold it for less since they didn't have to pay for a bumper?
That was a safety move to help prevent one of toyota's two excuses for Unintended Runaway Acceleration, floor mats caused runaway acceleration.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Lying to her about it? Stupid... should have just told her, "It's none of your business what happens to that car... It's not yours.... "
The repair cost reduces the value of the car... It's a legitimate lease-end charge..
Edmunds Price Checker
Edmunds Lease Calculator
Did you get a good deal? Be sure to come back and share!
Edmunds Moderator
Richard
Richard
This is very coincidental because just the other day at work a senior type ask me the same question. You two might be related, Worse yet the two of you might be the same guy. :P
Let me explain to the others about this. Dr. Baum was a dentist that advertised on TV. He must have done pretty well because the name of the multi story building where he had his office was the Baum Building. Yeah, I went into the wrong field. It should have been dentistry since I like to work with my hands and cause pain.
FWIW, I remember this guys advertisements going back to the 50's.
Did you go to Isaly's for a chipped ham sandwich when you visited back in the Burgh a little while back. Next time swing by and pick up 'mako1a' he'd probably give you a big hug for that. Can you imagine how many pounds of that stuff he could pack into that Exploder he just bought?
jmonroe
'15 Genesis V8 with Ultimate Package and '18 Legacy Limited 6 cyl
Richard
Richard
That is what the writer of the article advised. Get the repairs done first, then return the car. The damage probably could have been repaired for much less, no need for a whole new bumper.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
And, he would have the best office furniture around.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
We had a neighbor once who didn't want to go along with every one else..to put a fence in their backyard. Everyone paid for their share, except him. He knew he would get a free fence out of it, since every one else wanted fences.
Then, when we put a For Sale sign on our house he made up a hand made sign "For Sale by Owner" so he could siphon off potential customers looking at our house, and he would save the real estate commission.
How would you like to sell a car to that guy?
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
You could say the same thing about a credit card bill.. but, I wouldn't recommend it... Unless, your credit history isn't important to you..
Edmunds Price Checker
Edmunds Lease Calculator
Did you get a good deal? Be sure to come back and share!
Edmunds Moderator
Richard
Yes, it is seldom a good idea to withold payments. It is better to pay, and pursue it after, or write on the invoice paid with protest.
Although it seems reasonable for the dealership to charge for damage, in most cases theyare over doing it. They are finding more things than ever before, and charging more than it is worth. It is out of control and the dealer holds all the cards. The least one should do when handing in a car would be to take it to a garage and ask what the cost of repairing things would be.
I could argue a dented bumper is normal wear and tear. Maybe it doesn't need a whole new bumper, possibly a little body work would have been fine. Once again, you are at the mercy of the dealer.
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
There's truth and then there's untruths (lies). This dealership lied. No getting around that. This never should have gone as far as it did. Once they were caught in the lie, which they shouldn't have told to begin with, they should have immediately refunded the money. Whether the lady was "frugal" or not, if the floor mats belonged to her, then she had every right to remove them.
Many times I've withheld payment for many things. Always the "big threat" of "we'll report negatively on your credit report". Sometimes they do (in which case I protest it, in writing to the credit agencies). Sometimes they don't. When they do, my protests are lodged and my credit continues to be unblemmished.
My late Father was extremely stubborn when it came to being treated fairly. In the last house he had built with my Mother, the final result wasn't right (can't remember exactly what went wrong, but it was something about the finishing work being subpar in workmanship and materials). I had already graduated from college and was out on my own by this time.
He fought with the general contractor for a month until he finally said he was withholding final payment for the house. Contractor threatened to report him to a credit agency (which didn't make any sense given that my Father was paying for the house out of his own pocket, not financed). I think I've mentioned before, my Father never, ever even owned a single credit card. He didn't believe in them. If you couldn't pay cash for something, you couldn't afford it, according to him.
Anyway, it got a little crazy. I don't remember all the details but I do remember my Father having to change all the locks in the new house since the contractor wouldn't give him the keys to the new house. I think it went so far as the general contractor putting a lien against the house. My Father and I were discussing it when I mentioned that having a lien against the house meant he didn't own it free and clear. Without hesitating my Father said, "I'll out live the contractor. Besides, the statute of limitations on a lien is (X) years (I don't remember the amount of years "X" represents). I'll out wait him". My Father didn't trust the courts. He would always rather work disputes out on his own.
Eventually, the contractor came back and redid what had to be redone. And, my Father actually was happy with the house. It was a very nice home....much nicer than the ones I grew up in. He always told me the only reason he could afford a nice home was because all of his kids were finally out on their own. He would chuckle and say he was "just kidding". But, underneath his chuckle there was a slight sigh of relief that we were all gone, graduated from college, and out on our own.
In the case of this car, the inspector noticed a damaged bumper and put a number on it. The store should have never told the woman that they were going to replace the bumper. They should have simply referred to the report.
When our son turned in his leased S-2000, it happened to have a scraped alloy wheel that he didn't even know about. Since the scrape was more than three inches long, they wanted to charge something like 600.00 for a new rim!
I had one of our vendors resurface and polish it for, I think 150.00 and all was well.
That bumper probably could have been fixed the same way.
As far as the floor mats, if they were factory mats that came with the car, yes, she was just plain cheap to have pulled them. If, on the other hand, they were upgrade mats that she bought herself then I agree, there was nothing wrong with removing them. I would have done the same thing.
We once had a woman drop off a lease return only to have her husband return a couple of hours later with a gas can and a rubber hose.
He realized that the car had a half tank of gas and he wanted to syphon five gallons out into his can.. I told him "suck away, and good luck"
After several unsuccessful attempts and at least one taste of gasoline, he gave up!
After several unsuccessful attempts and at least one taste of gasoline, he gave up!
It's early yet but that has potential as the post of the day!
JM, I read the post about bringing me there for chipped ham at Giant Iggle
which made me want some right then and there. But alas, I live 5 1/2 hours away.
GG, that was a good story about the house contractor. Your writing flows nicely.
Explorer is in my garage ready for HAM radio install and minor tweaks/repairs
making ready for winter driving with 4WD. Avalon sits there rarely moving
all summer so forget winter driving. What a life the Avalon has.
All dressed up and nowhere to go.
I have a tendency to think of my vehicles as people (family members).
2013 Mustang GT, 2001 GMC Yukon Denali
" You suck hose?"
" No...YOU suck on the hose!"
I don't think he was feeling too good when he left.
BTW, we're taking our first trip in the SRX tomorrow. We're going on a fall foliage trip to the mountains for three days. Keep your fingers crossed that the car does well. This will be its first test. That V8 should climb those mountains. I'll let you know how it did when we return.
Richard
It's akin to borrowing something. People used to borrow my books. Many of them would come back with coffee stains, dirty finger prints, torn pages, etc. If I have an accident with my own book, that's my problem. I don't have to explain it to another person or pay a damage fee. There is a difference between cars and books. Some of my books never came back! When people borrow things, they are often so lax at returning them. That reminds me. My neighbor has had my leaf blower for two months. With the leaves beginning to fall. I had better pay him a visit.
Richard
My dad used to lease for a number of years. Had a local guy who would detail it and get out any scratches or anything before he returned it.
In another two weeks I have to borrow Richard's leaf blower...