A man in Colorado is on a crusade to end hidden fees at car dealers. This passion came about after two local Mercedes dealers told him he’d have to pay extra to buy his lease vehicle. Now, he’s secured a refund after the media began to pry into the transaction but he wants more. The state attorney general is interested in helping too.
Jason Taylor certainly doesn’t seem to just be in this fight for the money. When he was ready to purchase his leased 2019 Mercedes-Benz, dealers from Westminster Colorado and Loveland Colorado said he would owe a $599 dealer and handling fee. That didn’t sit right with Taylor as he had a clear record of his lease agreement including everything he’d have to pay to buy it out.
“It should have just been the residual, plus the $150 fee, plus any official titling and taxes,” he said. The dealer in Loveland actually went even further and told Taylor that to buy his leased vehicle he’d have to have it serviced to fix the cause of a check engine light first. At that stage, he went ahead and paid the $599 fee but at the same time filed complaints at the state and federal levels.
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He also reached out and had local news agency Denver 7 on the case. It contacted the Colorado Attorney General, Phil Weiser, who set the record straight. “I’ve got a very simple message here: If you buy any product or service, and you’re not told about some fee, and then later, they say, ‘Oh, you’ve got to pay this fee, a hidden fee.’ That’s illegal. That’s deception,” he said.
He also reached out and had the local news agency Denver 7 on the case, which then contacted the Colorado Attorney General, Phil Weiser, who set the record straight by stating, “I’ve got a very simple message here: If you buy any product or service, and you’re not told about some fee, and then later, they say, ‘Oh, you’ve got to pay this fee, a hidden fee.’ That’s illegal. That’s deception.”
Matthew Groves, president of the Colorado Auto Dealers Association, says that the dealer who charged the fee did so because it wasn’t a party to the original agreement as it didn’t lease the vehicle in the first place. After it started poking around, the general manager (GM) of the Mercedes-Benz dealership in question backed down.
Kevin Steward, the owner, sent an email stating: “I wanted to let you know the dealership values the relationship it has with its customers and that this customer received a refund.” Interestingly, it didn’t respond when asked if it would continue to charge such a dealership handling fee.
Customers of Mercedes-Benz of Westminster, and any other dealer in Colorado, can report hidden fees directly to the AG here. Hopefully, the unified work of citizens can put a stop to this greedy and illegal practice.