NX450h+ Price Paid
01-05-24, 06:28 PM
#77
also just did the lease on 12/23 in the sf bay area to get the $7.5k. my lfs account finally activated so called them to ship me the buyout package. i have similar savings as posted abt ~$6k. will still have to pay sales tax after getting the documents from them that i then take to dmv. it's at dmv where i'll pay the sales tax. this was per the lfs lease agent.
01-06-24, 11:34 AM
#78
Intermediate
Just to confirm, what you've understood from lfs is that the only payment we have to make at DMV, after receiving the released title is the Sales tax, correct ?
From what I have read here and elsewhere, the already registered car's registration (under lease) is still valid for 1 year, so no further payment there - and only the sales tax will need to be paid at DMV.
From what I have read here and elsewhere, the already registered car's registration (under lease) is still valid for 1 year, so no further payment there - and only the sales tax will need to be paid at DMV.
02-08-24, 06:46 PM
#79
Intermediate
This was the first lease I've ever done, so I'm not sure if this is typical. Here is my experience at Jim Falk Lexus:
After arriving I was taken to the finance manager's office and was pleasantly surprised there was no mention on her part about purchasing an extended warranty.
After reviewing and signing the lease paperwork electronically, I was again surprised I did not have to put down any money!
My first lease payment was not due for about six or seven weeks from the date of picking up the vehicle. My goal, which I achieved, was to have the lease paid off before the first payment was due.
I drove the new NX450h+ off the lot without having put down a single dollar.
I created a logon on the Lexus Financial Services website when I got home. It took about two weeks for my lease to show up on the website. Once the lease showed up, I could see the payoff amount. I called the Lexus Financial phone number and asked them to send me the paperwork to pay off the car in full. There was no surprise or pushback at all and I got the forms within 24 hours or so. I filled out the forms, got a cashier's check for the full amount and sent it all in via FedEx. Note: The payoff amount did not include sales tax or license/registration.
After sending in the paperwork and check, I think it took around three weeks for my payment to show up on the Lexus Financial website.
I received a form letter from Lexus stating they received my payoff, but the pink slip (I'm in California) was not going to be sent to me for a few weeks. My guess is that Lexus Financial had not yet received the pink slip from the CA DMV, so they did not have it to send to me. It took around four more weeks to get the pink slip in the mail.
The next day I took the pink slip to the DMV to register the car in my name. At that point I had to pay the sales tax and license/registration fees. I ran into an issue here because the DMV said I should have registered the vehicle in my name within 3 - 5 days of the lease payoff and threatened to charge a penalty. Once I explained I could not do the registration until now because I just received the pink slip, they dropped the possible penalty. Except for that small hiccup, it was a smooth process.
After arriving I was taken to the finance manager's office and was pleasantly surprised there was no mention on her part about purchasing an extended warranty.
After reviewing and signing the lease paperwork electronically, I was again surprised I did not have to put down any money!
My first lease payment was not due for about six or seven weeks from the date of picking up the vehicle. My goal, which I achieved, was to have the lease paid off before the first payment was due.
I drove the new NX450h+ off the lot without having put down a single dollar.
I created a logon on the Lexus Financial Services website when I got home. It took about two weeks for my lease to show up on the website. Once the lease showed up, I could see the payoff amount. I called the Lexus Financial phone number and asked them to send me the paperwork to pay off the car in full. There was no surprise or pushback at all and I got the forms within 24 hours or so. I filled out the forms, got a cashier's check for the full amount and sent it all in via FedEx. Note: The payoff amount did not include sales tax or license/registration.
After sending in the paperwork and check, I think it took around three weeks for my payment to show up on the Lexus Financial website.
I received a form letter from Lexus stating they received my payoff, but the pink slip (I'm in California) was not going to be sent to me for a few weeks. My guess is that Lexus Financial had not yet received the pink slip from the CA DMV, so they did not have it to send to me. It took around four more weeks to get the pink slip in the mail.
The next day I took the pink slip to the DMV to register the car in my name. At that point I had to pay the sales tax and license/registration fees. I ran into an issue here because the DMV said I should have registered the vehicle in my name within 3 - 5 days of the lease payoff and threatened to charge a penalty. Once I explained I could not do the registration until now because I just received the pink slip, they dropped the possible penalty. Except for that small hiccup, it was a smooth process.
The dealers I test-drove at, both lied to me about how to go about this - one said I need to make 3 payments before buyout, another said 5 payments before buyout. I had confirmed with Lexus Financial that I did not need to make any payment at all - so zero-down drive-off would've worked obviously, but the dealer I bought from insisted on a downpayment, so I paid $ 2K. This took care of the California DMV registration fees, lease processing fees and the first lease payment. This last part I should've avoided, and just insisted on paying the DMV and lease processing and smaller smog etc fee as part of the downpayment at purchasing time. I think the dealer also tried screwing me with the money-factor charge, which they set at ~10 % APR equivalent, despite a 850+ FICO score. Its probably best not to ask the dealer about this immediate buyout plans at all - but try to get the minimum APR for the lease, and make the minimum downpayment for the DMV/Lease fees as the optimal way. That way the DMV registration and lease fees and initial tax on the discount (and other small fees to the Govt) are taken care of with downpayment (and left out of lease buyout payment later to LFS), when you drive off with the car.
Regardless, probably due to the first lease payment included at drive-off, I found my LFS online account showing my buyout price in about 8 days after the purchase (this was during Christmas holidays, I wasn't expecting such quick turnaround - so I only checked after 8 days and found it posted). I called LFS and asked them to email the paperwork, which arrived immediately. The LFS agent I talked to said "lots of people are buying out, its a very simple process"
I mailed in the payment check and signed forms asap. Then called LFS to confirm receipt. After 2-3 calls and couple weeks later (just before my second payment was due), they sent me documents confirming the buyout as complete - but their letter said they have not received the title from DMV yet, so to wait until I go to the DMV for title transfer. They however sent me two other DMV forms - Vehicle Transfer and Lien Satisfied forms, as well as a power-of-attorney to sign anything on their behalf at the DMV if necessary. I then called them to clarify if I should wait and learned from an incredibly helpful agent that all title transfers in California are electronic, so CA DMV will have access to their release/transfer documents - so I don't need to wait for receiving the title in mail (doing the latter would take a month or longer to wait, violating DMV's 10 day expectation mentioned above per erichedge). The LFS agent had said DMV will anyway just print out and mail the new title after confirming the title release online in their system. So the very next day, I went down to the DMV and completed another DMV form they gave me to fill and sign myself - which I did and paid the tax as well. Yes, there were some minor taxes (smog, tire) totaling about ~$100 were paid twice - but the registration fee was only paid once. The tax paid was also on the buyout amount, thus reducing the sales tax I would've paid if I bought outright. The agent gave me a new printed registration page (i.e. not a new sticker, but just the document) confirming my clean title ownership then and there, and receipt for the paid fees. The title document itself arrived by mail in about 10 days thereafter. So in essence, the second lesson refinement was that I did not have to receive the paper title to go to DMV. From the drive-off to clean title receipt took about 48 days - despite having Christmas/New Year holidays in between.I must say LFS on the phone was very helpful and that smoothed out the information I'd gleaned about above.
Last edited by wrinkle; 02-21-24 at 10:37 PM.
05-30-24, 10:00 AM
#80
I was actually trying to forget this painful experience and detail, but since you asked, here it is:
$1,395 for StargardGPS (tracking of the car). Dealer made me buy this to get the car. It actually turned out to be somewhat worthwhile especially if your car is stolen. You can track it in real time.
$795 for "Etch" - dealer marks certain parts of car with VIN (I guess). Dealer made me buy this. Rip off for sure.
$4,000 for XPEL clear bra on front. Dealer tried to sell it for $5K, I said no. I knew the cost if I had it done elsewhere would be between $2-3K. Dealer came down to $4K. He made a lot of money on this one. The sales manager threw this item in at the last minute because they had 2 other people in the dealership wanting to buy the same car. Ugh. I was going to have a clear bra put on anyway after the purchase.
$3,295 for Lexus Extra Care Plantinum coverage for 8 years, 75K miles and zero deductible. The salesman tried to sell it to me for about $5K, I said no. Then after we agreed on the price for the car I went to see the Financial Manager. She took over and offered this again to me but at a reduced the price. She also pulled out a lot of information from Lexus explaining the benefits of the coverage. Because of all the electronics in my car that are not covered by the Lexus standard warranty I decided to get it. If you change your mind later, Lexus will refund your money. I'm happy with this one. I didn't have to buy it, it was totally my decision.
$6,083.04 - Tax, document fees, license, registration and of course a tire fee (probably unique to Calif?).
Total out the door: $76,458.04
PS - I know that my local Lexus dealer would have never tried to sell all these "extras" to me, but he didn't have the car I wanted.
$1,395 for StargardGPS (tracking of the car). Dealer made me buy this to get the car. It actually turned out to be somewhat worthwhile especially if your car is stolen. You can track it in real time.
$795 for "Etch" - dealer marks certain parts of car with VIN (I guess). Dealer made me buy this. Rip off for sure.
$4,000 for XPEL clear bra on front. Dealer tried to sell it for $5K, I said no. I knew the cost if I had it done elsewhere would be between $2-3K. Dealer came down to $4K. He made a lot of money on this one. The sales manager threw this item in at the last minute because they had 2 other people in the dealership wanting to buy the same car. Ugh. I was going to have a clear bra put on anyway after the purchase.
$3,295 for Lexus Extra Care Plantinum coverage for 8 years, 75K miles and zero deductible. The salesman tried to sell it to me for about $5K, I said no. Then after we agreed on the price for the car I went to see the Financial Manager. She took over and offered this again to me but at a reduced the price. She also pulled out a lot of information from Lexus explaining the benefits of the coverage. Because of all the electronics in my car that are not covered by the Lexus standard warranty I decided to get it. If you change your mind later, Lexus will refund your money. I'm happy with this one. I didn't have to buy it, it was totally my decision.
$6,083.04 - Tax, document fees, license, registration and of course a tire fee (probably unique to Calif?).
Total out the door: $76,458.04
PS - I know that my local Lexus dealer would have never tried to sell all these "extras" to me, but he didn't have the car I wanted.
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06-04-24, 10:05 AM
#81
First off, a big thank you to @erichedge : For having guided with his experience of the process. I received my clean ownership title from DMV today after following the process - which overall was a hassle because of primarily dealer-lies and then lack of clarity on exact steps. So I will post my refined learning from these two aspects of my experience.
The dealers I test-drove at, both lied to me about how to go about this - one said I need to make 3 payments before buyout, another said 5 payments before buyout. I had confirmed with Lexus Financial that I did not need to make any payment at all - so zero-down drive-off would've worked obviously, but the dealer I bought from insisted on a downpayment, so I paid $ 2K. This took care of the California DMV registration fees, lease processing fees and the first lease payment. This last part I should've avoided, and just insisted on paying the DMV and lease processing and smaller smog etc fee as part of the downpayment at purchasing time. I think the dealer also tried screwing me with the money-factor charge, which they set at ~10 % APR equivalent, despite a 850+ FICO score. Its probably best not to ask the dealer about this immediate buyout plans at all - but try to get the minimum APR for the lease, and make the minimum downpayment for the DMV/Lease fees as the optimal way. That way the DMV registration and lease fees and initial tax on the discount (and other small fees to the Govt) are taken care of with downpayment (and left out of lease buyout payment later to LFS), when you drive off with the car.
Regardless, probably due to the first lease payment included at drive-off, I found my LFS online account showing my buyout price in about 8 days after the purchase (this was during Christmas holidays, I wasn't expecting such quick turnaround - so I only checked after 8 days and found it posted). I called LFS and asked them to email the paperwork, which arrived immediately. The LFS agent I talked to said "lots of people are buying out, its a very simple process" I mailed in the payment check and signed forms asap. Then called LFS to confirm receipt. After 2-3 calls and couple weeks later (just before my second payment was due), they sent me documents confirming the buyout as complete - but their letter said they have not received the title from DMV yet, so to wait until I go to the DMV for title transfer. They however sent me two other DMV forms - Vehicle Transfer and Lien Satisfied forms, as well as a power-of-attorney to sign anything on their behalf at the DMV if necessary. I then called them to clarify if I should wait and learned from an incredibly helpful agent that all title transfers in California are electronic, so CA DMV will have access to their release/transfer documents - so I don't need to wait for receiving the title in mail (doing the latter would take a month or longer to wait, violating DMV's 10 day expectation mentioned above per erichedge). The LFS agent had said DMV will anyway just print out and mail the new title after confirming the title release online in their system. So the very next day, I went down to the DMV and completed another DMV form they gave me to fill and sign myself - which I did and paid the tax as well. Yes, there were some minor taxes (smog, tire) totaling about ~$100 were paid twice - but the registration fee was only paid once. The tax paid was also on the buyout amount, thus reducing the sales tax I would've paid if I bought outright. The agent gave me a new printed registration page (i.e. not a new sticker, but just the document) confirming my clean title ownership then and there, and receipt for the paid fees. The title document itself arrived by mail in about 10 days thereafter. So in essence, the second lesson refinement was that I did not have to receive the paper title to go to DMV. From the drive-off to clean title receipt took about 48 days - despite having Christmas/New Year holidays in between.
I must say LFS on the phone was very helpful and that smoothed out the information I'd gleaned about above.
The dealers I test-drove at, both lied to me about how to go about this - one said I need to make 3 payments before buyout, another said 5 payments before buyout. I had confirmed with Lexus Financial that I did not need to make any payment at all - so zero-down drive-off would've worked obviously, but the dealer I bought from insisted on a downpayment, so I paid $ 2K. This took care of the California DMV registration fees, lease processing fees and the first lease payment. This last part I should've avoided, and just insisted on paying the DMV and lease processing and smaller smog etc fee as part of the downpayment at purchasing time. I think the dealer also tried screwing me with the money-factor charge, which they set at ~10 % APR equivalent, despite a 850+ FICO score. Its probably best not to ask the dealer about this immediate buyout plans at all - but try to get the minimum APR for the lease, and make the minimum downpayment for the DMV/Lease fees as the optimal way. That way the DMV registration and lease fees and initial tax on the discount (and other small fees to the Govt) are taken care of with downpayment (and left out of lease buyout payment later to LFS), when you drive off with the car.
Regardless, probably due to the first lease payment included at drive-off, I found my LFS online account showing my buyout price in about 8 days after the purchase (this was during Christmas holidays, I wasn't expecting such quick turnaround - so I only checked after 8 days and found it posted). I called LFS and asked them to email the paperwork, which arrived immediately. The LFS agent I talked to said "lots of people are buying out, its a very simple process"
I mailed in the payment check and signed forms asap. Then called LFS to confirm receipt. After 2-3 calls and couple weeks later (just before my second payment was due), they sent me documents confirming the buyout as complete - but their letter said they have not received the title from DMV yet, so to wait until I go to the DMV for title transfer. They however sent me two other DMV forms - Vehicle Transfer and Lien Satisfied forms, as well as a power-of-attorney to sign anything on their behalf at the DMV if necessary. I then called them to clarify if I should wait and learned from an incredibly helpful agent that all title transfers in California are electronic, so CA DMV will have access to their release/transfer documents - so I don't need to wait for receiving the title in mail (doing the latter would take a month or longer to wait, violating DMV's 10 day expectation mentioned above per erichedge). The LFS agent had said DMV will anyway just print out and mail the new title after confirming the title release online in their system. So the very next day, I went down to the DMV and completed another DMV form they gave me to fill and sign myself - which I did and paid the tax as well. Yes, there were some minor taxes (smog, tire) totaling about ~$100 were paid twice - but the registration fee was only paid once. The tax paid was also on the buyout amount, thus reducing the sales tax I would've paid if I bought outright. The agent gave me a new printed registration page (i.e. not a new sticker, but just the document) confirming my clean title ownership then and there, and receipt for the paid fees. The title document itself arrived by mail in about 10 days thereafter. So in essence, the second lesson refinement was that I did not have to receive the paper title to go to DMV. From the drive-off to clean title receipt took about 48 days - despite having Christmas/New Year holidays in between.I must say LFS on the phone was very helpful and that smoothed out the information I'd gleaned about above.
Bought an RX 450h+ in CA recently, but since I got all the info to get through this thread I thought I'd contribute back on my experience as well. Big thank you to both @erichedge and @wrinkle for their prior write-ups: it's clear based on Lexus and CA DMV, there is still going to be a broad spectrum of experiences getting the car re-titled, but this probably would have taken me far longer if I hadn't read their posts.
TLDR for those in CA: if you don't have the title (or Lexus sent you the title and didn't sign it properly), you'll likely need to request the exact forms from Lexus or you'll be running in circles with both DMV + Lexus not entirely helpful. 1) Ask Lexus to send you a signed Reg 227 for Replacement / Transfer of Title. 2) Reg 262 which is the Bill of Sale form you'll need that indicates both selling price and odometer reading, 3) Reg 166 Lien Release (this was sent by them the first time, so hopefully you have it), 4) Power of Attorney form (also sent initially), 5) Lexus' Bill of Sale form (not sure entirely if you need this, but indicates no tax paid on the purchase. You'll also likely need 6) Statement of Facts, because if Lexus didn't send you all the docs the first time, you'll need to write up a statement mentioning that you didn't have all the forms necessary to get the title transfer done to waive the penalty. It's important to mention this to the DMV person as well, as otherwise they'll just go off the date Lexus processed your payment and you'll have exceeded the 10 day period and end up paying 10% more. Finally, if you are chasing Lexus down for these forms and outside of the 10 day window, do NOT go to an AAA office - while they can process the paperwork, they don't have authority to waive the penalty, so you'll have to go to a DMV.
Rather than reliving the pain of the past few months, I'll cut to key events & rough timing. I signed my lease on Jan 28, and 10 days later my lease was in the LFS online system. I called to request the buyout paperwork, then sent next-day cashier's check to Lexus a few days later. Payment was processed on Feb 29, which Lexus deemed the sale date, and I received my first initial paperwork on March 6 - the Power of Attorney and Lien Release form. It also came with a letter that said they didn't have the title yet but would send it when they did. I received a title in the mail 1-2 days later; however, Lexus did not sign the title in the appropriate places (they likely just forwarded the title sight unseen to me), and when I called LFS, they said they didn't have a process for me to send the title for them to sign properly. At this point, I read what others stated about getting the process done and requested the 227 to be completed and sent to me. It took two more trips to DMV/AAA and calls to Lexus to get the bill of sale, then the Reg 166 form signed and sent to me which happened over the course of April and May (Lexus has ~1 week turnaround time to request their vendor to fill out the form, sign it, then mail it to you). On my second to last trip when I asked whether I could just pay my taxes before getting the title transfer done, the DMV person mentioned the Statement of Facts form to explain the situation and why it was due to Lexus I couldn't get it done in time. When I finally completed the process, I pointed to the Bill of Sale being signed end of May to the DMV worker to corroborate my story, and she was able to get manager approval to waive the penalty. Finished the title transfer process today (June 4).
Last edited by hamverbot; 06-04-24 at 10:08 AM. Reason: added dates for getting process done
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