[Reybanvision]

Hi all,
first of all I would like to apologize in advance if I am placing this question in the wrong forum/thread.

My current 2018 BMW 530i lease contract ends January 30th 2022.
I opted to sell the vehicle to BMW of Beverly Hills for the total pay off amount.

My issue is with BMW financial.
My account status on there states that I returned the vehicle and the disposition fee of $350 is now due.

Am I right in understanding this is incorrect?
The vehicle was sold to BMW Beverly Hills as a pay off 1 month before end of contract, mind you I have been current and 1 month ahead on my 36 monthly payments for a while on this BMW 530i account which is why I was able to go in 1 month early and pay off the account here in December 2021.

BMW Beverly Hills says that I should not have to pay any excess wear, overage mileage or disposition fee since I opted to sell it to them for the total pay off amount.

Some guidance regarding this situation would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you all!

[BMW012]

my understanding as well is if you sold your vehicle instead of it being a lease return - you should not pay for a disposition fee.

[Reybanvision]

Originally Posted by BMW012

my understanding as well is if you sold your vehicle instead of it being a lease return - you should not pay for a disposition fee.

BMW financial is giving me a hard time about this still.
I am confused as to how they can keep declining the proof of pay off sale as a valid reason to remove the disposition fee from my BMW financial account. The vehicle was sold to BMW of Beverly Hills but the BMW financial reps keep telling me that I have to pay the $350 disposition fee since I didn't purchase the vehicle.

I keep reiterating to them that I satisfied all 36 monthly payments for the lease, at his point did not return the vehicle but also satisfied the total PAY OFF amount in addition to the monthly payments.

They keep referring me to section A in the contract which does not apply to this pay off option end lease. That section clearly is talking about when someone finishes their totally monthly payments per the lease term and opts to return it immediately thereafter.

Do you know of anyway I can get to someone higher up at BMW financial?

[SteveinArizona]

Originally Posted by Reybanvision

BMW financial is giving me a hard time about this still.
I am confused as to how they can keep declining the proof of pay off sale as a valid reason to remove the disposition fee from my BMW financial account. The vehicle was sold to BMW of Beverly Hills but the BMW financial reps keep telling me that I have to pay the $350 disposition fee since I didn't purchase the vehicle.

I keep reiterating to them that I satisfied all 36 monthly payments for the lease, at his point did not return the vehicle but also satisfied the total PAY OFF amount in addition to the monthly payments.

They keep referring me to section A in the contract which does not apply to this pay off option end lease. That section clearly is talking about when someone finishes their totally monthly payments per the lease term and opts to return it immediately thereafter.

Do you know of anyway I can get to someone higher up at BMW financial?

You are in California. Tell them, in writing, that if they do not advise you, in writing, within 5 working days that you are clear, you are sending all the documentation to the state Attorney General and your local district attorney.

[BMW012]

Originally Posted by Reybanvision

BMW financial is giving me a hard time about this still.
I am confused as to how they can keep declining the proof of pay off sale as a valid reason to remove the disposition fee from my BMW financial account. The vehicle was sold to BMW of Beverly Hills but the BMW financial reps keep telling me that I have to pay the $350 disposition fee since I didn't purchase the vehicle.

I keep reiterating to them that I satisfied all 36 monthly payments for the lease, at his point did not return the vehicle but also satisfied the total PAY OFF amount in addition to the monthly payments.

They keep referring me to section A in the contract which does not apply to this pay off option end lease. That section clearly is talking about when someone finishes their totally monthly payments per the lease term and opts to return it immediately thereafter.

Do you know of anyway I can get to someone higher up at BMW financial?

Have you spoken to the dealership? Are they sure they didn't accept the car as a lease return and then buy it ?

[peteinpa]

Dealer should take care of this issue with BMW financial.

[Joe-BMW33]

Are you absolutely positive that the section A you reference clears you from this final fee? Lease agreements sometimes slip in fees like this to sweeten the deal for themselves and the buyer is sometime not aware. Can you cut and paste the language?

I'm not sure the dealer can help you with BMW FS. This is your original deal with them, from my experience dealers have almost no relationship with BMW FS other than using them as a debt facility. It's a completely different company.

[Joe-BMW33]

Originally Posted by BMW012

Have you spoken to the dealership? Are they sure they didn't accept the car as a lease return and then buy it ?

This is a very good point to confirm.

[bmw-again]

I was under the impression BMW financial owns the car not the dealer. End of lease you turn it in to dealer get another lease or pay 350. If the dealer purchases car I thought they had to work that out with bmw financial. The purchasing dealer should take care of any issue you have if they are worth a shit. I'm on my 7th BMW and dealer treats me unbelievable. I cant imagine having any issue like this and dealer not helping you. They bought car and will make plenty of money on the deal. Good Luck but in my opinion dealer should make it right. But who am I just a nobody.

[BMW012]

was there a conclusion to this?

[saw1]

To avoid the disposition fee, you would have to buy the car off the lease then sell it back to the dealer. In these crazy times that is a great strategy.

But on a lease, the car is not titled to you, therefore if another dealer buys out your lease you still owe the disposition fee unless you negotiate that into the buy out. I may be wrong, so let us know how this turned out.

[AmooManiak]

Originally Posted by saw1

To avoid the disposition fee, you would have to buy the car off the lease then sell it back to the dealer. In these crazy times that is a great strategy.

But on a lease, the car is not titled to you, therefore if another dealer buys out your lease you still owe the disposition fee unless you negotiate that into the buy out. I may be wrong, so let us know how this turned out.

You are indeed wrong. The fee is simply to prepare the car for the next buyer. Since this does not apply there should be no fee.

[CruiseControl]

Bringing this old thread back since I’m going through the same thing and wondering how the disposition fee would work here.

@Reybanvision what was the end result?
Thanks

[Reybanvision]

Originally Posted by CruiseControl

Bringing this old thread back since I'm going through the same thing and wondering how the disposition fee would work here.

@Reybanvision what was the end result?
Thanks

You won't believe it but I had to freaking pay the disposition fee. I sold the car to Carson Honda here I California. They have a sister dealer, BMW Beverly Hills but that didn't matter to BMW financial. BMW financial forced me to pay the disposition fee even though Carson Honda/BMW Beverly Hills paid it completely off and purchased it from them. I don't remember right now, but there was something within the contract that stated I was on the hook for it. I'd have to go back and show you what my 5 series contract from 2019 said. I even showed BMW financial bill of sale proof but that wasn't enough. it seemed as though BMW financial had a lot of notes on my account in terms of how many times we discussed this over phone calls and whatever new rep would answer my call they would look back on this note and stand by what the previous rep said. it all went back to the fact that I was selling the car and something within the contract stated that I was still on the hook for the disposition fee. They stuck to their guns and I had no way to really go about dismissing at $350 charge. It would've been too much of a headache to go after them for 350 bucks so I just paid it. It felt completely wrong though. I still think they did me dirty. It felt as if they had a personal issue with me. I didn't return the car to a bmw for lease return rather j sold it to a bmw dealership. That didn't sit well with them during these times I guess. It was very odd to say the least. Even bmw BH couldn't figure out why bmw financial was forcing me to pay the disposition fee. The car was sold and was not going to get prepped for another buyer per say.

[LuvMyE92]

Originally Posted by Reybanvision

It would've been too much of a headache to go after them for 350 bucks so I just paid it.

I'm kind of with you on that, but I wonder how hard they would have pursued you if you refused. Unless you (they) deducted it from your security deposit.

It's very possible that the California lease contract is different than some other states. "Disposal" may mean something else.

I always figured that it covered their costs to ship the car to auction, or maybe a fee that they pay to the dealer for handling the paperwork on return.

It's also possible that the dealership misled you when the front office guy says "we bought it" but the back office processed it like a lease-end return.

Anyway... sorry to hear this. BMW does stupid crap like this sometimes, which undoubtedly costs them more in lost goodwill than it gains on these piddling fees.