Dealer apparently won't pay off financing on trade-in

[Jay968]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California
My wife purchased a new car from a Nissan dealer. She still has $8500 remaining on her old car (also a Nissan purchased from another dealer) which she traded in on the new Nissan. She also purchased an extended warranty on the new car.
All paperwork is intact, stating that the new Nissan dealer accepted her old car as a trade-in and she got a release of liability from this dealer. Paperwork also states that she could back out from the extended warranty (which she did a couple of days after the purchase). She has paperwork proving that as well.

It has been 3 weeks now and the new dealer still has not paid off her old car to Nissan financing even though they have told her that they have (Nissan financing claims that they have not gotten payment). The dealer also has not paid Nissan financing for the (supposedly) refunded warranty even though here too, they claim they have.

Nissan financing is basically saying that they have received no payments and the the issue is still in my wife's hands. She is afraid that if she just waits and doesn't make any more payments, that her credit will be dinged.

Advice?

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Contact the sales manager of the dealership as well as your lender to push things and if necessary, make the payment and seek reimbursement from the CMVRC once it is over.
http://www.cmvrc.org/

 

[Jay968]

Contact the sales manager of the dealership as well as your lender to push things and if necessary, make the payment and seek reimbursement from the CMVRC once it is over.
http://www.cmvrc.org/

1 - As I alluded, she has already contacted both the dealer's sales manager and the lender (Nissan financing). The sales manager claims they have made the payment. The lender claims they have not received payment.
2 - The CMVRC clearly states that they are for help with "licensed dealer or lessor-retailer of motor vehicles who has filed for bankruptcy or is no longer selling and leasing vehicles to the public."

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Sorry the source I picked that up from did not specify closed dealers. Her recourse then is to sue in accordance with her purchase contract terms. If it does not provide a time period for payoff, she may have a problem.

 

[Jay968]

Sorry the source I picked that up from did not specify closed dealers. Her recourse then is to sue in accordance with her purchase contract terms. If it does not provide a time period for payoff, she may have a problem.

If there is no specified time period for payoff, is there a "reasonable" amount of time within which it is expected to be paid off? Or...at what point is bringing this to small claims court justified?

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

That would be a judgment call. You do not want your credit damaged, yet you do not want to pay out of pocket. I would start with threatening a complaint to the Atty. General. Potentially they could have their license suspended for multiple complaints.

 

[Jay968]

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That would be a judgment call. You do not want your credit damaged, yet you do not want to pay out of pocket. I would start with threatening a complaint to the Atty. General. Potentially they could have their license suspended for multiple complaints.

Some additional info;
When the car was purchased, my wife also signed on for a $2000 extended warranty, which she chose to cancel 2 days later. She received a cancellation form from the dealer showing that the warranty was indeed canceled, as a matter of fact the cancelation was done so soon that the dealer never even had the opportunity to send over the paperwork to initiate the warranty. The cost of this warranty was rolled into the financing. She used a credit card to provide a $2000 down payment on the entire financing. Now that the warranty was cancelled, the dealer has not refunded the $2000 for the warranty, so my wife disputed the $2000 credit card charge. Was this the right thing to do?

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

It can certainly delay and complicate matters, while the credit card company makes a determination.

 

[Zigner]

I think your wife jumped the gun on this and may have caused some serious problems.

 

[Jay968]

I think your wife jumped the gun on this and may have caused some serious problems.

Last night I actually thought about it and advised her to tell the credit card bank to hold off on the dispute. I reasoned that by disputing the credit card payment she may have been putting herself into a situation in which she was in violation of the contract. By coincidence, she looked at the financing today and saw that the dealer had actually finally come through and paid off the old car. So now all is well. Thanks for the comments.