Scammed by Tri-County Lexus - Little Falls, NJ
02-05-07, 04:53 PM
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Scammed by Tri-County Lexus - Little Falls, NJ
Whats up boys!
I haven't been around in probably the past 5 months, but I still have the 98 gs300 with all the work.
Moreover, some of you guys may know i leased an 06 GS300 back in May of 2006 from Tri-county Lexus is Little Falls New Jersey. Now just to give you guys some info about myself, I'm a 21 year old businessman who owns a used car dealer in Clifton, NJ. My parents don't speak or read too much English. Since i'm only 21 and living in NJ, I can't afford to pay $6,000 a year for car insurance so we put the car under my mother’s name. After negotiating for several hours, the final deal we came up with was a ONE PAY LEASE which consisted of my 2002 Yukon Denali(60,000 miles) which was assessed at $19,000 and $4100 cash for a 3 year lease for an 06 Lexus GS300 AWD demo, which had 750 miles on it, at 15,000 miles a year. This was a pretty good deal, which included taxes and fees. Furthurmore, about a month ago, I get a bill from Lexus for an unpaid parking ticket, but while looking over the bill, I realized that it said that my car was only a 24 month lease. The following day I contacted the sales manager at Tri-County Lexus, Michael Verina, and explained the situation to him. He told me he will get in contact with me within 48 hours. I waited and waited, until he finally called me A WEEK LATER. He said that the deal made perfect sense to him and that there is nothing he can do for me. After reviewing my lease contract, I realized that I was suckered into a 24 month lease. Like I said, the lease is in my mother's name, who doesn't read too much english. I wasn't there during the signing of the contract because I went to go pick up the title to my Denali. The following day I contacted Michael again told him that the numbers just do not make sense. I'm paying close to $1000 a month for an 06 GS300. That just does not make sense. He proceeded to tell me that my trade in was assessed at $15,500. Now, if you may recall, I said that they gave me $19,000 for my truck....or so I thought. On the lease contract, it says that they assessed my trade at $15,500, yet, I just bought the car for $18,000, four months prior. Like I said, I'm a used car dealer, I know what the car is worth, and at the time it was easily worth $17,000 WHOLESALE. Anyway, Michael said he would call me back within 48 hours after he talks to his boss and the sales man who sold me the car. I NEVER GOT A PHONE CALL BACK.
A Week later, January 26th, I contacted Lexus Corporate. The lady who answered the call took the full report and said a specialist would call me back within 2 business days. Sure enough, Two days later Karina from Lexus calls me back and gets some more input about the situation, which I proceeded to give her a deep explanation. She said that she would contact me by Tuesday January 27th. Karina called me back TODAY Febuary 5th....6 days LATER than she said she would. She told me that Lexus can't infringe on contracts done by individual dealers. She said she is a specialist and her team did the best they could to help me out, but No Luck.
So, here I am, in my office writing this post feeling like a complete sucker. I was totally robbed/scammed. I mean, seriously do your research on our buddies Tri-County Lexus A.K.A Bob Ciasulli Lexus. He is a well known scam artist. All you have to do is goto google.com and type in "Bob Ciasulli fraud". You're going to find out a load of information and Better Business Bureau reports. He is such a scam artists he changed the name of every single one of his dealer ships which were previously "Bob Ciasulli Totoya" and "Bob Ciasulli Lexus". They are now known as "Toyota Universe" and "Tri-County Lexus".
Now, if you have a minute, take your calculator out and punch in 19,000 + 4,100 and divide that by 24. Now, does that number look like a monthly lease payment on a used 06 GS300? Now mind you, I did a ONE PAY LEASE, there is no interest of any sort, which is usually the down payment you give when signing your lease. In other words, the down payment you usually give with you lease a car, is the interest for the lease. Now, since I did a One Pay(Up front cash) Lease, there is no interest charges at all. Now, let’s just say my Denali was really assessed at $15,500(WHICH IT WASN’T!). Punch in 15,500 + 4100 and divide that by 24. Now, honestly, does that really look like a monthly lease payment on a used 06 GS300? Plain and simple, I was scammed. Even Michael Verina, the Sales manager even said the first time I talked to him that it was a bit much for the car.
What do you guys think?
I haven't been around in probably the past 5 months, but I still have the 98 gs300 with all the work.
Moreover, some of you guys may know i leased an 06 GS300 back in May of 2006 from Tri-county Lexus is Little Falls New Jersey. Now just to give you guys some info about myself, I'm a 21 year old businessman who owns a used car dealer in Clifton, NJ. My parents don't speak or read too much English. Since i'm only 21 and living in NJ, I can't afford to pay $6,000 a year for car insurance so we put the car under my mother’s name. After negotiating for several hours, the final deal we came up with was a ONE PAY LEASE which consisted of my 2002 Yukon Denali(60,000 miles) which was assessed at $19,000 and $4100 cash for a 3 year lease for an 06 Lexus GS300 AWD demo, which had 750 miles on it, at 15,000 miles a year. This was a pretty good deal, which included taxes and fees. Furthurmore, about a month ago, I get a bill from Lexus for an unpaid parking ticket, but while looking over the bill, I realized that it said that my car was only a 24 month lease. The following day I contacted the sales manager at Tri-County Lexus, Michael Verina, and explained the situation to him. He told me he will get in contact with me within 48 hours. I waited and waited, until he finally called me A WEEK LATER. He said that the deal made perfect sense to him and that there is nothing he can do for me. After reviewing my lease contract, I realized that I was suckered into a 24 month lease. Like I said, the lease is in my mother's name, who doesn't read too much english. I wasn't there during the signing of the contract because I went to go pick up the title to my Denali. The following day I contacted Michael again told him that the numbers just do not make sense. I'm paying close to $1000 a month for an 06 GS300. That just does not make sense. He proceeded to tell me that my trade in was assessed at $15,500. Now, if you may recall, I said that they gave me $19,000 for my truck....or so I thought. On the lease contract, it says that they assessed my trade at $15,500, yet, I just bought the car for $18,000, four months prior. Like I said, I'm a used car dealer, I know what the car is worth, and at the time it was easily worth $17,000 WHOLESALE. Anyway, Michael said he would call me back within 48 hours after he talks to his boss and the sales man who sold me the car. I NEVER GOT A PHONE CALL BACK.
A Week later, January 26th, I contacted Lexus Corporate. The lady who answered the call took the full report and said a specialist would call me back within 2 business days. Sure enough, Two days later Karina from Lexus calls me back and gets some more input about the situation, which I proceeded to give her a deep explanation. She said that she would contact me by Tuesday January 27th. Karina called me back TODAY Febuary 5th....6 days LATER than she said she would. She told me that Lexus can't infringe on contracts done by individual dealers. She said she is a specialist and her team did the best they could to help me out, but No Luck.
So, here I am, in my office writing this post feeling like a complete sucker. I was totally robbed/scammed. I mean, seriously do your research on our buddies Tri-County Lexus A.K.A Bob Ciasulli Lexus. He is a well known scam artist. All you have to do is goto google.com and type in "Bob Ciasulli fraud". You're going to find out a load of information and Better Business Bureau reports. He is such a scam artists he changed the name of every single one of his dealer ships which were previously "Bob Ciasulli Totoya" and "Bob Ciasulli Lexus". They are now known as "Toyota Universe" and "Tri-County Lexus".
Now, if you have a minute, take your calculator out and punch in 19,000 + 4,100 and divide that by 24. Now, does that number look like a monthly lease payment on a used 06 GS300? Now mind you, I did a ONE PAY LEASE, there is no interest of any sort, which is usually the down payment you give when signing your lease. In other words, the down payment you usually give with you lease a car, is the interest for the lease. Now, since I did a One Pay(Up front cash) Lease, there is no interest charges at all. Now, let’s just say my Denali was really assessed at $15,500(WHICH IT WASN’T!). Punch in 15,500 + 4100 and divide that by 24. Now, honestly, does that really look like a monthly lease payment on a used 06 GS300? Plain and simple, I was scammed. Even Michael Verina, the Sales manager even said the first time I talked to him that it was a bit much for the car.
What do you guys think?
02-05-07, 04:56 PM
#2
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Scammed by a Lexus dealer!!!
Whats up boys!
I haven't been around in probably the past 5 months, but I still have the 98 gs300 with all the work.
Moreover, some of you guys may know i leased an 06 GS300 back in May of 2006 from Tri-county Lexus is Little Falls New Jersey. Now just to give you guys some info about myself, I'm a 21 year old businessman who owns a used car dealer in Clifton, NJ. My parents don't speak or read too much English. Since i'm only 21 and living in NJ, I can't afford to pay $6,000 a year for car insurance so we put the car under my mother’s name. After negotiating for several hours, the final deal we came up with was a ONE PAY LEASE which consisted of my 2002 Yukon Denali(60,000 miles) which was assessed at $19,000 and $4100 cash for a 3 year lease for an 06 Lexus GS300 AWD demo, which had 750 miles on it, at 15,000 miles a year. This was a pretty good deal, which included taxes and fees. Furthurmore, about a month ago, I get a bill from Lexus for an unpaid parking ticket, but while looking over the bill, I realized that it said that my car was only a 24 month lease. The following day I contacted the sales manager at Tri-County Lexus, Michael Verina, and explained the situation to him. He told me he will get in contact with me within 48 hours. I waited and waited, until he finally called me A WEEK LATER. He said that the deal made perfect sense to him and that there is nothing he can do for me. After reviewing my lease contract, I realized that I was suckered into a 24 month lease. Like I said, the lease is in my mother's name, who doesn't read too much english. I wasn't there during the signing of the contract because I went to go pick up the title to my Denali. The following day I contacted Michael again told him that the numbers just do not make sense. I'm paying close to $1000 a month for an 06 GS300. That just does not make sense. He proceeded to tell me that my trade in was assessed at $15,500. Now, if you may recall, I said that they gave me $19,000 for my truck....or so I thought. On the lease contract, it says that they assessed my trade at $15,500, yet, I just bought the car for $18,000, four months prior. Like I said, I'm a used car dealer, I know what the car is worth, and at the time it was easily worth $17,000 WHOLESALE. Anyway, Michael said he would call me back within 48 hours after he talks to his boss and the sales man who sold me the car. I NEVER GOT A PHONE CALL BACK.
A Week later, January 26th, I contacted Lexus Corporate. The lady who answered the call took the full report and said a specialist would call me back within 2 business days. Sure enough, Two days later Karina from Lexus calls me back and gets some more input about the situation, which I proceeded to give her a deep explanation. She said that she would contact me by Tuesday January 27th. Karina called me back TODAY Febuary 5th....6 days LATER than she said she would. She told me that Lexus can't infringe on contracts done by individual dealers. She said she is a specialist and her team did the best they could to help me out, but No Luck.
So, here I am, in my office writing this post feeling like a complete sucker. I was totally robbed/scammed. I mean, seriously do your research on our buddies Tri-County Lexus A.K.A Bob Ciasulli Lexus. He is a well known scam artist. All you have to do is goto google.com and type in "Bob Ciasulli fraud". You're going to find out a load of information and Better Business Bureau reports. He is such a scam artists he changed the name of every single one of his dealer ships which were previously "Bob Ciasulli Totoya" and "Bob Ciasulli Lexus". They are now known as "Toyota Universe" and "Tri-County Lexus".
Now, if you have a minute, take your calculator out and punch in 19,000 + 4,100 and divide that by 24. Now, does that number look like a monthly lease payment on a used 06 GS300? Now mind you, I did a ONE PAY LEASE, there is no interest of any sort, which is usually the down payment you give when signing your lease. In other words, the down payment you usually give with you lease a car, is the interest for the lease. Now, since I did a One Pay(Up front cash) Lease, there is no interest charges at all. Now, let’s just say my Denali was really assessed at $15,500(WHICH IT WASN’T!). Punch in 15,500 + 4100 and divide that by 24. Now, honestly, does that really look like a monthly lease payment on a used 06 GS300? Plain and simple, I was scammed. Even Michael Verina, the Sales manager even said the first time I talked to him that it was a bit much for the car.
What do you guys think?
I haven't been around in probably the past 5 months, but I still have the 98 gs300 with all the work.
Moreover, some of you guys may know i leased an 06 GS300 back in May of 2006 from Tri-county Lexus is Little Falls New Jersey. Now just to give you guys some info about myself, I'm a 21 year old businessman who owns a used car dealer in Clifton, NJ. My parents don't speak or read too much English. Since i'm only 21 and living in NJ, I can't afford to pay $6,000 a year for car insurance so we put the car under my mother’s name. After negotiating for several hours, the final deal we came up with was a ONE PAY LEASE which consisted of my 2002 Yukon Denali(60,000 miles) which was assessed at $19,000 and $4100 cash for a 3 year lease for an 06 Lexus GS300 AWD demo, which had 750 miles on it, at 15,000 miles a year. This was a pretty good deal, which included taxes and fees. Furthurmore, about a month ago, I get a bill from Lexus for an unpaid parking ticket, but while looking over the bill, I realized that it said that my car was only a 24 month lease. The following day I contacted the sales manager at Tri-County Lexus, Michael Verina, and explained the situation to him. He told me he will get in contact with me within 48 hours. I waited and waited, until he finally called me A WEEK LATER. He said that the deal made perfect sense to him and that there is nothing he can do for me. After reviewing my lease contract, I realized that I was suckered into a 24 month lease. Like I said, the lease is in my mother's name, who doesn't read too much english. I wasn't there during the signing of the contract because I went to go pick up the title to my Denali. The following day I contacted Michael again told him that the numbers just do not make sense. I'm paying close to $1000 a month for an 06 GS300. That just does not make sense. He proceeded to tell me that my trade in was assessed at $15,500. Now, if you may recall, I said that they gave me $19,000 for my truck....or so I thought. On the lease contract, it says that they assessed my trade at $15,500, yet, I just bought the car for $18,000, four months prior. Like I said, I'm a used car dealer, I know what the car is worth, and at the time it was easily worth $17,000 WHOLESALE. Anyway, Michael said he would call me back within 48 hours after he talks to his boss and the sales man who sold me the car. I NEVER GOT A PHONE CALL BACK.
A Week later, January 26th, I contacted Lexus Corporate. The lady who answered the call took the full report and said a specialist would call me back within 2 business days. Sure enough, Two days later Karina from Lexus calls me back and gets some more input about the situation, which I proceeded to give her a deep explanation. She said that she would contact me by Tuesday January 27th. Karina called me back TODAY Febuary 5th....6 days LATER than she said she would. She told me that Lexus can't infringe on contracts done by individual dealers. She said she is a specialist and her team did the best they could to help me out, but No Luck.
So, here I am, in my office writing this post feeling like a complete sucker. I was totally robbed/scammed. I mean, seriously do your research on our buddies Tri-County Lexus A.K.A Bob Ciasulli Lexus. He is a well known scam artist. All you have to do is goto google.com and type in "Bob Ciasulli fraud". You're going to find out a load of information and Better Business Bureau reports. He is such a scam artists he changed the name of every single one of his dealer ships which were previously "Bob Ciasulli Totoya" and "Bob Ciasulli Lexus". They are now known as "Toyota Universe" and "Tri-County Lexus".
Now, if you have a minute, take your calculator out and punch in 19,000 + 4,100 and divide that by 24. Now, does that number look like a monthly lease payment on a used 06 GS300? Now mind you, I did a ONE PAY LEASE, there is no interest of any sort, which is usually the down payment you give when signing your lease. In other words, the down payment you usually give with you lease a car, is the interest for the lease. Now, since I did a One Pay(Up front cash) Lease, there is no interest charges at all. Now, let’s just say my Denali was really assessed at $15,500(WHICH IT WASN’T!). Punch in 15,500 + 4100 and divide that by 24. Now, honestly, does that really look like a monthly lease payment on a used 06 GS300? Plain and simple, I was scammed. Even Michael Verina, the Sales manager even said the first time I talked to him that it was a bit much for the car.
What do you guys think?
02-05-07, 05:20 PM
#3
Well it does look like you got shafted a bit. However, I must say that knowing your mom doesnt speak/read English well and knowing this dude does not have the greatest reputation, I would have thought twice about sending her in alone to sign this lease. Also knowing how the car business works and the games that do go on you may have taken that into consideration as well. Anyway, Im not saying your at fault here by any means but sometimes, especially for larger things like this, dont send your mom alone to do them for you! lol
02-05-07, 05:29 PM
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Well it does look like you got shafted a bit. However, I must say that knowing your mom doesnt speak/read English well and knowing this dude does not have the greatest reputation, I would have thought twice about sending her in alone to sign this lease. Also knowing how the car business works and the games that do go on you may have taken that into consideration as well. Anyway, Im not saying your at fault here by any means but sometimes, especially for larger things like this, dont send your mom alone to do them for you! lol
02-05-07, 06:01 PM
#5
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You're IN the car business, you know customers shouldn't believe anything told to them until it's in writing and if the person signing the written deal can't read it or doesn't understand it then they're wide open to be ripped off. 
I'm sorry to hear about this and what they did is not right but unfortunately you're part of the problem too by not reading what your Mom signed if she couldn't.
I'd say your only recourse is to call the BBB or an investigative consumer reporter, maybe like a Clark Howard.
I'm sorry to hear about this and what they did is not right but unfortunately you're part of the problem too by not reading what your Mom signed if she couldn't.
I'd say your only recourse is to call the BBB or an investigative consumer reporter, maybe like a Clark Howard.
02-05-07, 06:08 PM
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You're IN the car business, you know customers shouldn't believe anything told to them until it's in writing and if the person signing the written deal can't read it or doesn't understand it then they're wide open to be ripped off.
I'm sorry to hear about this and what they did is not right but unfortunately you're part of the problem too by not reading what your Mom signed if she couldn't.
I'd say your only recourse is to call the BBB or an investigative consumer reporter, maybe like a Clark Howard.
I'm sorry to hear about this and what they did is not right but unfortunately you're part of the problem too by not reading what your Mom signed if she couldn't.
I'd say your only recourse is to call the BBB or an investigative consumer reporter, maybe like a Clark Howard.
I appreciate your input about this though, I've already contacted the BBB, and already left my lawyer a message, so i'm just waiting on some replys.
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02-05-07, 06:14 PM
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02-05-07, 07:19 PM
#9
i think you should get a lawyer... if that fails.... tell Bob and mike you'll see them when you see them outside. 
there's a tri county toyota near me... thank goodness i didn't go there... that's good info.. sorry for the loss though...keep us informed.
there's a tri county toyota near me... thank goodness i didn't go there... that's good info.. sorry for the loss though...keep us informed.
02-06-07, 07:21 AM
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Yea...I'm sorry dude. I would have helped you at if I knew you were looking to buy something. I work for DCH Freehold Toyota but I have some friends at Ray Catena Lexus or Lawrence Lexus.
02-06-07, 08:04 AM
#11
Nobody is bashing you, but basically you did not read the contract, you just told your mom to sign it.
It is really your fault. How in the world you dont read the contract?
I mean, I can understand not reading the small print. But not checking monthly payments and lenght of the lease is just negligence on your part.
You can sue them in court but I doubt it will help since contract was signed.
It is really your fault. How in the world you dont read the contract?
I mean, I can understand not reading the small print. But not checking monthly payments and lenght of the lease is just negligence on your part.
You can sue them in court but I doubt it will help since contract was signed.
02-06-07, 02:00 PM
#12
I think you learned a valuable business lesson. It may not be right but sending your mom to sign the paperwork was a bit foolish. Speaking of scamming - were you not scamming the insurance company by insuring the car in your mom's name when you were the main driver? That's hardly giving the insurance company the true story so they can accurately assess risk. Also if you are in the car business you would hardly expect your trade in to be worth more than you paid for it.
02-06-07, 02:30 PM
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It may have been a shady move, but like everyone said, read the contract. Your mother may not speak good English, but she should still know the difference between a 24 and a 36 in the months column on a contract. I wouldn't bother with a lawyer, not much can be done.
02-07-07, 02:05 AM
#14
I agree that the buyer should have read the contract to catch any bait and switch or mistakes that the dealer made in the contract. However, if we believe the OPs story that the dealer told him one thing yet presented his mother with a different contract, why is that okay and allowed to happen? It seems to me like everyone is saying it is fine for the dealer to say anything and give you a different contract and it is up to the buyer to catch the dealer at his game. Too me, the buyer made the mistake by not catching the shady contract presented by the dealer. But come on. When can we expect a business to just give you what they say they will give you, and not something else? That is why criminals scam people. Everyone now days blames the scammed and not the scammers.
