Payoff amount too high, called claims number - and LOL

Im sure someone else has had this experience -

When I stated the claims process in december, I owed 18,800 on our car (2015 model)

Now that number is down to about 14K.


VW is telling me, that to correct the number is a big deal, and it's easier to just over pay VW financial to the tune of (right now) 4500 and 'just wait a few weeks' to get our difference back. I kind of laughed at that.

problem is, we dont know exactly when we are turning the car back in, because we are waiting for the right deal / incentives on a 2018 grand cherokee.

What did you guys here do, in this situation? Have them correct it (Takes 3 weeks? Really?) Or just let them hold the money hostage and overpay, hoping you get it back in a reasonable amount of time?

I dont have time to doddle when the right car comes along. I also dont want to be in a rental for 3 or 4 weeks. Why does it take 3 weks to correct a payoff amount after Ive jumped thru a dozen hoops already? Do I need to to call the class support council? I also dont have hours to be on the phone.....

ETA- overpay by 400 is one thing. 4-8k is another. Youd think theyd call and get a10 day when they did the EFT at turn in?

My loan was with USAA, not VW. They overpaid, since their payoff quote was out of date, and USAA refunded the overpayment within a few days.

I was in the same boat as Dan. VW was over by two payments. My credit union rolled the overage onto my checking account.

You're in a "special boat" with VW Credit. Last I recall, VW will update the payoff amount with VW Credit, but it'll still be over come buyback time. VW will cut you a check or direct deposit, but then check in again with VW Credit and pay them the exact payoff amount. A few weeks later, they'll cut you a 2nd check to make up the difference.

Maybe that process has been updated. If so, great. Regardless, don't sweat it, you'll get all the money you're owed, and they should get that $4,500 tightened up.

The process is set up to work exactly as you said: they will overpay, VW Credit will cut you a check a few weeks later. You can try to fight it and the likely result will be that you end up with the buyback a few weeks later, and the right amount paid at the appointment. Just get a bigger loan and use the money to pay it down when it comes in. Auto loans are simple interest so there won't be a penalty to it.

I did the other way: bought the new car without waiting. Buyback is tomorrow and I'll just write a check to the auto lender.

I wont be overpaying vw by that large sum. I guess when we get 60-45 days out, I'll have to call and go thru the 3 weeks it takes to make a phone call and update the payoff.

By that time it will likely be 7500.00 -8500.00

Theres absolutely NO way I am going to overpay VWFS 7500.00. Not happening.

Again it's one thing for them to call and over pay by one payment. Its another when its off by over 5K.

The lady on the phone was not clear at all, and said Id basically be 3 weeks or so without the difference, then Id see it as a check by mail.

And no, I dont want to 'just pay it into the loan later'. Considering 5k on a down payment is 100.00 a month, I think not.

I cant believe for the life of me , they wouldnt get a more accurate payoff on turn in day, and work by that. Half of these payoffs have to be at least six months out of date.

Have you scheduled a buyback, or not? If you've done everything but schedule they are not set up for you to sit at that point of the process. They should update the payoff when you actually schedule, or you can reset the portal and go back through the process for everything to be current.

I did a longer loan than I normally would since the interest rate was the same. When I drop the money into the principal I'll have exactly the same as if I had gotten a shorter loan. All it cost me was a bit of extra interest while I was hunting for a car, way cheaper than a rental and zero stress.

Borsig said:

I wont be overpaying vw by that large sum. I guess when we get 60-45 days out, I'll have to call and go thru the 3 weeks it takes to make a phone call and update the payoff.

By that time it will likely be 7500.00 -8500.00

Theres absolutely NO way I am going to overpay VWFS 7500.00. Not happening.

Again it's one thing for them to call and over pay by one payment. Its another when its off by over 5K.

The lady on the phone was not clear at all, and said Id basically be 3 weeks or so without the difference, then Id see it as a check by mail.

And no, I dont want to 'just pay it into the loan later'. Considering 5k on a down payment is 100.00 a month, I think not.

I cant believe for the life of me , they wouldnt get a more accurate payoff on turn in day, and work by that. Half of these payoffs have to be at least six months out of date.

Click to expand...

That's exactly what I addressed in my reply. When you're close to buyback, VW's SOP is to update the payoff. I doubt they automatically refresh it if you haven't selected a buyback date. Although with VW Credit, it has specifically been mentioned in the reports that new pipelines of communications have been established between VW and VW Credit. The "3 payments" scenario I outlined is a bit of a joke and was a result of that enhanced communication VW doesn't have with other lenders, but hopefully they've cleaned it up a bit.

No matter, I'm confident you'll get an updated payoff after you pick a date and it won't be anywhere near the error you're seeing now.

PacCoastFwy923 said:

That's exactly what I addressed in my reply. When you're close to buyback, VW's SOP is to update the payoff. I doubt they automatically refresh it if you haven't selected a buyback date. Although with VW Credit, it has specifically been mentioned in the reports that new pipelines of communications have been established between VW and VW Credit. The "3 payments" scenario I outlined is a bit of a joke and was a result of that enhanced communication VW doesn't have with other lenders, but hopefully they've cleaned it up a bit.

No matter, I'm confident you'll get an updated payoff after you pick a date and it won't be anywhere near the error you're seeing now.

Click to expand...

Ok this makes sense and actually sounds like how it should be done.

This is NOT what the lady on the phone at the VW claims center had told me. She made it sound like I would have to over pay then wait.

Ah! Call in again and they'll tell you something different.

You're going from a 2015 GSW to a Grand Cherokee...

Turned car in on Jan 27th....still waiting for my 'overpayment' reimbursement. Phone calls do nothing, talking with the dealer rep does nothing. Lawsuit is the only next thing I can try. They owe me over $2000 dollars. I still have the title...they have the car.

sierra3 said:

Turned car in on Jan 27th....still waiting for my 'overpayment' reimbursement. Phone calls do nothing, talking with the dealer rep does nothing. Lawsuit is the only next thing I can try. They owe me over $2000 dollars. I still have the title...they have the car.

Click to expand...

Yeah, sucks, but your case isn't typical, and I don't entirely understand the hang up with getting you your money.

You paid off your loan, but VW paid your bank what they thought they owed, and then what? Your bank sent the money back to VW because the loan account was closed? Because I'd have to assume any bank (other than VW Credit) would otherwise roll that overpayment to the borrower.

I can't believe you've been strung up for over five months already!

Yep, that is _exactly_ what happened. The bank (of America) returned the check to Chase/VW because the loan was paid off.

Also confusing things, on turn in day, we had a substitute dealer rep who 'accidently' closed our buyback while doing the guy ahead of us. Unfortunately, that guy had 10K more miles on his car than ours. We actually got the 'closed' email while driving to the dealer.

I _did_ get a phonecall/voicemail from VW today...I wonder if they are reading this.

Others have had this issue when they paid the loan off and had the same thing happen. It is best to not change things during the process. You could have paid it down except for some minimal amount and then waited for the payout. Or left it alone. If you pay it off and the account is closed they return the check to VW.

The problem is VW never tells us that. They could very easily have determined that and provided the necessary internal adjustments or cautionary messages to owners during the registration process.

I have trouble finding fault with an owner who is simply paying their note on schedule, and reaches the maturity date. Expecting someone to stall their car payments to accommodate VW's opaque process is only asking for scorn from the lender.

I wasn't finding fault only stating what seems to work. Others have been down this path and more will come probably. If they see this they probably will rethink repeating some of these things. Talking with your loan institution and explaining what is happening will more than likely stop any scorn from the lender.

Early on, more than a few forum members were pondering purposefully paying their loans early to get the title in hand in order to simplify the buyback process. At that point, a few responses suggested there was no benefit to this, I don't recall any advice on the forum suggesting the "closed account" problem it creates. But even though none of us contemplated this happening, I can't believe VW didn't see it coming.