Consumer complaint received 2024-05-24
Product: Vehicle loan or lease — Loan
Issue: Managing the loan or lease — Problem with fees charged
Company: AMERICAN HONDA FINANCE CORP (DE)

On XX/XX/XXXX, my mother and I purchased a car for my XXXX daughter from XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX . As part of the paperwork for the purchase, we were told that the dealership would complete the tag and title requirements for the State of Delaware where we live. We were told that they would submit for 5-year tags and paid {$200.00} for this ( XXXX XXXX, Line XXXX of contract ). I told them that since the car was a XXXX model, Delaware would only allow tags until XXXX ( 5 years from model year ). The finance manager stated that we would pay for 5 years, that they would get us the maximum available from the state of Delaware, and then a refund for the difference would be sent to me. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I mailed a VIN verification form provided to me after a trip to our local Delaware DMV to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX as this is a required part of the registration process. And then, we waited. XX/XX/XXXX came, and we still did not have tags for our daughter 's car. My mother began calling XXXX XXXX XXXX regularly as the temp registration for the car was set to expire on Sunday, XX/XX/XXXX. 
After many weeks of calls, we were finally told that XXXX XXXX XXXX uses a third party to process their tag/title paperwork and that we would need to go back to our local DMV in Delaware to request a new temporary registration and tag to extend our registration while we waited for them to do their job. On Thursday, XX/XX/XXXX, I spent 3 1/2 hours completing the task of getting a new temp registration and tag, traveling to the Delaware DMV, waiting my turn, and then traveling back home. 

On Friday, XX/XX/XXXX, the registration and tag for my daughter 's car was delivered to our home from XXXX XXXX XXXX via XXXX. When we opened the package, we realized that we had only received a registration and sticker for 1 year, expiring XX/XX/XXXX. 
We contacted XXXX XXXX XXXX multiple times and they said that there was nothing they could do. I believe that they don't want to try to fix their mistake or the mistake of their third-party tag/registration company. XXXX XXXX XXXX offered five-year tags even though I told them such an option was not available to us given the age of the car. At that point, we were told we would get the maximum term possible, but yet that too did not happen. They have not fulfilled their end of the agreement that they set forth. It's bad enough that their delays led to a truly unnecessary trip to the DMV for me, but now I will be forced to go back to the DMV later this year to do a tag renewal. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX did send a check for {$160.00}, dated XXXX XXXX, to refund the registration fee previously paid and not processed correctly due to their clerical error ( as described in the dealership 's response letter signed by XXXX XXXX XXXX to the PA Attorney General ), but this is a bigger issue than {$160.00}. This clerical error has affected my financing of this car. By adding an additional, unnecessary {$160.00} to my loan amount, American Honda Finance is being paid interest on money that should not have been financed at all. Ultimately, by the time they got the paperwork processed, we could have only gotten 3 years on our tags, but that would have been {$120.00} of the {$200.00} paid and only {$80.00} would have been refunded. Despite me telling this to the person processing the paperwork, it was not done. 

I am sure that we are not the only people who have encountered a problem like this, but I can not allow the actions of those in this dealership to add to my already overflowing plate as a full-time professional with XXXX children. I understand at this point that I will have to visit the DMV again this fall to get my daughter an updated registration for her car and that this will take several hours away from my family and work. I also recognize that XXXX XXXX XXXX will not compensate me for the time already spent trying to correct their delays in completing the initial registration of my vehicle and the time I will spend later this year renewing it. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXAmerican Honda Finance do, however, need to take proper ownership of this error because the dealership can not simply say that a mistake was made, send a check for the {$160.00}, and wash their hands of this, when their error will cost me much more in terms of inconvenience, time, and loan interest. They should not be permitted to collect interest/make money on what they acknowledge was a mistake. I even question whether this " clerical error '' ( as the dealership called it ) was intentional so they could make extra money because I did tell the finance person that the max we could get in Delaware on the car was until XXXX and we were still initially charged for 5 years. This is unacceptable. 

I have attached several documents -- the initial complaint to the PA Attorney General was done through their website ( like this one ) so I don't have that full submission, but it is basically what is above. The responses are attached along with a copy of the contract.