One of the cool things about this Rent2Buy program is that when you decide to buy the car, you just keep it! I've been driving this car ever since I picked it up in Boston a couple of weeks ago. I've shown it to some friends and most have approved of it - one saw me on the road... those who know me know I'm pretty distinctive... okay, fat... but he couldn't reconcile the two... "That looks like Moose... but it can't be him, those are New York plates!"
Anyway, it's pretty cool to be driving this thing around WITHOUT having to go to a dealership and play the "I'll talk to my boss" game and "Okay, come back in 3 days because we need to 'prep' your vehicle"... All that is out the window.
I got a Fed Ex package - it had a WHOLE LOTTA PAPERWORK in it. Some of it is standard stuff, a sales agreement, the warranty acknowledgment, etc. But some of it I've never seen. Because the car was out of state, I had to do a "VIN Verification"... Well, I was off to Motor Vehicles anyway, so that Becky could get her learners permit, so I waited in line for the inspector. I had prepared her for the little slice of communism in America that is the DMV, but because we went first thing in the morning, there were no lines for her permit. It went smooth as silk, and I was actually disappointed that it wasn't harder. But at the end, we waited in the inspection line for about 40 minutes... so she got her Marxism fix anyway, as it turns out.
I had to have the sales agreement notarized, as well as two Power of Attorney documents that Hertz uses to do the transfer and plate reservation. This required 2 witnesses, so I had to get my dad to come down and witness the signature, and of course, pay the $20 in fees for the 3 documents and one of their witness (guy in the mail room gets $2 for witnessing - good for him!)
For those that have reviewed Hertz Rent2Buy - there IS a "documentation fee" - it is in the sales agreement and was $199. Ironically, that is almost exactly the "discount" that I got for finding the promo code... BTW - if you are looking to buy, I'd google it, but as of this writing, the current code is R2B024. I don't remember any of their disclosures discussing this fee... but be forewarned. I decided that I was willing to pay it... but they were at my upper limit. I've had dealers try and hit me for $350... one tried to get $600 once! They say it is not negotiable, and in Hertz's case, that is probably true. But every other dealer will cave if you stick to something reasonable. They'll protest and say "we can't change it, see - it's PRE-PRINTED ON THE FORM"... and I say "Fine, your form says $600 and I'll pay that if you give me a $400 credit on the sales price"... They'll fight and fight about it and it'll have to be approved by their "manager", but they will cave. It's still a ripoff at $200, but I'm willing to do that to stay out of the Peoples Republic of the DMV.
Anyway, back to the forms I had to fill out... Hertz provides a checklist, and sticky notes and "sign here" arrows so that you don't forget anything. What wasn't included was any note or checklist item for the money for the down payment. So I sent everything back, wondering when they might ask me for a check, and what kind. I sent it off a week ago and got a call tonight from them. Why didn't you send the money for the down payment? I said that they hadn't asked for it!
Well, this might delay things now - they can't send in the loan request form without the down payment. I told them I didn't know what worked for them - did they need a cashiers check? Would a personal check do? Wire transfer? Money Orders? She said they could take a cashiers check or I could wire them the money. I told them I'd get a cashiers check out tomorrow, and mail it out, but that they wouldn't get it until next week. She seemed disappointed. I also told her that they should have put a note in about the money, and/or put an item on their checklist... something like "Don't forget to send us money!"
After our phone conversation, I noticed I had an email on the topic. It was from the same person I talked to. So I confirmed the conversation and my suggestion that perhaps they add this item to their checklist... We'll see what happens next - hopefully not a big glitch... Looking forward to having CT plates on the car. Although it is tempting to drive like a jerk in the mean time... people will understand... the car has New York plates after all!
TTFN
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