Let's get you
approved.

Your application goes to the lender for your deal. For a lease that is usually the manufacturer's own finance company. A first answer is often conditional. If the lender asks for anything, such as a recent pay stub or proof of address, we will tell you before delivery.

Nothing is final until you sign the contract and the lender funds it. Until then, avoid opening new credit or changing jobs, since the lender can recheck your file. Manufacturer programs change, so if your car takes longer to locate we will reconfirm the numbers with you.

Once a car is assigned we send you the VIN and the exact name of the leasing or finance company to list on your insurance. The payment, term, mileage, amount due at signing and any products on your contract should match what we quoted you. If anything looks different, do not sign. Call us first.

We do not add the car to your insurance. You do. Expect to show proof of insurance on the new car, with its VIN, before the car can be released to you. For a lease the policy also has to list the leasing company the way your contract requires.

If you already have an auto policy, it may cover a newly acquired car for a short time, but how many days you get and what is covered come from your policy, not from California law. The window is commonly measured in days, some policies give fourteen days or fewer, and some give no automatic coverage at all. Coverage for collision and comprehensive can run out sooner than liability coverage. Call your insurer or agent before delivery and add the car as soon as you have the VIN rather than counting on the window.

A leased or financed car needs comprehensive and collision coverage as well as liability. The lender sets its own minimum coverage, deductible cap and the way it must be named on the policy, and those terms are printed in your lease or finance contract. An insurance card, declarations page or written binder from your agent showing the new VIN is accepted as proof.

If you have no policy today, there is nothing to extend. You need a policy in force on or before the day you take the car. Get quotes now so you can bind it the moment the VIN arrives.

A new car is not a zero-mile car. Under California law a car is new when it has never been sold at retail or registered, and miles from factory and port handling, transport, moves between dealership locations, inspection and test drives do not make it used.

The odometer reading on your contract and odometer statement is the reading at the time those documents are prepared. If the car is then driven or transported to your home or to our office, the odometer at delivery may read higher than the figure on your paperwork. This is for your convenience, and it does not change the car's status as new.

If the exact mileage matters to you, or you want to know how miles already on the car relate to a lease mileage allowance, tell us before the paperwork is drawn and we will get you the current reading. California has no cooling-off period on a new car, and your lease terms, including the mileage allowance, are set when you sign.

Your new car comes with the manufacturer's new vehicle limited warranty, the same on a lease as on a purchase. It covers defects in factory parts and workmanship for the time or mileage the manufacturer sets for your brand and model, whichever comes first. The mileage limit is measured on the odometer. Your warranty booklet or the manufacturer's owner site sets the start date and the exact terms.

Warranty repairs go through the manufacturer's authorized service network, which means any authorized service center for your brand, not only the one that sold the car. Routine maintenance can be done by any qualified shop, but failures caused by skipped or improper maintenance are not covered, so keep every receipt.

The maintenance schedule is in your owner's manual and the manufacturer's maintenance guide or owner app. Some manufacturers include the first scheduled services at no charge; that comes from the manufacturer and your owner materials will say whether it applies to you. If you lease, plan to return the car maintained to that schedule.

No service contract, prepaid maintenance plan, tire and wheel coverage or other add-on is part of your deal unless you asked for it and it appears as its own itemized line on your signed contract. A lease that runs longer in months or miles than the warranty has a stretch at the end that is not covered unless you chose a service contract.

An auto lease or finance application is a hard inquiry, and a lender may pull more than one bureau. Credit scoring models group auto inquiries made within a short window, about two weeks under older models and longer under newer ones, so shopping does not stack up as separate hits. To see which tier your score is likely to land in, read what credit score you need to lease a car.

If you have a security freeze on your credit file, lift it at all three bureaus before the lender pulls. A temporary lift is available.

Have an unexpired driver's license that matches the name and address on your application, proof of insurance on the new car with its VIN, and your payment for the amount due at signing. We accept cash, debit and credit cards, cashier's checks, personal checks and, by arrangement, business checks. Please confirm your preferred method with your rep before delivery. Credit card payments may carry a processing fee, and third-party payments are accepted only by exception.

Look the car over at delivery and tell us about anything before you sign the delivery paperwork. There is no cooling-off or return period on a new car in California once the contract is signed.

On a lease, the first monthly payment is collected at signing as part of the amount due, so your next payment is due about one month later, not two. The due date is printed in the payment section of your lease.

On a finance contract, the first payment is commonly due 30 to 60 days after the contract date, and the exact date is printed on your contract. The finance charge runs from the contract date. Your lender's welcome letter or online account usually arrives within a couple of weeks; if it has not by a week before the due date, call the lender rather than waiting.

The car is delivered with a temporary plate and a report of sale; keep the report of sale in the glovebox. The temporary plate is valid until your permanent plates and registration card arrive or 90 days from the date of sale, whichever comes first.

DMV mails the plates, registration card and sticker to the address on your contract, so tell us before signing if you are moving. Timing varies. If about 60 days pass with no plates, let us know and we will follow up.

Gap protection covers the shortfall between what you owe and what your insurer pays if the car is stolen or totaled. It usually does not cover your insurance deductible, past-due amounts or your down payment.

Some leases include it at no separate charge and others sell it separately. California requires a lease that leaves you liable for the gap to carry a bold notice on its first page, so page one of your lease tells you where you stand. On a purchase, gap is optional, cannot be a condition of your approval, and can be cancelled by you at any time.

A co-signer is fully responsible for the debt. If a payment is missed the lender can ask the co-signer to pay, missed payments appear on the co-signer's credit, and a co-signer does not automatically have rights to the car. California requires a separate written Notice to Cosigner before they sign.

Lenders have their own rules about who may co-sign, so ask us before adding anyone. Both signers need to sign at delivery with valid identification.

When your trade-in still has a loan or lease balance, the dealership that takes it has up to 21 calendar days to pay it off. Keep making any scheduled payment on the old loan until the account reads zero; if you overpay, your old lender refunds the difference. Cancel autopay only after the balance is zero.

About a week or two after your new contract is final, call your old lender to confirm the payoff was received. If any negative equity was rolled into the new deal, it will appear on your contract.