By Hank Russell
New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that the Nissan Motor Acceptance Company (NMAC) will provide refunds for all New Yorkers who, according to the AG’s office, were unfairly overcharged for their leased vehicles.
An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) found that 15 Nissan dealerships added junk fees or falsified the price of leased vehicles that customers wanted to buy when their lease ended, forcing them to pay higher costs. The consumers reported they were being overcharged and given inaccurate receipts for end-of-lease buyouts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The investigation found that the consumers leased their Nissan cars under an agreement that gave them the option to purchase the vehicle for a set amount after the lease term ended. However, when they returned to the dealerships to buy their cars after their leases were up, the dealerships substantially overcharged them. The dealers added miscellaneous “dealership fees” or “administrative fees,” or inflated the vehicle’s price on the invoice given to the consumer.
As a result of OAG’s investigation, those 15 dealerships have already paid $1 million in penalties for overcharging on end-of-lease buyouts and refunded more than $4.5 million to over 3,100 consumers who paid more for their vehicles than they were promised.
Eight of the dealers were on Long Island. The OAG reviewed 365 lease buyouts from January 2020 and March 2022 at Legend Nissan in Syosset and found that 66% of the leases reviewed from a random sample of this set overcharged consumers by an average of $1,087.
According to the assurance of discontinuance filed by the OAG, Garden City Nissan overcharged 394 of 905 (43,5%) lessees. The office said the dealership engaged in an “amalgamation of bad arithmetic and outright inaccuracies [which] deceived consumers into overpaying Respondents for their vehicles.” Further, Garden City Nissan charged at least $959,489 in unlawful certification charges.
Nissan of Huntington overcharged 451 out of 616 lessees (73.2%), and charged 97 consumers at least $144,841.37 in unlawful certification fees, according to OAG. North Shore Nissan — doing business as Nissan of Smithtown — charged 252 consumers at least $452,165 in unlawful certification fees.
The other dealerships included Nissan of Westbury, Route 112 Nissan in Patchogue, Baron Nissan in Greenvale and South Shore Nissan in Amityville.
This is not the first time James has financially punished local Nissan dealerships. As previously reported in Long Island Life & Politics, James secured over $1.9 million in settlements from five Nissan car dealerships across New York City and Long Island, accused of overcharging consumers in March 2024. Two were from Long Island. Baron Nissan agreed to pay $204,656.89 in consumer restitution and a $51,190 fine. Nissan of Westbury prepared to pay $102,636.07 in restitution and a $19,440 fine.
In June 20204, Route 112 Nissan and South Shore Nissan were charged a combined $350,000 for overcharging more than 200 New Yorkers who wanted to purchase their leased vehicles at the end of their lease term, LILP reported. An investigation by the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) found that the dealerships in Patchogue and Amityville added junk fees or falsified the price of leased vehicles that consumers wanted to buy when their lease ended. The investigation also revealed that Route 112 Nissan violated a previous settlement with OAG that required the dealership to stop giving consumers fraudulent invoices with junk fees.
This new agreement with NMAC will provide refunds for even more New Yorkers, ensuring that anyone overcharged at any of the 45 New York Nissan dealerships that were not part of the initial settlements will also receive full restitution for any overcharges.
“Buying a car is a major financial decision, and New Yorkers should not have to worry about dealers using illegal junk fees to drive up the price,” James said. “Nissan dealers across New York misled their customers with junk fees and other costs to cheat them out of their hard-earned money. After securing refunds for customers of 15 Nissan dealerships, my office is now making sure that every New Yorker who was defrauded by any Nissan dealership gets their money back. We will always take action to stop illegal schemes that deceive consumers.”
NMAC said they have been in full cooperation with the OAG and agreed to take “steps that reinforce our longstanding commitment to transparency and consumer protection.”
New Yorkers entitled to restitution do not need to take any action to receive the payment. NMAC will pay restitution through mailed checks in the full amount of the overcharge on a rolling basis throughout 2026 as it audits all dealerships statewide. Anyone who believes they may have been a victim of fraudulent lease buyout practices file a consumer complaint online.