Hey guys/gals,

My lease is going to be up in a few months. I haven't decided whether to keep the car or not (leaning to keeping it). BUt I wonder what the end of lease procedure is, since I have always previously bought my cars.

I know there is a visual inspection at some point before you return it. Is there a mechanical inspection, or test drive or anything like that? Also, for how long after the return are you liable for wear and tear?

Thanks,
J

Off topic, but are you coming out for the niagara cruise

In my experience, it's pretty easy and painless. Somebody will either come to your home a couple weeks before the lease is up to visually inspect it, or they'll just look at it when you drop it off. There's no test drive.

As far as liability, I'm not sure as my family has never given back a busted up car but I believe once they accept it, that's it.

Won't be in Niagra. Will be at Dunnville for a corporate event on the 3rd.

I don't plan on giving back a busted up car or anything. But I wonder if I get a call 2 weeks later saying they think a shock needs replacing or something and I have to shell out $500.

Does it matter if you're keeping the car?

hes iffy on keeping it

I'm not sure if it's for all of Mazda Canada.
But mine was scheduled to be checked by a 3rd party inspection company that handles all the Mazda end of lease checks (I think...). It takes about an hour for the inspection, and he came to my house to do it, or, you can drop off your car at the end of lease and he/she will goto the dealer to inspect it (I would not do this, dealer may mistakenly dmg your car without you knowing). 1 hr inspection, probably means there is some sort of mechanical checks.

I think someone posted a list of what sort of wear and tear is allowed for an end of lease car in the past. It's something along the lines of certain amount of #dings, chips, etc...etc...

After the check, if you are over what's tolerable wear and tear, you can fix it yourself, or eat the fine...

does it matter what its resale value is?

Make Sure Your Tires Are Good(saftyable)
Thats The First Thing They Look At

You should get a lease return kit in the mail from Mazda, I just got mine yesterday and my lease is up in 4 months.
I had previously leased another Mazda and a 3rd party company (AutoVIN Canada) does the inspection. They will tell you if anything needs fixing/replaced before you return the car. Once the car is returned I believe you are no longer responsible for any damages, etc. There could be exceptions but not to worry if you have the regular maintenance done.

I haven't decide if I'm keeping the car either. My buy back is high (just over $20K) compared to the current buy-back on a 4-year lease ($16.5K on a low-km lease). Plus with gas prices and the new 50-over speed limit law it's making it harder to keep the car. I was hoping by now that a true Mazdaspeed version (not just body kit,ect) was going to be out, or possibly the return of the RX-7 but no such luck.

I don't want to go back to front-wheel drive either so we'll see what happens over the summer. I'm kinda interested in the G8 coming out from Pontiac. The V8 model probably gets better gas mileage to be honest! :lol:

I plan on test-driving a Mazdaspeed 3 if I can find a dealer with one on-hand. I test drove a VW GTI the other day and was impressed for a FWD car. Have it chipped and that car has double the torque we have now :)

Good luck with your decision! I'm having difficulty with mine - I need to win the Super 7 tonight so I can just buy all the cars I love.

Cheers

The Chad I am in the same boat as you. my lease is up in August, and originally I inteded to keep the car. BUt I drive a ton for work so I rack up miles quickly, and with gas prices the car is a bit much to keep running. My buyout is about $25K, but the street value with 118,000km is less than $18K. I am thinking over keeping it, but leaning more towards giving it back.

Juergen, is your buyout of $25K before taxes? Seems high if it is.
I have just over 60Km on mine so the street value on mine might be closer to my buyout. I'll have to look into it.

What other cars are you considering? If you stick with Mazda they have a loyalty discount; I believe it's .5% on financing and 2% on leases.

I also have to get new summer rubber for mine so that just adds to my decision.

Chad

Have you thought about negotiating with mazda?

25k, you should return it, no point, you could pick up a used 8 with less miles for less money.

Yeah, the lease inspection is done by AutoVin. You should receive a lease return package about 1-2 months before you lease is due which also tells you what is covered under "wear & tear" (a template is included). They will also call you about a month before you lease is due to set up an appointment with you to come to your house or office to do the inspection which should take about 1 hour.

If you have stone chips in your windshild and it is smaller that a specified circle, you'll be charged $75 per incident (if bigger than the circle, they'll charge you full replacement) and I think they allow for about 3 dents (within a certain limit) per panel which will be accepted. Tires & windshield are what they look at the most.

I had mine done about 3 weeks ago and it took about 45 minutes. It was quick and painless and they didn't test drive my car. They gave me back a report and said I don't have any excessive "wear & tear" and that was it. I called up a dealer near my house and told them I would drop of the car a week later. When I gave them the car back, I gave them the report & signed a document and that was it.

Hope that helps.

25k, you should return it, no point, you could pick up a used 8 with less miles for less money.

But knowing the history of a car is important especially with a unique car that of the RX-8. If for a few grand more means the peace of mind of the car that I took care during the lease period vs. some car on craigslist, I will always take the former.

yes, but lets say you bought out a car for 14k instead of your own for 25k, you do blow the engine and tranny, pretty sure expensses are not gonna be more than 25K, plus you could get a turbo added on, and the mazport tranny upgrade

Jeurgen you can negotiate your buy back on the car. Trust me they will lower your buy back, go by the book value of the car. Mazda Canada realized they will have this issue when they dropped there current pricing as much as they did, the residual values dropped on alot of the cars. The RX8 even moreso with its already horrible re-sale value.

My buy back is 17,500 at the end of the lease. If i decide to keep the car i am going to negotiate it down.

I'll sell you my 2007 loaded RX8 for $25,000, with only 9000 miles black ext, tan leather interior, stick, every option except Navigation. I ordered a Nissan GT-R and need to get rid of my RX8

I'll sell you my 2007 loaded RX8 for $25,000, with only 9000 miles black ext, tan leather interior, stick, every option except Navigation. I ordered a Nissan GT-R and need to get rid of my RX8


Good for you!!! :uhh:

yes, but lets say you bought out a car for 14k instead of your own for 25k, you do blow the engine and tranny, pretty sure expensses are not gonna be more than 25K, plus you could get a turbo added on, and the mazport tranny upgrade

14k for an rx-8? In canada? I would absolutely steer clear if there is one....

Well I am still thinking over what I am going to do. As everyone knows I have a ton of mileage and with my house being completed this summer I can't risk a lot of expensive repairs on the 8. Obviously as a track whore I want something that is still sporty and all but money is an issue. I am going to put the car away for a little bit and see how I feel without it, and see if I can find anything I like to possibly replace it. So far I haven't found anything I am that crazy about so that makes my decision simple right now.

Jeurgen you can negotiate your buy back on the car. Trust me they will lower your buy back, go by the book value of the car. Mazda Canada realized they will have this issue when they dropped there current pricing as much as they did, the residual values dropped on alot of the cars. The RX8 even moreso with its already horrible re-sale value.

My buy back is 17,500 at the end of the lease. If i decide to keep the car i am going to negotiate it down.

Kris, has anyone at Mazda Canada confirmed this? I am hoping this is the case since I am scheduled to return my car this year, and would like to keep it except that the buyback is way over market value. I've asked others who have had leased (non-Mazda) cars and they told me that they weren't able to negotiate. I asked my dealer and they said that Mazda doesn't negotiate (although they would rather sell me a new car, so they may be lying.) It would make SENSE for Mazda to sell the car at market price to the current lessee, since it is an easy sale, but not everything Mazda does makes sense.

This is not just Mazda. Most car mfg are the same. In fact the leasing company doesn't have any say on price negotiation. So they are not equipped to handle these situations. What a way to lose a 2nd easy sale....

Jeurgen you can negotiate your buy back on the car. Trust me they will lower your buy back, go by the book value of the car. Mazda Canada realized they will have this issue when they dropped there current pricing as much as they did, the residual values dropped on alot of the cars. The RX8 even moreso with its already horrible re-sale value.

My buy back is 17,500 at the end of the lease. If i decide to keep the car i am going to negotiate it down.

I just emailed the manager at my Mazda dealership and they told me the buy back price is not negotiable. I'm not too happy because it's $4000 more than the current value according to the Mazda Canada website. I guess that makes my decision easier. And the dealership already has at least 3 used 8's on their lot now....you think they would want to deal!

The Chad, I hope this isn't coming too late, but I was in the exact same position as you: 21K buyout on my 04 with retail value being under 18K. Then I noticed all the dealers in our area (ottawa) with heavy discounts on new 07's. I decided to give it a shot and ended up getting a 07 GT + all the same options/color for almost 15K under MSRP (mind you lots of negotiations were involved, but they started around 10K off MSRP which is still a deal).

If you love the car, can withstand the fuel cost, and don't mind a 5 year buy for the price of a 4 year lease, a real deal can be swung with the dealers right now.

Aside: I tried a Sky Redline to see if it could be a more fuel efficient alternative to the 8 (7L/100km highway @ 260hp), and while it was faster in a straight line than the 8, it can't even come close to the handling. After unfolding myself (and re-locating a few joints) getting out of the sky, I went to the Mazda dealer and didn't look back =)