Folks, I could really use some help on this question from anyone experienced in the auto trade. I've got an 8 coming soon, but I need to end the lease on my '99 Civic. The lease ends anyway in November but I'd like to terminate it sooner. I could sell the car anytime I want and pay off the lease early (residual plus unpaid payments plus maybe early termination fee) but this would cost me money out of pocket. If I wait till Nov and just return the car I'll be hit with excess mileage costs. Plus, my 8 won't wait.

So, here's my question. I suspect the used car market right now is depressed. With so many deals on new cars this trickles down and depresses used car prices. Therefore, if I turned in my lease the dealer wouldn't even be able to resell the car to cover the residual. Plus he'll have costs to make it ready for resale (cleanup, check up, etc.) With all these factors in mind, can I twist this somehow to renegotiate the residual cost of the car? If I can do this, I can sell it on my own, pay off the newly-reduced residual, and at least walk away with no cash out of my pocket. I can really use some "insider" advice on how this works. And, do I deal with the lease company (Bank of the West) or with the dealer?

Thanks for any possible advice or strategy!!

I know of one case that a co-worker experienced. His lease was due in about 3-4 months and the lender (Wells Fargo) sent him a letter and offered him a buy-out for about 3500 less than his original residual was set at, so it is possible. I have always heard that your purchase at the end of the lease can be negotiated so you have a shot but I'm not sure the best way to approach this when you want to get out early. I would go and talk to your Mazda dealer because he would be the most interested in you getting rid of your current car and still have some cashola to buy the 8. Good luck!!

im in the same boat my lease isnt up for another year or so, and i do not want to wait. im going to trade my truck in and take the loss. what they will do is any difference on price from what they will pay for it and what is owed on it will be carried over to the rx8. hopefully it wont be too much. also im going to have to lease the rx8 to keep the payments down to my limits. luckily im going to be able to buy the rx8 for under msrp so that should help me a little. i recomend you start with the dealer and see what they can do for you. most dealers will work with people to make a sale..

Fubar - just curious if you have the money factor and residuals for the 8 yet. My dealer claims to have had them since last Tuesday but has yet to email/call me with the information. Honestly if 8 was a stock car and not a pre-order I have been waiting on for 7 months I would go elsewhere.

Originally posted by SPDFRK
I know of one case that a co-worker experienced. His lease was due in about 3-4 months and the lender (Wells Fargo) sent him a letter and offered him a buy-out for about 3500 less than his original residual was set at, so it is possible. I have always heard that your purchase at the end of the lease can be negotiated so you have a shot but I'm not sure the best way to approach this when you want to get out early. I would go and talk to your Mazda dealer because he would be the most interested in you getting rid of your current car and still have some cashola to buy the 8. Good luck!!

SPDFRK, thanks for the reply. I called my lease company and they said I'd be getting a letter next month (3 months before lease end) so maybe I'll get the same deal. I'm gonna try to accelerate the process. Can you tell me what make your co-workers car was and how long ago this buy-out occurred? I'd like to compare to my situation considering the used car market is really soft right now. Thanks again! Oh, and yeah I'll talk to my Mazda dealer too.

You could also try

www.leasetrader.com

I have not used this myself, but it has been around for a while.

Good luck.

I was under the impression that if you turned in your car early on a lease it was the same as a voluntary repo. Regardless, most likely it will cost you quite a bit to end the lease early. I would just wait or pre-order for December (if possible). Three months isn't that long.


RotaryStalker

I got an update on this. I asked my lease co about terminating early and seeing if we could bring down the payoff price considering the used car market is "soft" right now. If they will agree to this, I can sell the car and get out of the deal with nothing out of pocket.

Their answer is they will negotiate with me in the last month of my lease and only if I haven't exceeded my allowed mileage (which I have.) I pressed them on this, then they said, well ok maybe if you've exceeded just a little. They said I can write up a bid on the car and fax it to them. I'm gonna do it now just to see what happens. I'll post the results here in a week or two.

Hey wannabe,

The car was a chrysler concord and this started towards the end of last year and he did the buy out at the normal scheduled time for his lease and closed on it the end of Jan. The funny thing was he was gonna just sell the car and get a 330 convertible but the boss (wife) decided to buy a new house so he thought he would keep the car until it died (it had about 50k on it). But on Valentines day he was driving with his family and a 16 yr old that borrowed his aunts car to go buy flowers for his girlfriend pulled straight out in front of him and got t-boned at 50mph OUCH!! needless to say both cars are toast and he ended up getting a different car anyway.