l008com

My quest to get back into an RX-8 continues...

So right now this car I hate, that I'm trying to get out of is a lease. So I can't sell it to someone because the lease company has the title. And it takes about a month to get the title. SO I have to buy out the car, in cash, wait a month until I get the title, THEN I can sell the car and be free.

This is correct so far, right? (And no Honda Finance won't sell the car to someone else or let me have someone else assume the lease, they really got my ***** in a vice)

So plan #2 (actually this was plan #5 or 6 but anyway) is to get an auto loan, buy out the lease. Have the loan be a 72 month loan so the payments are small, so that if I have to make a few it won't hurt so bad. But as soon as the lease was mine, I'd sell the car and be done. But does the bank giving me the loan also want my title? If so, then what process do I have to go through to sell this car? The good news is I can definitely sell the car for what the lease buyout is, possibly a bit more.

Any advice on this would be appreciated.
Telling me to just wait out the lease and get an RX8 next time, telling me to don't buy a car unless you're sure you like it next time, etc etc, will NOT be appreciated.

ALP22

Depends on your state laws. In NY, you get the title in-hand, but it has a box down the bottom where any leins against it (e.g. the bank) are listed. In AL (where I used to live) the bank keeps the lease. Dunnon what MA does, but their DMV website will tell you.

Regardless, even if you have the title in-hand, the lein is gonna be listed, so any potential buyer is gonna want to see that lien lifted before buying. When I sold a car, I paid it off and got a bit of paper from the bank (took about 3 weeks) stating they had no further claim on the vehicle. For the buyer, this bit of paper plus the title with lien was enough. He was able to take both those bits of paper and get a new title issued. Of course, I could have sent off both to the DMV and gotten a new title issued in my name without any leins listed, but why bother when it would add another 3 weeks to the process, and the buyer was gonna re-title it anyway?

Bottom line, unless you're selling to a dealer (who will accept a title with lein, and settle the payment themselves), you're gonna have to buy it out. One possibility is to use "un-seen" financing (bank overdraft, credit card cash advance) since that money is not seen as a lien by the DMV, so you will get a "clean" title. Of course, because the interest is high on those things, it also means you gotta sell it pretty fast once you get the title.

Aseras

call whoemever has the lease see what they have to say. Some will release title with the lien still on it. Others may do what's called a 3rd party buyout.. See what they say.

saturn

I'll buy it off you for $27 behind the Safeway at 10pm.

Seriously though, get a 0% credit card and make the minimum payments for a few months. No interest, no title needed. You'll need a high enough credit line, obviously, but if you can, you're all set.

dwynne

Depending on where you live, you forgot about sales tax.

In most states an off-lease car has to go to either a car dealer or to the lessee (you) and no one else. In states where full sales tax is not paid up front, there will be sales tax on the buyout and you will have to pay it to get the title.

So say your buyout is $20,000, here there would be $1,400 tax due on it so it would cost you $21,400 to get the title. I don't know about you, but giving up $1,400 MORE to sell the car is a bit high.

I have had several lease cars and in each case I have never turned them end at the end of the lease. I just sell them, but the trick is to go through a licensed car dealer. You basically sell the car to the dealer who then sells it to the buyer you bring in. It is normal for folks to buy cars from a dealer and NOT get the title at time of purchase. On a recent trade, for example, the dealer may not have it yet. In most cases, everyone is financing a car so THEY never see the title anyway. The dealer gives them a drive-out tag and then takes car of changing the title over to the buyer with the bank as lein holder.

Using a dealer for a "buy and bye" works the same way and is just like you traded in your current car and the dealer sold it to your buyer on the spot. If you can't find a local dealer to handle it for you for a reasonable fee (like the Mazda dealer you plan on buying your new 8 from?) then the folks I use may be able to help. If they are licensed in your state, they can do this for fraction of the cost of the tax I mentioned.

That brings up another point - a car dealer can buy the car from them with your approval. If your car has low miles and is in decent shape, it could be worth as much or more TO A DEALER than the buyout. If so, then you could trade it toward the 8 or maybe sell it to CarMax or something.

You didn't share what you have, the miles, condition, and buyout price so I have no idea what might be possible with it.

First rule of leasing is it is not for folks who change their minds. However, my second rule of leasing is always get a great deal (on the car and on the lease terms). If you do, then you should find the car is worth the buyout or more and you can (gasp) even make a PROFIT getting out of a lease :D

Dennis