Getting a good deal from a traded lease

[8 Bit WWBG]

Even though most of us here would never lease a car, others in the outside world would. Thanks to sites like leasetrader or swapalease, people who are trying to get out from under their leases could be the sources of very good deals.

Advantages include escaping the down payment usually required of most leases.

Disadvantages include the possibility that the original lessor was close to (or already over) the mileage limit, as well as the fact that you must keep the car in PRISTINE condition.

The hope would be that you can take over the lease for less than it would cost if you were the original lessor, and then when the time comes to buy or turn in, that you can negotiate a purchase price in your favor.

If you succeed, you can probably do quite well. If you fail, then you are left with no car, and possibly pay a bit to be rid of it (though not as bad as if you were the original lessor).

I figure the risk as far as the car being in good quality is similar to the risk you'd take buying used or private party.

Thoughts?

[thyme4change]

If your intent is to buy it out, and the buy-out price is a sweet deal, then it doesn't much matter if the original owner was over the limit in mileage, or even if there are a few dinks and dents.

Actually, the best thing to do is to find someone on those sites who is desperate to get out of their lease because they are high on mileage. Some of them will pay you to take the lease, and they lose their downpayment. But, if their down was high, or their payments were high, the buyout might be low enough to make it worth it for you.

[8 Bit WWBG]

...:::"If your intent is to buy it out, and the buy-out price is a sweet deal, then it doesn't much matter if the original owner was over the limit in mileage, or even if there are a few dinks and dents. ":::...

I suppose the math could work out that even if you get a lousy buy price, you could come out ahead of where you might have been had you financed the car originally.

...:::"fnd someone on those sites who is desperate to get out of their lease because they are high on mileage. Some of them will pay you to take the lease,":::...

Definitely. Some good digging might be worthwhile and if you are lucky enough to find such a soul, perhaps you can do very well for yourself. Use the car just for a little local driving until you can buy it.

I wonder, can you buy the car off the lease before the lease is up? If you do, can you still negotiate the price (I imagine you can ask for anything you want, my real question is whether the dealer might say yes).

[thyme4change]

I just went on and looked. There were only a couple cars that are the model I would like to buy. One had a payment of $850 per month! Unfortunately, the buy-out price wasn't listed. I could totally work with the $850 payment if I knew the buy-out was low enough.

Being here in Phoenix, there is a certain look that I see in all of these pictures. It makes me laugh. There are so many suburbs that were built in a 20 year time frame that look very much alike - stucco house, brownish-pink, with a tile roof. The houses are close together with a very short driveway. The big shiny SUV is parked in front of the small house, and there are no other cars on the street because the CCRs forbid it. The car is 3 years old and the owner is selling it. I always figure there are two choices - they are moving on to something newer and more shiney, or their spending finally caught up to them and they realize they are screwed.

[Deleted]

Owner has no say on the buy out.

The capitalized cost and residual are set at time of the original lease. The bank or finance company holding the contract is the one that controls the buyout price.

The owner can sweeten the deal or not...depending on HOW MUCH they want out....but the actual buyout price is set in stone.....unless you can prove to the company that the vehicle WILL NOT sell at auction for that price.

[Opti]

"One had a payment of $850 per month!"

That's a big payment. Was this the SUV and if so what was it?

[thyme4change]

Suburban - fully loaded. With $12k of car payments per year, I wouldn't be surprised that family had money trouble. Sheesh!

[Opti]

Wow. The plus with the Suburban though is if you can afford the gas you
could live in it if you needed to.

Still a huge price tag.

[thyme4change]

The buy-out (next year) would need to be down in the $25k range to make it the same deal as just buying it off the street. Somehow I doubt it is that low.

[8 Bit WWBG]

...:::"The owner can sweeten the deal or not...depending on HOW MUCH they want out....but the actual buyout price is set in stone.....unless you can prove to the company that the vehicle WILL NOT sell at auction for that price.":::...

Based on what I've seen in other threads similar to this, I always thought there was some wiggle room depending on whether the owner wanted to sell the car more than the lessor wanted to buy the car. I'd imagine that anyone trying to buy a leased gas guzzler during $4/gallon gas had some REALLY good leverage to lowball, whereas someone trying to buy a hybrid or a smart had no leverage.

This whole process sounds too good to be true, or that there are maybe one out of a hundred sweet deals and 99 lousy ones. Perhaps if the right car at the right terms came along, maybe...