Car Buying Advice - Sienna Lease return and releasing

aharon010

I'm finishing a lease on my Sienna on Sept. This is the first time I have ever leased a car. Im considering getting another Sienna. Questions I have are as follows and I would appreciate any help. I only have 10k on the car which leaves equity in the car. Im told to take it to Carmax and sell it. Given I still have 4 month left in the, lease when should I do this. Toyotathon is going on right now with some incentives and there might be specials in 4th of July. On the other hand if I wait to thr end of my lease I'm guessing it would be better. Can you folks help stir me on the eight direction pls. I got my LE with Navajo touchscreen at $800 down and $365 per month. I also bought 5k lease return warranty at $5 or so per month.

Blake

Hello @aharon010, Sounds like you got a great deal when you leased the Sienna originally. What is your current pay off for the Sienna, what year is it and what zip do you reside in? I would like to appraise the Sienna using Edmunds True Market Value, TMV is the average price people are paying for a car in your area.

I would wait till the end of the lease before selling it to CarMax or another dealer. Either way you will have to pay for the remaining 4 payments. You can sell the car in 4 months and take the equity. The other option is to sell it now and have the remaining four payments paid by CarMax, if you have enough equity to cover the payments.

If you are looking to lease or buy another Toyota, Toyotathon may save you money on your next purchase, but it will not increase the trade-in Value of your Sienna. Please keep in mind you can trade-in the Sienna and take your equity as well. You do not have to sell the car to a dealer like CarMax. When you trade-in a car to a dealer, they would be buying said car from the lease company, just like CarMax would be.

Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks!