Lease Buyout vs. New Lease Advice

bwilliams89

Hey guys! Need a little help here and thought this was a good place to ask.

I currently have a 2016 Lincoln MKC Select on lease. $400 a month. It had 15k miles per year for 36 months. I just made my last payment and am at 43,813 miles (I won't exceed 45,000 before my lease is up). The inspector gave it an excellent review with no issues on anything. If you would have asked me a month ago, I would have said I was definitely buying out this car but I've since been debating on whether I should or not.

I recently checked out the new RAV4 and, out of curiosity, asked about trade-in on m Lincoln. I was told $16k. I thought this had to be wrong. The remaining residual on my Lincoln is $20,500. If I buy out my car as originally intended, I'd instantly be over $4k upside down. The dealer wasn't wrong. KBB on my Lincoln in excellent condition IS $16k (or less).

So I've looked at the RAV4 and am anxiously awaiting the RAV4 hybrid which I was told at a car show yesterday will be arriving to dealers the first week of April. The hybrid will likely be $36k and I'm debating on lease vs. buy. Toyotas are known to retain their value and I have already confirmed my insurance will go down slightly ($15 per 6 months).

All of this is to ask what would you do in this scenario? Would you buy out a car you like knowing it will be upside down the minute you do so or would you opt for something else even if the cost will likely be higher?

Thoughts? Suggestions? Have any of you successfully extended your lease to allow for more time to make a decision? Mine is set to end on April 16th.

TIA!

kyfdx

bwilliams89 said:

Hey guys! Need a little help here and thought this was a good place to ask.

I currently have a 2016 Lincoln MKC Select on lease. $400 a month. It had 15k miles per year for 36 months. I just made my last payment and am at 43,813 miles (I won't exceed 45,000 before my lease is up). The inspector gave it an excellent review with no issues on anything. If you would have asked me a month ago, I would have said I was definitely buying out this car but I've since been debating on whether I should or not.

I recently checked out the new RAV4 and, out of curiosity, asked about trade-in on m Lincoln. I was told $16k. I thought this had to be wrong. The remaining residual on my Lincoln is $20,500. If I buy out my car as originally intended, I'd instantly be over $4k upside down. The dealer wasn't wrong. KBB on my Lincoln in excellent condition IS $16k (or less).

So I've looked at the RAV4 and am anxiously awaiting the RAV4 hybrid which I was told at a car show yesterday will be arriving to dealers the first week of April. The hybrid will likely be $36k and I'm debating on lease vs. buy. Toyotas are known to retain their value and I have already confirmed my insurance will go down slightly ($15 per 6 months).

All of this is to ask what would you do in this scenario? Would you buy out a car you like knowing it will be upside down the minute you do so or would you opt for something else even if the cost will likely be higher?

Thoughts? Suggestions? Have any of you successfully extended your lease to allow for more time to make a decision? Mine is set to end on April 16th.

TIA!

I definitely would not buy a car that is worth $4K less than the buyout. No matter how much you love it.

RAV4 hybrids do not typically lease well. I wouldn't expect this model to be any different. If that is the vehicle you pick, I'd suggest buying, rather than leasing.

And, if you love your Lincoln, why not look for another one coming off lease? It's likely to be cheaper than buying your own lease.