Lease Questions - Ask Here

CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

You're very welcome, attendant. Here is information on BMW's current lease programs for the two models that you mentioned. If you were to lease a 2004 BMW 525i through BMW Financial Services this month for 2 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00150 and 68%, respectively. The numbers for an otherwise identical 3 year lease of this car should be .00150 and 60%. If you were to lease a 2004 BMW Z4 2.5i through BMW FS this month for 2 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00200 and 61%, respectively. The numbers for an otherwise identical 3 year lease of this car should be .00200 and 52%. When negotiating the capitalized cost on the '04 Z4 2.5, keep in mind that BMW is currently providing $5,000 dealer cash on it.

Now that you know what the lease programs are like for these models, look up their exact full MSRPs here at Edmunds.com, and get an idea of what their selling prices should be like by looking at their True Market Values or by stopping by the Prices Paid Message Board here in the Town Hall. Armed with this information, you can calculate approximately what your lease payments on these cars should be like by using the formula that is outlined in the following article: Calculate Your Own Lease Payment. As long as you are informed, you have nothing to fear about visiting dealers. Good luck, let me know if you have any other questions, and of course don't forget to come back and let us all know how everything turns out.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Hi bossman4. The exact lease money factor and residual value for this car will vary depending upon how long you want to lease it for and how many miles per year you need to be able to drive it. For now I will assume that you want to lease this car for 3 years with 12,000 miles per. Let me know if this assumption is incorrect. If this is the case and you were to lease a 2004 Chrysler Crossfire with an automatic transmission through Chrysler Financial right now, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00004 and 56%, respectively. When negotiating your lease on this car, keep in mind that DaimlerChrysler is providing $1,000 bonus cash on leases of it through Chrysler Financial, $1,500 dealer cash on it, and another $750 to $1,500 dealer stairstep program, the exact payout of which will depend upon how many Crossfires the dealership you are working with sells during the program period. So basically, DCX has a total of at least $3,250 in cash incentives on this model that will help you to negotiate a more attractive capitalized cost on your lease. The only charge that DaimlerChrysler is levying on this lease is Chrysler Financial's $550 lease acquisition fee. This is not an unusual charge because most banks charge consumers an acquisition fee of around the same amount on leases.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Hello dburke. Unfortunately, it is likely going to be fairly expensive for you to get out of your leased Expedition two years prior to the scheduled end of your lease. In order to find out exactly how much money it will cost you to do so, you need to place a call to the bank that you are leasing it through, most likely Ford Credit, to see how much it will cost you to purchase your truck at this time. Once you have this figure, compare it to your truck's current value by looking it up in the Used Vehicle Pricing section of this site or by stopping by the "Real-World Trade-In Values" discussion that appears here on the Smart Shopper Message Board. One of our most knowledgeable community members, Terry, hangs out there and he is often willing to provide consumers with his opinion of their vehicles' current value if they provide him with a detailed description of it, including the color, and let him know where they live. The difference between your truck's current value and the cost for you to purchase it from your bank will be a major part of the expense of breaking your lease early. In addition to the purchase price, many banks also require consumers to make all, or at least a large portion, of their remaining lease payments on leased vehicles that they want to get out of early. Even though there is a good chance that you are liable for your remaining payments, your truck definitely will not just sit around for the next two years. The bank will immediately turn around and sell it either to a dealer directly or at auction. So you are essentially paying money for someone else to drive the truck that you want to get out of.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Hey mk2. Unfortunately, I do not know what Chase's or Wells Fargo's current lease programs are like on the 2004 Toyota Highlander. As I believe I mentioned to you earlier, I have seen Toyota Financial Services' lease program on it. I can tell you though that if you were to lease this truck through an independent bank like one of the ones that I mentioned earlier, you probably would be able to take advantage of the $1,000 customer cash that Toyota is providing on the '04 Highlander in your area right now. You could use this money to negotiate a more attractive capitalized cost.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Hey Copper. A number of banks, especially the captive finance companies of luxury brands like BMW, allow consumers to make multiple security deposits on leased vehicles. Each additional deposit reduces the lease money factor that is used to calculate their monthly payment by a certain amount, in turn reducing the vehicle's lease payment. The exact amount of the deduction that is provided per extra deposit varies from bank to bank. Putting down extra security deposits is much safer than making a large down payment when leasing, and as an added bonus consumers who make additional deposits actually get that money back at the end of their lease, provided that they do not owe for excess mileage or excess wear and tear. It is definitely a good idea to make additional security deposits on the vehicle that you are considering leasing if you have the money to do so and the deduction per additional deposit is large enough.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

You're welcome, rookie. I am sorry to hear that your bank was not willing to work with you. Whether you should purchase your leased vehicle is a tough call. When one does the math, assuming that the figures that you provided in your post is correct, the $1,250 over your vehicle's market value that you would have to pay if you were to buy it is much less than the $4,000 penalty for excess mileage that you would owe. So if you like your vehicle and it has not been in any accidents, an argument certainly could be made for keeping it.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

You're very welcome, cjs2002. Thank you for taking the time to come back and let us all know how everything turned out. It sounds like you got a heck of a deal. Enjoy your new ride!

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Different states charge tax on leased vehicles differently. Basically, there's 3 ways of doing it. In the first, the state taxes the payment and down payment. Most states do it this way, and since there is interest in there, you do pay tax on that. I believe this is how it is done in states like, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Connecticut, and California. In the second method, the state taxes the entire selling price of the car. I believe that this is how leases are taxed in Illinois, Texas, and Ohio do it. Lastly, some states tax the depreciation amount only. This is how New Jersey calculates taxes on leased vehicles.

In Massachusetts, sales tax is charged on the entire lease payment, both the capitalized cost and the finance cost, on a monthly basis. For example, with a lease payment of $316 in MA, one would add the 5% tax on it, bringing the total payment up to $331.80. Residents of MA also have to pay a 2.5%personal property tax on the entire value of their leased vehicle.

If you let me know what state you are in, I can fill you in on what I know about its taxation policy, or at least try to direct you to a place that might have the answer to your question.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

I am glad that you find this discussion so helpful, gogiants. Let's work up a sample lease payment on this truck and see what we come up with. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2004 Volvo XC90 2.5T AWD through Volvo Finance this month for 4 years with 12,000 miles per, your zero down, pre-tax monthly lease payment should be right around $496. So I definitely think that the lease payment that you were quoted looks very reasonable to me.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

You're welcome, mkpravin. Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Hi opsec. You can purchase your leased Acura prior to its scheduled end. In order for you to do so, you need to place a call to American Honda Finance Corp., or whichever bank you are leasing it through, to find out exactly how much it will cost to do so at this time. Furthermore, the bank that you are leasing it through may want you to make all, or at least a significant portion, of your remaining payments on this car. If I was in your situation, I would continue to lease this car and then purchase it at the scheduled end of your lease if you feel as though you want to keep it.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Hi cakes99. I would be more than happy to give you my opinion of your lease. However, in order for me to do so, I need you to tell me its selling price. This is a very important figure for you, the lessee, the know anyhow because the selling prices of leased vehicles can be negotiated, just as if one was paying cash for them. Without this number, it is difficult to know what sort of deal you got and next to impossible to work up a lease payment on it. Let me know and I will tell you what I think.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Here is the information that you are looking for, jbl1. If you were to lease a 2004 BMW X3 2.5i through BMW Financial services this month for 36 months with 12,000 miles per year, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00070 and 59%, respectively.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Hello agillman. Unfortunately, I have not seen any information on the lease programs for 2005 Lexus models yet. It is very safe to assume though that Lexus is not currently providing any sort of lease support on the 2005 LS 430. That means that if you were to lease one through Lexus Financial Services this month, you would have to use its base standard lease money factor, which is .00205 for any length lease in most of the U.S. This number, along with the car's selling price, are by far the two most important figures to know when negotiating a lease anyhow. Individual dealerships do not have the ability to alter banks' published residual values. So while knowing this car's residual would be useful because it would enable you to calculate a sample lease payment on this car, it is not necessary to know for your negotiations.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Hi jfields523. DaimlerChrysler was running an early lease termination program last month. I have not heard anything about it offering a similar program this month, but I would not be surprised if one was going on or if they introduced one in the near future. Last month, I believe that the largest number of remaining lease payments that DaimlerChrysler was willing to waive was six. So if it is or is going to run this sort of program, you should be able to get out of your Durango at this time.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Hey mk2. I believe that the Toyota Financial Services' special lease program on the 2004 Highlander is only available for leases of up to 36 months in length this month.

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ddelise · September 2004

Hi Car_Man -

My father-in-law is interested in leasing a 2003 SC430. Can you give me the current 36 and 39 month residual and money factors for this car at 15k miles per year? Also, what happens to the residual factor at 12k miles year. Finally, can you let me know what is the Aqusition Fee, and if there are any incentives on this car?

Thanks - Damon

CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Jbl1, BMW Financial Services' base lease acquisition fee is currently $525 in every state but New York, where it is $800. As you are aware, consumers can roll the lease acquisition fee into their vehicle's lease payment. While the exact method for calculating tax on leased vehicles varies from state to state, I believe that in most instances the acquisition fee would be taxable if you were to add it to your vehicle's capitalized cost.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Hello fareedhasan. Infiniti is providing lease support on the 2004 G35 this month. I believe that Infiniti Financial Services' most attractive lease term for this car is 39 months. If you were to lease a 2004 G35 2WD through IFS in September with 15,000 miles per year, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00179 and 56%, respectively.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

You're very welcome, cjs2002.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Hi glazer. The problem with buying your leased Sienna now is that many banks still require their lessees to make all of, or at least a significant portion of, their vehicles' remaining lease payments when they purchase it prior to the scheduled end of their lease. If the bank that you are leasing your Sienna through requires this to be done, it would defeat the purpose of purchasing it early. Your least expensive option would probably be to continue to lease your van until the scheduled end of your contract and then decide if you want to purchase it. An added benefit of waiting is if your van is in an accident between now and then, you can simply walk away from it at the end of your lease, assuming that it has been repaired properly, and not have to worry about any sort of diminished value that has occurred as a result of the accident.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

I would be more than happy to give you an idea of what the lease programs are currently like on these trucks, mk2. However, in order for me to do so, I need you to tell me how long you want to lease them for and how many miles per year you need to be able to drive them.

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copper · September 2004

Thanks for your wiseness once again car"super"man.

Copper

kate61880 · September 2004

I want to get out of mu current lease and I have 2 years remaining on a 5 year lease. Currently I am leasing a 2002 Toyota Solara and I am currently about 6,000 miles over. I want to buy my next car preferably a used SUV for about $17-25K. My payoff quotation is $17,500. I went to one dealership that said they would give me $10-11K for the car, but that the other $7-8K would be wrapped into the next car payment as neg. equity or I could put that money down. Retail wise the car is selling for $14-$16K (is a red solara, with cloth interior, 4 cyl, sunroof, spoiler). I am not sure what the best way to handle this is. Any advice on the most affordable and easiest way to get out of this car and into a new one would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Kate

mia · September 2004

I'm trying to lease an '04 BMW X5 for 36 mos/36k here in the NY area and this is the best deal I've found so far:

X5 3.0
Premium Package
Auto Trans
Cold Weather Package
Rear Climate Package
Xenons
Metallic Paint
MSRP $49020
MF =.00100 / Residual = 60%
Upfront $ = approx. $1700. (includes $800. Acq. Fee)

Mo. pmt. = $664. incl. 8.75% NYS tax

Edmunds puts the invoice on this vehicle @$44,885. According to my calculations the dealer is "selling" this vehicle for almost $3500. over invoice; if so this seems pretty high to me... Am I correct??

Thanks so much!

svalley · September 2004

I want to take advantage (I think) of lease takeover deal on the internet. My questions are:

1. Any catch to watch after?
2. I live in Chicago, since IL is one of the few state that require to paid full tax. Do I need to takeover a leaser from IL to get the best deal? If I takeover a lease from the other states, do I need to pay tax to IL again? Anything else I miss.

I have never lease a car before, so please give me as much as details.

Thanks in advanced

will2702 · September 2004

Hey CarMan,
What is the money factor and the residual on a Mazda finance for the '04 RX-8 (24 to 36 month lease with 12K/year)? The car i am looking for is an Automatic with Sports Package.

Will

mister22 · September 2004

Can incentives (ie Chevrolet's current $5000+) be used in negotiating a final cap cost? I always thought that manufacturer to dealer or manufacturer to customer rebates applied no matter if you bought or leased. Can you clarify this for me. Thanks.

CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

You're welcome, Copper

.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Hi Kate. I am sorry to say that it is often very expensive for consumers to get out of their leased vehicles several years prior to their scheduled end. I usually advise consumers to lease for 39 months or less because as you can see, people's needs often change during the course of a long lease, causing them to rack up more mileage than they originally thought that they would or giving them the need for a larger vehicle.

Not only are you several thousand dollars upside down on your leased Solara, but the bank that you are leasing it through, possibly Toyota Financial Services, may want you to pay all of, or at least a large portion of, your remaining lease payments if you purchase it from them early. This will make doing so even more expensive. You can roll your negative equity into your next loan or lease, if you get a new vehicle that has a high cash incentive available on it, but doing so will only make you even more upside down on your next vehicle. The reason why you need to get something that has a large cash incentive on it if you want to roll negative equity into your next note is that most banks will only loan consumers up to a certain percentage of a vehicle's MSRP. A vehicle that has a large cash incentive on it can be purchased for much less than full price, making the negative equity easier to bury. You are buried so deeply in your car though that you still may need to put some money down. I am sorry to say that there definitely is no inexpensive way for you to get out of your leased Solara at this time. Your least expensive option, even with your excess mileage penalty, would probably be to continue driving it until you are closer to your lease's scheduled end date. If you really need to get out of this lease, you need to find out exactly how much money your Solara is currently worth. Look up its Edmunds.com True Market Value in the Used Vehicle Pricing section of this site and stop by the "Real-World Trade-In Values" discussion that appears on this Message Board. One of our most knowledgeable community members, Terry, hangs out in that area and he is often able to give consumers his opinion on their vehicles' current value if they provide him with a detailed description of it. Once you have a really good idea of what your car is currently worth, you can shop around to see which dealership will give you the most money for it or try to sell it on your own. Selling vehicles privately, while a hassle, is usually the best say to get top dollar for them.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Hello mia. Let me begin by saying that you should never have to back into the selling price of a vehicle that you are negotiating a lease on. The selling prices of leased vehicles can be negotiated, just as if you were paying cash for them. It is your right as a consumer to know exactly how much money they are charging you for this X5. If its selling price is indeed $3,500 over invoice, it is way too high. The good news about your deal is that the lease money factor and residual value that you were quoted for this truck are right on the money. This means that your dealer is not marking up BMW Financial Services' base lease money factor to add additional back-end profit to your deal. I just worked up a sample lease payment on this truck for you, and according to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2004 BMW X5 3.0 with an MSRP of $49,020 and a selling price of $45,885 (invoice + $1,000) through BMW Financial Services this month for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, your zero down, pre-tax monthly lease payment should be right around $533 or so. The one bad thing about leasing through BMW FS in New York is that its normal acquisition fee of $525 is increased to $800 in your state.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Hi svalley. There's nothing wrong with assuming someone's lease as long as the bank that they are leasing through will allow you to do so. Doing so can be a great way to lease a vehicle for a short period of time with a reasonable payment. One thing to look out for when taking over a lease is you need to make sure that the person who wants you to assume their lease got a good deal on it. You don't want to assume someone else's mistake. It often turns out that one can lease a similar brand new car or truck for less than the payment that they would be assuming. As a result, people who want someone to assume their lease often have to sweeten the pot a little bit, so to speak, and pay the individual who is assuming their lease a lump sum. This is a fairly unusual situation so I am not sure how taxes will be handled on it. Sorry that I could not be of more help on that aspect of this deal.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Hey Will. Mazda is not providing any sort of lease money factor support on the 2004 RX-8 at this time. As a result, you will have to pay a fairly high interest rate on it if you want to lease one. Mazda is making up for this high interest rate by providing a ton of lease cash on this car. If you were to lease a 2004 RX-8 through Mazda's captive finance company right now, it would be eligible for $2,500 dealer cash, $1,000 lease cash for 24 to 30 month leases, and an additional dealer incentive of $750 to $1,000, which varies depending upon the number of RX-8s your dealer sells during the program. This adds up to a total of around $3,250 in cash incentives that will help you to negotiate an attractive capitalized cost on this car. As far as the money factor and residual value go, if you were to lease a 2004 RX-8 with an automatic transmission through its captive finance company right now for 2 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00315 and 61%, respectively. The numbers for an otherwise identical 3 year lease should be .00295 and 53%.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Unfortunately, mister22, General Motors' normal customer cash incentives can not be used in conjunction with GMAC's lease program. Having said this, GM is providing both lease cash and bonus cash on deals through GMAC that can be used in conjunction with its lease program, but these allowances add up to much less than the normal customer cash offers on its vehicles. If you let me know what model or models you are interested in, I would be more than happy to give you an idea of what sort of cash incentives are available on them if you were to lease them through GMAC. The only way that you would be able to take advantage of the customer cash that GM has on its vehicles would be to lease through an independent bank.

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njl · September 2004

MSRP 48735
36 Mth, 15K/year...

Car Man... could you please provide the money factor and residual so that I can attempt to calculate my lowest possible lease rate?

Thanks

mk2 · September 2004

36 months, 12K.

Thanks

bobp7 · September 2004

Hi Car Man:
I am interested in leasing a '04 FX45. The invoice price is $49,165 with the options I am interested in. What are the 36 and 48 month residuals? Cost of Infiniti money? Any reason not to consider a lightly used '04 (unless the dealer's incentive isn't significant enough).
Am I better off waiting until the '05's arrive or will savings be offset by reductions in residuals?
OT - also looking at deals that could be around on the Cayenne S or X5 4.8. Any manufacturer support that could make these more attractive?
Thx for your assistance.
bobp7

CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

I would be more than happy to help you out, njl. Before I give you an idea of what GMAC's lease program is currently like on this truck, I need to tell you that it publishes what are known as lease rates rather than lease money factors for the vehicles that it leases. These lease rates can easily be converted into approximate money factor equivalents by dividing them by 2400. OK, now for the program. According to the latest information that I have seen, if you were to lease a 2005 Chevrolet Tahoe 4WD through GMAC this month for 3 years with 15,000 miles per, its base lease rate and residual value should be 5.5% and 53%, respectively. I believe that its residual value is slightly higher than this in some parts of the country. If you let me know what state you are in, I can tell you if you are in the area that has the higher residual values.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Greetings bobp7. Let's take a look at the lease program for the vehicle that you are considering leasing. According to the latest information that I have seen, if you were to lease a 2004 Infiniti FX45 through Infiniti Financial Services this month for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00179 and 55%, respectively. The money factor for an otherwise identical 4 year lease would be exactly the same, but the residual value would fall to 48%. You should be able to negotiate a fairly attractive capitalized cost on this model right now because Infiniti is providing its dealers with a number of $500 certificates, up to four of which can be used on the purchase or lease of this model. Dealers won't have enough certificates to use four on every deal, but the fact that you know about them will definitely strengthen your bargaining position.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Thanks for the additional information, mk2. OK, if you were to lease a 2004 Chrysler Pacifica AWD through Chrysler Financial right now for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00235 and 48%, respectively. The numbers for an otherwise identical lease of a 2005 Pacifica AWD base model should be .00157 and 56%. When negotiating leases on these two models, keep in mind that DaimlerChrysler is currently providing $5,000 dealer cash on the 2004 Pacifica and $1,000 lease cash plus $1,000 Chrysler Financial bonus cash ($2,000 total) on the 2005 model. This money will help you to negotiate a more attractive capitalized cost.

As far as the 2004 Nissan Pathfinder SE 4WD goes, if you were to lease one through Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. this month for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00191 and 50%, respectively. You actually would be better off leasing this model for 39 months because its money factor is the same for that term, but its residual value is 52%. By leasing for 39 months, you can spread this truck's initial depreciation hit out over three more payments and actually pay less depreciation because the residual value is higher. When negotiating this truck's cap cost remember that Nissan is providing $3,250 lease cash on it.

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dean4 · September 2004

I'm looking at a Ford, F-150 for my family. This car was once a Lease car and I worry that since it was once leased that it might have been ridden hard. (Like buying a used rental) Any suggestions on how I could ease our fears about this one? I mean are my fears founded? Is it reasonable to woory about this? Any advive would be helpful!

bunk1968 · September 2004

I would appreciate ANY advice on what to do.
I need a new vehicle and have never bought new and have never leased.
I have enough money saved to buy the Mazda 3 I have been looking at new without monthly payments, but I have many people telling me that a lease is the way to go in consideration that I may want a different vehicle in a couple of years or longer. I also have many people telling me that they lease deals they see on TV for many cars is so low that it might be silly to buy a car new. There are some cars being advertised as having two year leases with no money down and just $199 a month. Even if these are not the exact vehicle I was interested in, it sounds like a great deal.
Well, anyway, before I become too lengthy in this post, I WOULD LOVE ANY ADVICE OR SUGGESTIONS.
I know nothing about leasing and have been trying to figure out what to do.

CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Hi dean4. If I was in the market for a used car or truck, I personally would not let the fact that one of the vehicles that I was considering was an off-lease model deter me from purchasing it. While, I am sure that some people who lease vehicles abuse them, there's nothing that says that someone who financed or paid cash for their truck didn't abuse it either. Used vehicles should always be looked at on a case by case basis and inspected very thoroughly. If you know enough to properly inspect this truck or have someone like a mechanic take a look at it and it gets a clean bill of health, in my opinion it really doesn't matter whether it was leased at one point or not.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Hi bunk1968. Leasing can be a great way to drive a new vehicle, if you are a good candidate for leasing and there is an attractive lease program available on the model that you are considering. While you definitely appear to be a good candidate to lease, Mazda is not currently providing any sort of lease support on the Mazda3. As a result, if you were to lease one through Mazda's captive finance company, you would have to use its standard lease money factor to calculate your monthly payment. When converted into an approximate interest rate, its standard money factor for a 3 year lease of the 2004 Mazda3 is equivalent to around 6.5%, which is not very good. If I was in the market for this model right now, I personally would either pay cash for it or finance it through Mazda at 4.9% for up to 5 years.

The bottom line is if you enjoy getting a new vehicle every couple of years there are lots of cars out there that leasing would make sense for, but the Mazda3 is not one of them.

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ddelise · September 2004

Hi Car_Man -

My father-in-law is interested in leasing a 2003 SC430. Can you give me the current 36 and 39 month residual and money factors for this car at 15k miles per year? Also, what happens to the residual factor at 12k miles year. Finally, can you let me know what is the Aqusition Fee, and if there are any incentives on this car?

Thanks - Damon

njl · September 2004

Car_man... I am in NJ.

Could you please estimate a lease payment for me?

mk2 · September 2004

Thanks a lot for your help, Car Man!!

ddelise · September 2004

One more thing - I am located in FL.

Damon

cuco · September 2004

dean4,

Something else you could do when buying a used car is used www.carfax.com. If you know the car's VIN number, that site can tell you if the car was ever involved in an accident, flooded, etc, etc.

beckieann · September 2004

I currently lease a 1999 VW Passat and I would really like to get out of this car soon. I still have 19 months on my lease and I called today to find out how much the buy out would be and it is $12,941!

Which is a better option (because trading it in is not - I've already tried and they will only give me $6500)

1) Getting a loan through my credit union and buying the car from VW, then re-selling it to a private party in a few months when I don't owe more than the car is worth.

or

2) Keep the lease through VW and sell it to a private party (can I even do this?)

Thanks!

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