Lease Questions - Ask Here

CarMan@Edmunds · November 2004

Hi galant00. I believe that a dealer discount of around $1,400 is necessary to arrive at the lease payment that Nissan is currently advertising on the 2005 Pathfinder 4WD. So if you were to get this truck for $2,000 below MSRP it would cut the down payment that is necessary to arrive at the advertised payment by $600 to $1,070. To be honest with you, it is in your best interest as a consumer not to make any sort of capitalized cost reduction when leasing. Consumers are free to lease any vehicle that they want without making any sort of down payment. At lease signing, most consumers are required to pay their vehicle's first month's payment, a security deposit of that payment rounded up to the nearest $25 increment (I believe that NMAC is waiving its security deposit requirement with this advertised lease), a lease acquisition fee (which with NMAC is $550 in every state but NY), and any down payment that you want to make (ideally this would be $0).

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

pacerfan_11 · November 2004

Hello Car_man:

I am currently evaluating a lease offer on a new 2004 Infinity G35 Sedan. Here is the offer from the dealership:

MSRP: $32,070
Final Negotiated Price: $29,474
Residual: 55%
Lease rate: 3.96%
Sales Tax: 6%
Term: 42 months
Monthly Payment: $384 (including taxes)

Due at signing: $550 (Acquisition Fee) + $450 (Security Deposit) + $384 (First Payment) = $1384

What are your thoughts on this offer? Do you think the selling price (dealership said this is at invoice) is reasonable considering '05 models are out and we are at the end of '04? The dealership has around 12 '04 sedans on their lot, but they would not go below the price mentioned above, so I am a little curious. Thanks a lot for your time.

samnoe · November 2004

Hi everybody,

I have a 2002 Ford Windstar, the lease ends Jan 23, 2005. However, since i have now some problems with it I would like to return it as soon as possible and lease a new one (actually a balloon payment - whatever it's called - I'm in NY). I will not take another Ford now, so I guess it will not be easy for me to return the van a month or 2 before the lease ends.

And since this is my first lease, I would like to know what to expect at the dealer when returning my van. My van looks very nice, but coming closer you'll notice many small scratches. Also in the inside, some of the panels are scratched lightly. Besides that everything is in perfect condition. Mileage will be lower than 36K (I'm allowed 1000 miles / month).

Will the dealer charge me for that? I think there is a program up front which reduces the fees by lease end up to $1000 or $1500?

Anyway, my questions are a lot. I would like to hear from some real experienced people what surprises to expect, and what else - which is not mentioned in my return guide - I should be aware of.

Thank You everybody.

getsmart · November 2004

I currently hold a Lease through Ford Motor Credit on a 2002 Lincoln Navigator @ $700/month. The lease expires in April 2005. We have been contacted by Lincoln about an early re-lease option to re-lease a 2004 or 2005. Up front this looks like we would take on a new lease now and not need to pay out the remaining 4 to 5 months of our original lease. A 2005 Navigator MSRP is about $58000. The residual value is about $27000. At the present time, they are quoting a monthly lease of about $880. Does this seem correct or am i being penalized for taking the early re-lease option?

angela26 · November 2004

Thank you CarMan...would it be wiser for me to sell it to a private party and payoff my lease? If so, would that mean that I also have to pay the taxes for this sale, or could it be a transfer of title? I'm confused (ugh...) I just want to get rid of this car and get back into a little convertible.

Thanks again for your advice!

willjohnson33 · November 2004

My 2001 Corvette lease ended a month ago and it was through BankOne. I asked them numerous times when we were going to have an inspection and they said that they didn't do them anymore. Now I just got a bill for 422 of "excess damage". Do I have any options? The most annoying part about this is that I had to buy brand new tires a month and a half before I turned the car in so they are already getting a huge benefit there.

Thanks

mdx_fan · November 2004

Thanks for the response Car_man. I was missing the $595 aquistion fee from my calculations.

novice2 · November 2004

Dear Car_man,

Can you explain your remark:

Vehicles' residual values are based upon a percentage of their full MSRP including the destination charge plus the MSRPs of any options that CAN BE RESIDUALIZED.

How to figure out that the option/package can be residualized?

A dealer was explaining to me that banks calculate residual values as percentage from base MSRP plus destination charge, without options. And then the options are added separately in some special way. Is it true? It does not seem to match your description, where the residual percentage is applied to full MSRP.

Thank you in advance.

alex123 · November 2004

Numbers below are being charged by a NJ BMW dealer:

1st month: $ 717.54
Security: $ 750.00 (unless you have a current lease with BMW)
Bank Fee: $ 525.00
DMV Fee: $ 261.00
Total: $ 2253.54

Does this look right?

turbotorque · November 2004

CarMan:

Thanks for your help on the Passat GLS. I was able to close a deal within hours after you had posted the numbers. This is the second car you've helped put me into. If I could buy you a beer, I would.

The low low low GLS money factor is essentially 0% financing on a brand new '05 model with an attractively-priced purchase option at the end.

I would encourage anyone who is thinking of making a move on a Passat or other ridiculously discounted vehicle to jump on it soon, as interest rates and car prices are sure to climb as the economy improves.

CarMan@Edmunds · November 2004

Hello pacerfan_11. Let's work up a sample lease payment on this car and see what we come up with. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2004 Infiniti G35 Sedan 2WD with an MSRP of $32,070 and a selling price of $29,474 through Infiniti Financial Services right now for 42 months with 12,000 miles per year, your zero down, pre-tax monthly payment should be right around $353. With this lease, at lease signing you would have to pay this car's first month's payment, IFS' acquisition fee of $550, and a security deposit of your payment rounded up to the nearest $50 increment. The selling price of this car looks reasonable to me. It is probably right at or slightly less than dealer invoice. That means that toe bulk of the profit for this deal comes from the $500 dealer cash that is available on leases of this car through IFS.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · November 2004

Hi samnoe. Unfortunately, you will not be able to turn in your leased Windstar several months early without having to make your remaining payments. As far as the turning your vehicle in at the end of your lease goes, Ford Credit has a very detailed section of its Web site that describes its lease end process and how it inspects vehicles at the ends of leases. You definitely should check it out. It will answer a lot of the questions that you have. Here is a link for your convenience: Ford Credit - Lease End Process. It is difficult to say whether you will be charged for excess wear and tear when you turn your leased Windstar in, but judging from your description of it I probably would say that you will not.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · November 2004

Hello getsmart. You don't happen to have your shoe phone on you do you, my cell's battery is dead

. Let's hop into the cone of silence and talk about your deal. ( I know, enough references to a TV show that I wish I wasn't old enough to know about already

). A number of automakers, especially domestic manufacturers, run early lease termination programs from time to time. These programs essentially allow consumers who are currently leasing certain models through their captive finance companies out of their deals several months before their scheduled termination dates if they purchase or lease another one of its products. I am not personally aware of any sort of early termination program that is currently being offered on the Lincoln Navigator, but that does not necessarily mean that there is not one. If this is an official Ford offer, then there's nothing wrong with taking advantage of it because it will not hurt your bargaining position any. If this is not an official pull ahead offer, but rather a solicitation from a specific dealership then it probably will hamper your ability to get a good deal on your next car or truck because the dealer that you are working with will have to bury the cost of your truck's remaining payments in your deal, or at least take a large portion of its proceeds from your deal and use them to pay off your lease.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · November 2004

You're welcome, angela26. If I was going to still be linked to the lease if another individual took over it, I personally would be very hesitant to transfer any lease that I had unless I knew the person that it was being transferred to very well. If I had to get out of a leased vehicle, I probably would rather purchase it and then sell it on my own. The problem with doing so is that in addition to paying your vehicle's purchase price (which is often higher than its current value on the open market), most banks want their lessees to also make all of their remaining payments if they decide to buy their leased vehicle. As you can imagine it can be fairly expensive to purchase leased vehicles well before their scheduled termination dates. I am sorry to say that there really is not any easy way for consumers to get out of leases early. If you let someone assume your lease, you may put yourself at risk if they default, and if you purchase your leased vehicle and try to sell it you could end up spending way more than it is worth.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · November 2004

Hi willjohnson33. Unfortunately, banks do not look at certain aspects of leased vehicles that are better than they should be, such as being under the allowed mileage or a brand new set of tires for example, and use them to offset excess wear and tear in another area. I am not all that familiar with BankOne's lease-end process, but it seems strange that they would tell you that they no longer do inspections of vehicles at lease-end. How else can they tell if your car or truck has excess wear and tear? One would think that someone obviously inspected your leased Corvette at some point and you should have been involved in the process. If I was in your situation, I would place a call to BankOne and ask them exactly why you were assessed this penalty.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · November 2004

No problem, mdx_fan. I am glad that I was able to help you out.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · November 2004

I sure can, novice2. Most OEM options and packages on vehicles that are leased through captive finance companies can be residualized, other than for leases through Toyota Financial Services. In most cases, this means that all of the options that the vehicle that you are interested in has should be included in its MSRP for the purpose of calculating its lease payment. The only items that might not be included are things such as non-factory wheels, a non-factory spoiler, etc... IF Infiniti Financial Services calculates lease payments differently than this, I am not aware of it, but that does not necessarily mean that it doesn't. If you don't understand how your vehicle's lease payment is being calculated, ask the dealer that you are working with to walk you through it. If their explanation does not satisfy you, you are always free to shop around with other dealers.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · November 2004

Yes, alex123, the money that is due at lease signing on the vehicle that you are interested in looks right to me.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · November 2004

You're very welcome, turbotorque. I wish that I could take you up on the beer offer. Too bad you can't just pour it into your CD ROM drive

. You're right, the money factor that is available on this car is amazingly low. This is a great time to lease the Passat that you got. Congratulations and enjoy!

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

pacerfan_11 · November 2004

Car_man,

Thanks a lot for the information. I have a couple of additional questions if you don't mind. Here they are:

1. I forgot to mention that the G35 lease is for 15,000 miles per year. Do you mind running the numbers again to see if you arrive at the $384 figure I was quoted by the dealership?

2. Do the numbers (e.g. residual, money rate) I posted look accurate for the month of November?

3. You mentioned the $500 dealer cash is where the dealership is making their money on this deal. Do you think there is any chance that the dealership will come down from the $29,474 selling price if I wait until the end of month due to the fact they have so many '04's on their lot?

Thanks again for all of your help. You do an excellent job on this forum!

CarMan@Edmunds · November 2004

You're very welcome, pacerfan_11. So this is a 15,000 miles per year lease, huh? I based my earlier calculation on 12,000 miles per year because that seems to be the option most frequently chosen by consumers. According to my calculations, this car's 42 month, 15,000 miles per year, zero down, pre-tax monthly lease payment should be around $360. Infiniti Financial Services current base 42 month lease money factor for this car is .00165. This is equivalent to an interest rate of around 3.96%, which is exactly what you were quoted. The residual value that you were told is right on the money as well. It is difficult to say whether or not this dealership will be willing to sell you this car for less than the price that you have already been quoted. The only way to find out for certain if you are getting the best deal possible for your area is to comparison shop with a few other dealers to see if you can beat this price.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

novice2 · November 2004

Thanks for the prompt answer Car_man!
Actually I am shopping for 2005 Toyota Sienna LE, and I joined G35x discussion thread just because my search in message board (for "residual" and "options") brought me to your response. I am not sure if the lease we are discussing with dealer would be provided through Toyota Financial Services. This is a 39-months lease, 15,000 miles per year, sale price is $24,630 and
MSRP = $25,295 - for vehicle without options
MSRP = $26,711 - for vehicle with AP (LE package #2) and CF.
Other dealers and www.leasecompare.com were usually estimating the residual value for 39 months lease slightly over $16.000, which matches 60% of $26,711 = $16,027.
But at Toyota dealership I was quoted residual of
$15,352.
Now I also remember dealer telling me that the residual value is capped by Maximum Residualized MSRP (MRM), and that's why it is lower.
Is there any chance I can convince him to bring the residual up to 16,000?
Thanks in advance.

CarMan@Edmunds · November 2004

No problem, novice2. Banks' residual values are what they are and individual dealers to not have the authority to alter them so you would be spinning your wheels, so to speak, if you decided to try to get them to raise this vehicle's residual value. The main areas that you should focus your negotiation on are this van's selling price, and to a lesser extent its lease money factor (dealers can not lower banks' published factors, but they do from time to time mark them up to add additional profit to deals).

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

willjohnson33 · November 2004

Thanks Carman. Do you know how I can fight this? I called them and they said they can't do anything about it. I asked to speak with the supervisor and have been hung up on by the person who was supposed to "transfer" me to the supervisor. I'm sure if I don't pay they are going to mess with my credit so I want to fight this before it gets that far.

Thanks

CarMan@Edmunds · November 2004

You're welcome, willjohnson33. The first thing that I would do if I was in your situation would be to place a call directly to the bank that you were leasing this car through and speak with them about the excess wear and tear charge. If you feel as though they are not enforcing the wear and tear assessment policy that was laid out in your lease agreement, you then should escalate your complaint to a manager. If push comes to shove, it would be a big help if you had actual photos of your vehicle to back up your claim that their assessment of it is unreasonable. The worst thing that you can do is just ignore this charge. If you do, there is a very good chance that you will end up with a black mark on your credit.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

pacerfan_11 · November 2004

Car_man,

Thanks again for your help. I have one additional question and I will leave you alone. :-) I followed your advice and got a quote from a couple of other dealers in my area (well, not exactly in my back yard). However, I am really confused by one of the quotes. I was quoted an interest rate of 4.9% (.002044 money factor) by one of the other dealers. My original quote included a 3.96% interest rate. I am located in Indianapolis (as was the dealer I received the first quote from) and the second dealership is located in Chicago, IL. The dealership in Chicago told me that the money factor for Infiniti varies by region. Is this true? If not, what evidence can I bring to the table to show this statement is false? Thank you very much for your time.

dburke · November 2004

I want out of my 48 month lease with Chevy Chase Bank. I am approaching 24 months and no longer want to drive my 2003 Ford Expedition. I know I will have to pay existing payments. What is the best way to approach a dealership. C.C. has explained to me to exit the lease I just need to get the payoff minus sales tax if traded into a dealership. How do I approach a dealer wit this and not say the wrong thing to get ripped off?

bfriedman1 · November 2004

How can I tell if I'm getting a good deal on a lease. The deal on the table is 2005 Explorer XLT - sticker price of $37,185. It's a 36 month lease with 15k miles/year, $2500 out of pocket and a monthly payment of $408. Thanks so much for any insight.

warpack · November 2004

Hello Carman,
Thanks for the numbers on the Audi A4. Can you please provide me with the current money factors and residuals for a 2005 Maxima both SE and SL on a 36, 39 and 42 months 12K lease.
Thanks
John

masn · November 2004

Carman,

I know that the special that Nissan has right now for this SUV is $309 (see Edmunds incentive link)with 12,000 miles per year, I want to know how much will be the same lease package with 15,000 miles. The dealer told me that it will be $30 - $40 more but sounds to me to high. One more question, the insurance will be the same if I buy the car? and the last one (promise) What will be a fair int. rate for a beacon score of 660?

Thanks for your help, Marco

tampaboy · November 2004

Looking to lease a 2005 STS V6 with a luxury package appox. $44,000 retail for 36 months with 12,000 miles. How does $569.00 plus tax a month sound with zero out of pocket? Can I do better?

fishhead · November 2004

i have two more lease payments and when i contacted the dealer about planning for a 2005 lease he said he could get me into a new lease this month and would get me out of the last 2 payments.

When i went over the new lease numbers, it seemed that he put the 2 last payments in there somehow.

If i am returning the car early with less mileage than planned, shouldn't i not have to pay those payments.

is it common practice to say - we'll eat those payments and then still hide them in the new deal or is there no way of avoiding it?

Help is greatly appreciated

keeferb · November 2004

Hello Car_man,

Can you give me the money factor and residual for the 05 Pathfinder? 3 yr/45k.

Thanks in advance.

CarMan@Edmunds · November 2004

No problem, pacerfan_11. While some of Infiniti's incentives do vary by region, its money factors definitely do not. Infiniti Financial Services has one national lease program. I don't know why you would need any evidence to show the salesperson that you are working with that there is only one national lease program, they know that is the case and now you do as well. In fact, I would go as far to say that I personally would rather not do business with someone who had lied to me.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · November 2004

Dburke, as you already seem to be aware, it is going to be very expensive for you to get out of your leased Expedition two years before its scheduled end. In order to do so, you need to purchase it from the bank that you are leasing it through and either sell it on your own or trade it in on another vehicle. In addition to doing this, the bank that your lease is through may want you to make all of your remaining payments on it. Trading in your leased Expedition should not be any different than trading in any other vehicle. Decide what you want to replace your truck with and figure out exactly how much money you want to pay for it. The comparison shop with a few dealers that sell that type of vehicle. While comparison shopping find out how much they will sell you the new vehicle for and how much money they will give you for your trade. The go with the dealer that offers you the best overall deal.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · November 2004

Hi bfriedman1. You never mentioned the selling price of the truck that you are interested in leasing. This is an important number for you as a consumer to know for two reasons. First, the selling prices of leased vehicles can be negotiated, just as if you were paying cash for them. Without knowing the price of the car that you want to lease you don't know how good a price you are getting it for. The second reason is that one needs the selling price of a vehicle that they want to lease is that it is necessary to calculate its lease payment. I would be more than happy to work up a sample lease payment on the car that you are interested in for you so that you can compare it to the payment that you have already been quoted if you let me know what its selling price is.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · November 2004

You're welcome, John. Here is the information on the Maxima that you are also considering. If you were to lease a 2005 Nissan Maxima SE through Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. this month for 36 months with 12,000 miles per year, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00162 and 55%, respectively. The numbers for otherwise identical 39 and 42 month leases should be .00199 / 52% and .00162 / 51%. The 36, 39, and 42 month 12k numbers for a NMAC lease of a 2005 Nissan Maxima SL are .00162 / 56%, .00199 / 53%, and .00162 / 52%.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · November 2004

Hi Marco. If you were to lease the 2005 Pathfinder SE 2WD that Nissan is currently advertising with 15,000 miles per year, instead of 12,000 miles per, it would raise the payment from $309 per month to $316 per month. As you can see, the difference in payment is only $7 per month, not the $30 or $40 per that the dealer that you spoke with told you. Perhaps they were using your need for additional mileage as an excuse to try to bury additional profit into this deal.

It will not cost you any more money to insure a leased vehicle than it would cost you to insure one that you had paid cash for, IF, and that is a big if, you were to get the same level of coverage on both. The banks lease vehicles to consumers often require their lessees to have lower deductibles and collision insurance that many people would not normally carry on their own.

Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp.'s current base lease money factor for the aforementioned lease is .00170. This is equivalent to an interest rate of slightly over 4%. I am not positive, but I believe that you will qualify for NMAC's lowest money factor with your credit score.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · November 2004

Greetings tampaboy. You never mentioned the full MSRP of the car that you are interested in leasing. This is an important number for you as a consumer to know for two reasons. First, the selling prices of leased vehicles can be negotiated, just as if you were paying cash for them. Without knowing the full MSRP of the car that you want, it is difficult for me to see what sort of a discount you are getting. The second reason is that one needs the MSRP of the vehicle that they want to lease is that it is necessary to calculate its lease payment. I would be more than happy to work up a sample lease payment on the car that you are interested in for you so that you can compare it to the payment that you have already been quoted if you let me know what its MSRP is.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · November 2004

Hi fishhead. The only way that you can get out of your current lease two months early without having to make your remaining payments is if you are getting another new vehicle from the same manufacturer and it is running some sort of early lease termination program. More than likely, this is not the case. If not, then someone will have to make your remaining payments, whether it is you on your own or the dealer that you are working with burying them in your next loan or lease. It would be in your best interest to wait until the scheduled end of your current lease to get a new vehicle. If you don't then any dealer that you are working with will either use some of the proceeds from your next purchase to make your payments for you, hampering your ability to negotiate the best possible deal, or they will bury your payments in your next loan or lease.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

stacey_burke · November 2004

If a husband and wife are on a lease and one dies is the lease ended or does the surviving person have to continue this lease?

Sorry for such a question, but I'm sure it has happened before and it may happen with my parents in the next year. Thanks for the help

tampaboy · November 2004

Sorry, Car Man ,
The msrp is $44,300

CarMan@Edmunds · November 2004

I am sorry to hear about your parents' unfortunate situation, stacey_burke. Your best bet for an answer to this question would be to place a call directly to the bank that they are leasing their vehicle through. If I had to make an educated guess though, I would say that most banks will probably hold the surviving spouse responsible for making the remaining lease payments rather than just let them out of the lease.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · November 2004

Don't worry about it, tampaboy. I'm here to help you understand which pieces of information are important and which ones aren't. Community members leave this sort of information out of their posts all the time. Let's work up a sample lease payment on the car that you are interested in so that you can compare it to the deal that you were quoted. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2005 Cadillac STS V6 with an MSRP of $44,300 and a selling price of $44,000 through General Motors Acceptance Corp. right now for 36 months with 12,000 miles per year, its zero down, pre-tax monthly payment should be right around $647. As you can see, something does not add up here. I suspect that you are being sold this car for less than the $44,000 that you mentioned in your first post. I would think that you would be able to get this car for at least $2,000 below its MSRP before taking any of the available incentives into account. In some areas, GM is providing $1,000 lease cash on this car. This would drop the selling price to at least $44,300 - $3,000 = $41,300. This new selling price would drop the monthly payment for an equivalent lease to around $567.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

rjg91083 · November 2004

It looks like I'm about to get hosed. The timing belt just blew in my 02 Audi A4 (78K mi) and it looks like I'm stuck with the repair bill just before I turn it in. The good news is the car is valued at about $5000 more than the buyout. Asside form this problem I've been happy with the car and before it had seriously considered buying it. Any recommendations?

kyfdx · November 2004

If the car is really worth $5K more than the buyout, then you are in much better shape.. You can buy the car, fix the engine, and then sell it to recoup part of your expense..

But, I would be amazed if this is the case.. Cars are rarely worth more than the residual.. Especially 3-year-old cars with high miles.. I'd check really close on the value of your car.

regards,
kyfdx

rjg91083 · November 2004

Thanks kyfdx. The True market Value (TMV) from Edmunds is $17,420 and my residual is $12,300.

rjg

jsrowe · November 2004

Thanks for the info on the '04 Arc numbers. The dealer just came back to me with numbers, which seem outrageous to me.

'04 Saab Arc, MSRP $34,280
2 year / 12k (The numbers you provided were 15k)
Residual: $18168 (works out to 53%)
He's "discounting the price to $33,000"
He's giving me $500 from a trade
Assuming 7.5% tax rate for a payment of $687.44

3yr/12k: $564.68
4yr/12k: $496.07

My questions are these:

1) Is it reasonable to count dealer holdback (3% works out to $914) when negotiating cap cost? I took invoice - holdback - lease cash + 1000. Does this allow the dealer to profit? His adj cap cost is $32,500 and mine is $26,685 (with part of that being a $500 difference in trade-in value)

2) Shouldn't the residual be HIGHER for a 12k lease than for a 15k lease?

Thanks,
jsrowe

masn · November 2004

Thank you CarMan for your fast response, I have one other question. Nissan is advertising this special with a MSRP of $29900, can I negotiate that? (like i'm buying it) and if I get a fair price (arround $28000 let say) and w/out the $2k at signing how much will be the payments? Sorry for all this calculations, thank you again for your help.

Marco

steine13 · November 2004

"The True market Value (TMV) from Edmunds is $17,420 and my residual is $12,300."

That's nice, but edmunds et al. are notorious for overestimating the value of high-mileage vehicles. Post the particulars of your car over on real-world trade-in values, using the template provided as a guide, and don't mention the engine damage. You will likely get a very good estimate of your car's value in the market. And you will likely find yourself much nearer $12 than $17.

BTW, what is the recommended timing belt change interval for the A4? If it's 100k, they might help you out...

-Mathias

Lease Questions - Ask Here

Comments

Helpful Tools

Most popular vehicles