Lease Questions - Ask Here

zscott1 · January 2001

Any ballpark numbers would be great.
Thanks again for your time.

w3dzine · January 2001

Recently I explored the Regional Lease page on Edmunds site ("http://www2.edmunds.com/edweb/rebates/index.html") and found that my state (NC)
has three regional programs for the 2001 Mazda MPV.
The one I have questions about is "2000/2001MY Lease Incentive; National w/o TX". For my options (2001/LX/39mths), the estimated monthly payment (before tax) is listed as $318. Then with my states tax (3%) it would be roughly $328.
When I went to the local dealership they aced like I was crazy and had never heard of subsidized leases and this program. Their original offer for 39 mths was $456. Then after increasing the terms to 42mths they arrived at their "best" deal of $423. [some specifics: the gross cap cost was 26013 due to retail price(24855 w/options), fees(563), and acq charge(595) and my Net Trade-in was $2998 as Cap cost reduction lead to a Adj Cap cost of 23014.98 ]
The money factor was quoted as .00463 which is approximately 11.12%
First, is this a good deal?
Second, where does Edmunds get there info? Because the car dealership said they would honor the special if I could get more details (ie.: prove it!)
Any help is greatly appreciated ! Thanks in advance!

sanddollar1 · January 2001

I cosigned with my daughter for a lease on a 99 Honda civic. she recently married and due to her new husband's irresponsibility, is about to default on the contract. can someone tell me if I have any rights or way out of this mess? the finance company has said it will go before a judge, is this just to repossess the car or are there criminal liabilities as well? thanks for some input.

CarMan@Edmunds · January 2001

Zscott1, last month in most of the country Audi Financial Services had lease money factors of around .00280 for up to 39 month terms on the 2001 A4. Furthermore, this car had residual values of between 52% and 58% depending upon the the exact trim level for 39 month terms with 15,000 miles per year. I have not seen the lease program for 2001.5 models yet. Also, keep in mind that these figures will probably be significantly different when you are ready to take delivery of your car.

Car_Man
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CarMan@Edmunds · January 2001

W3dzine, a lease money factor of .00463 on the Mazda MPV definitely is not a good deal. Although I have not seen this month's Mazda lease program yet, in most parts of the country last month this van had a lease money factor of .00247 for 39 month terms through Mazda Credit for credit Tiers 0, 1, 2, & 3. You should qualify for a similar rate unless your credit is in really bad shape. My suggestion to you is to shop around a little bit. It certainly sounds as though this dealership is not being very honest with you. Good luck.

Car_Man
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CarMan@Edmunds · January 2001

Ctorrey, I would be glad to provide you with some approximate residual values for the 2001 Audi A6 4.2L. Please note that a vehicle's residual values will depend upon how long you plan on leasing it for and how many miles per year you want to be allowed to drive without penalty. Last month a 36 month lease with 15,000 miles per year on this car through Audi Financial Services would have had a residual value of 57%. This month's figure is probably a percentage point or two below that.

Car_Man
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ctorrey · January 2001

Carman,

Sorry for leaving out the critical lease details for determining the approximate residual pctg on an '01 A6 4.2. Let me try again...

Term: 36 mths
Miles: 12,000

Thanks again for your help!

bottgers · January 2001

I have a '98 Intrepid which I leased for 5 years. I did this for a couple of reasons, it got me reasonable payments, and I intended to purchase the car once the lease expired. I have recently become very interested in purchasing a '99 or '00 VW Passat. This creates several problems. Because I chose a 5 year lease, coupled with the hidiously ridiculous depreciation of the Intrepid, if I trade, or even sell the Intrepid outright puts me in the hole several thousands of dollars. The only way I can see coming out of this thing even close to even is to find someone who is willing to assume the lease on my Intrepid. Isn't their any easier way to do this?

crystaltod · January 2001

The Dilemma: I have a 97 Chevy Blazer Lt with 74k miles that I owe $15k on and Carmax offered $8k. Im upside down and out of warranty with 3 years to pay. (payoff feb 03)

I'd like to trade in for a Toyota Sienna or Honda Odyssey. Because i'm rolling in Neg. equity i'm opting for a 60 month 15K yr. 10cent exc. mile fee. My beacon is 710.

The #'s are
2001 Toyota Sienna LE ($27,000)
Leather interior
No power sliding door but all the other options
Tow Pkg.
$540 month 60 mos. 15k yr.

2001 Honda Odyssey LX (MSRP)
No leather
No psd
no tow pkg.
$525 month

Im leaning towards the Sienna because of the Powertrain warranty. Can u tell me if either of these is a good deal? I tried to sell my Blazer in the paper and only got one call.

donnafitz · January 2001

The Audi A4 we have has less than half the miles allowed on the lease due to a job change. Since no credit or benefit is considered at the end of the lease term because of the low mileage, we're wondering if it makes financial sense to buy the car instead of turning it in. How does one go about buying a leased car? Do you negotiate with Audi Financial, the Audi dealer or must you pay the residual value stated on the lease (a take it or leave it kind of deal). I'm not sure how long we would want to keep it because of potential maintenance costs once the warranty ends. Thanks for any advice.

CarMan@Edmunds · January 2001

Hi again ctorrey. Thanks for the additional information. Given the fact that I provided you with the lease money factor for a 36 month lease, the factor should still be the same. However, since you only need 12,000 miles per year instead of 15,000 thousand the residual value should be 2% higher than the one that I posted earlier.

Car_Man
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CarMan@Edmunds · January 2001

Hi bottgers. I am sorry that I don't have any better news for you, but it is probably going to be very expensive for you to get out of your Intrepid lease at this point. When you agreed to lease this car, you signed a legally binding contract to pay Chrysler a certain amount of money over a specific period of time. They are going to want all, or at least the majority of this money from you, so breaking your contract really is not an option. You could probably buy-out this car if you wanted to, but given the high residual values that Chrysler Financial used when you leased it and it's rapid depreciation you are probably several thousand dollars upside down on it right now. Your only option that I can think of is to find someone to assume your lease and I have a feeling that you will probably have trouble finding any takers.

Car_Man
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CarMan@Edmunds · January 2001

Hello crystaltod. I am sorry to say that I really do not think that either of the leases that you described is a very good deal. It really is not a good idea to lease a vehicle for as long as you are looking to. If you opt for a 60 month lease, you likely will be charged a very high interest rate and will be locked into your vehicle for 5 whole years. During the course of your five year period your financial situation may change creating the need for a different or a less expensive vehicle. Furthermore, your vehicle's warranty will expire way before your scheduled lease termination date, leaving you personally responsible to pay for any necessary repairs out of your own pocket or face potential lease-end penalties. If you still feel as though a 60 month lease is your only option, you need to find out the exact MSRPs and Capitalized Costs of these two vans to get a good idea of what sort of deal you are getting. If you find out this information, I would be glad to let you know what I think.

Car_Man
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CarMan@Edmunds · January 2001

Donnafitz, although in the past most banks have stuck to their stated lease-end purchase option price it seems to me as though today many banks are more willing to negotiate lease-end vehicle prices as they are faced with a glut of off-lease vehicles. Of course, being able to negotiate the purchase option price on your leased vehicle is still the exception rather than the rule. Still, it's worth a shot. You don't have anything to lose by asking. You will need to call up the bank that you are leasing through to see if they are willing to work with you, because individual dealerships do not have any authority to alter your purchase option price. Good Luck.

Car_Man
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donnafitz · January 2001

Thank you CarMan for advice re: the negotiation process....could you also comment as to whether or not it makes financial sense to buy the car (because of the extremely low mileage). Would it be less expensive to buy the same car from the dealership after turning it in from the lease?

eagle63 · January 2001

Hey car man, question for you: my wife and I have a friend who has a '98 Passat that is coming off of a 3 year lease next month. he offered to sell it to us for the residual value. (which is something like $14,400) as I see it, when he purchases the car at the end of the lease, he will pay a sales tax which he will then pass on to us in the price of the car. then, we will pay a sales tax when we buy it from him. any ideas on how to avoid paying taxes twice?

crystaltod · January 2001

Thank You for your prompt help in this matter.
RE. Carman Please help.
Any recommendations for someone in my situation that is so upside down on a vehicle that is out of warranty. I haven't had any problems with the blazer, but I know that in the 3 yrs I still have left to pay on it, I'm going to start incurring problems. I considered leasing because the lower payment would help me absorb the neg. equity and not be much higher than what I currently pay ($455) thus the 60 month lease. Toyota Sienna has a 3/36 bumper2bumper and 6/60 Powertrain warranty. I really need some good advice on this since my Husband thinks we should keep the Blazer and Pay it off. I'd like to have something with more seating capacity and function as the kids get older. Also in direction in where would be the best place to look for leasing a minivan. Driveoff.com seems to have some good prices, about $500 over invoice.

Thanks
Crystal

gperr · January 2001

Car_man,

What are the current residuals and Money Factors for the following:

Honda Prelude (base) 5-spd
Honda Prelude SH
VW Jetta GLS V6 5-spd

24, 27, 30, 33, 36, and 39 months
all 12K miles???

Thanks
Gregg

crystaltod · January 2001

I received the Info on my terms,

I've ruled out the Odyssey because of the warranty. (3/36)

2001 Sienna LE
XTRA Value PKG
Xtra Mile option Pkg
Leather Interior
60 months 15k yr.
3/36 and Powertrain 6/60
$540 month

Cap $27,054
5,600 neg equity in Blazer
Money Factor .00320
$250 disposition
Residual $13,500

Please let me know what you think. I've looked at the numbers on the 48 month lease, and it would be more than what we are comfortable with.

Thanks Again
Crystal

blamb · January 2001

My current 24 month lease on a 1999 Ford Windstar SEL expires Jan. 16th. We are seriously considering another 24 month lease, but are finding a wide range of payments from dealers. Our current lease was $456 a month with absolutely zero down with the sticker at $31500. Any information you may have that would give me a ballpark figure on payments for a 2001 SEL would be appreciated. We are really looking for another 24 month with 12,000 mile annual cap. We were hoping the zero percent for a 60 month buy would come up again, but the dealers said that they have not heard anything. Currently, they are still at 4.9. Thank you.

jtonnison · January 2001

Carman,

My lease is about to end for the 1998 Expedition EB I had from new. I am looking to strike a similar new lease but the residuals seem to have moved dramatically. My lease documents show a 36 month 69% residual, and my lease payments reflect that. Current ALG residuals, and on-line quotes for the same model show only 49% residual, implying that I will need to strike a 48 month lease to get in the same payment ball park this time around. The MSRP hasn't changed much on the vehicle, so what am I missing?
Thanks,
jt

fkasten · January 2001

Would the SVT Lightning have a higher residual that a standard F150? Resale seems to be high on 1999 and 2000 SVT's. My Impala SS, which I bought, certainly has a higher resale than a comparable Caprice and I would think they appeal to a similar market (wanna race?). What would the residual be for 24 and 36 month leases - 15,000 easy miles/year

Frank

ayu91076 · January 2001

Thanks Car_Man,

I just got my 01 TL w/nav. today for $28,850 ($800 over invoice). with lease factor of 0.00385 from AHFC...NO ONE in the bay area or N. CA can offer me lower then 0.004, so this the best deal I can get. I scored 702 on my credit report but there is nothing I can do to lower my lease factor. Here is the deal:
$3400 total drive off (inc. $2,000 down + first mo.+ $450 acq. fee + tax on the down + Reg. fee)
39 mo. with 60% res. value, 0.00385, 12K pre/year.
$416 (inc. tax).

I think I'm getting a fair deal.

Thank you Car_Man for all your help.

Ayu91076

bluesky999 · January 2001

Hello Carman--I'm a rookie with a question or two. But first I'd like to thank you for providing these answers to people--it's a big help. OK, I'm narrowing my choices down--one that I'm most interested in is Chrysler's 300M. For my geographic region Chrysler has lease cash back of $5,000 until 1/22/00 for a 36 month lease, and the Edmunds TMV for the car I want (i.e. base car plus side air bags) is $28,453, which includes the $655 destination charge. I was told that this depreciates the car such that 47% of value is left after 3 years, but I'm not fully sure that's accurate info (it came from a car salesman). If you are familiar with Chrysler's leasing program, could you tell me what a good price would be for such a lease? I'm a little confused--for one thing the Edmunds TMV is equal to the invoice price--I thought it would be a little higher. Also, would I be right to assume that I'll get a better lease price if they use a lower cost (i.e. capitalization) for the car? And one last thing--do you have any hunches whether this "cash back" deal would extend beyond 1/22, or would I be better to jump before then (I don't really want to get the car until a few more months). Thank you very much for any help you can provide on this.

bluesky

tippi1 · January 2001

I am leasing a 1998 Eddie Bauer Ford Explorer. I owe 8 payments equaling $5,200 and I'm over on mileage by 28,000 at .12 a mile. I owe a total of $9,500.00. I'm in a catch 22 situation. Pay now or later. I was going to buy a 2001 Jeep Cherokee with $4,600 down and a 48 month lease payment of 561.00. Then decided to check out a lease of a Land Rover, with $5,000.00 down and payments of $632.00 for 5 years. I told the saleman that I didn't want a 5 year lease and would consider a 48 month lease. But the payments were $660.00 per month. What do you recommend? I have tried to sell my car, but the resale value is really low on Fords due to their tire crisis etc.

CarMan@Edmunds · January 2001

Hi everyone. I have been off-line for a few days as I moved into a new home. I am sorry that I could not respond to your posts earlier. I will try to answer all of your questions as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience.

Car_Man
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CarMan@Edmunds · January 2001

Well, Dona. One advantage of purchasing your off-lease car is that you know that you have taken good care of it, maintained it well, and know for a fact that it has never been in an accident. No matter how careful one is with a regular used vehicle purchase, there is always a little bit of uncertainty about how the previous owner treated your new machine.

It's tough to say for certain whether or not you would be able to purchase a similar used vehicle at a dealership or from a private party for less money. That will depend a great deal upon whether or not the bank that you are leasing through is willing to work with you on your lease-end purchase price. I suggest that you look up the Edmunds.com True Market Value for your current leased vehicle and then give your bank a call to see if they would be willing to let your purchase your car for less than the predetermined purchase option.

Car_Man
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CarMan@Edmunds · January 2001

Hi eagle63. That's an interesting question. I can certainly see your point. It doesn't seem right that you would have to pay tax on this car twice. I don't know of a way around paying tax on this car when you purchase it from your friend, but perhaps the bank that they are leasing through would somehow be able to let you purchase the car directly at lease end rather than having to go through all of the trouble of two purchases. It's definitely worth a shot. Give the current lessee's bank a call though and not their dealership. Individual dealerships do not have any authority to alter your lease end purchase price or process on their own. Good luck, and if you wouldn't mind please come back and let us know what the bank says. I am curious if they will be able to offer you some sort of solution to this dilemma. Thanks.

Car_Man
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CarMan@Edmunds · January 2001

Crystal, I hate to say this but I think that I have to agree with your husband about your situation. Your Blazer has not been giving you any serious trouble, indicating that it probably will not have any more problems than a typical truck of its age. If you opt to purchase or lease a new vehicle and roll over the large amount of negative equity that you currently have into your new vehicle you are just going to run into the same situation again down the road with your next car or truck. The Blazer's negative equity will make you automatically upside down on vehicles with even the best resale value. I can certainly understand that you want a larger vehicle as your children get alder, but if you choose to get one now it is going to be very expensive.

Car_Man
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leasenovice · January 2001

HELP! I am nearing the end of my 3 yr lease (March) on my 1998 Ford Expedition XLT. I have never leased before and am now panicking at all of the end of lease charges that are due and nervous about the whole process. I talked to the leasing company about what it would cost to purchase the truck...I was told to buy it now would cost me $23,000 today (which seems high from what I see in the papers and on carsoup.com). It has 38,000mi (under the 45,000 I'm allowed)...it has the 3rd seat and captains chairs, otherwise pretty basic and in good shape. My lease is $250/month (I traded an Explorer in on the lease). I would like to purchase a used Windstar SE with low miles. Here is my question? Is there any way to work with a Ford dealership on my situation that may put me in a Windstar before my lease is up (this month preferably) without penalty charges and end of lease charges? I am very hesitant to walk in a dealership before I have an idea of what they can actually do and what charges I can actually get out of...if I need to wait until March I will and just drop it off and go from there. Any advice on how to proceed?

CarMan@Edmunds · January 2001

Jt, you are absolutely correct about your the Expedition's residual values being much lower today than they were when you leased your vehicle several years ago. There are two main reasons for this huge drop in residual values. One is that recently many banks have incurred huge losses from over-estimating the residual values of the vehicles that they leased to consumers several years ago. To illustrate, last quarter Chrysler Financial had to take a $500 million loss against its earnings because of lease residual value exposure. Many independent banks that were big players in the auto leasing market have actually been forced to completely quit leasing cars and trucks because of the huge losses that they have taken. Making matters worse, the Automotive Lease Guide (considered by most to be the industry standard for lease residual values) recently made significant cuts in the residual values that it publishes for trucks.

The second reason why the Expedition has lower residuals now than it did a few years ago is that when you originally leased this truck it was a relatively new model. When they are first introduced to the market, new models almost always have high residuals that make leasing one attractive. As a model's design ages, its residual values will naturally fall.

My father-in-law is in the same boat that you are in. Several years ago he got a great lease deal on an Expedition, but when he tried to lease a new one he was getting quoted monthly payments that were one or two hundred dollars more than what he is currently paying for an similar truck. As a result he decided to finance a Dodge Durango instead.

Car_Man
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CarMan@Edmunds · January 2001

Ayu91076, congratulations on your great new car. I am glad to see that you found the information here in the Town Hall so useful. Enjoy!

Car_Man
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CarMan@Edmunds · January 2001

This is a general e-mail to everyone with questions about manufacturers' current lease programs. Given the fact that it is the beginning of a new year, every single manufacturers' lease program expired this month. As you can imagine, finding out information on these programs is very time consuming. Furthermore, many of the lease programs actually did not end until several days into the month or will expire in the near future. As a result, I have not seen the programs for most manufacturers yet. I will be happy to answer any specific questions about manufacturers' programs as soon as I have had a chance to take a good look at them. I should have seen most of the programs by the end of the week. Please check back with me then for answers to your specific questions about current programs. Thanks.

Car_Man
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abbah1 · January 2001

I just leased an SUV. A week after I acquired the car, the dealer calls and wants me to come in and sign a new document, as there "was a slight error on the lease calculation" After calling I find out they want to change the residual value, make it higher, but not change the payment. Can they do this? They claim they made a mistake in the residual, and the lease factor. I am happy with the payment, and if I allow them to change the residual, then if I choose to buy it after the 36 months, I would pay a higher price. I know there is no cooling off period if you pay too much for a car, and want to change your mind, but if the dealer makes an error, isn't that there loss? The finance person said if I did not agree to the new value, they would make me turn in the car, ( it now has a 1000 miles on it)..I do not see anything on the lease that says they can do this. What is your opinion? HELP!!

CarMan@Edmunds · January 2001

Hi abbah1. Given the fact that you have actually taken delivery of your vehicle, I highly doubt that there is anything that the dealership can do to you if you choose not to go back and sign a new lease contract. If they made a mistake and used a lower residual value than they should have to calculate your monthly payments, in my opinion it is their mistake and they will have to cover the difference that the higher residual value would have made in your payments out of their own pocket. It certainly sounds as though you do not wish to sign another contract. If you stick to your guns you may not have to. Please keep us informed about your situation, I am sure that we all would like to see how everything turns out. Good luck.

Car_Man
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jtonnison · January 2001

Re: post #232 Re: confused by massive change in residuals by Car_man HOST Jan 08, 2001 (08:59 pm)

Carman,

Thanks for the info here. I'm glad that I was at least understanding what I was seeing, although disappointed in the result. Appears that I will have to dig deep to get the same car again, or shop for something else. I never expected to have to take backward steps when leasing.

jt

gperr · January 2001

Car_man,

Congratz on the new home.

Can you please add the following car to my request under post #219 for residual/MF info for this month. I do understand that you will not have this info until the end of the week.

In case you don't scroll back, the info was 24, 27, 30, 33, 36, and 39 months and 12K miles.

Honda Accord 4-cyl Coupe Manual cloth

Thanks a million.

Gregg

steven328 · January 2001

I'm interested in a 12k, 39 month lease on a 2001 Lexus RX300. My local dealer is offering a 0.0038 lease rate and a 64% residual. Is there a better deal available?

artmbgolf · January 2001

Making the Residual higher would mean buying it at lease end is more expensive, but usually you would not want to do that anyway. The residual is usually inflated.

Raising the Residual, using the same money factor, will lower the lease payment, because of less depreciation. If they want to raise the residual, ask to have the lease recalculated, because the payment should go lower, which they may be trying to avoid. If they calculated your lease on a too low Residual, you are probably paying more than you should.

dspangenberg · January 2001

Eagle63. This can be done easily. But it has to be done and arranged by a dealer. Basically the payoff is made to the Bank or Lease Company as you normally would if you want to buy the vehicle, but they then release the vehicle title to a dealer rather than an individual. The dealer then sells the vehicle to the new owner and the sales tax is only paid once. Some banks will allow you to give them the name of the new owner, but most won't. I have done this several times when buying a new vehicle and wanting to sell the one coming off lease either to avoid paying huge over mileage fees, or making some money when the market value exceeds the residual.

The dealers that have done this for me have only charged a nominal fee for paper work, but probably since I was buying another vehicle from them.

Hope this was some help.

Dan

lggb · January 2001

I have a lease of my Grand Cherokee Laredo, I got it for 3 years, I have been paying for 1 year only, always on time, I have a good credit history, but unfortunately, I'm having finances problems, and I need to give the SUV back, so can you tell me witch is the best way to cancel my lease and don't affect my credit history.
Thank You Jerry

ctorrey · January 2001

Check out this link...

http://www.leasetips.com/leasing_scams.htm

In particular, the Free Bonus Scam: "The Call-Back Leasing Scam"

Stick to you guns!

bluesky999 · January 2001

Carman,

Regarding my post (#225) on the 36 month lease for a Chrysler 300M w/side air bags and $5000 lease cash back, I live in NJ (the Northeast Region). Thank you, and I hopefully look forward to your response.

bluesky999

KCRam · January 2001

Hi lggb

Sorry to hear you're having financial problems, but ending this lease early is NOT going to help matters. You are obligated to pay the remaining 2 years worth of payments if you trun the vehicle in now. Then the vehicle is evaluated, and if it is worth more than the residual PLUS the 2 years of payments, then you get a refunded difference. Without knowing the mileage or condition of your vehicle, nor the terms of your lease, I would estimate you will probably owe money to get out of this lease.

If you can tell us the mileage and equipment of your SUV, and the payments and residual value of the lease, either Car Man or myself can give you a much better idea of what it will take to terminate your lease.

kcram
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shellz · January 2001

I too am trying to decide where to end the lease on my 2000 Volvo S80 early as well. It's been a fairly good car, but there are just some persistant problems that the service department doesn't seem willing to take care of. The lease is for three years and the car's in excellent condition with about 26k miles on it. Can anyone tell me what kind of penalty I'm looking at paying to get out of this vehicle?

rzsess · January 2001

Hello all-
If you are looking to get out of a lease, what about the option of transfering it to another person? Some lease agreements won't alllow this, but if they do, you should be able to find someone to take over the lease if the car is in good condition. The new person will have a great car with no up front payment. I'd be interested in hearing what the lease terms allow for this.
Good luck-

bblaha · January 2001

I'm not a lease person (I prefer to buy) and so I'm not really sure of all the various differences that can be incorporated into lease contracts, like the ability for a 3rd party to take over the lease as rzsess suggests. When Kcram or Car_man has the opportunity to read your post they may have more advice to offer you.

However, I believe the standard method of getting out of a lease is to:

1)call the lease company, and find out what the current buyout amount is (this is a number that should be less than the sum of your remaining payments plus the end of the lease purchase amount). If you hand the lease company the buyout amount, they hand you the title.

2)Find out what the car is currently worth (or better, what an actual buyer is offering you)

3)The "penalty" to you then is whatever the difference between those amounts is. If a buyer is offering you less than the early buyout amount, you have to make up the difference out of your own pocket.

Hope this is helpful to you. There may be a more straightforward lease cancellation (have you read your contract?), but the method I've outlined is what I hear most people end up doing. Good luck.

CarMan@Edmunds · January 2001

Shellz, I am sorry to say that there will likely be a substantial penalty for trying to get out of your current Volvo lease early. I know someone who had all sorts of problems with their Volvo, but after considerable time and effort still was unsuccessful in breaking their lease and eventually just paid off their remaining lease payments in one lump sum to rid themselves of their problem car. This obviously is a very expensive solution. Of course, it is possible to try to purchase your car and then turn around and sell it on your own, but unfortunately this will still result in the possible loss of thousands of dollars. My advise would be to stick with this car for as long as you can possibly stand to.

Car_Man
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bretfraz · January 2001

I've done this with no problems but I went from a Nissan Lease to another Nissan Lease so they were willing to work with me on fees, deposits, etc.

Bblaha has it right that getting out of a lease can be alot like getting out of a finance purchase. But don't forget that your payoff amount will be based on the residual and most residuals are inflated to offer a lower payment. All in all, it can cost thousands to get out of a lease. Kcram describes a real important issue about how leasing companies calculate early termination penalties. Read the back of your contract very carefully and figure the penalties yourself. My Nissan lease contract included some serious language about early termination but my new Saab lease is kinda vague.

You have a contractual obligation. Sometimes finance companies will work with you if you are leasing or buying another car from them. If you want to walk away, your likely stuck unless you come up with $$$$$.

ace10 · January 2001

looking for the residual values on a honda insight (providing that that vehicle qualifies for leasing, due to its short history, low sales and questionable resale).

thinking about 24 or 36 months. the usual 12K miles and an approx for maybe 15K miles.

oh, and i must say that i am thoroughly enjoying seeing the leasing companies taking it in the shorts. i remember when the first explorers were coming off-lease with equity in them. the 98's and 99's coming off now must be upside down by at least $5K.

anyway, thanks, in advance, for the help.

ace

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