Ok, here’s the deal. Mr. C leased his truck when he was living in Denver. Apparently in Denver you must own VERY LARGE
TRUCKS. Sadly, in the urban flatland known as Chicago, VERY LARGE TRUCKS…not so much.
There are 19 months left on the lease. We desperately need to get a smaller vehicle, something like a tank or maybe just a Toyota, but we have this VERY LARGE TRUCK that we are stuck with. Are we?
Is there a way to get out of a lease without paying an arm and a leg?
They want something in the neighborhood of 5K to let us out of this lease. Now, if we had 5K
we’d just get another car wouldn’t we?!?
HELP HELP
Have you considered buying out the lease and selling the damn thing? Of course, if you find a VERY LARGE TRUCK to be useless in Chicago, not many other Chicagoans are likely to need one, but the world is full of people who will buy anything, as evidenced by the Cadillac Escalade…
Sometimes car dealers have sales where they will pay off your lease. Read the ads and ask around.
You might also try talking to the finance guy at a car dealer that you are interested in about options they may have, but don’t expect to get a great deal on your new purchase.
I had an unfortunate experience with leasing a used truck once. My job had changed, and I was then making not-so-good money, and commuting aroung 80 miles a day in an F-150. The gas was killing me. (Take that line out of context ;))
Anyhoo, I bought a smaller car, had the dealer buy out the lease, and rolled the difference into the new car payments.
Granted, it would have been much better to sell it privately, which you could, in theory, do without buying out your lease up front. You would just make it known to the purchaser that you need to buy out the lease with his/her purchase payment. You can pretty much take the new owner to the dealership in question, hand them your buyout check, and sign the truck over to the new owner- give or take some paperwork.
However, if you’re the type (like myself) who can relegate the dollar loss to the deep, dark recesses of your mind in order to get yourself out of a bad situation quickly, then let me suggest going through the dealer. Keep in mind that you can offset some of your loss buy buying from a dealer or manufacturer that is currently offering VERY low interest rates on new cars. Myself, I financed a 2000 Neon at 0.9% for 60 months, which keeps the payments low, but draws out the term (obviously).
Two other points: some people will say that looking for a new car in the last two weeks of the month is better, because you can play harder-to-get, with salespeople trying to make monthly quotas. Also, when the new dealership calls you back unexpectedly to tell you that your leasing company is looking for touch in the amount of a few hundred dollars for an early termination fee, you CAN negotiate for the new dealer to pay it. Either the few hundred bucks means nothing to them in light of the larger purchase, or they’re (one of the dealerships) is just looking to squeeze you for a few more bucks and testing your resistance.
Um, when you lease, you don’t own the truck. You are more like renting it so I really,really don’t think you can sell it. Also, the leasing company has your name on the lease and they won’t be changing it so if you do get someone to take over the lease and they trash the truck or don’t send in the payment, they will come after you and only you for the money.
Taking it to a dealer and having them ‘buy out’ the lease or fold it into the next car will not get you out of the $5000 fee. It will only add the $5000 (probably more knowing car dealers) to your loan for the new car making you pay more for that car. This is a horrible situation to be in because when you get a new car, you owe more than it is worth as soon as you buy it and will not have a positive ‘net’ on the car till a few months before the end of the loan. Adding $5000+ on top of this means that you are REALLY, REALLY, REALLY upside down on the car.
You can go to a dealer and they will get you out…for a price…higher/longer monthly payments. However, research and keep your wits about you and question everything price-wise on the new car. Know exactly what every dollar you will be paying will be going for. People get complacent about monthly payments extending years in the future which means you are ripe for the plucking and car dealers will have many different ways to pluck you especially with your desperation to get out of the lease.
I personally would just keep the lease for the 19 months, saving nearly every penny of disposable income and cutting back on expenses and saving that as well so that I had a very, very large downpayment on the new car you will need in 19 months.
About leasing – There are many valid reasons to lease. However, they all pretty much apply to the well-to-do. The absolute WORSE reason to lease is because of lower monthly payments/can afford a more expensive car. Based on your OP, I would suggest you not lease your next car.
More preaching – If you buy a new car, You should put down a minimum downpayment of 20% on the car and take a loan of no more than three years in length. If you cannot do this, you are overbuying/getting too expensive of a car. If you can’t save up the 20% this means you don’t have enough disposable income to afford the car (to close to the ‘edge’ and life could whack you enough so that you cannot afford the car). If you can’t afford the payments on a three year loan then the car is too expensive.
Sorry if I sound preachy but have many friends with really bad financial problems and cars have really hurt them.
My cousin and her husband recently went on a “vehicle spurge.” (He’s an electrician, she’s a stay-at-home mom.) Last year he just “had” to have a brand new pickup truck. So he leased a Chevy full size truck w/ 4-wheel drive. Stupid! And he drives it to work everyday, which is about 40 miles one-way. Then a couple of weeks ago they traded in their two-year old Saturn and bought a brand new “Warner Bros.” edition minivan. (I suspect they got a 5 or 6 year loan.) Double stupid!! Last I talked to my cousin, her husband is working side-jobs in the evening. I wonder why?
I drive a 13 year old, 4 banger myself. It was my poor-in-college/grad school car. It also served me during my teaching phase when I wasn’t paid enough to afford a bicycle let alone another car. It also served me when I left teaching and started working in industry.
I’ve saved up enough money, through regular monthly ‘payments’ to a savings account, to afford a new Impala LS IN CASH. THE CAR WON’T DIE!! It won’t even find itself in need of a major repair in order for me to justify to myself to junk it. When I price it on web sites it has a value of around $275. IT WON’T DIE!! I take crap from co-workers, it’s starting to rust out and, did I mention, IT WON’T DIE!
It’s been a great car!! I can’t walk away from it. It runs, seems reliable and CAR PAYMENTS SUCK and it’s nice to have that money in savings, growing…
hrm… leasing sux.
but the new 0%apr, doesn’t that mean you can put as lil down payment as possible and still buy the car and it is better than buying it cash, as you are getting no interest charge. save that interest money and put it in bank/bonds and you get 2-5% more!
Go to a dealer for your brand of truck (Dodge?). Tell them what you want to do. Make sure they know that you know a dozen other dealers in the Chicagoland area for the same brand. Now, you’ll be stuck buying (never lease!) a Dodge or whatever, but it’s a thought.
(Companies like to encourage brand loyalty so they are more lenient on getting out of leases if you buy a newer car of theirs.)
While I can’t offer any advice in getting out of your lease, maybe I can on solving your problem…
First, are you in Chicago proper, or in the suburbs? I’ve seen big trucks in the suburbs all the time, and the 1500 isn’t that big, unless you put it next to a baby-Dakota. (And what I mean by “too big” is “to fit on the road”). Also, the truck may be a lot better for you in the heavy traffic, as in feeling a lot more secure (I insist on a large car for that very reason, and can’t stand being in trucks myself). By taking off the cover from the bed, it may look a little smaller, if that’s what you really, really want. And Chicago has crummy winters – the 4x4 will be nice.
If you’re in the city, I see the problem. Yuck! I’ll never go back unless it’s in a cab and I have a long book to read. It may be cheaper in the long run to hold on to the truck for trips, voyages to the 'burbs, etc., and rely on the public transportation for daily needs.
If you’re sold on getting out of the truck, sorry, but maybe I can convince you to save money by not doing it.
Any dealer who says they will “pay off” a car lease is LYING. “They” are not paying off anything, YOU are. They are merely allowing you to roll the balance onto a new loan.
I can’t speak for today, but when I bought my car a year ago there was tons of info on this very subject on edmunds.com.
Well, there’s a couple sticky things there. We’re out in the suburbs, and my job is about to have me in an outside the office position, in which I’ll be driving to different locations frequently. I’ve got a 5.9 liter engine, and get about 12 MPG in the traffic. That’s a painful hunka cash after you start filling the tank several times a week.
Additionally, parking is an issue with it. It’s tough to parallel park, and (I’ve found out the hard way) is too tall to fit into many garages.
I certainly feel more safe in it, and I love the power and 4x4 capability, but man, it’s just no longer economically or comfort-wise feasible.
You are stuck. You need to keep the truck for 19 months while making very sure you do not go over the mileage requirement, so that when you do turn in the truck you will be able to walk away with no balance.
If you try to trade in the truck or have your lease bought out, you are only giving the dealer another chance to make money off you.
It is almost never to your advantage to trade in a car. It only makes sure the dealer can turn two profits instead of one.
The three year loan guideline is right on the money.
Plus never buy a new car; get one with 10,000-20,000 miles. They are a much better deal
