2020 Buick Encore Upgrade to 2022 GMC Terrain

I have a second daughter on the way so now need to fit two car seats in the back. I’m also very tall. My current 2020 Encore doesn’t have enough room. Dealer said they could upgrade me to a 2022 GMC Terrain SLE (MSRP 31k) which would be their cheapest thing to get me adequate leg room for me and my daughter. I am 18 months into the 39 month 10k miles/yr lease, but have less than 10k miles. They are crediting me 22k for my car. I can swap cars with zero cost at signing and get into a new 39 month lease at for $400/month. Currently paying $260/month. I’m looking for feedback on if this is a reasonable deal.

Thank you

What’s the buyout vs the trade in value? That is your equity and they are using it as a down payment / cap cost reduction from what it looks like.

I would get trade in quotes to get a realistic market value of the car.

Can’t get any idea if this is a good deal without all the inputs like money factor, residual, MSRP of vehicle, and selling price of the vehicle.

No, this is akin to walking in blind and will probably result in a disastrous outcome. For you.

Don’t talk to any dealers until you’ve valued your Encore across multiple platforms and then seen what your equity should be.

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Options to be bought out of a GM lease are limited. I would reach out to other GM dealers in your area, and/or contact some of the brokers here who handle GM, for other quotes and to determine how much equity you should be carrying.

My bigger issue is the Terrain is a pretty awful lease value right now, it’s only carrying a $2250 loyalty rebate Where-as Acadia has a $5000 loyalty rebate – I would look for a base Acadia SLE (MSRP around 37K pre-incentive), it should work out to around the same payment as a Terrain.

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Thanks for that recommendation. I looked into it more and actually prefer the Terrain over the Acadia. I got the lease down to $360/mo, which is $100 more than I pay now and worth it to me. The Tasca Buick/GMC in Melbourne Fl has done a good job of earning my trust, so I’m at least FEEL like I’m not being taken advantage of.

To be blunt, it doesn’t matter what you feel. Their job is to make you trust them and maximize their profit. Like Max said, walking in blind and accepting their word as fact without checking for yourself is a bad decision

It seems like you’re happy with the deal and the level of detail/insight into the numbers that you have, so congrats on the new car and the new addition to the family!

May I ask why you prefer the Terrain? Having a second child comes with having a lot of “stuff”. Not only is the Acadia (or Traverse) a better lease value, but it would provide you and your family more space.

See this thread regarding the Traverse:

Have you sat in both vehicles with a forward facing/rear facing car seat behind you? Are you familiar with seat back failures and the effects on children sitting too closely to front seats?

I refuse to cramp my kids behind a front seat. I am
6’8” which requires my family to have two large vehicles.

Scary to read that article. Almost preferring ignorance at this moment. It does make me feel better about upgrading to at least have more leg room and more mass on my side. I don’t think it will impact my vehicle choice, but I will drive even more conservatively. We have a Honda Odyssey for most kid transporting. I can’t park on the street and my garage will already be super tight. A wider car would mean parking behind my wife’s car and doing a shuffle when she needs to get out.

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The Acadia is 75.4" wide, compared to 72.4" on the terrain. How wide is the Odyssey? Also, how you might feel about a particular offer/deal is irrelevant without having a complete breakdown of the numbers involved. From the (opaque) looks of it, it sounds like they “found” another thousand dollars to add to your trade in value. How many more thousands might there be? Hard to tell without getting additional offers for both the existing car and the new one, preferably as separate transactions.

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