Hey hackers, I am at the end of a lease of a Chevy Volt (in southern California). And I am buying the car from the dealer I leased it from. All seems okay, they are charging me the residual plus tax, plus minor fees. (This is much less than other dealers, all of whom had much bigger fees in there).
The question I have is this: in the paperwork there are two DMV Bills of Sale. One that has me selling the car to the dealer, and another that has them selling it back to me. Both do not list a price.
Is this normal/appropriate? The dealer says this is how it’s done. Just wondering.
Good question. Thanks. And yes, I have. The 2022 just came in. Price today with all incentives (including Costco, education, GM loyalty, etc.) is $28,600 + tax (for an LT). Very good price, but I can have the Volt for 17,000 + tax. The Volt has 12,000 miles and still feels new to me. The 2021 Bolt was a better deal back in April and was still a pretty good deal last month but still pretty expensive compared to buying the Volt.
One strange thing – the 2021 Bolt selling price was 27k, the 2022 is 28k. But the lease was very different. 0 down + 282/mo for the 2021, 5000 down + 282 for the 2022. Makes no sense…
Thanks folks. I didn’t do it through GM Financial because a) there’s nothing on the website that says they can do it and b) it takes so long to get through to them. So I didn’t try. But because you all suggested it, today I sat on hold for 15 min and finally spoke to somebody.
I can pay off the lease through them with no fees. Amazing that all the dealers want more. But doing it through the dealer where I leased the car means that they take care of the tax payment and the transfer of title. So I don’t have to deal with the DMV. For this they charge roughly $100. At this point I’ve got all the paperwork filled out for the dealer – and I’m going to stick with it. It seems like a reasonable price to pay for simplicity.
As long as you’re paying just the residual plus fees, it makes sense to let the dealer handle it for you for $100. I hate the DMV. It sounds like a pretty good dealer. I wouldn’t put it past some dealers trying something shady like reselling the vehicle with a mark up.
I like the Volt - it has a pretty good electric-only range but is able to operate like a hybrid for longer trips. I also think it looks a lot better than the Bolt.
WRT DMV…I went out my way to NOT have to go to DMV…needed a VIN check for my 4xE Cali transfer.
Go to AAA office, told they can’t do VIN checks, but happy to renew reg once it is a Cali car.
Went to local Popo office: doors locked, press button to speak with a cop, cop tells me they won’t open the door, and haven’t done VIN checks in years (may be true, been about a decade since I did it there). Tells me the CHP office, about 10 miles away does them now.
Drive out to CHP office, door open, chippy behind wall of bulletproof glass. Explain I need a VIN check for OOS transfer. Looking confused, he asks if I have an appointment. With ‘no’, goes in back and returns with a huge binder. Flips through a binder and tells me earliest appointment is June 25th at 8 am. I grudgingly make appointment.
Return to town, notice a parking spot opens in the DMV parking lot and figure take a chance. No appointment (and appears you can’t make one online for a VIN check), so I wait about 15 minutes in line, get temp taken, and told to pull around back so the VIN can be checked. In and out with a VIN check in 20 minutes. Free.
Thanks for that. That’s pretty much my thinking. The new Bolt is just starting to appear. I could extend the lease and hope to get a better deal with a new Bolt, in the next few months. But I have to get this done now – the next few months will be very busy for me. So the Volt will be mine. I head out to the dealer in a few minutes.
