Dealer wants me to buy out lease

My dealer called me recently and wanted to chat about me doing the buy out early on my lease after I was in for a service.

I’m about a few months short of a year left on my 3-year lease. He claims it’ll be more beneficial for me as I’ll be paying principal and not just depreciation. I figure I’m missing why he wants this, just to have more financing he’s brought in? It’d up my payment about 80 bucks if I did it per his numbers. Any thoughts on this friends?

I do have a fair amount of add-ons on my truck like camper shell, wheels and tires, and some racks. I was planning on buying it out at the end of the lease.

Thanks for your advice.

What financing rate is he offering vs what you can get otherwise?

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Dealers play these games all the time. My wife and been getting letters from the Mazda dealer where we leased here car since she had 2 years left on the lease. They said they need her car very bad because it’s in huge demand and they would pay us TOP dollar. It’s bullshit. They just want to get you in the dealership and hope you roll in some negative equity and don’t notice.

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This case is a little different. The dealer doesn’t want to buy OP’s car, the dealer wants OP to buy his own car, which is indeed odd if they just called out of the blue.

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I am not going to justify what the dealer is doing at all, it may or not may not be the right choice for you.

However from the dealer perspective we try to hit different objectives each month. While I have never reached out to a customer to get them to buy their own car off lease. (I want you to lease from us again… and again… and again…).

That dealer might be needing to bump their financing numbers. Or even have you buy the car back from them certified pre-owned if they are chasing those this month. Or perhaps its a way to get you in the door and then just bump you $80 a month for another lease.

From your perspective, as you are planning to buy it out… It’s almost always better for you to wait to lease end for several reasons. Of course without knowing all the details I cant be certain.

Good luck!

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Assuming you’re planning on buying the lease out, the things I’d want to know are:

What APR is the dealer offering?
What APR can you get otherwise?
What is your current buyout?
What is the current market value of the car?
What is the MF on the lease?
Are you in a state that taxes on payment or did you pay tax up front?

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Don’t worry about the dealer’s desires in this, they’re irrelevant.

It’s pretty easy to do the math:

Essentially: what is the buyout today and cost to finance? Over what period are you financing?

What is the same if you wait until disposition and buy out then on the same terms?

What are you saving in lease payments?

The numbers will tell you if it makes sense now or later. Nobody here has that information, and the dealer is offering to do it for you because they want to bump the financing rate and possibly CPO the car and sell you a warranty.

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Thanks for the replies everyone! I’ll look at the math and make a call this weekend.

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I don’t want to sound like a salesmen rn but Its getting tougher to buy a used car at our auction (Mannheim) alot of people are overbidding there so we are trying to get more trade ins to retail than from the auction.

Dealerships reach out to customers with leases expiring because they have to do something (return, buy out, extend, sell elsewhere). They are trying to either sell you the car or have you get into a new lease. You may or may not have negative equity. It isn’t some dirty sales tactic; The dealership is following up with previous customers who are likely to be in the market within the next few months. My dealership moves about 20 units a month from repeat customers.

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OP says they’re “a few months short of a year” left. So 9 months early? Doesn’t make much sense to me.

Yes - for the purpose of customer retention it is not uncommon to start 6 to 9 months out to establish yourself as the person who can assist the customer. Some choose to make a move early, other wait until 2-3 months, some wait until the end.

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@HondaSoCal do you guys refer to this as “working the service lanes” also? My experience is if you’re in for service, assuming you didn’t purchase there and your salesperson still works there, a salesperson might introduce themselves in the service waiting area or follow up right after a service appointment. The good ones will continue after making that connection (eg I’ve seen hand written cards). If the customer hasn’t been in for service recently, the CRM might tickle someone 2-6 months out to warm up that relationship. In a well-run sales department.

I’m pretty familiar with this practice, but have moved after most of my leases, and have been surprised that not one salesperson in any dealership I’ve serviced in worked the service lanes and followed up with me.

Whatever the reason, I’m glad to hear @thecackster is going to run the numbers for themself and make a decision.

Yes we have someone specifically who talks with service customers to see if they are interested in upgrading. Most of the time it comes from the service adviser when the car is on it’s last leg and not worth fixing.

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