Nice!!! You got a screaming deal too! Thanks a bunch - a ton of useful info.
Obviously people can do whatever they want to do but this method should be thought of as a purchase hack. Purchasehackr ™. That is, if you plan on leasing then lease. I don’t think people should debate the benefits of owning or leasing after the sale based on which will cost less. I think this “hack” should be used by someone who plans to purchase from the get-go. Many times incentives are far better to lease than they are to purchase and if you plan on paying cash or financing a car purchase from the beginning, this is way to take advantage of the higher lease incentives but still owning. Most people just don’t know about it.
Stick with your lease if your original intention was to lease and don’t worry about the marginal dollars and cents. The lease you got was a great deal.
Just a tip for others, that this should be a method people use if they already plan to own. Owning comes with it’s own headaches (as you mentioned prdp).
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Agreed, @Irongunner.
In the case of @prdp’s deal, another factor to consider is depreciation. My hunch is that the actual value of the MDX will be lower than the residual on which the lease is calculated ($24,912). Carvana is paying less than that for a three-year old MDX right now, and a full redesign is on the horizon.
Consider buying it out if that was your intention all along – to keep the MDX for a long time. But if you’re only keeping it for 3 to 4 years, sticking with the current lease is lower risk and less of a hassle.
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Thanks @michael!
Just FYI… I did check my car price on Vroom when I was at 500 miles and they offered $36k. However at 700 miles Autonation offered $31k. Considering these offers, I highly doubt that anyone would pay more than $25k (residual amount) after 3 years of usage.
The redesigned new body MDX is reportedly going to be unveiled and then offered in late 2021 (my educated guess, not based on any facts from Acura!). I expect that MDX to climb atop mid-size luxury tier immediately making it a very sought after vehicle meaning that Acura will be tough on any aggressive deal making for at least a year when most of these current 2019 leases will be expiring therefore offering an interest option for the current lessees as to what to do, as to whether to buy out and assume the challenges of ownership or to return and lease the new model / something else.
Of course the above prediction entirely depends on the future economic conditions and its environment post a 2021 U.S General Election and the state of the Global economic market. All being equal, I agree with some others that the sweet spot to be in the positive rather than negative on the current MDX models (2019) is in the 5-6 years lease & ownership range as opposed to 3 years which will translate to a buy out at some point before the end of one’s lease.
And you didnt flip it for 3k+ profit? 36k-32.5k? Rinse and repeat.
My payoff was $35,700 + $1700 (DAS) which I already have paid. So no net profit and of course I love my ride. 
First of all: Wow this thread is the first I every created anywhere that has surpassed 100 posts. I now feel my life is complete 
Second: Maybe we all can wait 3 months before pulling the trigger on paying off the car? I could care less about the dealer. They are literally con artist, thieves and liars. I know…I used to work at one. If too many people start doing this little hat trick it won’t be long before lease agreements include language to thwart it somehow. The dealer doesn’t care if the OEM and their captive finance company get screwed, but they do care a lot if they get screwed and will find a way to stop consumers.
Third: I’m excited to try this tactic later this year on a Jeep. They have some pretty aggressive lease offers out there. I will definitely study Leasing 101 before giving it a try!
Now onward to 200 posts lol !!
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What % discount before incentives are you guys seeing on new 2019 MDX (AWD if that matters)? I have perused through several posts and seen as low as 6% and up to around 14%? Is there a sweet spot that you’ve noticed dealers seem to cave at?
Secondly, in the lease-then-buy space: If you can get a killer discount is it more advantageous to do so on a base (lowest MSRP) unit or a loaded up (highest MSRP) unit?
In my region, here are what the incentives look like (I am not a current Acura leasee fwiw)
Base: 54% residual w/ $7825 incentive
All other trims: 52% residual w/ $8800 incentive
Thanks!!
Mark
That is actually a very common myth. You don’t pay more interest in the beginning of the loan as in they front load the interest. The interest you pay is the same percentage across your entire loan. Since the principle is larger you pay more interest in the beginning. As the principle decreases the interest goes down since your principle is decreasing.
I never said you pay a higher interest rate. I know it’s the same rate throughout for a fixed rate mortgage, but ‘volumetrically’ more of your payment is interest earlier on than later as your ‘current’ principle balance is higher early on and diminishes over the term of the loan as some portion of the payment, is principle (obviously excluding interest-only loans). You’re basically saying the same thing I was.
You’d be surprised how many people I’ve talked to about this that thought the interest was “front loaded”.
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Yea good point. I agree with you on that, so many misconceptions. I even had a friend try to argue that getting a longer term and then paying the same payment (meaning an overpayment as principle on the longer term’s payment) as a shorter term (assuming same rate) would pay off the loan faster than the shorter term… Tried to explain to him that’s not how it works.
This is a really interesting post.
Like others have mentioned; the “trade-in” value is likely going to be less than the RV at 36months from the lease. I’m wondering if there would be any equity in the vehicle at 48 months.
I picked up a 2020 MDX w/Tech last month $470/mo including tax so-cal.
My buyout with 34 months remaining is ~38.5k (tax not included). I suppose if I borrowed $40k to payoff @ 3.8% over 7 years my monthly payment would be $543. Loan balance after month 36 = $24.6k and after month 48 = $18.9k.
Well as I write this it looks like it would be pretty close to market trade in value.