I have 8 payments totaling $3,296 left on my 2016 Hyundai Sonata Sport lease ends on 12-26-18. I have 6,500 miles on the car and I’m taking it into the dealer for an evaluation on trading it in. The way the lease termination program works is they add the $3,296.00 that I still owe on top of the MSRP price and then apply any rebates or incentives to that price. My goal is a smaller car with a lower monthly payment. My current payment is $412.00 a month. I didn’t do a very good job with my last least. This is probably more of a fact finding trip unless I found a car I like and the deal made sense. Any advice on this approach? Lot of rebates but maybe I should wait until December? Thanks for any help.
That sounds stupid. Just go get a rough idea on how much is worth via KBB or Carmax, see how much you owe on the car (residual + the 3296). If you are close to break even, you might be able to just get a new car and move on. You might get lucky as you overpaid for the car and have very low miles.
Best bet would be to take it to multiple places one being CarMax if there is one around you. They will most likely be very interested in your car with so few miles and offer way more then anyone else but maybe not. First thing you want to find out is the residual value on your current lease, add the $3296 and hope for an offer close if not more then that number. Who knows if so few miles you may be better off then your thinking but that if obviously dependent on many factors.
Thanks for the advice. At the best I will be negotiating off the MSRP with the rebates going to what I owe. Or just wait until I’ve paid it down more and wait for more great rebates.
So alone just adding those payments to another lease would be $91 plus and interest. Take it to see what people will give you for a buy out otherwise I would wait and do better on the next lease.
Thanks. The residual value of my lease is $14,095.00 and my remaining payments are $3,296. I’ve seen cars like mine on Carmax and KBB priced higher than the $17,391.00.
You’re conflating several issues into one. Start just with your current car. Call Hyundai finance or whoever is carrying the lease and ask them for the dealer lease buyout number (should be close to residual + remaining payments, but not always exactly). Then go to Carmax or similar place and focus solely on selling your current car. If the offer is equal or greater than your payoff, sell the car on the spot. Then show up at the new car dealer and negotiate the new deal free and clear of any trade in. If you try to swing both the trade in and the new car in one deal with one dealer you are very likely to get hosed.
Thank you for the advice. You are absolutely right and that is what I’m going to do.
Definitely try KBB’s instant offer. I was able to get $3000 more than what Carmax quoted when I sold my Tahoe last month. Not saying you will get a better offer for sure but it is worth a try. Keep in mind that the dealerships that receive the offer still have to look over your vehicle and decide if they want to honor it.