Early termination or buy the car and sell to Carmax? (Honda)

[kdayma153]

Hey all, looking for some advice on my lease situation.

I’m a year out of of my Honda lease and trying to decide the best route financially since I’m moving out of the country. Would it be better to just turn the car back in to the dealer, or buy it out first and then sell it myself?

I’ve heard there can be equity in the car depending on market value vs. residual, but not sure if it’s worth the extra steps and potential hassle.

Has anyone gone through this recently with Honda? Would appreciate any insights on which option typically comes out ahead.

TY24 Honda Civic Type R; 10,300 miles used out of 30k miles.

[max_g]

@kdayma153

Civic Type R

Private party will probably generate the most equity

[Umar]

If you’re not coming back to the US for at least 7 years, you can always walk away from the car and not make any payments. Let the bank repossess. An option.

[j_e_f_f]

@kdayma153

Has anyone gone through this recently with Honda? Would appreciate any insights on which option typically comes out ahead

That’s going to be entirely variable depending on the car, deal, market, etc. Just because someone may not have had any equity at the end of a CR-V lease in CA doesn’t mean you won’t on a Type-R in NJ.

Are you moving now or in a year’s time? You just have to run the numbers and see.

[ApexHunt]

Isn’t Honda Financial one of the lessors that says you can only sell it to a Honda or Acura dealer or a dealer that has a Honda or Acura store under their umbrella?

Get a few buyout offers from area Honda or Acura dealers and see where you stand in comparison to your current payoff.

[trism]

Many lessors have a function on their servicing site to generate a payoff quote.

Get a couple of online valuations (Carmax, Carvana, etc) to ballpark current value.

If it looks like the right play, get several more offers for the car, or as already mentioned sell it private party.

We’ve sold four cars ourselves, at varying price points and breadths of appeal, and if properly priced it shouldn’t take long to find a buyer.

[LeaserOC]

@Umar

If you’re not coming back to the US for at least 7 years, you can always walk away from the car and not make any payments. Let the bank repossess. An option.

This is horrible advice.

[paranoidgarliclover]

@j_e_f_f

Type-R

Yeah, I imagine that potential equity in a Type R might be very much worth the hassle….

[jeisensc]

@trism

Get a couple of online valuations (Carmax, Carvana, etc) to ballpark current value.

List of places to sell or value your car online

For the quickest results: Copy your VIN to your clipboard and just paste it into each site. Quicker than plate lookup. Enter “I own the vehicle” where applicable — you don’t need to get into the details of your lease payoff or loan balance until you’ve eventually chosen one entity to sell to. Use a Google Voice or some other device you can turn off at will. Otherwise your real phone will be bombarded initially. In alphabetical order: Buyer Name Direct Link Review Link AutoCo…

[LeaserOC]

https://www.driveway.com/ might be your best bet. They should be able to directly buy it out without you purchasing it first. From there you can decide if the hassle of a private sale is worth it.

[Umar]

Its an option. If the person is underwater by an excessive amount- and doesn’t have the funds- OR will not return to the USA in 8 or more years. Then it is the best FINANCIAL advice.

Morality and ethics only apply to suckers in terms of Finance- Big banks and corps don’t care. (Unless the negative press is too much.)

But I’d be interested if you’d be willing to help the fellow out and pay him by covering any losses he may have- for that would be “right” thing to do.