I’m in New York and currently lease Infiniti QX50 Autograph Edition 2019, 15k mileage @ $440/m. 2 months left until end of lease. I found the lease contract and it says that the end-of-lease purchase price is $34,500.
Given that the car is basically new (I mean, 15k is really nothing), I strongly consider to use the option of buying that car. Couldn’t find any used Autograph trims with such a low milage to compare the deal with the market price.
Please, any recommendations? This is the first time I’m thinking of buying a car.
I prioritize comfort. Autograph is a very-well packed trim. As for the binary choice, I think it actually is a binary choice. I got the car pre-pandemic, so the buy out price is cheaper compared to what I can afford today for $34,500. On cargurus, I can see that QX50 Essential (not even Sensory) trim is priced at $36-40k for the same year/mileage. It looks like I’ll make a gift to Infiniti if I won’t purchase the car, because Essential < Sensory < Autograph.
Just an FYI, If you decide to buyout, INFINITI might try to strongarm you into going into a dealership to process the deal and the dealerships MIGHT add $$$$ to make some money.
If you go to your original dealership they won’t. (or they might try but not succeed) Other dealerships will.
I HEARD that some people were able to buyout direct from INFINITI but take that with a grain of salt.
I don’t get it. OP has a lease contract with INFINITI and not dealership. INFINITI owns the car and not the dealership. Payoff should be provided to Infiniti as per lease contract.
Why can’t he just send the payoff to Infinity and get the car title?
It probably is a good idea to take 5 minutes and do so, just to baseline the market value of the vehicle. You can’t sell the lease directly to them, but you also don’t want to spend $35k if it’s only worth $30k.
Thanks!! I’ll update the post once get the numbers from carmax/carvana. My original dealership is a few blocks away from where I live, so if I decide to buy the car, I’ll walk straight to their office.
I would recommend shopping the buyout against multiple dealerships as well as bringing your original lease contract with you to rub their noses in the terms of the buyout. There have been a lot of reports of excessive dealer fees being tacked on to the buyout amount, including some extra inspection fees, etc. You’ll want to figure out who will do it the cheapest and particularly if your originating dealer tries to add on a bunch of stuff, point to the contractually agreed on numbers.
uh tax and title. Plus whatever your dealer charges you for a lease buyout. you’ll be in to the car for around 38.5 with tax. I’m not sure it’s worth much more than that. haven’t looked at many autographs.
so that’s where they’ll get you on some of the ambiguity. Infiniti adds the “vehicle inspection costs” clause into their leases that isn’t usually on there.
Expect to see the $34585 number plus $300 plus tax plus whatever gov fees for title transfer/license plus some nebulous inspection cost. It’s that latter value where dealers will add big fees to facilitate the buy out.
There’s a lot of other makes & models out there, it’s definitely not a binary choice. I’d definitely think twice about buying an Infiniti because it’s the only brand that didn’t really see much price appreciation in a historic used car bubble. A rising tide lifted all boats except one. Go figure.
Imagine when the tide turns.
You can have a Nissan or Infiniti dealer buy out the lease directly from NMAC/IFS, and hand you a check for any equity.
My thoughts exactly. This is coming from an Infiniti fan, but I’m not certain that it would be a wise choice to buy one out. They need to get their act together. They have the potential to make some great vehicles (particularly at the price point they’re at & we’ve seen it done before), but they’re always a day late to the game.
I mean, what’s the alternative in this specific case? For $34,500, there are literally no other cars that would provide the same comfort level. My wife is somewhat tired of Infiniti, so I do consider other brands, but I can’t find anything similar. Infiniti’s Autograph trims are beautiful. Other brands are significantly more expensive for similar interiors, eg stitched genuine leather, blue+brown alcantara, etc. I’m a huge fan of these type of things.
I like Genesis GV70/80. These models remind me of the same interior quality, but they are much more expensive.
Did you put money down to get to $440 a month?? I just leased a Luxe for 4-teens (effectively 370s/380s w/o tax) no money down except MDS. Shows you how much better leases were pre chip shortage, but it’s def possible to lease another today, just have to find a dealer willing to negotiate (and I recommend you do it yourself without a broker)
