So I just traded in (or thought I did) my leased 2018 Ford Explorer with three months remaining on the lease to a local Chevy dealer to lease a new vehicle. I signed all the paperwork on 3/17 and got a frantic call from the Chevy dealer today saying Ford leases require me to purchase the vehicle through Ford and cannot trade it in since I am within 120 days of lease end.
I see nothing in my Ford lease that states this 120 caveat and I also don’t see anywhere specifically forbidding a 3rd party from paying it off. I’m waiting to hear back how Chevy wants to proceed but logically what are my options here? It seems to me that Chevy is screwed because they sold me a car and are unable to buy out my Ford so technically I’m also still leasing the Ford. I have no intention of paying anything extra in this deal and I’m pretty sure enough time has passed to where Chevy cannot cancel the deal, but since I agreed to give them the Ford, what are our options here?
Since my Explorer is worth more than its residual value, it seems my only option is to purchase the Ford outright and then sell it, but since I’ve already “traded” it in this seems like a mess.
There have been several recent threads about the inability of a third party to buy/pay off a vehicle leased from Ford during the last 120 day period of the lease. If I recall, this prohibition was discovered before the vehicle was traded in/sold, so they did not discuss what would happen if the deal was already “done.”
The fact that the lease does not specifically mention the 120 day requirement probably is not going to help you here. The lease presumably says any transfer requires Ford’s written consent, which I assume was not given here. Likewise, the lease presumably gives you the right to purchase the vehicle, but does not give the right to anyone else to purchase the vehicle.
Looking at the lease, it basically says I can purchase the vehicle for the residual value plus taxes/fees, plus any remaining payments. Everyone keeps saying I could have traded it in prior to the 120 day period but my lease agreement makes no reference to any 120 day period whatsoever, so I’m confused where people are getting this from.
My question is if I signed a power of attorney with Chevy, why couldn’t they just pay Ford on my behalf? I’m waiting for a Ford lease specialist to call me back but this is clearly just a cash grab by Ford because even if I were to get a new Ford, they have zero incentive to give me more than the residual value in trade in because I’m forced to give Ford my car back anyways or purchase it outright.
I still haven’t heard back from the Chevy dealer but it’s looking like they’ll eat the cost as they should have known all of this and not taken my trade in or made the deal. It’s definitely an interesting and ridiculous situation to be in.
Ford does not even allow their dealers to purchase the car in the last 120 days. You will not have luck in the Chevy dealer buying the car. You are the one that needs to purchase the car from Ford, you will have to pay the tax etc, in addition to the payoff price.
If you decide to purchase it takes place at a Ford dealership. They will add an additional convenience fee or something in additional to the buyout. It will take awhile to get the title as well. I purchased a lease out from Ford and it took about 1 month to get the title in Arizona. My brother-in-law wanted the truck, otherwise I would have just turned it in. It was a hassle.
Well this will definitely be interesting then. I only purchased an ugly Chevy Bolt because I got a great deal so I’d have no issue taking my Ford back and getting something else but I’m curious of the legalities here. Clearly Chevy doesn’t want this crappy car back as they could barely sell it to me and now it would likely be classified as used so they will do all they can to keep the deal together. But if Ford wants me to buy the car, I don’t see any way to salvage this deal.
Chevy did mention eating the cost here since they gave me $1,500 in equity which I assume means restructuring the deal to take out the trade and having me turn my Explorer in to Ford, but then that basically gives Ford free money, which after this I really don’t want to do.
I’m curious if Chevy could take the money they were going to eat and give me an even better deal on my Bolt, then I could get a quick loan to “purchase” the Explorer from Ford and then immediately trade it to Chevy. What an absolute pain in the ass for a shitty Ford policy and a stupid Chevy dealer that clearly doesn’t know competing manufacturers policies.
And for the record, I understand I should know what my lease says but even rereading it I still don’t see where this 120 day policy is and it’s ridiculous I have to personally purchase the vehicle myself, even when I’ve given someone power of attorney to act on my behalf. It’s also equally ridiculous Chevy doesn’t know how this works and allowed me to trade in a car I’m apparently not allowed to trade in.
It may be better to view this not as Ford prevents you from selling their car in the last 120 days but rather they extend the courtesy of selling their car up until then.
Remember, you’re renting their property. They have no obligation to allow you to sell the car to anyone, ever. The only obligation they have is to sell it to you, per the contract.
Now, the GM dealer should have verified they could actually purchase the vehicle before hand.
What’s ironic is the Chevy lease paperwork wording seems even stricter than Ford’s, but I’m told you can trade in a Chevy lease. The only other lease I’ve traded in was an Infiniti and that was easy to trade it in for the equity. Every other lease I’ve turned in at lease end.
What other manufacturers have crazy requirements not clearly described in the contract so I can avoid them next time?
With this, what is the functional difference between me purchasing the car from Ford and immediately trading it in to another dealer versus just trading it in and allowing the other dealer to pay it off per the lease contract? As far as I can tell it’s just a money grab to lock you into Ford vehicles and get additional doc fees. It’s pretty much a dick move causing headaches for their customers and punishing them for not being loyal to one brand. I’m honestly surprised I hadn’t heard of this before today.
Frankly, we have been hearing this a lot on LH, especially the last 12 mths.
Having restrictions in place is not unique to Ford. Others like Audi/VW, allow a third party buyout but the buyer will pay a “market value” rate. Which means, anyone other than the lessee will pay more.
If you lookup the Carvana/Vroom/Carmax/etc threads, you’ll see all of this and more.
The difference is the contract allows you to buy it. It doesn’t allow another dealer to buy it out.
It’s a cash grab in that the bank wants to maximize their value for their property and are only selling to you because that is part of the original contract.
Anyone that allows you to sell to a third party is extending a courtesy that they’re not required to extend.
Thanks for posting this. I’ll try this today. If it works it highlights how stupid this policy is by Ford because now unless I can get a killer deal, I’d never purchase another Ford. Plus I still can’t find any mention of this policy in my contract besides where it says I can buy it (only implying no one else can, but all leases seem to say this so not sure why Ford is special in this regard).
There are many companies that have limitations as to who they will allow you to sell the vehicle to (insert all the “why can’t I sell my lease to Carvana/Carmax/etc” threads here)
