Last time I turned my Encore in, the GM dealer considered buying it from me instead of me turning it in. They said they could buy it at a lower cost than my RV was. They eventually decided not to. My question is this: Is this same option available to the dealer half way through the lease? I called GM and got my payoff. It is close to the KBB trade in value (about $800 more). If the dealer can buy it at a lower cost, I may be able to break even or have some slight equity. I would much rather trade it in than go through the turn in process. I am almost at my mileage and still have 15 months to go. I am only paying $104 per month, so only about $1,500 to turn it in now. So even at an $800 loss, that is still better than paying the remaining $1,500 and any possible damage assessments or disposition fee.
According to this article and the last time I turned in a vehicle, the GM dealer could buyback the vehicle at a lower cost than the original leaser or a third party store. I want to try to confirm that is still true and use that to my advantage.
You are still responsible for the remaining lease payments to my knowledge, so however you calculate that you may come out ahead. I misunderstood you the first time but I see what you’re trying to do.
Try asking some dealers for the brand of car you have. Buick? Hopefully one of them will be honest about it.
Don’t count on KBB trade in to be accurate- it’s probably optimistic.
You might get a better bid from Carvana or Vroom, anyway, maybe enough above the GM dealer bid to offset the possible discount the preferred payoff the GM dealer might get.
You should also ask GM Financial what the payoff is for a third party dealer to be thorough.
I know for a fact that they can purchase it at a specified GM buyout that is lower than the consumer buyout price midway through the lease. When my mom got her Equinox, she had two payments left on her old one and they bought it for the wholesale dealer price
If it’s some $104/mo tin can, how much lower could a GM dealer’s payoff be midway through a lease? I’ll bet their discount will increase towards expiration, but even then it might not be much on a cheap car. Let’s say a dealer gets a $300 discount, but Carvana or Vroom bids $800 more.
@chevysalesgirl or @chevyphil, any thoughts on this one? It would be a good thing to know, although us consumers are still at the mercy of finding a truthful dealer to sell to.
Yea you can call gm financial and get your current “pay off” and compare that to kbb.com. We do buy cars so people can get out of a lease. usually with some negative equity but if it’s less then the potential costs of turning it in after running up miles then its worth it.
Yeah, I get that…the original question indicated that a GM dealer gets a “preferred price” when buying a car that the lessee doesn’t have access to. Is this available to the dealership at any point in the lease, or only when you ground?
during the lease the buyout is higher. post-lease its just like an auction, but you get first dibs on it. inflated RVs do not serve buyout well though.
Yeah, I knew about the first dibs thing. It’s offered up to all GM dealers for a week or so if the grounding dealer passes it up before going to full blown auction IIRC.
