Infiniti lease buy out - $199 Safety Inspection Fee?

Only if you still have time to back out of the buy-out after they present the report.

I went into buy my Q50 and had that same fee but it was like 120$. They ended up refusing to sell me the car because of worn out rear brakes and tires. I was planning on selling it to Carvana so I didnā€™t really want to put more money into the car at the time.

Man did you get screwed. You paid $120 to try to buy out your car and then they wouldā€™t let you? Did you measure the tread? Itā€™s either legal or not. Did you not suspect they just wanted your car to sell? If the tread was legal you should of had your local mechanic check the brakes. If the tread was bad you are going to get charged for the tires anyway.

Again I am surprised folks go running to defend the banks predatory and/or protectionist practices. If they require an inspection you should be able to get it done at an independant shop. Otherwise it leads to abuse by unscrpulous dealers as our friend @TimC was most likely subjected to. Most states already require a yearly inspection and in PA that runs about $40. IMHO this is one of the more scummy things Iā€™ve seen the banks do. There is a reason manufactures can not force you to get your car serviced or fixed at their dealership. It inevitably leads to people getting ripped off.

They waived the inspection fee to stay on my good side. The tires were bad, no doubt. I already picked up a set of used ones for the lease turn in. I think they definitely wanted to persuade me not to buy the car and lease a new Infiniti.

When is your lease up? The car is either safe to drive or it isnā€™t. Do you really want to be driving around on bad brakes or do you think they were just screwing you?

Itā€™s definitely a junk fee, but calling it predatory is disingenuous: itā€™s not unfair to a particular class/person (everyone pays it), deceptive (itā€™s been disclosed up front), nor fraudulent.

Besides reading all my lease contracts ā€” I do my research, and I would have never leased with NMAC/IFS. But had I made that mistake, I would have know that buy-out at disposition has to take place at a dealership. Unlike a disposition, there is no guarantee they are getting paid on that transaction (eg if you BYO financing/check), so they are disclosing their terms to process that transaction upfront. The consumer is always in choice, and not singled-out for any reason.

You can call the captive whatever you want, but they are not processing the transaction, nor are they the dealership.

If you want this dealer to process a buy-out, their requirement is a safety inspection (which is both overpriced and more involved than the state inspection, for every one Iā€™ve ever received from any dealership, at any brand, in any state Iā€™ve lived). Itā€™s also something they would do for any used car they resell.

A smart hackr so incensed by junk fees, who thought they might buy out their lease, would have negotiated with their originating dealer to waive those if purchased ā€” and brought it back there in 3 years. Which again presumes they read the lease agreement and did a few minutes of research before they signed.

Any of the other amounts above $200 I agree are abusive, and I donā€™t like junk fees myself, but expecting the dealer to take a check and process your buyout for free is equally ludicrous to me ā€” itā€™s not a charity, it may not be the originating dealer, it may not be a dealer you ever serviced the car at.

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Although the debate over the $199 fee was interesting, IMO the big picture question is whether itā€™s wise to buy out the Infiniti at all.

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Yeah exactly. 2017-2019 QX60s seem to be one of the few vehicles you run to the turn-in office and hand in the keys. Assuming you checked KBBā€™s Very Good value number for your zip code, Carvana, Vroom, Carmax and Enterprise to get easy data points.

I have 40K miles on my 2019 QX60 Mani is Kool sub $300 special going back next March. It has no equity in a once for the ages gravity defying used car bubble.

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ā€œRising tides lift all boats.ā€ Except this one.

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So true. Although high miles (39/15 lease) kills any potential minor equity. I am curious how the OP thinks they have any equity in the vehicle - but we know zero details on what they are turning in.

I checked KBB and Vroom on 2019 Nissan Sentras and it books higher than what I paid in Dec 2018 OTD. LOL (HS kidā€™s car was totaled - not their fault a couple years back and did get about $1500 from Geico over what we paid 6 months earlier). Thatā€™s unrealā€¦

How can a 2019 Nissan Sentra one gen old model book for near MSRP almost three years later.

Thatā€™s exactly my question would be with my QX60 since $310 per months is very nice and anything else 3 row $450+ these daysā€¦

Even if it doesnā€™t have equity now or in future substitutes with $300 pmt vs all other that do have equity but needed higher payment.

Iā€™d keep driving it post-lease but I have no idea thus far their reliability issuesā€¦ Iā€™m sure Iā€™ll hear plentyšŸ˜‚

Extend the lease if necessary but donā€™t buy it and take on future resale/reliability risk.

I expect the broader 3-row SUV market to resemble what the Telluride market has been for the past 2 years: buying at MSRP is possible if you plan ahead, order and wait for X months. Buying off the lot for instant satisfaction will cost a big premium.

Iā€™m already planing to extend it to the max possible.
But I really donā€™t want to pay MSRP or MSRP+ā€¦

Iā€™m at 26K miles on a 39 month / 39K lease. Buyout is ~$30K after taxes and fees and Carvanamaxvrromshift trade in is around $31K.

Main reason we are keeping it is because we want a minivan and canā€™t find anything remotely priced even at MSRP (Sienna / Pac Hybrid). Plan is to ride out this car for 3-4 years and see what the market holds then. Suppose I drive it 20-22K miles in the next 3-4 years and get $18K for it then with $2K in brakes and tires my monthly still comes to ~$375 which is still at least $150 a month cheaper than any lease out there right now.

Interesting. So there isnā€™t really equity here to tap - maybe a tiny amount and that assumes after you pay sales tax and fees on the purchase.

You are making the case that buying a 3 yr old QX60 at residual value and then keeping and selling a 6-7 year old QX60 with ~55-60K miles beats your other current options including starting over with a different vehicle lease or purcahse. Rolling the dice on maintenance and used car market trends over the next 3-4 years.

In this case, guess you should make the most of the $199 potential inspection fee to make your decision

Like Max said above. The QX60s are one of the few SUVs on the planet that donā€™t have much if any equity to tap in the mother of all used car bubbles.

If a below market lease, are you able to extend your lease a few months?

There is about $4k of equity to tap but I can only sell it to an Infiniti dealer who will low ball me.

My minimum requirements for the next lease are: 7 usable seats, roof rack, adaptive cruise control, real/faux leather and Apple CarPlay. AWD highly preferred. Iā€™m not even sure $500/m will get me that in this market.

If you assume 36 months @ $525/mo lease + $350 dispo fee on old car + $350 dispo fee on new car + $500 allowance for lease end BS gets me to $20K OOP over 3 years. Thatā€™s still a lot of room for the Infiniti to break. Weā€™re also going to just drive our Tesla more and keep the miles off the Infiniti since it gets awful gas mileage.

Iā€™ve extended the QX60 lease to 11/1 but any further extension requires a PO for a new Infiniti. Plan was to get a Sienna but thatā€™s all but out the window with the Toyota production cuts.

This one hits close, Iā€™ve still got awhile (next march) for my qx60 but Iā€™m up on miles and could probably be even selling now. Iā€™m planning to buy a new car via Ford x-plan so at least that controls cost but damn Iā€™m at a crossroads, my qx60 is pretty lush and the VQ will outlast the transmission and the rest of the QX. Pretty sure this will be super depreciated after the bubble but when will that bubble end?!

Also of selling, whatā€™s infinitiā€™s moratorium on seeing it? Couldnā€™t sworn they wonā€™t buy it back within 3 months of lease being up? Also with the new model out next month, will it drop more since dealers donā€™t need it as much?

There is not 4K of equity if you can only sell it or trade in to an Infiniti dealer. So that isnā€™t real money you would be losing by turning it back in.

You will be buying the QX60 at residual value + sales tax. Extending the lease as far out as you can is a good move

Based on your criteria this may be your best decision but you are buying a 39-month old QX60 at residual value and not driving something new and under warranty (past 48 months).

If you are willing to plunk down ~$30-35K with taxes to buy out your 3 yr old QX60 then why are you limiting yourself to leasing options instead of considering a purchase on a newer SUV (Lexus RX-L, CX-9) that may cost less over the next 3 years with better safety features under full warrantyā€¦ That may end up the same or less out of pocket than keeping this one another three years and being stuck with a 7 yr old QX60 to try and unload in 2024/2025.

CX-9 isnā€™t the sale interior room. My neighbor has and rear door looks slanted so much that I think forget about 3rd row.

Donā€™t worry, they also forgot about the cargo capacity.