Lease Maturity Question

Ask the Hackrs
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1

Hi All,

I am currently leasing a 2017 Lexus IS 300 AWD coming due to maturity at the end of the month. I am leasing for 36 months, 10k miles / year.

I have, however, only used 14k miles thus far. Some questions:

  1. I believe any equity that may exist would be mine, and can be negotiated as part of a future lease - is that correct?
  2. If yes to the above, any tips on how to leverage these discussions? The selling price of my vehicle is 25k, so I strongly believe I have accrued equity.
  3. Can you recommend a good site where I can appraise the value of my vehicle?
  4. In the current (COVID) environment, would it pay for me to continue to hold my vehicle (i.e., pay an additional month) in the hopes that May will offer further incentives? Dealerships seem to be a bit stiff in terms of negotiating, but at the same time, I do not want to push too hard and forego future benefit.
  5. Any further tips you would recommend?

I have negotiated leases before, but never included a return with accrued lease equity, so any information would be appreciated.

2

There are a lot of threads on the forum covering most if not all of your questions, so get ready for some… feedback. I would delete question 5 altogether.

3

That doesn’t make sense. Is that your RV?

4

An incredibly easy way to get a reasonable value is to run your VIN through Carvana. In less than a minute they will actually give you a guaranteed value for your car. Well, that is if they are buying right now, which I’m not sure is occurring because of the current situation😩

5

The online players aren’t buying cars and/or will offer much less than just a month ago. Extend your lease and keep driving

6

Ditto that… if you’ve got tons of miles (and a reasonably good payment) on your current car, possibly extending could be a very smart decision. I hate to be a pessimist, but besides the Taco/Tundra mayhem, I think it may be a while until we see some truly smoking deals again :weary:. I’m happy all of my current leases go through the summer of 2021.

7

Correct - this is my residual

8

Appreciate the feedback

9

My payment is 365 / month on a 44k MSRP vehicle. Based on this, would it make sense to continue? Not driving much these days.

If I continue with payment, does this reduce the selling price should I choose to buy the vehicle? Also, do interest payments apply if extending?

10

You will have to call Lexus to see what type of extension structures they may be offering. From what has been posted on the board, it is definitely varying from company to company.

11

What people define as a good deal varies greatly on this site, but for that particular car, the payment seems reasonably decent. If it were a $44k BMW, it would be a different situation.

12

My guess (and it’s just that): with what’s going on you don’t have equity, or any that can be accessed, but confirm.

This really cannot be done on the web. Carvana and Vroom who were buying cars at those prices - aren’t right now. Everything else is a number on a screen. Someone needs to see it live to appraise it.

Are you planning on another Lexus? Is there currently any loyalty incentives? Do you need this car through this pandemic or not until after?

13

Generally Lexus allows you to extend up to six months

14

Not worth the headache. Ground it and move on or extend it and keep it. Below are auction results.

|Date Sold|Sale Price|Odometer|Condition|Engine/Trans|Exterior Color|Sale Type|

|4/9/2020|$21,200 |18,505|4.2|6G/A|Gray|Lease|
|4/7/2020|$21,800 |23,611|4.2|6G/A|White|Lease|
|3/24/2020|$20,900 |26,121|4.3|6G/A|White|Lease|
|3/24/2020|$22,400 |28,014|4.1|6G/A|Silver|Regular|

15

What makes you think it’s worth more than $25k?

16

The combination of the low residual and low mileage led me to believe there was potential accrued margin.

17

I appreciate the input – I will do some research and revert back.

18

When I walked into the finance office they told me they did a triple take at the vehicle’s selling price, as they thought it was a mistake! I think I made out quite well on this one! 0 down by the way (i.e., all taxes and fees were capitalized into my payment).

19

This makes sense – the market cuts both ways, that’s a shame!

20

That is honestly not abnormal when you are in the FI office. That is their time where they make you feel like you got a smoking deal, and since the payment is so low, would you like to buy these other things? :-).