I’ve bought 10 new cars in my life, but have never leased so I’m not sure my usual schtick will work as well in terms of negotiating. I apologize if some of this has already been covered, but I could use some help.
The situation is that my old Subaru needs more work than its worth and unfortunately has brake problems that I simply will not fix as I am so utterly disgusted with Subaru’s unwillingness to honor a recall on a brake line issue that almost killed me. I’m mortified to admit that this POS needs to be towed to the dealer. The trade-in, however middling in value, is unfortunately essential to the deal to lower the monthly payment. Not a good look, I know, but that’s life.
Question 1: I’m looking for a 2019 Tacoma Double Cab 4x4 Off Road. The residual, MF and incentives are strong, but am I shooting myself in the foot (in terms of payment/overall cost in a lease situation) by not waiting for the 2020’s to come out in a few weeks? Will the residual be much better on current model year (i.e. 2020)?
Question 2: I know when buying to never lead with the trade. In this case, though, the trade is essential to the deal and is kind of a pig in a poke. As I mentioned, horrifyingly, the car needs to be towed in. Anyone ever been in this unenviable position? If so, how did you approach it, short of hanging your head in shame and wondering where it all went wrong?
Question 3 – I never set foot in a dealership until I’ve worked the deal out ahead of time, so do you simply negotiate all the factors of the lease the same way you would the MSRP in a straight purchase?
I need to be rock solid on the deal before I commit to a dealer, particularly as I only hope to tow this damn thing but once. That said, there are so many moving parts its hard to pin down any kind of apples to apples value, which makes this already inane transaction that much more aggravating. Your help is appreciated.
Numbers change every month, I don’t think anyone can predict for sure.
This forum highly encourages not to put money down on a lease. Trading in to the same dealer is more something that you need to do to maximize tax benefit when buying. If you’re leasing with no money down, it doesn’t particularly benefit you much to work with the same dealer who you’re leasing the new car from. In other words, you can get buyout quotes from multiple dealers, carmax, vroom etc. and sell current car to whoever offers you the most. You’re likely going to get auction price.
Pretty much, research MF, residuals, reasonable discounts on the forum. Then negotiate over email. Leasing 101 pages on the forum should help.
I doubt any dealer will give you a decent offer on a car that can’t even be safety driven to the dealership. If it’s a must to trade-in, good luck with the negotiations as just negotiating w/o a trade-in is tough already.
you need a safe car now. Don’t worry about 2020s and residuals, that’s why you lease.
don’t put any money down to lower the payments, otherwise you are taking on risk if car is totaled (discussed in great detail elsewhere on site). If your budget doesn’t allow that, lease something cheaper
sell that POS as-is privately and keep it out of the deal. When it’s sold you can use that $ toward lease payments
You may need to consider something cheaper for 24 months until this is all sorted out, then get your dream taco next time around.
Funny acecdote. I sold my sister’s ‘97 forester with 220k on Craigslist for $1800. Car was a rusted out basket case but ran and drove. Legit easiest car sale I’ve ever done. First day I listed it I had 10 serious leads and someone bought it without even driving it. Just came, looked at it for a minute, paid cash and left.
No doubt! It’s a Subaru. Someone will see his as a HUGE deal on something he wanted, and will gladly do all the brake work (maybe themselves after rolling around naked in Fuji Heavy Industries financial statements from the 1980s).
I am a crazy dog lover, and the Subaru commercials alone could get me to buy another one. They just don’t make anything today that scratches my itch. I’m always on the lookout for 2010-2014 WRX hatch backs, which sell used for as much as they cost new.
All good feedback! Just to clarify a few important details:
This being my 9th transaction with a trade-in, you could say I know the drill and the soul crushing work that it takes to make it work. More often than not, I’ve found that dealers will actually “overpay” (relatively) for a trade just to facilitate a deal, even while still delivering the most competitive % reduction off MSRP. This is because they are incentivized in several other ways that we as lowly, if educated, consumers can’t penetrate. That said, I put stupid effort into these things, and work deals across three or four states with 20+ dealers just to find one who is that rare combination of trustworthy, low priced and fair. I’m just not sure how this would work with all the moving parts of a lease deal.
I understand the logic of not putting money down on a lease simply in to crisp myself in the warm embrace of Taco heaven, but if my 14 year old outback garners 3k, but costs about $2500 to fix, I fail to see the bad economics of trading it in. Case in point, the Subaru dealer offered me 3k as trade for it as-is on a lease, citing “the strong market value”, but predictably stopped answering emails when asked if they’d buy it outright. Anyway, considering I will need GAP insurance, what liability am I missing in the high rv Taco scenario?
Chrishs2000, you are dead on with that one. Were I back in the great north Subaru country, there are plenty of kids around who work on these that would kill for an '05 Outback with just 70k miles. New cat, new brakes/rotors, cv boots, front axle - the list goes on. The major cost in the Godforsaken brake line repair is simply in labor cost to disassemble the interior to get to the lines. I just can’t get over the sleazy way I, and others, have been disqualified from having this covered as part of the major recall. Subaru really lost my trust on this one.
Finally, the question about model year and RV comes from an article I read saying that the residual value would be worse on an end-of-model-year car vs a newer model. For example, I think the 19 OR Taco in my area holds like 76% on a 3 year lease at this point. Does it not follow that a 2020 purchased at the beginning of the model year hold a higher RV? I’m not sure how it gets much higher than 76%, but just wondering since the 2020’s come out in a few weeks and I can hold off if need be.
Again, thanks all for your help. It’s not a black and white situation, unfortunately, but this is feedback is helpful.
GAP insurance covers your liability if the car is totaled. Say the car is worth $25k, but the payoff is $35k. Despite the car being $10k upside down, you get to walk away.
Now, let’s say you go $5k out of pocked on a downpayment and the car is totaled. Now the car is worth $25k, but the payoff is $30k. You still get to walk away, but your $5k downpayment is gone forever.
Figure out what extras you want and negotiate these into the lease price I did in 03 on my toyota. I got a bed extender, step rails, bed mat.Remember the dealer is making full retail.They are selling the vehicle to the lease company who will lease it to you. There is also 5 grand mark up between. Dealer invoice and what they pay,which is motor freight invoice plus the dealer has incentives from the manufacturer to make the deal plus you get rebates as well.
