Today I ended my Ford lease and got myself some positve equity out of the deal. For those looking to end your Ford lease, here is what I did…
I had a 2019 Ford Edge. My lease was up March 5th. Ford has what they call a 120 day rule. From what I was told, if you are within 120 days from the end of your lease, only you are able to buy out the vehicle. For me, the 120 day rule would have applied after 11/5/21. Since I was outside of this 120 day window, I was able to sell to any Ford dealer, or buy out the car myself. If you buy the car yourself, you will be required to pay state sales tax before selling to a 3rd party. I didn’t want to have to do that, so I shopped around to 5 different dealerships to see who would give the best price for my Edge. I ended up selling my car to my originating dealer who cut me a check for the agreed upon selling price minus the dealer buyout price after they called Ford for a 10 day payoff. By selling to a Ford dealer, I was able to skip both the state taxes as well as the vehicle disposition fee of $395.00 and maximize my equity payout. I ended up making $5500 out of the deal and am using that as a down payment on a 2022 Highlander that should be in at the end of the week. I learned that most new cars aren’t being sold for anything less than MSRP right now, so it is best to shop around for the highest sale price to get the most money for your current car.
From what I’ve read on here in other posts, Ford credit has their lease buyouts pretty much locked down to Ford dealers only. Not from personal experience, but from what I’ve read. If you decide to go that route, you would have to buy the vehicle yourself from the Ford dealer (and pay taxes on the sale), wait for the title, and then sell to a third party dealer…carvana, carmax, vroom, shift…etc.
Thanks for the response! I was hoping to turn in to Carvana, but looks like I would have to purchase it first.
Do you know if the dealer buyout was the same price as your buyout, or was there a lower price for the dealer (without additional fees added on such an extra $300-$500 to purchase it yourself which is tacked on in most leases)?
Yes, the dealer buyout is 500 less than what it would be for you. I believe if you call Ford credit yourself you can get the buyout price as if you were to buy the car. I think you can even do it through the automated system and don’t even have to talk to a person to do it. There weren’t any other fees associated with the buyout from the Ford dealer. I got a check for the selling price we agreed upon minus the dealer buyout price after they called Ford Motor Credit. I also didn’t have to pay a disposition fee and they gave me the check on the spot at the dealer.
