My lease is ending in a week and I plan to buy it for the residual. What is the best way of going about doing this?

Ask the Hackrs Buy/Finance
1

I currently lease an Audi a5 Sportback and the lease ends in 1 week. I don’t know what car I want next, and my residual value is lower than the prices offers on Carvana and Vroom, so I figured my best option is to buy my car lease for the residual ($26.5k). What is the best way to go about this? I have the cash in my bank account, should I just write Audi Financial a check? Is it better to finance even though I have the cash available? Is there anything additional I need to know about this process or are there any better alternatives I’m not thinking about? Thanks in advance

2

Go into your Audi Financial portal and see what it gives you for options.

3

call Audi? Ask for payoff , they will send you a letter

4

It only shows me the residual value. For a payoff quote, I’ll need to call. Do you know anything about financing versus paying by check? Is it smarter to finance? Can I pay by CC? If you don’t know, NP. Thx.

5

Do you know if it’s better to finance or pay by check? Any downside?

6

You’ll have to pay interest if you finance. That’s about it.

If you try to finance directly, they’ll tell you to go through a dealer, who may add fees. You should be able to bring your own financing direct to Audi though to avoid that. Some brands are starting to make you process everything through a dealer though, in which case, shop multiple dealers to see who charges the least.

No, they won’t let you pay via CC

7

You should be able to generate an immediate payoff quote by clicking Get a Payoff Quote. On the “Payoff Quote Detail” page that appears, there should be a link for Payoff My Vehicle.

Hope this helps.

8

Does this work for you? I go to payment options, then payoff quote, and it brings me to a page with this error:

“We’re sorry, but we’re unable to complete your request at this time. For further assistance, please contact our End of Lease Department at 866-277-8191 from 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. Monday - Friday, Eastern to speak with an End-of-Lease Representative.”

I called Audi Financial and they said I need to mail a check

9

And I assume they gave you the payoff quote?

10

Yes. That’s how I was able to share the steps.

EDIT: I have 2+ years left on my 36 month lease.