Negotiating the Lease End Buyout price for a 2017 Toyota Tacoma?

Hi, my friend has a lease for a 2017 Toyota Tacoma. It is the TRD Sports trim with Premium Sports Package. It has tube steps, and a roof rack installed by the dealer. My friend really likes the car and wants to buy it out.

The purchase price at the end of the lease is $29493. He was making monthly payments of $587.69. The value of the car right now according to Kelly Blue Book is $29412 trade-in or $32144 private sale. The KBB instant offer is around $28500.

For reference, when we look on Edmunds & other sites for the same kind of Tacoma (with similar mileage) with LESS options/add-ons as my friend’s Tacoma, the lowest prices start at $31000. The lease company (which is a bank) is offering a purchase price of $31200 (includes sales tax) and is offering 3.86% APR for 72 months ($0 down) for a total monthly payment of $480.

  1. Is there a way to negotiate the lease end purchase price?
  2. Is it better to not purchase, purchase and then sell privately, or purchase and keep or even trade in for a new (or used) Tacoma with a lower sales price than the price to buy out this truck?

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

Nope, it is what it is.

Buyout probably includes sales tax.

None of this is very relevant regarding the truck outside of the fact you know if you’re underwater or not.

Buyout was told to him in the contract he signed 3 years ago. Whatever it is, it is, plus applicable taxes.

Im confused with this question. Your friend wants to buy the truck out. What is the rationale then behind buying it to sell privately?

Outside of this, it’s a personal decision whether to purchase and keep or drop it off and lease another. I’d give it back if it were me, but if he’s that fond of the truck, and plans to drive it till the wheels fall off, maybe he feels different.

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If your friend manages to negotiate it down, come back and tell us… no one has had success other than a tiny (tiny) minority that have had unsolicited offers.

Holy crap! That’s an insane payment for a :taco: :exploding_head: The Best advice you could give your friend is to drop that thing off, they could lease another one for half that payment.

If my math is right they would end up paying over $55k for this :taco:, and that’s if they didn’t put any money down to start the lease assuming 36 mo. They got taken to the cleaners on this deal :ship:

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That’s what I thought. The best Christmas gift he can get his friend is a plaque with @Cody_Carter’s number on it.