Hi everyone,
Newbie here just discovered leasehackr. I’m at a lease end of a 2013 Kia Optima (just a few days away) and I’m several thousand miles over the allotted limit. I don’t want to take a hit and pay for returning the car. I don’t really want another Kia but I’m thinking it might be best to just buy the one I have and try selling it since I wouldn’t lose as much as they would cha for the miles. Sound reasonable?
Also, will the dealerships negotiate the residual value on a car if you want to purchase at lease-end? I’m a bit clueless about the lease end deals and negotiations since this was the first car I ever leased. Appreciate anybody’s advice and help.
Generally the lease-end residual value is not negotiable. I’ve seen it with non-captive lenders such as US Bank, but never with the manufacturer’s financing arm themselves (e.g., Kia Motors Finance).
Best to get it appraised by Beepi and/or CarMax to see how much they’ll buy the car for. If it’s higher or equal than the residual value, then you’re in luck. If it’s significantly less, then you may be better off paying the mileage overage.
It’s generally not a good idea to buy the car yourself if you intend to sell it immediately thereafter – since you’ll have to pay sales tax on the buyout price.
Best of luck!
Hi Michael thanks for your reply. So the residual value on the car is about $14,500. The mileage over charge is about $4,000. If I lease or buy another Kia (not my own) they are willing to maybe split the cost of the miles and only charge $2,000 as a loyalty bid.
I just looked up the car on beepi online estimateand it says estimate $13,300 (they will probably try to knock some money off during the actual appraisal for small dings etc). I’m guessing CarMax will be about the same or a little more (in CA carmax seems to be slightly more generous than expected). What would be the best way to proceed in this scenario?
I’m under lease for 3 more days. Would I be best served selling it to CarMax or Beepi while still under lease since that way I would avoid the purchase tax? Thanks in advance for your help.
