I am in the same situation but with an x5. I’m going to order a wrangler 4xe which is the only solid deal right now. Sure, not a luxury car, but still a solid SUV to drive around until the market cools. It’ll be easy to get out of the lease at that point via swap or equity.
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No that’s not how it works.
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Highly reminiscent of driving my Mini Clubman (which Mini gets no love here) in that driving the 4xE is very unique. Like the Mini, the cockpit, seating position, and driving characteristics are special and satisfying, so much so that getting back into a ‘normal’ car/truck feels very underwhelming. You may just want to keep the Jeep.
I was in a similar situation with positive equity.
Ended up selling the atlas for 6600 more than the payoff.
We wanted to move back to Audi (had a q7 before the atlas) for the q8 but it didn’t lease well. I could have put the 6600 into the q8 to get the monthly down but I couldn’t accept paying that much total for a car without any discount or incentives.
Took a look at the xc90 t8, loved it, and was able to get 8% of before all the incentives offered. We got a lot more features than we would in a stock q8 premium. And I have an extra 6600 in the bank.
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How’s the lease on the xc90?
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Well the math changed. Since we apparently can’t do 3rd-party buyout anymore after 9/1, CarMax and others won’t buy it and dealer is obviously offering less now. So my $9K in profit became $6K. 
Besides, that’s the number they quote on the phone. I’m sure they’ll find “something” wrong when I’m actually there and the profit will drop even more.
I wonder if it makes more financial sense to just buy out the GLC outright, suck up the sales tax, and then sell it private-party once I get the title.
So here’s my latest thinking, given that I want to end up in a new GLC (and not another brand), and can stomach an extra grand or two out of pocket for peace of mind.
Given that I can’t sell to a third-party because of MBFS rules and the dealers will obviously screw me over when I trade in the current GLC (I called a few and they all said something along the lines of “Oh, CarMax is offering you $X but you can’t sell to them. The most we can do is $X-$4K”). I’m sure this price will only go down when I show up at the dealer asking them to accept my current car at whatever price they seem fit - that doesn’t sound good to me.
I think I’ll buy out the car now and secure a new one at the best pricing possible. It will still take 1-2 months for the new car to arrive by boat because nobody has inventory here. During that 1-2 months, I expect the title will arrive which will make it possible to sell to CarMax/Carvana/Vroom, etc. More options —> better price for me.
I “lose” the sales tax, but I don’t see supply getting better in the next few months anyway, and this also means that it’s only 1 negotiation to have with the dealers and not 2…
So some money lost, but this also sounds more predictable to me than hoping that the dealer won’t screw me over on the pricing of the old car.
The reason I don’t want to keep it is because I’m not sure that the supply issues will get better over the next year (some inside knowledge here that’s a subject for a different thread), and I don’t want to get stuck with a car out of warranty.
What does collective wisdom say?
Have you read?
I have. I think the situation was different a couple months ago when it was just as easy to sell to Mercedes dealer or to CarMax (when I inquired at AutoNation a month ago, they said “show us the CarMax price, we will meet it or beat it). Now that you can ONLY sell leased Mercedes to Mercedes, dealers would be stupid not to take advantage of that. Don’t you think?
You just say, I’ll buy it and sell it to them. I’ll lose 2k but it’s better than YOUR price right?
yeah true. I’m getting like 33k average for a buyout and my residual is approx $23.5k. Sounds like a slam dunk but I believe I could get more for the car. I’m wondering if US Bank allows dealer buy outs from a leased car or do I need to purchase first. If I purchase first then I waste the money in sales tax thus netting me less money because of the tax. This is in CA of course. Or does DMV refund you the tax if someone buys it from you after you paid the tax?
You can sell it whoever after you get the title. So your options will be wide open.
Have you done the research on leadtime for a new GLC?
Maybe CarMax will still give you top $$ once to get your new car & title.
My $6k Tacoma equity went towards my Jeep one-pay lease which saved me over $2k.
Who spends $500 on a CX5?! That is a sub $300 car depending on trim
Everything is sub 300 with enough money DAS. So how does that help?
Is now easily over $400
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When was the last time you went car shopping?
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Judging by price expectation sometime Pre-Covid😂
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Last week! Have been helping a friend whose son needs a cheap car to commute to school. She is looking at the Civic/Corolla. I also have a friend whose CX5 lease is maturing and she is deciding what to do but will not go to the showroom with either one of them, just give them suggestions.
I leased a Honda Pilot EX-L exactly a month ago, $390 39/12 completely sign and drive, did not even pay the first payment out of pocket. I did use the equity in my prior car’s lease which was in the grace period. @Lvs23 Really wanted the Highlander but there are none in my area and I needed specific equipment which was less available so settled for the Pilot and saved a bunch
Last August I leased a car as well during the other shortage. I was looking in the CRV/Rogue/CX5 category. I did not like the CX5 but they were definitely leasing under 3 without a cap cost reduction (taxes and fees upfront, I usually do not roll everything in, my state refunds taxes if the car is stolen before the end of the lease I am told but I could be mistaken) as I said depending on Trim. In the sport and touring trims they are under 3 if you know what you are doing. I think I was looking at the Touring or Grand Touring trim (it is whatever has blind spot and possibly leather, car was for my kids so I am not sure I cared about anything other than blind spot which I am not sure their base had). I got a decent offer around $279 but my SO hates Mazda due to past ownership experience. Did not end up with a Mazda but got a sub $300 lease for a mid level trim (not leather but with power seats, blindspot)
I also helped my cousin buy a car in November 2020, went with her to the showroom and while she ended up with an Acura, we looked at the CX5 because she already has one and loves it and thought about getting a second
Honestly after seeing the deals on Signed! I am shocked at how much people pay for leases. Even some people who leased in 2019 and are getting out of their lease now, way overpaid for Civics and then other people get amazing deals