I like your approach. Sales for 2018-2020 were about 6.1 million vehicles. Let’s say the US population is 330 million. That translates to about 1.8% of the population with Toyotas in the lease window.
So if we take 1.8% of 330,000 and say 25% of those are leased, we still have about 1500 imported leases per year.
Now, don’t forget that that’s all US sales, including fleet, and that the bulk majority of that are truck sales, so a much smaller portion of those 6M vehicles are actually going into personal hands.
Do you know what proportion of leases are fleet leases?
Why would truck sales matter? Don’t most truck sales go into personal hands?
Roughly 20% of sales are fleet sales. That doesn’t include all of the non-fleet business purchases though. Hard to find that number.
I don’t see you making any headway with this argument. The lessor will say they are selling it for the contractual price. Dealer fees and all other proceeds going to third parties are outside their control, just like taxes are.
Hi Joseph,
I just moved to FL from MA and ran into this same issue. Would you mind telling me which Lexus dealer you used? TFS called me as well the other day and mentioned going to a Lexus Dealer but I was a bit skeptical. Any other advice, tips or tricks?
Thanks,
Pat
I just bought out my Toyota Highlander lease in Tampa, Florida for a lease originated in Southern New Jersey near Philadelphia. Toyota Financial Services told me I had to go through a Lexus dealer and I went to Lexus Wesley Chapel north of Tampa. I had to pay over $4000 in taxes and fees. The residual with one remaining lease payment was $26407. They added $795 inspection fee, $995 predelivery service charge, $168 private tag agency fee. Total with sales tax and registration fees was $30460. Did I get ripped off or is this normal?
Sounds like you made the dealer’s day.
Big time.
202020
WTH? They charged you a $995 predelivery fee for your own vehicle??
There has to be some legal action that can be taken. That’s beyond criminal
They told me that the dealership gets no benefit for doing the work of letting me buy out the lease, hence the fees. Also the reason I bought out the vehicle was that carvana was offering me $34200 for it. So I accepted the fees rather than just letting it end and having to pay the disposition fee on a vehicle that is valued at KBB for over $35000 and only has 17750 miles on it.
Why are you forgetting the $800 “inspection”?
But do go around telling people to take legal action for a contract they very willingly signed.
Nobody remotely put a gun to his head.
If anything, use that anger to demand that state legislatures repeal any state law requiring consumers to go through a dealer just to buy out their own lease.
Right, I told him to take legal action, hyperbole much… Don’t walk into a dealer without a plan. let alone a Lexus dealer instead of contacting several more plentiful Toyota dealers. Totally agree with your last paragraph. Past time for Florida to cap dealer fees and associated “electronic filing fees.”
Will never happen here with Autonation and Carmax HQ’s in Ft Lauderdale, JM Family and the powerful dealer lobbies across the state
So this is all crazy with the dealership fees. How do we get around this next time? Buy a car out of state? Then if we want to buy out the lease it wont apply ?
One can generally shop around the different dealers to do the buy out. Some charge significantly more than others.
That’s one option.
Also: generally a waste of money to lease first if your goal is to own the car eventually. Buy it on day one
An interesting side note, as I just looked at my HFS account and I now live in Florida.
HFS will let me pay off my Passport without going through the dealer. Now, I did originate the lease in California, so that may have something to do with it, but my Hyundai that I also originated in California would not let me pay it off after updating my address and such when I moved.
Purchasing my 2019 Lexus IS300 at lease end. Original dealer (An AutoNation affiliate) wanted to treat it with all the charges he would make as if I were buying a used car from his lot, including dealer fees. Though car is owned by Lexus Financing, their lease has some tricky language where title can be transferred to an intermediary with rights but no obligations. And in Florida, the purchase at lease end must be done through a real dealership, which is to their greedy advantage. Found another dealer who doesn’t charge a dealer fee but still about $500 since I didn’t originally buy it from them. This is the best deal I’ve come across. Finance manager there tells me he’ll email me back but he is deluged with similar purchase requests. (Suggestion: if you must finance or lease, first speak to a real bank about a loan which would get around these problems.)