Returning my lease

Ask the Hackrs
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1

My lease is maturing in a few days, and I’m running into an unexpected problem.

I called several local dealers to ask if they could accept my car for lease grounding. They all said no — either because I didn’t lease the car through them or because they don’t have space. They all suggested taking it back to the original dealer, which is a two-hour drive away.

Is this normal? Has anyone dealt with a similar situation? Are there any alternatives to driving two hours just to return a leased car?

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated!

2

Call the finance company you leased from, tell them your issue and let them tell you or make arrangements where to return it since nobody wants to take your car.

This is not uncommon, a lot of dealers don’t want to get stuck with cars they can’t resell.

3

I already did. They only offered a 10-day grace period and suggested returning it to the original dealer.

I’m just surprised this is such a problem. It’s a Kia EV with only 13k miles after 3 years.

4

Not surprising: I assume it’s so underwater you need a diving bell to find it.

5

I would flat out tell them that returning it to the original dealer is not possible and ask again how they would like to get their car back since the dealers you spoke with refuse to take it.

What would they expect you to do if you move and now your original dealer is 2,000 miles away?

6

Easy drive within a 10-day grace period with a couple of scenic detours to boot.

7

Or just play dumb and show up at one of the local dealers. I always return my cars to different dealers, never had an issue, but it is a Kia so…..

8

call again and escalate.

9

Just walk in and ask for a lease grounding or do you make an appointment? Have a Jeep lease through Ally coming due by Dec 14 and would rather take to my local dealer (there are at least 3 that are much closer than where I got the lease from).

10

I called several local dealers to ask if I could bring the car in or make an appointment, but none of them said they could ground the lease. One dealer offered an appointment in mid-November, though. My lease is due October 31, so I’m hoping to get this sorted out before then.

11

Show up and Tell them you will call Corporate if they don’t take it, they’re not supposed to decline a grounding. I had the same issue with a Hyundai Ioniq 5 last October and went to my leasing dealer-they also said they won’t take it (2 hrs away BTW) so my broker said to let them know about corporate etc.. they took it right away haha

12

They can simply say they don’t have space available, which is what they’ve been telling me.

When I called Kia Finance, they told me to contact different dealerships because some may not have enough space to accept the vehicle.