Trading in Positive Equity Vehicle on a Lease?

Ask the Hackrs
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I just have some very general questions…I have been out of the lease game for about 3 years (time flies!) and want to wrap my head around where I am currently.

I bought a vehicle ('22 F-150) about 2.5 years ago, got a great deal, about $8K off MSRP (when deals were hard to comes by!), I put down $4K, and got a great loan of 1.9% for 60 months (right before decent interest rates were hard to come by). I am now sitting on right at $10K+ of positive trade equity (actual figures from 2 dealers). I may be able to sell private party and do pretty good…but I want to know:

Is it a good, bad or indifferent to trade it in on a lease? Lets assume it’s a relatively good/fair lease. My major goal (thanks economy!) is to lower my monthly payment as much as physically possible.

The other idea I am kicking around is a private party sale of my truck and buying the best used vehicle I can find for around $20K…or not buying anything and go back to a 1 car household.

Anyway, thanks for any feedback and info!
Mark

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I would keep the truck if this is true.

But a lease, you basically have nothing after 3 years. What will you drive then?

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Yeah, a really bad idea to trade anything in on a lease. It’s just an opportunity for the dealership to take your money and show you really low lease payments without giving you any sort of a discount.

Financially, selling it private party is probably your best bet. Selling it to Carvana or etc. is easier, but you’ll get less.

Then if you want to lease, find a vehicle that leases well. I think Rams are leasing well, if you’re not brand loyal and still want a pick up. If you’re trying to get a more fuel efficient car, EVs have a ton of incentives. If you don’t want an EV, the Alfa Romeo Tonale is a plug-in hybrid that is also leasing well.

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Thanks for the feedback.

I’ve leased before and not afraid of evaluating my needs and means in 3 years. I hope to be in a better financial position at that time and will cross that bridge when I come to it.

Thanks again.

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Thanks for the feedback and info.

I am really open and flexible to all the options as they all have some merit. The main goal is to save $$ on a monthly basis so I am open to selling and not buying anything else (my wife and I can and have gotten by with 1 vehicle before) but having a super inexpensive lease would be nice as well.

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That would definitely be the cheapest option. Don’t forget insurance and maintenance savings.

I would suggest trying that and you can always back here if it’s not working out.

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Colorado has $5k incentive on EVs if you’re open to EVs. People there have gotten pretty awesome lease deals on Ioniq, Ariya, and ID4. But if you can get by with one car, that’s probably the best bet. Once the kids are out of the house, we plan to just have one car. I don’t even like driving. Only reason I drive is to Uber the kids around to their sports. I would be perfectly fine with just my electric bike. I’m in SoCal, so not a lot of rain, and it doesn’t get that cold.

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What is the current payoff? How many payments left? Per month?

Before jumping off one moving treadmill onto another, separate all the possible decisions. You want a lower payment (many ways to do that), you have some equity you might unlock. You might replace this F150 with no cars, a used car, a lease …. a new car with a warranty? A CPO?

Where do you want to be in 3 years? Leasing another car? On your own short/long term timeline? Do you have enough space/rows for everyone?

There’s very little in the way of cheapo leases to replace.

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