What to do with 14k of negative equity

Ask the Hackrs
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I just wanted to point something out. Technically, OP has $14k in negative equity ONLY if they plan to trade in the car. The real question is how much in negative equity did they originally roll into the ES lease. They mentioned they went over their alloted miles from a previous lease, but no further details were provided.

To better evaluate OP’s financial situation, we would need the following info:

  1. MSRP of 2019 Lexus ES leased
  2. Residual value at the end of 48 months
  3. Sale price (before any negative equity)
  4. Amount of negative equity rolled in
  5. Whether they put money down to come up with a $677/month payment on the car

At the end of the day, even with all this advice from internet strangers, OP is going to do what they want to do.

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Exactly. So what will the decision end up being? Honda Accord Hybrid Touring or Lincoln MKZ?

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63

Etron. He could roll in 14k two times over.

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OP wants an SUV.

:laughing: :grin::joy:

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Paying 677, has $14k negative, wants new payment to be under $700.

Everyone here is being too nice. You’re 14k in the hole and saying you can only come up with $828 over 36 months to fix your mistake. Anything you do besides ride out the ES350 will hemhorage money.

Stop rolling negative into leases, otherwise you’re burying yourself financially. You know exactly how rolling negative works because it’s what got you into this mess. Except, this time, you are so deep that your only hope is a Dodge Journey.

If you can’t stomach being seen driving a Dodge Journey, you’re not getting a new car for a few years, better find a way to make this one work.

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THIS, it’s a hatchback, unless you hauling enough to fill a larger SUV, you should be able to fit as much as a small SUV with a Bolt. Plenty of room to eat some negative equity, what with $1500 lease rebate, $5750-$6750 lease cash and $3000 costco. $10k in negative equity translates to $278/mo. And if you’re savvy enough, you should be able to get a Bolt for around $250/mo (or less) before the NJ charge up $5k rebate. Puts you at around ~$528, well below what you pay for the ES and less than your budget, plus you have $5k coming back to you. But you gotta have Costco to make it work and it assumes you can charge somewhere and drive less than ~250 miles/day.

Plus gas savings?

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Except the Honda has a crappy sound system…:joy:

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$4k over 35-mo is only about $114, bringing the effective payment down to $563. Pretty sure OP would need at least $8k, but maybe OP could find a sucker on SAL, I suppose crazier things have happened.

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I don’t mean this to be disrespectful or judgmental, but you should ask yourself how you wound up with a $677 payment, a $50k+ luxury sedan yet only have $500 in savings (unless you have plenty more but that’s all you want to budget towards tackling a $14k problem).

The main theme in this thread is find yourself a compromise and focus on getting your finances right-sized. Again, just a little tough love from the LH community, please take it constructively, if you would.

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Not if you get special edition though :+1: :+1: :+1:

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OP PM’d me that they are locked out from responding for a short window (give new used rules). Let’s try to stop piling on until he can respond. I do think OP now has a sense of the limited options they have.

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OP, PM us to unlock the thread when you can post again. This is to prevent others from chiming in and an opportunity for you to collect your thoughts.

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Opened at the request of the OP

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Read all your replies and couldn’t thank everyone enough- even the sarcastic ones. I myself am a very realistic person, hence I want to here the ups and mostly downs of what I’m trying to do here.

First off- I called my local Acura. They advised no such deal on an MDX. Sales person stated “we hardly have any 2020s. We’re not getting 2021s. $1000 conquest and 1000 least cash. How true this is- you tell me?

Second- went to Volvo today- they offered $28500 for the car ($1500 then my local Lexus). Still not great.

Third- I thought of this. Didn’t mention because it didn’t make sense to. I have a hard top convertible. Lexus ISC. I own it out right. For anyone that knows- the trunk opens all the way up. This may work for me for a short time.

Fourth- Turo is no good. I had a car totaled via the app years ago. Had the car financed, no gap insurance. Ended up settling for $1500 on a $10k difference I owed back then. Ps this was when turo was originally relay rides. Originally had GAP per agreement but dealership was full of fraud. Closed before the loss or right about the same time. Scary stuff. Hence the deep discount on the settlement.

Lastly-

Hear me out- IF AND ONLY IF I was able to sell the car (not sure to who) and make the $14k payment to pay the car off and not get into another lease, I’m free of my current outrageous payment.

If I continue to make my payments for the remaining 36 months I will dish out $24k alone. Plus have to keep in mind I’ll need brakes, tires, oil changes. Let’s call it $26k in the end.

If I pay the car off I’m out $14k right away. And let’s say I go right into something that’s $0 DAS and $450/ month for 36 months. In the end of that lease I would have dished out $16k roughly. Add in the $14k And I would pay $30k. For a new 36 month lease without any nonsense rolled in. Yes, it’s $4k more then keeping my car now. But I would be free and clear.

Is this smart? Well- I guess it’s just preference… could I dump the car, get into a new lease and it be totaled in a matter of days months or a year, yes. Could that not happen, of course.

I could also just keep my convertible as my daily for 6 months. Save $677 for 6 months that’s about $4k right there. Maybe wait for something really great to come my way… maybe finance a used suv. Work on letting my credit boost. Maybe blemishes from the past- all paid off in the past 6 months or so. I’m just trying to think about what’s best for my pocket, work, life style… what’s smart, what will leave me on the brighter side of things in the future.

Thoughts…?

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If it were me. Keep ES, sell convertible, get free bolt.

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77

You have an IS convertible too, and want to get another luxury car when you’re already behind 14k? Sell the IS and get a Toyota siena.

What lease are you going to get at 450 a month and zero drive and sign that’s better than the ES350 you have, which as you calculated will be 4-6k more than just keeping it?

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You still haven’t addressed the miles issue. You went over miles by evidently a TON on a previous lease that put you in this hole to begin with. And now you’ll be making deliveries, too. So how does a lease work for you?

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All hypotheticals here. I’m happy to even just keep my convertible as listed in my post. See how long it works for me. Even for 6 months, I recoup $4000 alone.