Octopus Overlords

Tonight is the first skirmish in what could be a months-long battle with the car dealer. We have a car whose lease expires in May, but in only has 3000 miles left before exceeding the 36K limit, so maybe 2 months. Because my wife wants us all to go the Philippines this summer, getting through this without a huge cash layout or substantial monthly increase is the goal - possibly an unrealistic one.

Has anyone rolled a lease into a purchase before? Preliminary check using KBB dealer used car pricing would result in $100 more car payment per month on a 5-year loan (so the car would be 8 years old at term). There are a few dings and scratches that'll cost us if we turn it in and lease something else...it is quite likely a new lease, rolling up the remaining months on this car plus covering damages will result in the same increased payment plus require $3000 down. While we need a bigger car (this is a Rogue), purchasing something new and larger will likely be the worst of both worlds, requiring a down payment plus doubling the monthly cost. The bigger car will likely have to wait until my wife's car is paid off in another 2 1/2 years.

I'll be facing the same in May. Will probably be 11K miles under though. I want to buy it, wife wants a new lease. Battle to commence around mid-March.

I'm guessing we're going to be the opposite - wife wants to buy, I'd just as soon go with another lease, even if the same model. Not only would the payments probably be close to the same, but leasing would avoid upcoming and expensive maintenance. We're in a routine now that could better manage mileage on a lease -- we started fine on this car when I was the primary driver, but then my wife went through an 18 month period where she pretty much refused to drive her car and the miles racked up at an accelerated pace. Also, we moved so my commute to work is much longer and bike commutes, once common in the summer, dropped to zero last year. Now though she drives her car on days when I don't work the next morning, and since her mom isn't here anymore, we can take the small car everywhere.

A question to anyone who has turned in a lease car adorned with various parking lot scratches, did you have the scratches buffed out by a body shop ahead of time or just suffer whatever the dealer hit might be? It seems to me that, being mostly labor, the dealer might be willing to negotiate on it if it means moving a new car off the lot. Then again, I did refuse the $1000+ optional coverage for that sort of thing when I got the lease in the first place.

I once got hit with a $750 excess damage charge on turn in, but mine have always been low mileage. I think shopping around for a new lease is the way to go, based on no looming maintenance and advances in technology. I always liked the idea that after three years it's not my problem anymore.

Jaymann wrote: ↑Fri Jan 04, 2019 11:42 amI always liked the idea that after three years it's not my problem anymore.

The downside being you always have a car payment.

I've turned in a couple of leased cars with various scratches. No charge.
It's the dings and dents they usually hit you for.

My understanding is that they will often wave all reasonable wear & tear or mileage costs if you lease/purchase a new vehicle. They certainly did on the one occasion where I leased a car and then bought my next one from the same dealer. All you can do is go in and find somebody who really wants to close a deal.

Hopefully, our meeting is with just such a guy. He'd been hounding me via email and text for the past month, but when I tried to setup something on a day off mid-December, he didn't respond until way too late on the day I wanted to go (4-5 days earlier, I requested a 10 am appointment).

We just had this experience 6 months ago. Never even got to the part about paying for dings; since we were over mileage and because car financials are expensive, neither a new lease or the whopping 30% increase in our payment if we decided to purchase were appealing. However, after some research, we joined a credit Union, moved our banking account there, and qualified for a loan for the purchase price at I think 2.2%. Our payment is now just slightly higher than our lease payment was.

Freyland wrote: ↑Fri Jan 04, 2019 3:17 pm we joined a credit Union

I should probably look this up, but is there tax/title when you buy out a lease or was that baked into the lease payments?

Following. Mine's up in May too. I'll be under for miles, but I do have a somewhat significant scrape along the passenger rear quarter panel. I really don't have $3500 set aside for a new lease...I was supposed to be debt free by now and it wasn't supposed to be an issue but 2018 was an expensive year so that didn't work out quite the way I'd planned it.

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Fri Jan 04, 2019 3:40 pm I should probably look this up, but is there tax/title when you buy out a lease or was that baked into the lease payments?

I've heard rumors of dealers offering no-money down leases which I suppose bakes in the tax and title, but that wasn't the case with this car. I needed to pony about about $3K...T&T plus first month payment. I went in armed with True Car though, and the lease payment was a sticky issue. They came at me with $430 after the True Car website estimated $229. I think I finally agreed to $279. Refinancing the car for 5 years using the KBB estimate would be $380/mo on a no money down, 3.3% APR loan.

My wife unexpectedly decided to work tonight, so I'll bring my son along and encourage him to be as disruptive as possible to cut the meeting short. I want him to get the car a quick visual inspection, then he can take his time preparing the options. I also want to get a walk-away settlement number from him as well so if I don't like any of his options, I'll go elsewhere.

Jeff V wrote: ↑Fri Jan 04, 2019 5:03 pm Refinancing the car for 5 years using the KBB estimate would be $380/mo on a no money down, 3.3% APR loan.

What's with the KBB estimate? Don't you have a set buyout price in the lease agreement?

I must be missing tax because I would be at $340/Mo with those same terms.

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Fri Jan 04, 2019 5:17 pm What's with the KBB estimate? Don't you have a set buyout price in the lease agreement?

Maybe there is? I'd actually have to go look it up. As far as the payments go, I used an online loan calculator. Maybe a bad one.

My accountant always said if you could afford to buy the vehicle it was always better to buy it.

Scuzz wrote: ↑Fri Jan 04, 2019 6:50 pm My accountant always said if you could afford to buy the vehicle it was always better to buy it.

Well, I can just go by experience. In all my years of car ownership, I've never enjoyed that mythical period of no car payment...those years are marked by massive repair bills that come at the worst times. The unreliability factor alone greatly diminishes the usefulness of the vehicle. The last car I paid off had to be mortgaged twice to pay repair bills that totalled about half the price of a new car.

BTW, I postponed the battle for a week.

We keep our cars for 10+ years, so we enjoy a lot of years with no payments. As soon as repair bills start to mount, it's time for a new car. Now that neither of us has to drive to work anymore, our cars last a lot longer. Her 2010 Fit only has 54,000 miles, and my 2017 Miata just rolled 3,700. We'll replace the Fit after my Miata's paid off, but I expect the Miata to be my last car. I will probably wear out before it does.

My 2001 pickmeup truck only has 60K on it. I think the only thing that's been done to it is replace a belt and put new tires and a battery on it.

We were way over the miles on my wife's car when the lease was expiring a couple of years ago. I just got a loan through Lightstream and paid off the remaining balance. It was really simple aside from some hassle going to the DMV and getting the title updated. And that part is more me making a big deal out of nothing. As it's a Honda and we have kept up with the maintenance it just made sense to keep it. I would have had to fork over thousands of dollars in fees for mileage.

If it weren't for how much we drive I would certainly just keep leasing. Having a set payment is way easier than having a random 1-2k bill drop on your lap out of nowhere.

Oh and at least through Honda I never had to do anything with the dealership. I just paid off the balance... They mailed me the title. I got the title updated and a new license plate. Easy Peasy...

Octavious wrote: ↑Mon Jan 07, 2019 6:10 pm
If it weren't for how much we drive I would certainly just keep leasing. Having a set payment is way easier than having a random 1-2k bill drop on your lap out of nowhere.

When we pay off a car, I make a reduced monthly payment into savings to cover the inevitable maintenance and repairs, and ultimately a down payment on the next car. Still don't like finding out I need to spend $1,500 on a new defrangulator, but the money is there (earning a trickle of interest) when I do.

Kraken wrote: ↑Mon Jan 07, 2019 7:21 pm

Octavious wrote: ↑Mon Jan 07, 2019 6:10 pm
If it weren't for how much we drive I would certainly just keep leasing. Having a set payment is way easier than having a random 1-2k bill drop on your lap out of nowhere.

When we pay off a car, I make a reduced monthly payment into savings to cover the inevitable maintenance and repairs, and ultimately a down payment on the next car. Still don't like finding out I need to spend $1,500 on a new defrangulator, but the money is there (earning a trickle of interest) when I do.

If I were a responsible person that would be a great idea.