Ongoing General Automotive Thread 2.0

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

A buddy of mine had 2 Land Rovers and was always complaining about how often they were in the shop. He finally had enough and sold one, and was excited to buy something that he could actually drive more than wait for repairs. He just told me they finally settled on an Audi Q7. Didn't have the heart to show him this

That's like a Ford Pinto owner moving over to an AMC Gremlin in hopes for greater safety in their next vehicle.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Locke

Well. As someone who drives a VW and has never had a problem with it JD Power can go suck an egg.

I mean, I've had two Range Rovers and same thing, zero issues with them.

I don't put much stock in J.D. Power, Consumer Reports, etc. The majority of car buyers know sh-t about sh-t when it comes to their vehicles.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Anyone gotten out of a car lease early?
I'm tempted to change vehicles to something a bit more family friendly but still have about 33 months on my lease.
Would delearships of a different brand ever help get you out to buy from them instead?

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

Anyone gotten out of a car lease early?
I'm tempted to change vehicles to something a bit more family friendly but still have about 33 months on my lease.
Would delearships of a different brand ever help get you out to buy from them instead?

There's no reason they wouldn't try. That said, it depends if you find yourself in a situation where your vehicle is in demand and you're not too upside down on the retail value versus the amount remaining on the lease plus the buyout.

Your options are trade it like a straight trade, buy it out and sell it, or find someone to assign your lease to. Basically they take over the lease by assuming your contract, payments, etc. If you put money down, you can get some of it back by only agreeing to let some take the lease on with a lump-sum payable to you.

The dealer treating it like a straight trade has real potential for negative equity with 33 months still remaining. You need to get your buyout and then see what your situation looks like.

[you&me]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

Anyone gotten out of a car lease early?
I'm tempted to change vehicles to something a bit more family friendly but still have about 33 months on my lease.
Would delearships of a different brand ever help get you out to buy from them instead?

There's zero reason a dealership of another brand wouldn't buy out your existing lease to facilitate the sale of one of their own cars. That being said, it will come down to the lease buyout and what they value the car (as a trade) at.

Every lease is different, so it's hard to say what the deal will look like and if it makes sense, but that has less to do with dealing with a dealership of a different brand, and more to do with the original lease structure.

A lease is basically a balloon payment loan - original price, minus residual value, equals total obligation. That amount is then broken down into payments determined by subtracting the amount of down payment and then dividing the rest into payments (plus interest rate, of course).

Like TD said, get your current buy out, see what similar cars are on the market for and see what the other dealership will offer you on trade. Depending on how those numbers all look will determine a) if you even want to do it and b) what the best way of getting out of your existing lease is. Selling privately / buying it out is almost always better $-wise, but then there are factors like trade credits (only applicable to equity if you have any) and plain old pain-in-the-ass factor...

[DoubleF]

Depends on the car. If it's something with a wait list, I think a lease take over would be relatively straight forward.

If it's less desirable, then you might lose a bit of money, but totally doable to get out early. But as mentioned, ask the values first before making a decision.

[TorqueDog]

Also worth checking out LeaseBusters to see if you get any bites on there.