Reselling a car coming off lease

[Loomis]

I have a 2008 VW Passat wagon coming off lease. It was a company car, creampuff, well maintained, etc. Anyway, residual is $14K, and they're selling at the dealer for about $19.5K. I figure I could private party sell it and pocket at least $3-4K (I hope).

The rub is, of course sales tax and registration. Is there any way the buyer could directly register it himself, or am I the only person who can buy it off lease? Or, is there a way to avoid my paying sales tax to the dealer, and the next guy having to pay sales tax all over again when he buys if from me?

I'm in CA.

Danke.

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by Loomis

I have a 2008 VW Passat wagon coming off lease. It was a company car, creampuff, well maintained, etc. Anyway, residual is $14K, and they're selling at the dealer for about $19.5K. I figure I could private party sell it and pocket at least $3-4K (I hope).

The rub is, of course sales tax and registration. Is there any way the buyer could directly register it himself, or am I the only person who can buy it off lease? Or, is there a way to avoid my paying sales tax to the dealer, and the next guy having to pay sales tax all over again when he buys if from me?

I'm in CA.

Danke.

Unless there is a huge difference in the residual price and the actual value, you really can't do it in high sales tax/registration states, and you've identified the reason.

[Steve Carlton]

California allows you 10 days from the time you pay it off to resell it to someone else without being liable for the use tax (sales tax). So, you basically want to have your buyer pay off the lease with a cashier's check that you know is good (another issue to deal with). You should be able to discuss this with your lessor to make sure your ducks are all in a row. They may force you to receive the title/refuse to send it to the buyer, but you can have a contract and he'll have the car and will have paid for it.

[David]

I bought a lease car from an individual. My bank took care of getting the title from original dealer and cut a check to the leaser for the difference.

[Loomis]

Thanks. I'll give it a shot. There's about 8 weeks left on the lease, so should be plenty of time to sell if there's a market. If not, I can turn it in and walk away.

[Por_sha911]

Originally Posted by Loomis

Anyway, residual is $14K, and they're selling at the dealer for about $19.5K. I figure I could private party sell it and pocket at least $3-4K (I hope).

If the dealer is asking $19.5k then they probably can sell it for $17.5-18k. Also, they can take a trade-in and get financing. Private sale for a comparable car is going to be a few grand less. As such, your a probably looking at getting $15-16k on a private sale (assuming the above info). If the dealer is asking more and actually getting $19.5k then you have a chance to make some money.

[grudk]

I tend to turn my lease cars in early, and the usual dealer maneuver is to 'buy' it, and apply 'equity' to the new lease. If you want another VW/Audi, then you may save yourself a lot of drama by just working with the dealer

Or, there's this... when I turned in my '05 A4 (early, over miles), they later auctioned it, and to my surprise, I got a check back for about $1500 (sold for more than lease-end-value)