Turning in a lease car early....good idea or bad?

[Chocaholic]

I have a leased 2012 Infiniti G37S sedan with 4000 miles on it. Considering turning it in and taking a company car (in lieu of nominal car allowance). No worries about excess mileage, dings in the airport lot, maintenance, etc. Just use the ***** out of it and swap it for a new one at 80k.

What's involved in turning in a car after 8 months (39 month lease)? Not interested in taking a beating, but if it's relatively painless, may consider it.

Thanks.

[xbrumossalesman]

Mike- sorry but you're screwed- 31 payments remaining-a beating would be putting it mildly.

[kaisen]

Mike, your options are pretty much the same as if you had purchased the car (not leased) and taken out a long term loan. Your eight payments haven't done anything to lessen what you 'owe' and haven't even come close to keeping up with depreciation.

At this point, you need to call Infinity/Nissan Financial and ask them what your buy-out is on the lease.....what you still owe. Take that number, add sales tax (you're buying it and you haven't paid sales tax yet) and that is what you need to consider when you sell it. Again, just like calling your bank and asking what you still owe on your loan.

OR

If your dealership buys out your lease, sales tax is not due. But it will be a wholesale offer, surely.

OR

You can pay the remaining 31 payments and give it back. Doesn't sound too appealing, but it's one option you wouldn't have on a loan. Worst case scenario.

OR

You can find someone to assume (take over) your lease obligation through Infiniti. They must qualify financially. You may need to incentivize someone to do this. It has to be more attractive than just walking in to an Infiniti dealership and leasing a new one. But you may fare better than selling it outright, or selling it to a dealer.

You're probably best served selling it yourself. Like just about any other time a car is to be sold.

It will be painful. But no more so than if you would have walked in and paid cash for a brand new car and eight months later want to sell it. The fact that you leased it doesn't really change the pain. Depreciation on a new car is never pretty.

You also may want to calculate your taxable income calculation or imputation on a company car. A "free" car can cost a lot. Beware.

[Steve Carlton]

Call the lender and find out what your payoff is. I don't know about GA, but you may not have to pay the tax. Maybe your buyer can.

Don't trust Blue Book on a 2012. It's value will be relative to a new one. Call 4-5 dealers and ask what the name of their used car manager is, then make sure you're talking to him. Find out what a few dealers will give you for the car. A pattern should develop and you could probably sell it yourself for $2-3K more if you want to. Maybe one guy will pay too much and just sell it to him. Compare values to payoff. If you put a lot of money down on the lease, maybe you're not too far upside-down. I'll bet you're very upside down, though.

[Joe Bob]

Roadtrip to Mexico?

[speeder]

Call the lender and find out what your payoff is. I don't know about GA, but you may not have to pay the tax. Maybe your buyer can.



Don't trust Blue Book on a 2012. It's value will be relative to a new one. Call 4-5 dealers and ask what the name of their used car manager is, then make sure you're talking to him. Find out what a few dealers will give you for the car. A pattern should develop and you could probably sell it yourself for $2-3K more if you want to. Maybe one guy will pay too much and just sell it to him. Compare values to payoff. If you put a lot of money down on the lease, maybe you're not too far upside-down. I'll bet you're very upside down, though.

How much he put down on the lease would have absolutely nothing to do with how upside-down he is. He just paid it up front.

But I know what you were trying to say.

[stomachmonkey]

One of my staff did that with his lease.

Very desirable hard to get car.

He took a bath.

YMMV

[recycled sixtie]

You are going to take a bath if u try to break the lease. Did u read the fine print before u signed the lease? I think u are stuck with the full term of the lease. Unless you can find somebody who will take the lease over. Good luck.

[Steve Carlton]

Originally Posted by speeder

How much he put down on the lease would have absolutely nothing to do with how upside-down he is. He just paid it up front.

But I know what you were trying to say.

A lot down would include a large capitalized cost reduction = lower payoff. It wouldn't affect the residual, which he's 31 months away from.

[Chocaholic]

That's what I needed to know. Will just keep the car and enjoy it. Certainly not an urgent situation and I like the car. Just evaluating options.

Thanks for the info.

[skipdup]

Several years ago I sold a lease to carmax and actually walked away with a few hundred dollars. I think I was maybe 12 months into a 36 month lease - or something like that.
Certainly worth calling and finding out your buy-out amount...