Dirk Diggler

Had a nice surprise at the dealer today, thought I'd tell you about it since it concerns TL owners. The numbers are Canadian though, so this will be more informative to Canadian owners...

I have an '03 TL-S leased for 4yrs. The lease ends June '06, and the buyout at that time is $20,900 + taxes. I have a 96,000km limit on the lease.

Currently, the car has 69,000km. Those are the specs.

I walk into a dealership of a rival japanese manufacturer (prefer not to say who), and tell them that I want to trade my TL-S for one of their vehicles. They made a call to a local Acura dealership, and they told him that the most they would pay for a mint '03 TL-S with 69km is $22,000!!!

I can't understand that. In a year and 1/2 from now, my car will have 96,000km on it, will be 1 1/2yrs older, and the buyout is only $1,100 less? How can it be that my car will only depreciate $1,100 over the next year and half with all those extra km!?!?!

The used car sales manager explained to me that most cars that are leased and returned with the maximum km limit are usually worth less than their buyout. Manufacturers regularly take hits on the car when they come back in this fashion, and what allows them to make some money is the interest they charged on the lease, and the fact that some unwise people return their cars with far less km than the max, so they can make money that way too...

Is this true? I'm kind of blown away... I thought they'd offer a little less than retail, but $22k??? Currently in the auto trader, the very cheapest one with similar km is selling for $27,000. They're also selling as high as $32k with lower miles.

If all this is true, I guess I have no choice but to return the car at the end of the lease, since it's value will be far less than the buyout. I'd appreciate your thoughts on this.

Joe.

scottt

Sounds about right. Trade in value is a LOT lower than retail value. Case in point. Local dealer has a 2003 Caddy STS will all the trimmings available. It retails (certified) for $32,000, according to Kelly BlueBook. Trade in value is $24,000. So, if I bought it, and drove it off the lot I'd lose $8,000 in a split second (ON A USED CAR). Needless to say I didn't buy it.

Laurelcrest

I dont think the TL-S type has held its value for a number of reasons. The most obvious is the transmission issue, which scares off any intelligent buyer looking for a good used vehicle.

I'm pretty happy with my S type - though the reality of my situation is that I've had it on leasebusters for a long time, trying to get someone to take over my lease, and have had maybe 5 calls in the last 10 months. That doesn't say a heck of a lot for the reputation the S type must have.

WW_TLS

The value shown on autotrader are always higher, as some of the dealer did certified improvement to the car. I bought mine last year used from an Acura dealership under the certified program. they had to change all the brake pads, machine the rotor, place the whole new front bamper (due to scratches). These are all extra work they had to do to the car (it adds value to the car).

Also, everytime when you want to trade in your car, it will always be less than retail as those used car place are in the business to make money.

If you want, just sell the car privately and you should get more money for your car.

Rusky

dude, you just said that the lowest price in autotrader is $27,000. You rarely are better off trading it in then just returning it. Leases are not designed to leave you with equity! That's why they are cheaper then buying. Your choices are either return it and cut the loss or try to sell it privately. Sounds like your buyout isn't that bad to me. I would suggest going back to Acura and telling them your story (just leave out the price they offered you) and see what they'll do to keep you in an Acura. Yeah, I know, transmission thing. Of thousands of moving parts in this exceptional car, one was mis engineered and they are dealing with it. Acura is still on par with Lexus and Infinity. They are more reliable and less expensive to own then BMW or Mercedez. I was in a brand new top of the line 3 series the other day and it is lethargic compared to a new TL. Even though I just lost my tranny, I am still on target for a new TL or RL in a couple years.