Jimf

I am dissapointed in my trade in value of 2001 TL, I have about 60,000 miles on the car and is worth about $12,500. The car was well cared for looks good. My lease was running out and I went to Acura so see if I could lease a new 2004 or buy my 2001. The residual value was $17,400, whic is so high above the actal value of the car that was out and I would have to repace the tranny again. The dealer(s) were of NO help at all, no incentvies of any sort, they say the new TL is so much better and loaded with extras over the 2001, it's lowering the price on the 2001. So I had to dump the TL, I had no financial choice. i feel I was cheated by the TL sales talk in 2001 as a good car that retained it's value, like the Lexus ot Toyota or BMW - IT'S NOT a LEXUS or BMW. I bought an american car(CTS) with plenty of incentives and I know it's final value and by the way it's not bad to drive either.

MADCAT

HUH? A 99 TL with 60K is like $20,000 on Auto Trader. What did u do to the car amd who told you its worth that much?
I say keep the car and mod it up. Mod it up so people will look at you and your ride. They won't look at a stock 04 TL compared to a modded 99-03 TL.

Strannik

Canadian $$$ are cheap... And why would he keep the car and pay $17400, if other cars like his are worth $5k less???

shogun

on the contrary, dealer dollars are not cheap. 'worth' is a somewhat relative term.

SC TL

Assuming your car is in good condition, KBB trade in value is $13,480, and private party value is $15,700. Where'd you come up with $12,500?

ResidualFreedom

are you trying to say the dealer tells you your 2001 TL is only worth 12,000 and you want 17,000.
Who cares!! it's a lease right? why do you care? if your lease is up get rid of the car, the money the car is now worth is the dealers problem (as long as you haven't gone over in miles or damaged the car).

And if the low price is a problem - THAT should be a good thing if you want to buy the car after the lease is out!
If you financed the car and three years later the value was lower than you thought it would be, THEN you would be in tight situation, but a lease is like a rental!! F*ck them give it back to em!

plus a close friend of mine is a car sales man, he told me a really easy way to findout how much you will spend on leasing a car - and buying it out after the lease.

You guys ready??? take the Total sticker price of the car - DOUBLE IT - and subtract 600 bucks. He uses this formula to get a quick estimate while working with customers, and it is usually very very close (depending on lending rates).

So it wouldn't be intelligent to lease a TL with plans of buying out the lease in 3 years. Yes it could take you up to 8 years to pay for it, 3 years lease plus a 5 year finance, but you would be spending almost twice the cost of the car!! up to you.......but that's why I got a used TL instead of a new 04. IIn four years I will own this car and be able to sell it for a few thousand - or I could have leased an 04 and in three years, finance the same 04 and end up paying over $70,000 for a 04 TL .

shogun

it seems he already bought a cts, so advice isn't really going anywhere from what i can tell. and as for resale value, not all bmw's have this nor lexus. i think really good resellers are the bmw 3 moreso than the 5,7,etc leasing is a tricky thing, and it really all depends on how you want to approach it. you will get owned as stated above trying to lease then buyout as i would hope everyone knows, but then again, theres a reason you can lease for cheaper than buying, because you are not.