I'm coming up on the end of the lease on my '07 TL-S (toward the end of July) and I'm wondering what my options are.

My purchase option is at $22.5k, and I have fewer than 20K miles on the car. Until about a month ago, buying it out would have been a no-brainer for me, but some drunk idiot rear-ended my car, and did just enough damage (about $4K) where I don't want that to be my headache down the road. It's incredibly frustrating, as the car is in pristine condition otherwise. Plus the body shop did a fantastic job with it, but I gather that any body work having been performed is still a pretty substantial strike against it for a future potential buyer.

There aren't any current Acuras that really strike my fancy, so I'm not inclined to simply turn it in and get a new Acura. Could I, for example, trade it in at another dealership where they contribute the payoff amount and title transfers to them directly? I've heard conflicting information on whether Acura Finance will allow this. It may even be worth my while to buy it myself and pay tax, but I'm not sure how much impact the collision has had on its value.

Also, how has Acura Finance been lately about allowing lease extensions? I'm not in an enormous hurry to get anything else, and I would be perfectly happy to keep the lease going for a while longer.

Curious to hear if anyone has any advice or similar experiences to share.

 

Try to go after depreciated value from the other insurance company so the accident no longer affects your decision

 

I looked at the same thing when I bought out my lease. Acura said they could extend the lease by 1 month to help me decide. I would say buying it from lease and reselling it might backfire. If you are not planing on selling the car buy out the lease, if you want something new just return it $22.5k will get you a new civic si. Acura is asking almost 40k for a new TL and 52k for a RL or ZDX.

 

a lease payoff is the same as a finance payoff in the eyes of a dealer on trade.

 

If it were me and my car had been involved in a 4k-damage wreck, I'd turn it back in (I lease as well). Any dealer you do business with should take care of the payoff as part of a new deal and return it to Acura for you. Start shopping about 3 months out, narrow down your choices and start negotiating.

 

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

How does this work? Is it a cash payment from the other insurance company?

 

WTF. David McDavid wants me to pay $27K for mine & I'm at 30,000 miles.

As for the accident, I would just give it back. $4K in damages is quite a bit for a car you were just about to buy.

 

agreed, for that pay off he must have dropped a wad down or had a free and clear trade. therefore giving the car back would be burning equity. You might as well put it in the paper and see if you can get a few k over your payoff on private sale before you return it.

 

Just bear in mind, that "your" car is actually titled and registered to whomever holds the lease. As you mentioned, you are on the hook for sales tax as well, when you purchase "your" car. Your state that collects the tax will based the tax on the book value of the car, which I doubt will be any diminished value because of the accident.

 

that may be the fact where you live but 90% of the time tax would be based off the purchase price from the finance company as he probably has already paid tax on the other % of the vehicle's value. the possibility of double taxation would be crazy.

 

Hmmm. I didn't put anything down (well, actually a few hundred bucks, thanks to some dealer trickery on a deposit to secure the vehicle and my failure to raise the issue at signing), and didn't have a trade, so you guys got me to wondering if I had misread my lease paperwork. Well, as it turns out I had, but my payoff is actually $21.3k.

I got my '07 just before the '08s were coming out, so would this have something to do with it?

 

Then it looks like the guy with the 27k payoff either had some negative equity on his trade or got bent over like wine cooler'd prom date.

 

Agreed - you are correct. The point I was trying to make was that the state isn't going to short themselves on tax revenue because of diminshed value.

 

I haven't paid anything yet b/c I brought up that I could just give them the car back & go buy another TL somewhere else for less. They only responded, "Well, things could be different in a year."

 

You have the right to negotiate the final buyout price. But since you have the S model, it may be difficult. I waited until the last week of my lease then offered them 2k less. They gave it to me but that was a different make of car. It couldn't hurt to try but depending on your state, you WILL pay sale tax on the agreed upon price. See if you can get financing elsewhere ahead of lease expiration to avoid undo pressure from Acura. They want to burn you, you have to play it smart.

 

I may see if I could do it through AutoFlex here in town. They've usually always given out some good deals.

 

What's Acura Finance's deal on lease extensions right now? A family member got to basically lease her MDX indefinitely a few years ago, but now I'm reading that in certain circumstances, Acura FS may grant a one-month extension.

Ideally I could go month to month, and have some leeway to act if any great deals come up on the new vehicle side.