So here's my situation...I have an '05 TL and I have 2 more months before my lease is up and I'm stuck at what I should do. I'm in a position now where I really don't want to pay what I'm paying now ($500) for a new car lease. I'd rather the payments be a bit cheaper. I did some searching for other cars around the same price range and there isn't anything out there that has all the same features of the TL included in the price which is what I liked when I first got the car. The car I really want is the Audi A5 but I will have to wait for a better time to get that car.

My payoff on the car right now is $18,174. So my question is what is the best loan term and what would the payment be based on that payoff amount? Also, should I go through a bank or the dealer for the loan?

If anyone in So Cal knows of any good rates please let me know.

Thanks for the help!

 

Try to negotiate the payoff value- perhaps Acura will give you a better deal.

If you're in San Diego County, you might want to check out www.sdccu.com. They have a 5.75% variable loan available for a 2005 car. If you go for 5 years, you would have a $350-ish payment. I'm not sure if this is the best deal, but SDCCU is usually pretty competitive. The trick for variable rate loans is to OVERPAY each month- that way if the interest jacks up it won't be so bad and you're already use to paying a higher rate. I would thus pay $400 for this loan and either pay the car off early or stabalize the payments if the rates should go up next year.

 

^^ I just did this on my 06. Look at www.penfed.org. I just did my autoloan through them, 60 months, and 3.99% financing. Can't find anything better than that on used. Painless process as long as your credit is good. In this economy its wiser to just buy your own car if its running good.

Bank wanted 23k for mine but I negotiated down to 19k and just bought it. They can negotiate your car down to the very least 16k since you have an 05. Look at auction prices on these cars, my car at the auction sells for 17-18k.. so they still made 1k off my deal. You'rs prolly sells for 16 to 17k.

And btw, it is a credit union, and to join all you have to do is donate $20 and you become a member. That's what I had to do.

 

Thanks for the tips....I'll look into that penfed.org for the loan. To negotiate the payoff would I go to the dealership to talk to one of the sales people or what? Would I look at the bluebook value on it and use that as part of the negotiating? If my lease is up in 2 months can I just take care of the payoff now and start up the loan process? Do you suggest getting the extended warranty on the car once I purchase it?

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to figure out everything to do since I've never had a lease before.

 

Whatever you do .... do not contact the bank on your own. Wait for them to contact you. If you contact them you will lose all ground to negotiate. Your job is to act like you dont want the car and you are willing to give it back in. Right now you should be researching the going rate for your car with miles .. that are being sold. EDMUNDS is a good source for this. Educate yourself with a simple search on google on how to buyout leases and what others have done with your bank specifically. Remember the bank does not want the car back, especially in this economy. If they can sell the car to a reliable person who they know has made payments for the last 3 or 4 years they want to just lock you in so that they are trouble free.. so just realize you have the upper hand. Also tell them the rate you can get at other banks when they do call, and see if they can match it, makes the paper work easy for you.

BTW what bank is your lease through? Please dont say HANN

Here's a simple link but there many more:

http://www.edmunds.com/advice/leasin...0/article.html

 

Great info! Thanks for the link. So the bank will contact me as I get closer to the end of the lease automatically and ask what I want to do? I'm going through American Honda Financial Services for my loan now.

 

Btw, my friend who used to work at a dealership said that AHF does not negotiate the payoff at all. Is this true?

 

Seems like your payment on a 5 year deal would be alot cheaper than 500 even if you got the extended warrenty and not the best intrest rate also. I would buy it if you like the car still

 

Wait.. can you explain? I don't understand.

 

Might be true, but they would be shooting themselves in the foot if they don't budge. I don't know your credit history and how timely you were with your payments, but lets assume you never paid late and always on time.. they are retarded for not negotiating with you. Its very hard to find qualified buyers right now in the economy and those that do want cars don't have good credit and so Banks are very scared to lend to them because they might be repoe'd. Look at it from their angle, they have a customer for 3 years who has paid on time, and not a glitch. They already know your track record, they rather negotiate with you since they are guaranteed to get all their money with no hassles. If they don't sell it, its going to the auction and so they will sell it there for a much lower price. The trick is to figure out what that price is before hand and offer $500 more so that its lucrative to them to bite on the offer. By the time negotiations are over I suspect they'll get you to pay about $1k more then at the auction, which is the best you'll get if you think about. Shop at dealers and see how much they want for a trade in on your car and how much they are selling your exact car for on their lots.

I remember doing the same with my Accord back in the day with American Honda Financial.. they told me to terminate the lease 7 months early, and said instead of making 7 months worth of lease payments, they'll use that to pay off the car instead. It was an instant $1500 bux off. I could've negotiated more back then, but I wasn't as wise as I am now. Live and learn I guess.

 

Would that be the same as buying a used 2005 TL for $18k? If so, why would you do that?

 

Great info and thanks for the link

 

My credit is really good and I've never been late on any payments. I'm usually 2-3 weeks early on every payment. I looked up the value of my car and from what I put in the trade-in would be $15,970 and private party $17,826 and dealer retail $19,445. I also have rims on it and a DVD player in it but I know they probaly don't care about that.

Should I wait until the last month to do something? I haven't received anything in the mail yet except for what I should do at the end of my lease as far as keeping it, returning it or some new lease offers that they have going on now.

 

I personally have always started my "end of lease" terminations about 3 months out. If you wait until the end, you will lose some bargaining power as they know you have to do something. I have turned in 2 previous TL's on newer TL's and gotten Acura to pay off my last 3 payments as well as get a good deal on a re-lease. I had thought about buying my 04. In that case the bank told me that I could get a better deal 3 months out as opposed to last minute but I ended up trading it in on an 08 when Acura offered to move me into a Navi for the same payment. I hope to buy it in 2 years. Good luck.

 

^^ This is a good option too if you want to step into something different. Key is not to sound like they have you in a bind. Maybe call and ask them what's going on, you'd like to know if you need to shop for another car and take it from there.

My bank called me 2 months out, and they played hardball till 3 days before termination. Then some serious negotiations started .. I almost lost hope. It was quite nerve wrecking as I didn't know what the F to do.. LoL.

 

Found the perfect solution....funny thing is that my friend is the one that actually came up with it. So I'm going to turn in my 05 TL at the end of the lease. In the meantime I'll be looking for an 06-08 TL around $20-25k range and my friend is going to front me the money and I'll make the monthly payments to him each month and the best part about it is....NO INTEREST! I couldn't believe that when he told me. I was like ummmm ok, what's the catch?? lol He said no catch, just let me know when you pick the car and I'll give you the money. I guess it's nice to have good friends who have money. So i'll just swap my rims with the other car I get and it'll be like just how it was. Only this time i'll be making cheaper payments every month, have a newer car with lower miles and a warranty still.

 

Money or no money...your friend is off the f**king wall nuts for lending that much money with the idea that you'll pay him back. People change, situations change and money makes people ugly. I'll gladly pay my 5.9% interest to keep my friends, sanity and dignity.

Not knocking you...I think it's great deal for you but your friend is bonkers.

 

For some people.. lending 25k is like lending 25 bux.. so not a big deal.. but I agree with you. I personally wouldn't be able to take that much money from a friend.. I guess I have an ego.. LoL. Works out for the borrower.

 

+1...LOL

I would lend even $100 dollars to any of my friends...haha jk

 

you took the words stright out of my mouth. jumpman, i think you are a good person with money, but personally i would not involve money and friends together. but if 25 grand is like 25 bucks to him, qouting elegant then you have one good rich friend lending you the money

 

If I ever get to the point that 25 grand is like 25 bucks to me, I think I'll have "made it". Lol...actually...as with anything else...it's relative and when you make it you spend it and it's never enough!

I just hate owing people money...the bank, is making interest, so I can live with that.