My 10/Tech's lease expires next month. I have leased Acura's for the past 13 years and always traded in the current lease for a new one. This time I am thinking about switching to Lexus. Acura says you have to return the car to an Acura dealer but figure there must be a way around this. I'd appreciate any info from those who have switched and turned in their lease to another make. Thanks in advance for the info.

 

If the Lexus dealership has a sister Acura dealership, they should be able to take care of this for you. Otherwise, you will have to return it to Acura. Having said this, make sure your car is INSPECTED prior to returning it.

It would be in your best interest to return the car to Acura in order to make sure the proper paperwork is done.

My wife had a 2006 Pilot lease and we ended up getting a CX9, we returned the PILOT to the Honda dealer because the the Mazda dealer ownership did not have a Honda relationship

 

Just go to the Lexus dealer and tell them your lease is almost up. They'll just process the car as any other trade in. Just make sure you know your payoff and residual, and work the trade in price like you would normally.

 

Not if the trade-in on the car is less than the residual. I have seen that more recently. Heavily incentives cause manufacturers to have inflated residual payoff.

 

Why don't you want to turn in your car to Acura? It is a fairly painless process unless you have damage or are over a great deal on miles?

 

Actually my car is immaculate - not even a chip or ding. Miles are low - only 15.3k (I actually may end up extending the lease if I can't get a decent deal on a new ride). I am simply hoping to consolidate my travel to a "one stop" purchase. I have to travel 3+ hours as it is to return the car and then another hour if I decide on the Lexus. Not to mention that we probably would need to take 2 vehicles - one to drop the TL off and the other for the trip to the other dealer. Add to the fact that my wife HATES car shopping and would rather not go with me. I don't think my dealer has a Lexus franchise but I'll have to do a little more research to confirm.

 

Obviously, that is why I said to treat the trade in amount as normal. Why take a $2k hit when you can dump the car at a honda dealership.

 

Your car is almost new which seems to be in amazing condition based on miles and description. What is the residual on your car? I see a lot of postings here from people looking to buy pre-owned TLs.... maybe someone here can take advantage...

 

Residual is right at 23k. I think I could probably get 25k for it if sold privately but not sure I want the hassle. Key West is a long way from civilization so my market is somewhat slimmer. However, I will be interested to see what various dealers may offer me for it above the pay-off.

 

Wow low miles. I'd buy it out at the residual value. Then trade it in because you have some positive equity in the 4G. I'm not sure if you can trade it in like normal because the title is not under your name. It would be hard to negotiate if at all. FWD or AWD?

 

I've thought about doing that too and you are right about the title situation. However if another dealer likes the car enough I would think they could buy it just as well as me and then put it on their lot. All Acura is really interested in is the money owed them regardless of who pays it and they'd probably rather have the money than the car back. I'm sure any dealer would play with the numbers enough to make it look like they're giving me positive equity towards anything else I buy. The car's FWD.

 

15k miles only? Is that a 3 year lease? Even 2 years you are barely driving that car.

It's your money but it doesn't make sense to pay 50-55% of the car's value just to return it. I would trade it in and you should have equity in the car. My guess is your payoff is around $22k and with your low miles, you can probably get $25k or so. The dealer wants you to just return the car so they can make more money on it.

 

Check your original paperwork.
I'm not sure if the situation may be different in the U.S. but I'm pretty sure it would be the same. When you lease a car you do not own it. The leasing arm of the mfr or the dealer still owns it and you are "renting it". That's why you have to return it to the company that owns it. If you actually owned it you could sell it to whomever you wanted.
I hope you realize how much you are paying for the leasing arrangement all these years. You may have some way to write it off as a business expense, but generally speaking, the way you are doing it is about the most expensive way possible to drive a vehicle. Perhaps you are independently wealthy and it does not matter to you. (?)

 

What? Canada must have completely different leasing terms then. As long as Acura or whoever the lease is through gets paid they don't care. You can trade in a leased car just as you could a car you owned outright or were still financing. It makes no difference. You still have a payoff amount with a lease as you would with financing.

Also, leasing is not the most expensive way to drive a vehicle. Everyone's situations are different, but if you want a new car every 3 years it's the better way to go.

 

Well, amill, no offense, but I think you are wrong.
To answer the question we need to see some genuine paperwork from a lease arrangement. The dealers here are always happy to let you out of a lease if you want to re-lease a newer car from them, but other than that you are stuck with the original commitment. With a lease you pay "rent" for the time you have the car based on the expected depreciation during that time and you also pay interest on the value of the car that is outside the depreciated amount because you have that car tied up but you are not buying it. This is not the terminology that is used but it is a correct way to think about it. Car dealers LOVE people who lease! Need I say more? I always pay cash. I have never financed a car through a dealer or leased a car and I have owned my own car(s) for 50 years. Respect your elders! LOL. jk

 

Again, you're in canada, and since the TS is in the US, why bother offering advice based on terms in a different country?

 

You are completely correct, there may be differences between the two countries, but I would still like to see the paperwork. Without reference to legal documentation we can say anything we like, but it doesn't make it true. People have a lot of misconceptions about financial arrangements it seems. Witness the housing crash in your fine country a couple years ago.

 

Wow! applause break. I have owned many cars as well. In the end a car is never an investment. Either way, you spend money and use a car during the term and either sell it, or it's scrapped if you hold onto it long enough.

Whether you pay cash, finance or lease. If you get rid of the car in the form of trade in, private sale, or whatever you still lose the same amount of money. Just because someone purchased a car and made payments for 3 years before trading it doesn't mean he lost less money or get less use than someone who leased and made payments over the same time frame on the same car.

 

Unless Acura/Honda is different than VW/AUDI, BMW or any other manufacturer I've dealt with in the past, then what I said is true.

 

unless you have positive equity.. you should return to acura.. simple as that.. and in this case, you should not..

ask the dealer if he would buy it out directly from acura and give you some type of incentive on a new lease with their dealer.. ive done this for my father in the past.. it can be done.. well atleast in socal we have that option

 

So, you are agreeing with me, that Acura owns it?
The customer with the lease does not own the vehicle.
It's just like renting an apartment.
If you rent an apartment, can you sell it to another buyer?
No, of course not, the landlord owns the property.

 

yes, acura does own the car but you have the option at the end of lease to buy it out, if another party wants to buy the vehicle they can.. dealer or private.. they just pay the balance on the car listed on the contract.

house and car have two different set of rules..

with renting a house, if contract has option or home owner agrees and let renter buy out the house, they can.

your concept is wrong.. you are not strictly just permitted to rent unless your contract states so its a case by case with house renting.

 

Can't let it go can you? It's been explained 3-4 times in this thread.

 

Compare the trade in value in edmunds.com and compare it to your pay off. Its just like trading a car that was purchased. Just hope that the trade in value Is more than the pay off or at least equal. You dont have to worry about the lease contract since lexus will basically purchase the car from acura financial... Kinda like when you decide to buy a leased car right even before the lease expires. You deal directly with acura financial and not the dealer anymore.

 

Yup - 3 year lease. Low miles due to living on an island and using Motorcycle more frequently. However when I do drive the TL it is usually 1000 miles at a shot to commute to our Central FL home. May extend the lease or buy outright as other options. Agree totally with your last statement!

 

Yup - 100% business write-off!

 

At this point trade-in value via Edmunds and residual are equal. However private sale value is about 2k higher. And regardless of the decision I make I will deal directly with AFC as opposed to my dealer unless they call me and are extremely pro-active in having me get a new lease or purchase through them.

So far my only contact with the dealer has been through a third-party company offering me a "free assessment" on my options. When I found out they were third-party I hung up. Then again I have till the end of October so perhaps the dealer will get more aggressive then!

 

Wow that sucks. My Infinti lease was up this month and Infiniti starting harassing me to get another Infiniti over 6 months ago.

 

Acura is a little harder to buyout of the lease than other cars. This is my 3rd Acura lease and the 2 other times I could not just sell it to another person and transfer and pay it off. I had to have the dealer take possession and then sell it to a friend so the dealer could get their dealer rip off fee. Read your contract it says that in there. They will also make an appointment with you to have a company come and inspect the car before you turn it in and give you of list of any repairs needed. Acura gives you $1500 and repair money to fix things and if it goes over that you pay. They really do have some of the best leases out there.

 

Up until this last lease Acura did the same to me. Apparently I got such a great deal on this car they couldn't do too much for me until I paid most of it down.

 

At this point I welcome an inspection because there is absolutely nothing wrong with the car. I even put seat covers on the front seats so they look like new. You are right in that Acura has very good leases. I think I'd buy the car outright first if I decide to sell it simply to avoid the dealer fees.

If I do decide to go Lexus I believe there is a dealer in Miami who holds both franchises. That would probably be my best bet to avoid any hassles although it would not be my Lexus dealer of choice.

 

Osvald if the car is as clean and low miles as you state, why would you not buy the car if the residual value is below the market value? You probably have 1/2 the miles that you were allocated in your lease and that is worth some money that the dealer is not going to compensate you for. I have found that desirable cars in remote places usually fetch more than in major metro areas where this is lots of competition. The TL is desirable and you should have no problems selling it if that's what you decide to do.

Buy the car and then you can decide what you want to do afterwards. You won't have to make that 3 hour drive and do everything via phone or mail. I personally would keep the car another year or so if I were you. I think you might be over-complicating a pretty simple problem.

 

I have actually been on all tree sides of this scenario:

Turned in a leased car at the dealer - no issues or concerns. Miles were just about where they were supposed to be.
Bought out a leased car early - was waaaaay low on miles and bought it out 6 months early. Wound up keeping the car for years but could have turned it for a profit. **One thing to consider is tax, tags and title. As you don't own the car, (at least in MA) you need to be the registered / titled owner to sell unless you are a dealer. Shelling out the funds to cover these may sour you on this option and definitely cut into your profits.
Bought a lease turn in - this was from a dealer but not the same marque. Took a little longer to buy this as the dealer had just taken the car in and hadn't settled all the paperwork with the leasing company.

 

Just want to clear things up for our American friends. A lease here works the same way. If you had an Acura, you can trade it in at a different dealership... What happens is they give you a trade-in value and if it is greater than your residual, you can arrange it for the dealer to take care of this for you.

How do I know this? My mother in law did the exact thing. So, Jim, please don't feed into the misconception that things are different. They work exactly the same as the US.

To the OP, if your car value is worth more than your residual, definitely go for a private sale after buying it out. It will be worth your whole especially with your low mileage.

Lastly, you cannot compare a house to your car. A car is a depreciating asset. I have leased and owned cars in the past. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. Leasing and financing can be comparable depending on the rates, except with financing you need a lump sum in the beginning instead of the end. When you are talking about cash purchases, you are in essence paying up front for all the depreciation you will take during your years of ownership. Sure you own your car, but you lose a significant chunk each year.

Further, when you want a new car every few years, that cash incentive you saved gets eaten up if you decide to trade in to a dealer (people don't like to deal with the hassle if a private sale). Whereas, in a lease, you trade it in and pick up a new car.

Your mentality is exactly the same as my parents and I have had the exact same argument with them. You may OWN your car but what good does that do you? It still devalues the same way - you are just paying for the depreciation up front. If there are minimal cash incentives and you did not want to keep your car longer than 4 years, then why the heck would you buy it outright? Only time buying makes sense is if you are keeping your car for a long time. Even then, you could always pay out your residual at any time. This protects you from taking a big hit on buying a car you end up hating and wanting to trade in.

Sorry for the long post, but I needed to clear this issue up and let people know that things in Canada are not as different as some people make it out to be, except for the fact we pay more for our cars. LOL

 

Thanks for your comments - that certainly is one of the options in the mix. I am also considering extending the lease for another 6-12 months in anticipation of the new TLX.

 

I'm also in Canada, and i have traded in numerous leases before it's maturity. It's no different than trading in a car you own/finance. You have a buyout price before taxes. That's it. The difference between trading in a financed car, and a leased car, is there is no tax savings when trading in the leased vehicle, because you don't own it, and the tax is paid monthly. Other than that, it's the same thing. I've done it 3 times already. In the case of the OP, your residual is only $23k + taxes. But your car is probably worth about $27-28k retail. It may actually work out better for you if you negotiate a trade. You will know what your buy out is, but you would probably be able to get more than your buyout due to the condition of your car.

 

***UPDATE*** With nothing currently being built that catches my fancy and only a month left on my lease I decided to extend the lease for 6 more months in anticipation of the new TLX and others coming out mid-year. Acura is very accommodating. The lease is on a month-to-month basis meaning I can still turn in the car at any time without penalty. I also have the option of extending the lease for 6 more months when the first extension runs out. By then I should have a better idea as to what direction to take. Thanks for your input.

 

have paid cash for most of the vehicles we have owned over the years but when offered 0% financing we go for it.

 

Unless you bought your home in 2007 and sold it in 2010...

 

Ah, semantics.. I'm sure you know what I was alluding to. A car is almost always a depreciating asset, whereas a house still has a chance to appreciate in value...

Although, like OP, I am curious to see what the TLX will bring -> I hope it will be worth upgrading. However, I feel more nervous and apprehensive than optimistic in the meantime.. LOL