Reading another thread prompted me to write this one just out of pure curiosity. It had been mentioned that if one were to lease a vehicle and then decided halfway through, or the next day for that matter, to purchase the vehicle they would be responsible for the lease payments agreed upon in addition to the residual value of the car. I always thought you could simply purchase the vehicle at any time for the buyout cost. That is what Nissan did when they bought out my Accord. What is the truth on this issue?

 

I had an Accord (1994) and a BMW Z3 (2001), both leased, and both sold. The Accord I traded at a dealer for a Camaro Z28 (long story), and the Z3 I sold to Carmax. I am not exactly sure what they did, but they "bought" the car from the leasing company. I know it can be done, but I would think it depends on your leasing contract and the leasing company you are dealing with - they may be different.

This time I bought the car outright. No more leases for me. 1700 miles in three weeks!!!

 

As far as I know, a lease from NMAC works like this.
You have to pay all of the payments you owe, plus the residual value. You should wind up paying about $5k more than buying the car in the first place.

I leased my car, and that's about how much it would cost me to own this car. I love my 36k mile rental car. I drive the **** outta it.

CaptinB

 

So what *good* options do you have with the lease, Im doin the same thing here although I dont wanna get rid of my Z, but could I upgrade it?

 

So when I call NMAC it says my buy off is $32,000 ( I just leased the car last week). Does that mean I would have to pay the thirty two grand plus the residual if I wanted to finance it today?

 

Anyone know the number to NMAC?

 

no

you would simply pay the 32K.

If you bought it at the end of the lease - you pay 450 x 36 mos (16200) + residual value (determined at lease inception) ~16K = 32200

same either way eh?

 

You pay $32k. That is the total value of the car at the time. The residual is what you would pay if you waited until the end of the lease and you had made all those monthly payments.

I bought out my lease in Feb.

The phone number you used to check your payment status is the one to use. If you want to talk to a live person you have to go through the whole menu.

 

Thanks for the help guys.

 

NMAC numbers is 800-456-6622 when you are in a lease you can call for a payoff just like if you were buying the car, sure the payoff will be higher that's normal in a lease, but whatever your payoff is you dont have to add the residual. The residual is what you can buy the car for at the end of the lease (after you made all your payments).

 

And be sure to read the fine print for early payoff penalties . . . some have it, most don't. The key to make a lease work for you is to negotiate a hell of a deal (out the door price if you were buying) and keep your eye on the residual figure (when you decide to make it a lease). All in all, a lease is a gamble among a large corporation who has researched trends vs. the customer. Who do you think will guess the correct value at lease end?

If you intend on keeping the car beyond your lease terms (buying it out), mod the hell out of it! I am, but I am buying out the vehicle within the next 6 months--I just wanted lower payments while I was in grad school

G