when i went in to see about lease deals yesterday, the salesman told me at lease end there is only a penalty for mileage overage if you return the car to infiniti and suggested if i went over to take it to any other manufacturer like acura or bmw


if this is true why would anyone return it to infiniti and pay the penalty?


so buy this if i go waaaaaaaaay over the miles i should:
1)buy it outright at lease end
2)take it back to somone else.

also how do the logistics work if you return it somewhere else? as far as penalties go?

 

On a lease, you're paying for part of the car. That part is defined by the mileage you will incur. Whether you return it and pay the stipulated mileage charge to Infiniti, or take it somewhere else, you will pay the price regardless. Because other dealers will value your car based on mileage. And they will value it very low, for sure.

The one time it really makes sense to buy a car off a lease is if you really like the car, and you have very low mileage. Because at that point you've paid for more of the cars life than you currently have it at.

 

As above, I can not imagine that another dealer will ignore the extra miles if they buy your lease at the end.

I had a '96 Audi A4 (leased new from an Audi dealer) that was an electrical nightmare and before the lease was up I visited Infiniti, who seemed happy to take the car off my hands with 2-3 months remaining on the lease when I bought an I30. He did all the paper work and I did not have to pay the last few months. I was not over on miles.

If you go way over on miles you can always buy it, but if you don't like the car (of course, you WILL like the G!) you won't be a happy person.

I'm not a big fan of leasing.

 

Right Andy, and the only reason Infiniti was happy to take it off your hands was that the miles were under the lease terms. You actually did pay those last few months, but just not directly It WAS factored in.....you just didn't see it coming out of your shorts.

I've taken the trade in bone more than once. They do not lose a penny on these transactions, trust me. It's either on one side or the other.

 

You are right-they would not have done it if they were going to lose money, but overall, the deal seemed appropriate (I paid well under sticker and a little over invoice).

I also did not want to be 2 or 3 weeks away from the lease ending and rushing to find a car and perhaps settle on something I was not thrilled about only because I would be without a car when the lease was up. Forced car shopping-another reason to dislike leasing. (I did like the I30, which I kept for 6 years).

 

i was told the buy out at the end of a 24mo lease would be a fixed amount...23200 which is 66% of the residual value. is this true or is the buyout only determined at end of the lease?

i used to sell cars, so know the game very well, but i never dealt with leases, only purchases.

i got a great deal for a lease, and think ill probibly buy the car at the end since i know it will be taken care of and have low milage.

 

By "returning it to someone else" do you mean trade it in with another dealership? If you trade it in before your lease is up then it doesen't matter who or where you turn it in, they should pay off the car regarless of the miles, however if you have negative equity then that amount will be added onto the next car you finance or lease. You can't just take it back to a Pontiac dealership to return the lease. I was the Internet manager and I used to do all the lease returns at a Nissan dealership in Seattle and saw how the manufacturer keeps tabs on the actual "returning" of the lease. You have a few options
1. Sell the car if you think you can get most of your money back and then pay off the lease.
2. Trade in your car at another dealership and finance the negative equity
3. Turn in the lease and pay the penalties

Leases are good under the right circumstances;
-if you think you have a good chance of keeping the car after the lease (you just refinance) but can get lower payments initially with a lease.
-you lease a car NO LONGER than 48 months, and even 48 months is pushing it, stay 24-36 months.
-Pick a car that has great re-sale value. Sorry but the G35 doesn't. That's great if you wanna buy a used one(like me), but bad if you wanna sell one.

 

No the buyout is ALWAYS predetermined before the lease and you should have been aware of it when you first signed your contract. There was once a thing called "undisclosed leases" a few years back and this is why leases got a bad name. Years ago, you would lease a car and they wouldn't tell you how much the buyout/residual was after your term. So someone would lease a 20K mustang, make payments for 3 years and the residual would still be 16K, way to high. Now everything is disclosed, for your sake and the banks sake. If the bank sets your residual to high, then no one will buy it at the end so the bank is stuck with a car not worth what they are in it for. If the bank sets the residual to low, then everyone would pay off the buyout and sell it privately for profit. So the banks try and set a buyout before you lease and it is a guess as to what they think your car will be worth in a few years, or however long your term is. Does that help?

 

that helps a lot man, thanx. havent sighned yet, will do paperwork this week

 

Cool. Just look at your residual(buyout) before you buy. Take a long look at your local used market. See how much a few years old G35 model like the one you wanna buy is going for. Your residual should be close to that, given it has reasonable milage.

 

does how much money you put down on a lease relate to the buyout value on top of miles and such? the buyout on my premium 05 6MT after 3 years 45k miles is 18,5++ i believe....

 

I figure I came out ahead when I decided to just buy my car, instead of leasing it. 3 years has gone by, and I still like the car, so I plan on keeping it for at least another 3 years.

To me, leasing it is if you don't want to keep the car, whether because you aren't sure you won't get tired of it, or because you can afford to have a new car every 2-3 years, and are willing to pay for it. In this case, the peace of mind that you don't have to try to sell it, or trade it in, at lease end.

 

No. The residual is the same figure before you walk in and buy the car. The amount you put down affects your payments. It is taken out of the front end of the lease, not the buyout. So the more you put down the less your payments will be, but it absolutley will not effect the residual. Now things that can effect the residual are add-ons like aftermarket leather, Nav, etc. Part of these cost can "roll-over" into your residual. So that is how your payments go up only a few extra dollars if you get things like that.

 

The best, most cost effective lease is structured like this:

No Money Down - only pay for plates/registration. Downpayments on a lease are a total waste. If you can't afford the payments - move on to something else.

Keep lease term as close to the warranty term as possible to avoid out-of-pocket repairs.

If you lease - keep it a lease - buying the car makes your overall cost way too high.

Use all of the miles you pay for.

You are basically financing the difference between the residual value and the price they are selling the car to the lease company for (+ tax). Negotiate the sales price, then tell them you want to lease at that price.

 

I leased my car and then purchased it and the overall cost was basically dead even. I sat down and crunched the numbers, and then had my Finance manager do the same. Assuming you get a good sale price, the costs after all's said and done are very similar.