20,000 miles over on leased vehicle...options???

[busy mom]

We originally planned to buy the lease out and keep the vehicle, but are considered trading in for a new car (same brand/same dealer).

Is there any wiggle room for negotiating on a lease that is 20,000 miles over? Or are we better off keeping it?

 

[seashoreCM]

1. How much would you have to pay in "additional miles" fees if you turned the car in at the end of the lease?

2. How much would you have to pay in "additional miles" and remaining monthly payments if you turned in the car now because you did not wnt to rack up any more miles?

3. How much would it cost you, including any remaining monthly payments, to buy out the car now?

4. How much would it cost you to buy the car at the end of the lease?

Yes you can ask but there is no incentive for the lease company to offer you a "deal".

Most likely you would be better off buying the car. But you need to crunch the numbers, do the math.

 

[Gillennj]

I doubt there will be any room to deal with the dealer. They have you on that contact for x per mile, and they are guaranteed to get it if you want to get another vehicle. Consider their position...they don't want a vehicle that's basically 20,000 miles over where it "should" be.

I did the same thing, went way over on mileage believing I would buy the car out at the end. I didn't, bought another used car and tacked the mileage penalty on top of the used car's price. DUMB, DUMB, DUMB.

We did it again on our van DUMBER, DUMBER, DUMBER, but this time we are going to buy it, even though the vehicle's value has dropped and is not worth the residual value of the lease--the mfg no longer even makes the van. We love it, but apparently no one else wants them.

If I were you, I would buy the vehicle.

 

[cornflake]

If it's the same dealer, you have all the wiggle room in the world, yeah.

Figure out a few things before you go in -

What the vehicle is currently worth and what you'd pay for it.

What you'd want to pay for a new lease.

What a DIFFERENT dealership will charge you for a new lease OR what you could get if you bought the car out and then traded it in for a new one.

Then go in and hedge. Say you were considering buying it out because you're over mileage buuuut you were thinking about a new lease...

See what they offer. They may kill the over charge, lessen, roll a small charge into a somewhat better lease package, knock off a month of lease payment, who knows.

If you know what you want and what the possibilities are before you go in - and have another local dealership's offer for a lease on hand to negotiate with - you'll probably be able to wrangle a decent deal.

 

[goofy!]

If it's the same dealer, you have all the wiggle room in the world, yeah.

Figure out a few things before you go in -

What the vehicle is currently worth and what you'd pay for it.

What you'd want to pay for a new lease.

What a DIFFERENT dealership will charge you for a new lease OR what you could get if you bought the car out and then traded it in for a new one.

Then go in and hedge. Say you were considering buying it out because you're over mileage buuuut you were thinking about a new lease...

See what they offer. They may kill the over charge, lessen, roll a small charge into a somewhat better lease package, knock off a month of lease payment, who knows.

If you know what you want and what the possibilities are before you go in - and have another local dealership's offer for a lease on hand to negotiate with - you'll probably be able to wrangle a decent deal.

That has not been our experience with leasing. And we have leased plenty of cars. Mileage overages are not something dealers are willing to wiggle on.

Having another dealer's lease quote won't do you any good. You would still have to turn in the car to the original dealer and they will still make their money on the overage. In fact, having another dealer's quote would most likely make it so the dealer won't budge at all on the fine. They want to make the most money as possible before you go to the other dealer.

The dealer wants you to buy out the car, especially one with particularly high mileage. You most likely have a buyout price in your contract, which is higher than they can sell it for. And most people will finance the remaining, adding more bucks.

 

[bumbershoot]

I did the same thing, went way over on mileage believing I would buy the car out at the end. I didn't, bought another used car and tacked the mileage penalty on top of the used car's price. DUMB, DUMB, DUMB.


I did the same thing. Except for some mystifying reason I thought they were *waiving* the fees. they were not. Huh, no wonder my lease cost was higher.

Oh, and then I did it again. Still not realizing that they were folding it ALL into my payments. Would you believe I read the documents over, thinking I was understanding them, repeatedly?

We did it again on our van DUMBER, DUMBER, DUMBER, but this time we are going to buy it, even though the vehicle's value has dropped and is not worth the residual value of the lease--the mfg no longer even makes the van. We love it, but apparently no one else wants them.

If I were you, I would buy the vehicle.

I would buy it, too. I really regret not buying the cars. Especially the first and second. (though there wouldn't have been a second if I bought the first. I still love the green '95 Jettas that I see every so often)

That has not been our experience with leasing. And we have leased plenty of cars. Mileage overages are not something dealers are willing to wiggle on.

Hasn't been mine on, either, when I finally was done leasing. In my case it was VW, and the dealership was completely separate from the people who gave me the lease, which was VCI. VCI set the rules. Didn't matter one little bit what VW's dealership thought.

 

[benniecooper]

I work for an Acura dealership and also have a leased vehicle. The problem is that the dealer does not actually own the lease-the leasing company does. For example, Acura leases are bought buy American Honda Finance. They fund the vehicle at purchase and hold the title. When you take your car in to turn it in or discuss lease buyout, the dealer submits the information (miles, condition, etc) to the lease company who determines the penalties. Unfortunately, you won't really be negotiating face to face and the dealers hands are basically tied to do whatever the lease company says.

More than likely, the lease company will penalize you for the miles. It's unfortunate but the lease contract states any miles over a certain amount will be $X.XX amount.

 

[cornflake]

That has not been our experience with leasing. And we have leased plenty of cars. Mileage overages are not something dealers are willing to wiggle on.

Having another dealer's lease quote won't do you any good. You would still have to turn in the car to the original dealer and they will still make their money on the overage. In fact, having another dealer's quote would most likely make it so the dealer won't budge at all on the fine. They want to make the most money as possible before you go to the other dealer.

The dealer wants you to buy out the car, especially one with particularly high mileage. You most likely have a buyout price in your contract, which is higher than they can sell it for. And most people will finance the remaining, adding more bucks.

Huh, guess I was wrong. My only experience with this isn't recent and the consensus is the other way - sorry OP!

 

[Lewisc]

It used to be a dealer for the same car could work a deal with the leasing company and sell the car on their lot. That might work if you were a few thousand miles over and the car is in demand. Theory was leasing company would be auctioning the car...dealer would be offering to buy back the car at a better price benefiting customer.

20K miles over. Not much you can do.

 

[rojen]

The dealer can give you a discount on a new car or lease that is equivalent to your mileage overage charge.

I always go to the dealership a few months before the lease is up, it shows the salesperson that you're not desperate to get a new car that day. They will be desperate to get you into a new one that day since they'll be afraid of you talking your business elsewhere in the intervening months. Just keep saying, "I want a new car, but I really don't need one for a few months."

They'll get you into something as cheap as they can and still make a small profit. Their supply is essentially limitless so they'll be willing to make a few hundred as opposed to a few thousand off you.