I have a large family(4 children), so I always needed a full-size van. In the span of 10 years, I owned 3 of the very same van, a GMC Safari. On the first 2, I purchased an extended warranty for about $2000, but we never financed the extended warranty. We would wait until the van had reached about 35,000 miles, then pay cash for the warranty. I am not sure if that was a good idea or not, but we just did not want to finance it. The first van needed an expensive repair at about 70,000 miles, which was covered under the warranty. I still had to haggle with GMC to get them to pay for it, but they did. The second van needed only one repair, the windshield wiper motor, that was covered under the extended warranty. However, I had issues with the (new for that year) ABS brakes. The dealership insisted the brakes were fine, but I HATED them! At 96,000 miles, I had paid 3 years of a 5-year loan, and traded it in. I took a loss, but I just did not feel safe in it. The third van was considered a "new" van because it had never been titled, but the van had been used to drive big-name golfers to a big golf tournament that was hosted in part by Chevrolet, so I got what I considered to be a good deal on it. It had several options that I would not have ordered, but it was discounted a few thousand dollars, and had 2000 miles on it. I still qualified for "new car" interest rates(I called all the local banks for the lowest rate, and did not go with the dealership's offer). Two months later, a teenager ran a stop sign near my daughter's middle school, and did $10,000 worth of damage to my $26000 van. The bulk of the cost was replacing the two front airbags, but I was without a van for 2 weeks. And this happened 2 days before our trip to Disney, so I drove a nasty rental van to Disney! We found out that the accident voided what was left of our original warranty(36,000 mile)and we were not able to purchase the extended warranty. At 49,000 miles, the transmission went out, and GMC insisted it was not a defect in the van. The mechanic that charged me $3000 to rebuild it said otherwise, but there was not an official recall. There was no way we could get rid of this van without taking a huge loss, so I drove it for 4 years after the accident. Luckily, after the transmission, the other repairs were relatively minor. But 4 years was the longest I had ever driven the same van, and I was so sure something was going to go wrong at any moment. I don't know why I thought that, because what should have been going out at 100,000 miles had needed repairing at 49,000! While shopping for a new car for my then 16-year-old(I do NOT reccommend anyone else do this!), I found a really good deal on a brand new Suburban, which is what I really wanted every time I bought a van! Sure, it got 5-7 less miles per gallon than my van, but I really liked it! We paid $2000 down for it, and went through our credit union for financing. I parked my van in my yard with 109,000 miles on it, and put a "For Sale" sign on it. I sold it in 3 days! Because of the accident, I asked only half of what it's Blue Book value was. Trade-in value of vans is VERY low. We learned that vans overall have a very poor resale value, so you are better off to drive one until the wheels fall off! We never leased anything, so I don't know what to suggest to get out of yours. My only advice is to REALLY think about what your next vehicle purchase will be. Do your research before purchasing another van, because you will come out a whole lot better if you could drive it for 4-5 years. My neighbor drove the same van for 10 years(unheard of, I know!) She faithfully maintained it, and put 100 miles on it per day, 5 days a week, for 5 of those years. She had any little repair done immediately, and never let minor problems turn into big ones. When she decided to buy another vehicle, she researched every available make on the market, and finally decided on a Honda Odyssey. She ordered exactly what she wanted, and paid cash for it. According to her, cash is what you have when you don't have to make car payments! Anyway, after 7 years in her Honda, she recently took it in for an expensive repair, which cost about $2500. Because of her faithful maintenance, she will be driving it for another 7! And I plan to be in my Suburban then, too. I have to admit, driving my third van for so long was a great decision, but not one I would have made on my own. Because of how "upside down" we were at the time, I had no choice. The only way I would take a loss on a vehicle right now would be if I did not feel safe in it. If you know that you will take a loss on your leased vehicle, your only decision is when and how much. Figure out the best way out, and make sure you choose your next vehicle wisely!
