StevenS

Hello Everyone,
My lease soon should come to the end. So, I have 2 questions.
1. Can someone share his experience of disposal of GX470 to Hann Financial. They are bank who is a lessor of my GX (they had a better terms than Lexus, so dealer offer me use them instead).
2. I am interesing what are lease deals people are getting now.
I have GX with ML audio/Navigation and 3rd row seats and planing to get the same car.

llcc1975

Hi - I have never dealt with Hann Financial. But at the very least you should get your copy of the lease agreement and read over all of the pertinent terms for lease turn in. Things to pay attention to:

1. Your disposition (or lease return) fee amount.
2. Your excess miles charge per mile (only relevant if you went over).
3. The description of what they will charge for excess wear and use (should be described on the back on the contract).
4. Any description of what happens at lease end (i.e. do they require a pre-return inspection or if it is done after turn-in).

This way, you will have an understanding of what you might owe them and what the process is before you call them. Some lease companies are harsher than others when it comes to scrutinizing lease returns and I'm not sure where Hann falls on that spectrum.

Have no idea what current factory/other bank lease numbers are like for new leases.

StevenS

Thank you for your reply.
The issue with Hann is that:
1. they don't offer any extentions (max 1 month). I was thinking of extending the lease of 3 - 6 month to be able to get deals either at September (when new year cars comein) or at December
events.
2. I could even agree to another 1 year lease. I have a car in perfect condition (except some dents/scratches on rear bumper), with very low mileage (18K at 36 months, have 3 more months), but their offer was the same lease I pay now - I am paying $550/m after $3000 down payment, that correspond to $620/m, so they offer $619/m. At the same time my friend got his car in July for $610/m. So, as you see whatever they offered for the second lease doesn't look like a good deal. That is why I want to check on a current deals.
3. Their excessive tear and wear policy is not very informative - no credit card rules (like MB), no clear plastic with circles (like BMW). From what you read on their website you cannot be sure what is considered acceptable.
Also, they have car inspection, but at the day you return the car (btw, you cannot leave a car at the dealer, only at inspection location), so basically when the vehicle is checked, it is already too late for DIY fixes.
4. I could by the car (with this mileage and lack of issues it is a good deal), but I am S-corp, so for me it is better to lease.

rrosley

I would buy the car and sell the lease return, based on your low mileage you will probably be able to make some money on it. Then you will want to purchase your new car. I too am an S-Corp and have been leasing, but the Bush Administration's 6000lb tax deduction Includes the GX, I would buy a new one and take the tax deduction. I just purchased my new 2007 GX470 from Fleetrates.com and saved over $ 6000. I purchased it for $ 46,900 and saved $ 25000 right off my profit margin for this year. I still can write off the remaining $21900 deduction over the next 5 years. I too am just getting out of my lease and I am going to sell my leased GX next week and still make some money on it. Good Luck.

StevenS

Thanks. I thought about buying and reselling for a long time, but I am affraid
to do it. The reason is that you cannot be sure how much and how easy you would sell it. Looking at the Ebay I am hesistant to do it.
Of course I can try to put a sell tag on my car 1 month prior to lease end and if I will have a buyer to make the trick.
About buying a car and using that $25K deduction.
First of all, it is good when you have a very profitable current year and you need to have ability to deduct large $ and also expect next years to get less
business income. Otherwise, you do deduct this year large chunk, but then
in the following years, you have to find other ways to have a deductions (the allowed $ are too little comparing with lease payments).
Also, you could be asked for the reasons you need to have a business car - just a regular commute to work/client could be discarded.
Then the biggest issue is the insurance. I live in NY and for "business car" I would have to pay yearly additional $1500 - 2000 making the whole deal to be
a bad decision.

I would appreciate if you share your experience with the sell of your car.

llcc1975

I can't give much tax advice on my end since I'm just a consumer buyer of my truck. But, as for buying the lease out and reselling, this works in limited circumstances. The thing you have to figure into it is what your balance is + if there is a purchase option fee + the sales tax that the state will charge to you for buying the car from Hann. After the purchase option fee + sales tax, your "out the door" price for buying out the lease could be considerably higher and make any profit potential from the resale nominal.

As for your prior post on Hann's policies, that's a bit vague. Check the back of your contract for the excess wear descriptions. By law, they have to reasonably describe what is considered chargeable excess wear.

Their reluctance to extend the term more than 1 month could be driven by the fact that they have residual value insurance on the back end (whereby they can recover a portion of the difference between what they can sell it for at auction and the residual value of it. Most of these policies restrict how much a leased vehicle turn in can be past maturity. But, it doesn't hurt to escalate the call to a higher level and see if a supervisor is willing to go 3-5 months more. I doubt you'll get a 1-year extension because by law, all new disclosures must be given if a lease extension exceeds 6 months and most leasing companies won't go there.

StevenS

for your very informative post. Yes, of course I figure it out about purchase price to be higher then a residual in a contract, but I never thought about checking the contract for excessive wear guidelines as well as never thought about leasing company having an insurance for residual. Thanks again.

Aristanet

I have dealt with Hann Financial in the past and can honestly say it’s the worst leasing experience I ever had. They will nickel and dime you for every little scratch you have on the car. At the time of the lease, they did have better rates then Lexus Finacial so I went with them, but at the end I end up paying more. It cost me close to $2000 to return my RX300 and that’s considering that I still have LS430 thru them as well. They knocked off close to $800 when I threatened to stop paying for my LS430 and take them to court.
I’m dreading the day when I have to turn in my LS – I have a feeling they will get their $800 back 

Bottom line, don’t use Hann Financial – Lexus financial is much more flexible and easier to deal with then Haan and if you do decide to lease another Lexus thru them after your lease is up, you will not pay a dime for anything, including over milage.

llcc1975

No problem. Given Aristanet's report on Hann, I'd pay very close attention to their excess wear guidelines and if you think they are charging you for more than what you contracted for, I would push back. Just because they can contractually collect a fee from you, doesn't mean there isn't negotiability on the amount you end up paying them.

Sorry to hear that. Generally speaking, Lexus Financial, like most captive leasing companies that belong to the manufacturers are a lot more lenient on excess wear than banks or independent finance companies like Hann.

Even though most of the lease agreements all have strict excess wear language, captives will be less inclined to enforce because their purpose is to help the manufacturer move metal and that won't happen if you feel like you've been "screwed" by the finance company. Banks and independent finance companies certainly still want you to have a positive experience with them but are more responsible for their P&L without manufacturer subsidies, so they will tend to enforce these fees more often.

In other words, in my view, unless the bank/indep company's lease rates are substantially less than the captive lease rate, I'd go with the captive option.

StevenS

Yes, I signed up for this deal with Hann because of the lack of experience.
Now, I would be more careful.
Aristanet? How bad was the condition of you Lexus, when you got a bill from Hann for $2000? I know some people can be spoiled by Honda and some other companies guideliness when you have excessive wear covered autiomatically for up to $1500, so someone would neglect to correct issue ourself prior of vehicle return. I am usually try to fix the issue prior of return, for ex. for BMW that I had prior to Lexus, I paid myself around $600 to paint bumpers, and 2 fenders (keyed). I think, by doing so, I save around a 1K. I still was hit by BMW for $150 when they charged me for having glued bumper protection on the rear bumper.

Aristanet

I have spent $750 for painting front and back bumpers and complete detail of the car. Inspector said that i had damage on the roof of the truck from hail storm or something but apperantly it was not visible to the naked eye...however, on the pictures he took it was visible (not to me tho) - it was complete BS. I think thats how the bank gets their money after offering such a great terms at the gate.

Lexus financial is the way to go. Even if you pay a bit more upfront, in the end, you will come out ahead,