dbumgard

I am considering buying out my 2007 RX-350 (under lease now) and would like to know the pros and cons of paying the additional costs of buying it out "as is" vs. buying it as a "certified pre-owned" vehicle. The vehicle is in great shape and I've maintained it well.

Does anyone have the checklist that Lexus uses for reconditioning the 2007 RX? My guess is that the dealer replaces the tires, brakes, repairs dings, changes fluids and details it.

Any good tips for negotiating with the dealer? I will probably also refinance it.

Thanks!!

DigMyM35x

I just went through this a few months ago when our 07 lease was over. It was back in Feb and we ended up extending our lease as I was interested in the 2010 but they were so new I wouldn't be able to get any kind of deal so I liked the option of the lease extension (very good option if you are interested - just call Lexus Financial and inquire).

Anyway - the 09's were discounted to such an extent (I believe it was $9k or $10k direct from Lexus) that the 07's had no trade value as they were the same model and you could get new for about the cost of used at that point as they were clearing them out for the 2010's.

I inquired about having the dealer do a CPO but the cost to them was about $2k+ and that would just be passed on. Especially if there were tires, etc. needed. So with little trade equity and that cost, I decided it would be cheaper to find a dealer from this site that would discount the extended warranty as a better option if we were going to buy the lease out. We also would wait to do that until just before it expired as we might have traded prior to the manuf. warranty expiration.

We have a little bit of equity in our 07 so the dealer is going to buy it from Lexus financial and give us a little $$ to put toward our new 2010 lease. Nothing major but if I didn't ask I would have had to pay for new tires and to repair the bumper and a dent which they will fix and then CPO it and resell it. They'll make some nice $$ on the deal but it was nice not to have to worry about the repairs and get a little cash toward the lease to get the payment down. I'm not a big fan of paying down the cap cost as you lose it if there is a total loss of the car but this seemed a good trade off since we wouldn't have had the $$ to start with.

Hope that helps.

Oh, and one more thing. I haven't had ANY luck trying to negotiate the buyout of a lease from Lexus. I tried a few times to no avail. My understanding (not confirmed but I've read on other boards) that Lexus has insurance for the loss of the residual vs. market value so there is no incentive for them to negotiate. As a matter of fact, if they negotiate the buyout they will lose a buyer of a new Lexus which is their main goal. Again, I have not been able to obtain any proof from anyone but this seems to make sense. That being said - it's still worth a try.

Good luck and please post back your experiences and what you find out.

Jay

dbumgard

Great reply Jay, thanks so much!

Don

LexFather

MOved here

tromly

Jay, your right about the insurance on the residual value, all car manufactures have a similar procedure. They know they can't control the depreciation, especially with trucks, as the price of gas went to 4.00/gal they got flattened on the action market !

Scottydog

The dealer is required by law to do the brakes if needed prior to sale. Fluids are pretty easy, and it's likely already detailed for sale.

Sounds like a money maker for the dealer, like all the Lexus service...