danmiller3

Hi there -
We are in year two of a three year lease on our 2009 RX350. We have 29,000 miles on the vehicle.

The dealer has offered to end the current lease and put us in a 2011 for no money down and the exact same monthly payment we make now on the 2009. Another three years, same mileage allotment.

I get that Lexus locks us in for an extra two years this way, but it seems odd to allow the termination of a lease so early. Is the market for used RX350's that good?

Anything I should be aware of?

--Dan

larrs

Dan,

Usually what happens in a case like this is that the dealer pays off the remainder of your lease, and rolls that cost into the new lease. If that's the case here, it's hard to understand how they could keep your monthly payment the same, since they'd need to recover that cost.

If you leased the car from Lexus Financial, it's possible that LF may be providing some sort of support to the dealers. I think I remember seeing an ad saying that if you were within 6 months of the end of the lease, that LF was offering early lease termination with no penalty if you leased or bought another Lexus.

My thought is that you need to be careful that you are not left on the hook for payments on the old lease. Ask how the are going to "end the current lease." The bottom line is that the car is owned by the lessor (as listed on your lease agreement), not by the dealer, so somehow the lessor is going to get its money.

BlueSurf

If you can take a lease write-off this is a phenomenal negotiation. I would do it in a second.
Read all your paperwork very closely before driving off.