PShelton

My lease ends 12/31. Car has 21,000 miles today. Had one bad accident ($13k), repaired by approved Farmers' body shop. Has a small dent on right rear door, to be repaired for $1,000. My deducible is $750, so going to pay for it myself. All four wheels have minor to moderate rash. Car is otherwise excellent, but I supposed one can't really say it's "excellent" with the accident history. Both recalls addressed. I'm not keeping the car -- I bought an AMG wagon and wife bought a Panamera (both used). Residual is $32,500 + $350 "disposition fee." I've got 2 payments left, $565 each, total of $1,130. I'm in Oakland, CA.

Would you: Just turn it in, pay the disposition fee and hope they don't charge me for the wheel damage?
Try to sell it now, to a private party or one of the "we buy cars" sites?
If you vote for selling it now, please tell me if you have ever sold a car still under lease to Toyota Motor Finance, and how that works.

I appreciate your thoughts.

Cocal

You cannot sell it as it is NOT yours, it belongs to Toyota/Lexus.
You'd have to buy it for the residual and then sell.it
Under the circumstances because of condition and accident you'll get lowballed every time so IMO you're better off to turn it in and pay whatever the dealer will assess.
It's a bummer I know.

JeffKeryk

If you get another car from Lexus they probably won't care.
I believe you can sell the car, especially to a dealer.'
The leasing company will have to be paid off; you get the rest.
Lexus sent us an email offering to forego the last 4 lease payments if we get another car from them.

I would call local dealerships. Used cars are in demand.
Good luck.

websurfer

I would say fix the last issue and get some quotes from Carmax, Caravana.com, Vroom.com and even shift.com. Found out if you are above water or under water. If you are upside down on the value for the car, just turn it back to Toyota/Lexus. If you found out you have equity, sell it to that dealer and pocket the cash after they pay for the car. It never hurts to ask and get quotes on the value of the vehicle. There is lack of inventory of used cars at the moment, you can still take advantage of it. Probably mid Oct, the season will start slowing given the holidays are coming up soon.

Always good to know the value of the vehicle. Very few vehicles are considered as "excellent". I had a 2019 Honda Accord Hybrid Touring which got badly rear ended, I had it repaired by the other side and I was only able to get the "fair" price due to the accident. It's not that much different in pricing.

SFFD785

coolbrazz

The leasing company may calculate a diminish value to your residual for accidents over $10k. I would do some research on the lease contract and check the Carfax.
Also during the end of lease inspection you will probably get charged for the road rash on the wheels, and make sure nothing is missing like the spare tire, jack, owner's manual, and have both key fobs.
After that you can make a better decision on what to do. It may be cheaper keeping it....

gadgetman1

It’s my opinion, but you are looking at probably $3000 minimum, just to repair the damage you listed. You will need to replace the damaged wheels with like factory ones. If you go aftermarket, they will add the entire cost of 4 new factory wheels to your closing bill. No one wants a 21,000 mile RX with Mickey Mouse wheels. I’m betting there’s more damage that you haven’t listed & you’ll need new tires, if you haven’t done so already. My Pirelli Scorpions have a built up tire lip that helps protect your wheels from curb rash. Our Goodyear F-1s on the Camaro also have it. They really do save your wheels, but accidents do happen, regardless. You may get lucky if you lease another Lexus, but you truly need answers now, before the lease runs out, so you know what costs you may or may not have. Contact multiple dealers to see where you stand. My best advice is to keep your vehicle nice on a lease. If something gets damaged, fix it right away, unless you don’t mind paying for all of that at the end of the lease. Let us know what happens, as many have the same questions you just asked. Good luck👍

Cocal

The OP is another of the many touch 'n go. He never came back after the original Post. It's so infuriating!

coolbrazz

Quote: The OP is another of the many touch 'n go. He never came back after the original Post. It's so infuriating!


Least we shared some good advise to all of our forum buddies

PShelton

Thanks for all the good thoughts. About two weeks ago, the dealer called and offered to "take it off my hands" at no charge. Essentially, they bought me out. I saved the last two payments, the disposition fee, and any damage charges. (I did get the small dent repaired a few weeks ago.) So I dropped it off and walked away. I'm reasonably happy with the low effort return. I did get some quotes from some online dealers, but none were high enough to engage in the hassle. I know I pay for the convenience, but that's okay.

"Touch 'n Go" -- not really, just didn't have anything new to report until now.

I bought a 2011 AMG wagon to replace the RX, and my wife just bought a 2014 Panamera hybrid to replace, get this, her 2004 CR-V.

Many thanks to the members of the board who gave me good advice along the way.

wSoL

WOW. I know this is a month old, but I really had to chime in here.
You obviously have NO IDEA what you're talking about. Everything you said here was false. Just completely wrong. He's free to sell HIS car if he wants to. It's EXTREMELY common practice to sell cars towards the end of your lease if you think you might have positive equity.
I ran his car through Carvana's online website, I had to take some liberties because I didn't have all the information like zipcode but they currently value a similar car at
"KBB Market Value $33,066"

He could EASILY call carvana right now and say "come pick up the car." Carvana will come in a few days, cut a check directly to Lexus, and cut a second check for $566 directly to OP. No huss, no fuss.

It really drives me NUTS when people claim "when you lease the car, it's not yours". Damn right it's mine. I have the keys, My name is on the title. I can ram it into the wall if I wanted to. Obviously there are consequences to my actions but what's the difference between me and my neighbor who financed if we both drove it into the sea? We'd both owe the bank what we owe.

EDIT: I just realized you're in Canada, I have no idea if it's different in canada, OP is in California, so if it's different in Canada you shouldn't be giving advice about California if you're not sure, as in this case the information you provided is wrong.

Cocal

Well perhaps I don't know how things work in the US, but here in Canada contract law prohibits you from selling it until your name appears on the ownership certificate, whose name is on you ownership certificate, I think you call it Title in the US, if it's your name then you may own it, but if it's the Car Company then you do not. I wanted to buy a leased car from a friend and could not for he could only turn in to the company that was the lessor and the lessee has no power till the lease is fulfilled. You are renting/leasing the USE of the vehicle. I don't think contract law is that different from our countries, but I could be wrong You may pay-off the residual and resolve all problems.

bamalam

2 out of 3? You have the keys, and you can drive it into the wall of you want to. A lease does not convey ownership, though. Are you saying you have the title to your leased vehicle and it is titled in your name? That's not the way personal vehicle leasing works. (Capital leases of commercial equipment are a different thing.)

A quick search will find many references to selling a leased vehicle. In all cases it involves a title transfer from the lessor to the buyer. Depending on how its done, the vehicle might have to be retitled in the name of the lessee, and then retitled again in the name of buyer. Using a service, via either a dealership or a 3rd party service, makes the process more simple by transferring title directly from the lessor to the buyer. It might vary by state, but there is likely a tax advantage to using a service, too.

coolsaber

The leasing company owns the vehicle in the states. The lease contract is essentially letting you rent their vehicle for a set mileage and time period. However if you want you can "sell" their vehicle on their behalf....you just pay them the residual + remaining payments + etf and they`ll happily transfer ownership. Then you can do whatever you`d like such as sell to your neighbor, dealership, or any other 3p.

The unique situation right now is folks are realizing that some cars are worth more then buyout so walking into a dealership/carmax/vroom etc actually allows them to cancel for next to nothing, or actually net them money. Most 3p companies make it easier since they essentially act as your broker who deals with the paperwork.

JeffKeryk

You can sell a leased vehicle anytime you want. You just pay the leasing company the payoff amount.
You can even have equity with Lexus. For example, our 2018 RX450h has low miles; Lexus offered us almost $6K for it if we buy another.