I think i my be the luckiest

So here's the deal. One of the reps who comes to my work drives a silver 05 Double cab SR5 4x4. His company leases it for him. He is very well off and retiring in march to spend 6 months in Europe....the same time his lease is up. He told me (after a couple of years of drooling over it) that he would sell it to me for the residual amount left owing on the truck. I did some math and with lease payments around $500 a month for 36 months that totals to around $18,000.00 paid towards the truck. If he paid full price of around $30,000.00 that leaves around $12,000.00 owing plus fees or interest or odds and ends...lets say the total comes to $15,000.00. The truck only has 34,000 miles at the moment meaning tires will be replaced before I could take it over. Is there anything I should know before buying the truck? I can't believe the price I could get it for. Around here(Portland, Oregon) people are still asking close to new prices for these trucks. What are your thoughts...am I blinding myself to anything with my crazy excitement? Thanks for your help.
Jared

 

he should be able to tell you what the residual payment will be, it will be right on the paper work

as long as he didn't roll in alot of negative equity you might be getting a really good deal!

I actually leased my 07, but since I drive so low mileage I plan to just buy the truck at the end of my lease rather than buy something new again or risk buying someone else's used car problem

good luck!

 

Man a lease is one thing I could never do. Isn't it that you can only drive like 15,000 miles per year or is that not right? Or they charge you over per mile?

Hahaha, I would owe like $10,000 in the first year!

 

Yeah, I don't think I could do a lease either. I have 20,000 miles on my Tacoma, and I bought it on January 1, 2007. I am probably going to have closer to 30,000 miles on it by December. That is all in the first year!

 

I'm not really sure how buying after a lease works, but i would look into it in more detail if i were you, sounds like a pretty descent deal. Just make damn sure you know EXACTLY what you're getting into and not walking into a bunch of extra fees and extra out of pocket money

 

Jared, sound like a good deal to me, I am sure if his company leased it he has the records for maint etc. As long as those are resonable, I think its a good deal.
Here on the East coast(New England) prices for used Taco's with twice or triple the mileage, is quite high.

Drive it and see what you think.
Jeff , 06, SR5, V6, 6spd, Brilliant Red 4x4

 

Sounds like a good deal, if it is a closed end lease. The good thing would be if there are no lease turn in/termination fees, etc. But the one thing you need to remember is that you NEED TO KNOW FOR SURE what the residual value is, as many times the interest rate (called "money factor" in lease terms) many times is higher than a traditional loan. So, more of the payments previously made may have been going to interest than you may think. Another thing to remember too, is that if you need to finance the purchase, keep in mind that most banks/lenders charge higher interest rates on used car loans than they do for new car loans and also generally have shorter financing terms. Bottom line is that you need to fully understand all of the costs involved, and you also need to find out what the actual value of the vehicle is...reason being...let's say that you buy this Tacoma, say for $15,000. The actual cash value of the truck is $12,500. If you don't have GAP insurance (which may be difficult or impossible to get on a used vehicle), if your truck is totalled, the insurance company will write a check for $12,500 (for example's sake, here), and you are on the hook for the other $2500.00. Just some things to think about.

 

Very good points. Thats what i was getting at in my original post but i didnt word it quite as well or as detailed as A2. If everything is kosher, then it sounds like you got a great deal but just make sure you double check everything. I dont mean to burst your bubble but 99% of the time if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is.... at least in my life. Maybe i'm just unlucky. anyway, if its on the up and up i say go for it, sounds like a kick ass truck. Hope everything works out for you!

 

that is a good deal i got lucky with almost the same kind of deal I do customer care work for lennar homes and one of my home owners had just got a 06 with 15000 miles on it. she got it from a older man that she was taking care of. he passed away ,before he did he gave her the truck (he had paid cash) she didnt like it because she said it was to big she told me she would sell it to me for 16000 what a steal ,anyway good luck hope it works out for you