Buyout Lease Early

Hi everybody,

I recently leased a 2018 Tacoma SR5 double cab for 335 x 39 with 15,000 miles, with nothing down (299 a month if I put the taxes down). I leased through a credit union and at the time I couldn't afford buying the vehicle, but also never owned a truck like this before, I always had SUV's, but 7 months in I love the truck. The sticker on the truck was 36500 but with the lease the capitalized cost is 38539 which is high but it was my first lease and wasn't even paying attention to the price of the car. The residual value at the end of the lease is 29500 about. I knew that was high, but that what was also keeping the payments down. My question is I can afford to buy the truck now, should I wait until end of lease? by it now? or just hand it back at the end because the residual is high and the truck might not be worth that much? I usually drive my vehicles for a long time, and thats why I considering buying it out now and possibly over paying for the vehicle. But to me it seems to make more sense to buy it out now so I am not paying 39 months and then taking out another loan for the vehicle. If I were to buyout it out now, it would be basically for the sticker price is what I owe, 36500.

 

My two cents...which is really negative cents.

If you're for sure going to buy it out at the end, why not just enjoy the $299 a month and use that left over to have a chunky savings account so at the end of the lease you can just dump a bunch down on top to continue enjoying a cheaper payment? If I recall correctly, if you're buying it out - you can go over mileage as much as you want and do whatever the hell you want to it.

 

I mean whatever amounts to you paying less over the long haul is the way to go but mother of god man you gotta do your homework next time. This a 6-8k oversight best case scenario and a 10k one worst case.

 

He’s paying 335 a month not 299, 299 was if he paid the taxes up front.

 

Still cheaper then the best rate in my area for 72 months....

36,500 @ 1.99% x 72 mon = $538.00 / month

 

What is the interest rate on this lease out of curiosity?

Personally I would just keep paying the low monthly payment as others have said and save up or invest your cash elsewhere. With a lease you have a bit less risk too. If you smash the thing up and now it has a huge repair claim on it, you can just hand it back and avoid those headaches down the line with lower value etc. (typically this is how it works, I'm not familiar with credit union leases as we dont have those in Canada, only through Toyota).

 

Alright so I think you’re already aware this was a horrible deal. With that said you basically have 3 options.

1. Try to do a lease transfer and see if someone will take over the lease so you can get out of this crap deal.

2. See if you can get a dealer to take it in on trade for at or near your current buy out and make a much better deal on a new SR5. This is highly unlikely to work out in your favor though, I’m betting your payoff is about 4K upside down right now. Some dealers will work a deal though if you are buying a new one from them.

3. Keep it for for the full term or close to the end try option 2 again.

Option 1 gets you out of this with the least damage, option 2 and 3 your going to take a hit for sure, it’s just about minimizing things if option 1 doesn’t pan out.

 

Run the lease out at $335 a month. Save anything you can between now and end of lease. Turn it in. Put saved money down on a new truck with 0 miles.

 

38k for an SR5?

 

Yea but he’s not going to have the same equity that he would have in your scenario. I’m pro lease and am currently leasing my TRD OR, and I’m still recommending he doesn’t attempt to keep it buy this one.

 

Take it to Carfax and see what they offer you for it. If they offer more than you owe, see if your dealer will as well. Me personally, that's loaded TRD level of money, heck its almost 7k more than I paid for my cheapo TRD.

I'd either sell it early if possible, or ride the lease out then buy something else. Or lease something else. Bottom line that is too much for an SR5.

 

Don't feel too bad man. I'm leasing a Mazda MX5 right now. At the end of the day you're paying X amount a month to enjoy the vehicle. If we all were billionaires we'd just pay cash for everything. It's only money, and even 5-10% of the cost of something is not a huge deal in the big scheme of things.

Like the others I think I'd just enjoy the low monthly payments and tax advantages of the lease, then look at things at the end. Getting out of a lease early is almost always going to cost you something. (Just like selling a car you're buying outright after only 1 or 2 years. DAMHIKT.)

I'm PROBABLY going to buy my Miata outright at the end, but the benefit to me is I'm not stuck with it if it's a lemon or I decide I want something different.

 

It's not often I dive into threads like this but I kinda feel like people are giving bad advice.

A lot of people are saying to ride the lease out then buy the truck or buy another new one? At $339 for 39 months, that's ~$13,200. After he pays a ton of money over a bit over 3 years he'll still have to pay 29500 for the truck. He'll have over 40k invested in a 33k truck.

Bite the bullet now and buy it now or give it back if you can end the lease early.

 

Precisely, SR5's are negotiated to 30-31k regularly. Stop this fight OP, it's been over.

 

I think the 33k truck is half the point. He will have a 33k truck that’s over 3 years old and has 45,000 miles and still owes 29k. Basically still upside down a bit. Yes, he’s sunk good money into it, but it’s lost money. Can’t get it back period. Paying for the mistake of a bad lease. That doesn’t mean he has to overpay at lease end. It won’t be worth 29000 at 3 years, 45,000 miles. Thus, enjoy the low payment, accept the mistake and start fresh.

 

Yah that residual is quite high. I have a buddy with the same truck as me and his buyout is 26500

 

About 42k actually and that’s not including the additional interest he’ll pay when he finances the 29.5k at the lease end.

 

My 2018 TRD OR had an MSRP of 39,xxx and residual is 27,700 after 36 months and 12k a year. I am paying 340 a month with nothing down. This is why I am saying try a lease transfer to someone else looking for a truck with a low payment. Either way you’ve made a bad deal, but with a lease there’s always a way to minimize the damage.

 

And like another poster said, he could just finish out the lease. Turn it in and use the knowledge gained on the new one.

 

Yea I said that earlier.