rebeldevil1984

I was wondering if anyone was familiar with lease buyouts and how the process works. I know that next spring a lot of the leases on the 2014 C7s are going to be up. I'm hoping to get into my first Corvette and after settling for many years, I think it's finally time to take the leap. That being said, I think the most affordable way to make the jump is to find someone whose lease is running out next Spring and trying to buyout the car on the lease. I have seen a few lease takovers advertised and the buyout is right at my budget line, so it would be ideal. Is this something that's even feasible? If so, is there anyone on the forum that would be willing to do this that's planning on turning their Vette in at the end of lease anyway? Thanks in advance!

jay23ls

Good question. I am also interested on behalf of a friend who's looking for a used C7. He's willing to take more in miles for a lower price. Please PM w/ auto info like a few car specs and lease-end purchase price.

But dont worry OP, he's not 100% set on a C7 yet so he won't be taking your deals lol

rebeldevil1984

No worries...mileage isn't a big issue for me either, but would prefer to stick to something less than 40k for mileage. Really I think the only large issue is that the person whose lease is up isn't necessarily gaining anything other than maybe avoiding a mileage penalty. But, people here seem friendly enough to maybe help someone out 😬

jpbillings

When you say right at your budget line, what exactly is that? I am looking to buy one next year sometime so wouldn't mind what kind of budget I am looking at.

rebeldevil1984

Well I actually got the idea when I saw a forum member post their Corvette on here as a lease takeover. While I wouldn't be able to afford the $1000 a month lease payments for the year left on the lease (At that point, might as well buy a new one for $48k), I did notice the lease buyout at the end was $39k. With a $10k-$15k down payment, that brings the payments in around $500-ish a month + TTT. However, other than someone being over on their mileage or just really kind hearted, it's a very slim possibility that it will work out...but you never know. Honestly, used ones are starting to pop up over the country at around $43k or $44k with relatively low mileage, and as these vehicles are entering their 4th year of production, I think we'll see sub-$40k C7s by next spring. I was just hoping to save the hassle of paying dealers their markup and the extra dealer fees.

Cowboy Troy

I just bought out a 2012 GMC Acadia Denali for 10 K and change. It was leased through a business that I own. It was a 4 year lease through a well known national Leasing company. I had a heart attack a couple of years ago and havent driven it very much. It was loaded with Every option possible. I only had a bit over 9,000 miles on it. According to Kelley Blue Book it is Worth 38K. It is like brand new and we have a brand New Z06 and SS Camaro, so we use it for rain and snow. Our GM Babies have never been wet. It was a simple process to buy it out.

TRANS DAMM

lease buyout option is different for a secondary buyer vs lease holder. The buy out for my CtsV was almost 6k cheaper then if my buddy bought it out. i had him take over the last 3 lease payments so he would be entitled to my buy out price.

hope2

lease take over and/or buyout varies with lease company, also with state (taxes)

rebeldevil1984

Thanks for all the input everyone! It seems that there are a lot of different options and avenues. I'm guessing it really would depend on the company, but this has all been SUPER helpful. I know it's just a matter of time before we start to see sub-$40k C7s for sale, but I think getting a lease return from a forum member might be the best way to go. In a sense, I'm avoiding the massive dealer markup by doing a private sale, but because the leasing company is the middle man, it sort of takes the pressure off of doing a private sale for both parties.


On that note...if anyone is looking at getting rid of their leased Corvette around next Spring time because the lease term is almost up, feel free to PM me

1EasyStep

Anyone with a lease about to end isnt going to engage in a buyout process as they would be better off just keeping the car and paying off the last few payments they have left. The only time someone enters a lease buyout is usually when they cant afford the car and they would rather take an immediate hit now than be stuck with payments for another 1.5 years.

The car is going to have a "residual value" which for all intents and purposes is a hard locked sticker price when the lease is up. There is no way around this. Now when the dealers gets ahold of the car they effectively own it again and they can put whatever price they want, and it's entirely possible they may mark it up. Although since most people who lease dont know what they're doing they probably got shafted on the initial deal anyway, paid full sticker for the car, and therefore the price the dealer puts on it may actually be in line with the residual anyway, herego there is no point in trying to enter a buyout.

Your best option for scooping a leased C7 is to just wait until the dealers start getting a bunch of 14's in and proceed with it from there like you would with any other car. The time to take over people's leases has kinda passed, unless you are looking to scoop a 15 or Z06 or something off on someone's hands.

Randy G.

My wife came off a lease on a 2013 MBZ 350 SLK. The residual value was $4,000 higher than clean retail, and she only put 16,000 miles on it. I asked the dealer how MBZ credit would price the car to the dealership and he said it would be worked out between them. When my wife was near the end off the lease on her C6 Z06 we traded it in before the end and got a refund check in the deal rather than dropping the keys at the end and walking away. The C6 Z06 wholesale was worth more than the residual value and the MBZ dealer was happy to take it.

jw38

Wow...a whole lot of wrong in your reply. My wife and I always lease our vehicles and we've always sold the vehicles 3-4 months before the end of the lease. My wife recently sold her 2013 BMW 135i approximately 4 months before the end of the lease and she sold it for $2800 more than the residual. My 2014 Toyota Tundra's current value is more than $7000 more than the lease buyout. FYI...we've never leased at MSRP and we rarely have put any money down on our leases.

1EasyStep

Well thats good that you are aware of negotiating sticker values even when leasing. I find it hard to believe you have a car worth 7k more than residual without making a hefty down payment. I mean there's just no way the leasing company could have been that wrong with their expected residual.

etekberg

If you "always" buy the car at the end of the lease, why lease?

Cowboy Troy

As far as a business is concerned, lease is often a better option because you don't have to depreciate it, not using up bank lines of credit, stronger balance sheet as you only show 12 months of lease payments as debt rather than entire car.

It is usually used for owners officers and not work vehicles like PU trucks that are going to be subject to high mileage and rough treatment.

Personal leasing is usually a matter of affordability. But maybe not always. I've never leased personally, so I'm not familiar with that instrument.

rebeldevil1984

Thank you everyone for chiming in. It seems like it's not as cut and dry as I initially imagine and I'm grateful for all the opinions and information. It seems like after reading through all of the replies, a lot is dependent on the leasing company, the individual, and the circumstances as leasing is not as simply cut and dry as a financed vehicle (which is why I'm sure many people are deterred from leasing).


Maybe to sort of simplify my reasoning, I should supply some more background. First, it seems like a fairly large number of Corvette owners that lease do it because it's a dream they've always had, and after doing so don't really have a desire to get another one (*gasp* blasphemy I know!), so while some dealerships would offer an incentive on another lease if after they turn their Corvette in, these people will not necessarily benefit from that. Second, some people, depending on the initial lease negotiation and the dealerships, may not get an incentive anyway, so what I am doing is essentially offering an alterative in which they can make a few $$$ instead of just turning in their vehicle. Basically what I'm attempting to do is create a situation where the leasee makes a little bit of profit and I get a car for cheaper than what a dealer would charge for resale (because, let's face it, they have employees to pay and to have lights to keep on).


This whole venture IS a bit of a longshot because not only am I trying to find the right car, but the right person to get it from at the right price. To be fair, there are people doing lease takeovers (the cars have a residual value of $39k on a fully loaded 3LT model), but the remaining lease is almost a year with payments of around $1000k. At that rate, it would make more financial sense just to buy one, so I'm hoping to find a middle ground where someone is planning on keeping their car until their full term ends (around next spring would be what I'm shooting for), would not benefit from just turning it in to the dealership and would like to make a little bit of cash from the transaction. Benefits for them, enjoying the car until the lease ends, and some money after the fact. Benefits for me, my dream car at a reasonable price.


Again thanks for the opinions and I appreciate any further suggestions or input.

jw38

I leased the truck at a dealership that's owned by a friend of mine. $14K off of list before the lease was signed. In San Antonio, it's very easy to get $10-15k off of list on trucks.

Ummm...I said that we always "sell" our leased vehicles before the end of the lease.

etekberg

Don't you normally have to buy something in order to sell it?

Joezone914

having leased many cars and getting out of leases early many times, the buyout process is different from bank to bank. As mentioned earlier, sometimes the buyout for the original owner is much cheaper than a new buyer or trade in buy out. This is the case for Ally and I think Audi. A lot of GM leases are through Ally so the way to get the good deal is for the owner to buy it out and you buy from them even if its early. The problem with that is depending on the state will the owner need to pay taxes on it. If I'm not mistaken, in CA if you sell within 30 days of buyout, you don't have to pay the sales tax for example on a lease buy out. The problem or the rub so to speak is if the owner does not have the cash to buy it out.

I went to trade a CTSV on a 991 turbo S. The CTSV was 18 months into a 36 moth lease. I called for the buyout and it was what porsche was offering me to trade the car. I was break even and only halfway into the lease. Because the milage was so low the value was holding up. When I went in to porsche, the dealer called Ally bank and the buyout was $9k more. I called and confirmed that the discount so to speak was for me only. Needless to say I wired money to Ally and got out and saved $9k and got the new car. Luckily porsche let me take the new car that day while waiting for title from Ally.

jw38

No...we leased it and sold it before the lease ended. Apparently, you son't know how leases work.