Lease buyout

[Willys_Wonka]

Lease is up within the next few months and I’m considering buying it. I’m looking for any feedback or suggestions on the best options, such as just returning to the dealer and telling them you want to now buy it or go and source funds elsewhere and then buy it at the residual price in the lease contract. The dealer said it’s straight forward to just come in at anytime and they can do the lease buy out there. Current rates are about 5.5% on used vehicle loans. I believe they have Chrysler financial and Ally amongst other lenders.

 

[Beachcomber72]

Lease is up within the next few months and I’m considering buying it. I’m looking for any feedback or suggestions on the best options, such as just returning to the dealer and telling them you want to now buy it or go and source funds elsewhere and then buy it at the residual price in the lease contract. The dealer said it’s straight forward to just come in at anytime and they can do the lease buy out there. Current rates are about 5.5% on used vehicle loans. I believe they have Chrysler financial and Ally amongst other lenders.

My plan when the time comes is to just go straight back to the dealership and buy it. Meaning go in and start a financing process through Chrysler Capital or possibly get a rate quote from my credit union.

 

[longfiredragon]

I inquired about this a while back, and it is true dealerships (Most) are used to doing this for people and it is really straight forward. I was told the whole thing shouldn't take over an hour. I also was told that because it is a lease vehicle you don't own the license plate and tag. (Everything is issued to a lease vehicle) So be prepared to pay for a new plate and tag. Seemed strange at first, but then made sense. You don't own the vehicle, nor are you buying it yet, so you need all new stuff. LOL.


The biggest thing will most likely be the financing. You will have to decide for yourself of course which way you need to go. But if you end up at Chrysler Capital or the like it should be pretty painless for the dealership to take care of you.

 

[TheRaven]

Are you leasing through CCAP? Or a third party? I would request a payoff from the bank now just to make sure there's not going to be any issues...third party banks have pretty much made it so you can't buy out your lease and I was told CCAP now has added a 90-day-from-lease-end block on buyouts. So get this stuff figured out before it's too late.

I inquired about this a while back, and it is true dealerships (Most) are used to doing this for people and it is really straight forward. I was told the whole thing shouldn't take over an hour. I also was told that because it is a lease vehicle you don't own the license plate and tag. (Everything is issued to a lease vehicle) So be prepared to pay for a new plate and tag. Seemed strange at first, but then made sense. You don't own the vehicle, nor are you buying it yet, so you need all new stuff. LOL.

Depends on the state. I did not have to go through a dealer at all, CCAP said "just send us the check and we'll send you the title" (we bought it straight up, if you are financing they'll send the title to the new lienholder). Same with the registration - we didn't have to do anything at all with the registration since in PA the vehicle is not registered to the lienholder. Your state may vary.

 

[Stuckinthesand]

Check with credit unions. I bought mine out before the pandemic hit and got a rate at 2.25% which was lower than what CCAP or any regular bank was offering at that time.

 

[TimmH]

Yes, call the lease company first to find out, they may do it all online/mail, as @TheRaven said, it depends on the state if they can do it direct.

Apparently here in Florida they cannot, and we had to go to the dealer to buy out my wife's Challenger earlier this year. Talk about a headache. They had a new "rule" that they had to inspect the vehicle to ensure it was "safe" before they could do the process. Of course they found 1 tire was 1/32 under in tread and quoted $400 to replace it.

I've seen my wife mad, but she went off on the manager. We walked out, drove away, called the leasing company again and they said "You can go to any dealer". So my wife called another local dealer and they said sure, did the whole thing in 10 minutes no hassle.

Needless to say, after leasing 4 vehicle from that one dealership, she will never go back.

 

[Some Random Guy]

Buying out a lease is generally a smart move right now. Like others have said, call the company holding the lease and ask the questions of when can you vs when can’t you. If there’s a 90 day block like @TheRaven mentioned, ask if you can extend the lease if something comes up and you need more time to get outside that 90 day block. Sometimes policies loosen restrictions to hold onto customers, so it is always worth asking.
You can do a pre-approval with a bank or credit union before going to the dealer, they’ll try to beat that. Plates are a state-by-state thing.
Good luck!

 

[Bug Splats]

I inquired about this a while back, and it is true dealerships (Most) are used to doing this for people and it is really straight forward. I was told the whole thing shouldn't take over an hour. I also was told that because it is a lease vehicle you don't own the license plate and tag. (Everything is issued to a lease vehicle) So be prepared to pay for a new plate and tag. Seemed strange at first, but then made sense. You don't own the vehicle, nor are you buying it yet, so you need all new stuff. LOL.

First time I’ve heard that. We bought out the lease on our 4Runner a couple years ago and still has the same license plate/tag. I guess we lucked out and they forgot to charge us for new ones

 

[Stuckinthesand]

First time I’ve heard that. We bought out the lease on our 4Runner a couple years ago and still has the same license plate/tag. I guess we lucked out and they forgot to charge us for new ones

I am in NJ and at least here can confirm I had to get new plates and registration when I bought mine out.

 

[Bug Splats]

I am in NJ and at least here can confirm I had to get new plates and registration when I bought mine out.

Uff, and here I was thinking CA was the worst at nickel and diming it’s residents…Well played NJ, well played.

 

[Stuckinthesand]

Uff, and here I was thinking CA was the worst at nickel and diming it’s residents…Well played NJ, well played.

Yep I promise we are trying to catch up with California. I just need 8 more years till my kids are out and I’m out of here lol.

 

[Bug Splats]

Yep I promise we are trying to catch up with California. I just need 8 more years till my kids are out and I’m out of here lol.

I hear you. Same plan here, but much longer timeframe. Stay strong brother!

 

[Smoke Showing]

It’s gonna be a long caravan of jeeps headed south. I can’t decide between the Carolina’s or Florida. I just need salt air.

 

[Lrb2022]

5.5% on a used vehicle is a good rate in this environment. That assumes there are no other charges to drive up the “true” interest rate.
Wranglers have low lease payments due to high residual/resale values. I just traded a Wrangler and trad in values are still crazy high. If you want to keep the vehicle then I bet buyout is a good deal!

 

[Willys_Wonka]

I inquired about this a while back, and it is true dealerships (Most) are used to doing this for people and it is really straight forward. I was told the whole thing shouldn't take over an hour. I also was told that because it is a lease vehicle you don't own the license plate and tag. (Everything is issued to a lease vehicle) So be prepared to pay for a new plate and tag. Seemed strange at first, but then made sense. You don't own the vehicle, nor are you buying it yet, so you need all new stuff. LOL.


The biggest thing will most likely be the financing. You will have to decide for yourself of course which way you need to go. But if you end up at Chrysler Capital or the like it should be pretty painless for the dealership to take care of you.

I actually now have a personalized military license plate, so it’s mine. I guess the original one that came with the jeep when I signed the lease is somewhere, though.

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