End of Lease Strategies?

[TimLee]

Tim, what about the mileage? I know that I asked this earlier, but when you extend 12 months, you get 12,000 more miles, then just turn it in after two months with no ten cents a mile penalty?

I'm cutting it pretty close on my miles now, so I'll be out when my 24 month lease is up on Dec 24th so....

I presume the mileage is prorated.
If original lease contract was 12,000 miles annually, each month you extend gives you 1,000 additional miles.
Even the first two months you get free.
So yes, if you are close on miles if you slow down the rate you are adding miles it could help you out.
But you should confirm the details with NMAC.

 

[overfedexed]

Tim, what about the mileage? I know that I asked this earlier, but when you extend 12 months, you get 12,000 more miles, then just turn it in after two months with no ten cents a mile penalty?

I'm cutting it pretty close on my miles now, so I'll be out when my 24 month lease is up on Dec 24th so....

I presume the mileage is prorated.
If original lease contract was 12,000 miles annually, each month you extend gives you 1,000 additional miles.
Even the first two months you get free.
So yes, if you are close on miles if you slow down the rate you are adding miles it could help you out.
But you should confirm the details with NMAC.

Thanks Tim,

It will be hard for me to cut back on driving it, because it's so fun to drive, but I'll try.
I have a crew cab Tacoma and an Odyssey Touring Elite, but hate driving them now.

I'll look at the paperwork when they send it and then decide from there.

Thanks again

 

[oko]

Nissan called me today and offered $5000 off for my 2013 leased leaf. Lease is ending in March. However, they told me that the offer is just for one week. And they asked me for mileage, and I told them the mileage, which is pretty low for a 2.5 year old car (around 12K) . (Maybe I shouldn't have told?). I wonder how serious they are for "only week offer". Any experiences?

 

[kubel]

This offer is over 6 months old, and every month NMAC claims it ends at the end of the month. In reality, it either continues or gets better. There's really no way of telling if it will be available for October, but my guess is it will continue as long as inventory remains high. The lease extension (with 2 free months credit) will probably not continue beyond 2015, though.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

And they asked me for mileage, and I told them the mileage, which is pretty low for a 2.5 year old car (around 12K) .

They probably already know. The car reports in.

 

[JeremyW]

Leaf turned in on 9/23. Weak cell pair never fixed. The car had at best 50 mile range. Good riddance. :x

 

[DaveEV]

Leaf turned in on 9/23. Weak cell pair never fixed. The car had at best 50 mile range. Good riddance. :x

I'm really surprised that didn't trigger any DTCs, that's really bad!

 

[oko]

An agent told me today that the offer is extended thru October. Interestingly she first told me that they would not know until tomorrow. But then she put me on hold and came back saying that the offer is valid until Oct 31.

But my buying experience is like hell. I went to a dealer yesterday to change oil on my ICE car (they had free oil change coupon). I asked about buying my leased Leaf, and they said it is not possible, I need to wait until end of lease, and I need to pay full price (no $5K offer). I told him this is all over the web for months, and you should ask about it. He went inside, talked to a finance guy (he told), called Nissan Finance (he told), and said there is no deal like that. He looked me as if I am making up everything to get the car cheap.

I talked to another dealer today and they say that I need to pay taxes on top of the buyout price. On the internet, there are articles that says in Texas, taxes are paid upfront and no taxes are paid for lease buyouts. Any experiences for buying leased vehicle in Texas?

Once I buy the vehicle, I guess I will never step foot in a Nissan dealer again, except for recalls.

 

[pkulak]

Why do you need to go through a dealer? This is all between you, the lessee, and NMAC, the owner. Just call NMAC, tell them you'd like to buy it, they'll send you some paperwork to sign, and you're done. I sure as hell didn't go to a dealer to have my lease extended.

 

[oko]

Why do you need to go through a dealer? This is all between you, the lessee, and NMAC, the owner. Just call NMAC, tell them you'd like to buy it, they'll send you some paperwork to sign, and you're done. I sure as hell didn't go to a dealer to have my lease extended.

Here's the exact wording on the "payoff quote" document from NMAC: "As a captive finance company, Nissan-Infinity LT cannot sell leased vehicles directly to our customers".

 

[pkulak]

Oh wow. What a PITA. Now I'm really glad I extended instead of buying. Haha.

 

[gemrough]

Why do you need to go through a dealer? This is all between you, the lessee, and NMAC, the owner. Just call NMAC, tell them you'd like to buy it, they'll send you some paperwork to sign, and you're done. I sure as hell didn't go to a dealer to have my lease extended.

Here's the exact wording on the "payoff quote" document from NMAC: "As a captive finance company, Nissan-Infinity LT cannot sell leased vehicles directly to our customers".

That applies to the general public, not you the lessee as you have already made a non binding purchase agreement thru a dealer at the time of your lease.

I can not call NMAC and ask to buy an off lease Leaf directly from them.... however I bet they wish the general public could as the resale at auction (requiring a dealers license) on leafs is so low.

As for the dealerships, they have more to gain if you DONT buy your lease. I'm sure they are hoping you will buy or lease a new leaf (or other model) and turn in the lease. I would also assume NMAC passes the reduced buyout amount to the dealer if they keep it for their lot. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if they get a better deal than what NMAC is offering the lessee.

.

 

[oko]

I think you are right. Lease office told me that I can buy it thru my bank or credit union also.

And if I do that, it looks like Nissan does not want the $300 purchase fee. All it wants is the payoff amount. Also no other fees from the dealer, but it looks like I need to do title transfer and registration.

Am I missing something here? If I pay off immediately after getting the loan, I'll save a few hundred dollars to go thru my credit union than a dealer.

 

[DaveK]

Well, we just turned ours in today. It had just lost it's second bar. Process was pretty easy. Scheduled the inspection for this morning and dropped it off this afternoon.

All in all, we've been very happy with the car, and were kind of sad to see it go. We are going to take a long look at the new Volt.

 

[P71VIC]

I have a 24 month lease on a 2012 Leaf SL which began Dec 23rd of 2012.
$2000 down, $127/m for 1,000 miles a month was pretty incredible. They totally over estimated the residual values back then.
Then I was offered and accepted a 12 month extension last year. That of course made the deal even sweeter. Early this summer I lost my first bar and GIDs seem to be sitting around 210, so I guess I will lose a second soon.
I called NMFC last week to see what options were. They said I had a 5,000 buy out reduction on the table, but with over a $20,000 residual currently it still doesn't pan out. They also stated that I can extend another 12 months but this will likely be the last extension. No free months were offered.
I'm likely going to sign the papers for the extension once they arrive. $1524 for another year of this fun ride is pretty incredible. My only negative thought is that I might need to buy tires if I keep it another year, as I currently have about 34,000 miles on the car (nearly exactly the allotted lease miles). That will likely run $800 I guess. Any thoughts that holding out into November or December to extend might get me a better deal?

Overall, my lease has been a fantistic economical and fun to drive decision. It's probably going to pan out to about $8100 for 48,000 miles and four years of driving. Fuel cost during that time will have added up to about $1500. EVSE + install ~ $600.

 

[LeftieBiker]

I'll be looking at that fourth year option in about six months, and there is a major concern for me: the warranty ends with Year Three, for most of the car. If Nissan is smart, they'll either start offering to extend the warranty for at least half of that fourth year in place of 'free months', or encourage dealers to offer affordable extended warranties that can be purchased when the factory warranty period ends. Otherwise their efforts to keep a flood of off-lease Leafs from depressing resale prices will fail mightily very soon. In my case I'll probably, if the car still shows 12 bars, pay for a new updated A/C hose, and cross my fingers. If it's at 11 bars, it will be a tougher call...

 

[bradbissell]

Are they officially offering a 4th year lease extension option? Depending on release date, that might make it possible for some of us with 2013s to make it to Leaf2.

 

[kubel]

Are they officially offering a 4th year lease extension option? Depending on release date, that might make it possible for some of us with 2013s to make it to Leaf2.

I had a 39 month lease and extended it to 51 months. 2 months free credit (they recommended I use them up at the beginning), with no commitment to fulfill the +12 month extension (pay for only the months that you use, you can quit at any time).

It was a no brainer to get a free car for 2 months, but I'm at the point right now where I'm completing my 41st month (2nd free month). I really don't want to make another $325/mo payment, but Nissan has nothing to offer for me yet. If you terminate the lease without getting into a new Nissan, you have to pay a $395 disposition fee.

So now I have to weigh the value and chances of a 2016 LEAF becoming available with the savings. Do I pay for +1 or +2 more month sat $325 in the hopes that the 2016 becomes available soon, or turn the car in now and pay $395 disposition and then not be under any pressure to lease again.

I'm leaning towards turning the car in and driving my old gas car for a few months while I save up some money for a used Volt or something. Driving electric no longer makes the economic argument since I'm not commuting so many miles anymore, plus gas prices have come down quite a bit.

 

[gsleaf]

The buyout on my 2012 Leaf SL was initially $16.5k. I contacted my dealer to have them ask Nissan what my buyout was and they came back with a quote of $10.3k. After trying out the 2015 Leafs I decided to just purchase mine as it meets my needs into the foreseeable future. I tried to buy it on the weekend, but the dealer said they had to get approval from Nissan for the discount and that I had to come back during the week when Nissan corporate was open. They contacted Nissan Corporate Monday morning and I was able to go in yesterday after work and buy my Leaf for $10.3k.

 

[DNAinaGoodWay]

While I still have 22 months to go on this lease, I'm already wondering what my next car will be. A lot will depend on exactly what will be available come 8/17, but also on which OEMs are at or near the 200k point when the federal tax credit begins to phase out. Is there a link to a page that is tracking that? I'm guessing Nissan should be OK, but probably not Tesla. Not sure at all about Chevy. Depends on how many Volts and Bolts sell by then.