What is the reality of trying to get out of a Leaf Lease?

Hi,

I may be moving further away from work in the near future which will make my 2014 SL much less practical if not useless for my commute. I leased the leaf in July of last year, so I have almost exactly 24 months left. I called NMAC today and according to the recording, my payoff amount as of today is $21k. If I remember, my buyout amount when the lease is over was quoted to me somewhere around $14k.

I'm just curious, if I were to call the dealer or NMAC today and said I wanted to end the lease, what should I expect them to ask for in return?

I'm guess the most realistic option would probably be to sell the car privating right? KBB is telling me that a mint 2014 SL with Bose and Premium package should be worth $19k+. Obviously that still puts me a little behind the 8-ball though.

Just curious what peoples experiences were with trying to end the lease early. I cant imagine that i'm the only one considering this.

Thanks!

Your options aren't very good.

You can return the car anytime but you're still obligated for your contracted payments.
You can continue on for a year (or pay it off and keep it) and get what use out of it you can.
You can try to sell it, but good luck.
Lease assumption still leaves you liable, per NMAC.
You can try to trade it in a deal for a new Nissan and see what you can get.
You could not move.
You could find a closer job.

You are stuck with the car. I tried to get out of the lease, I even offer to pay for the one year remaining on it. They just will not take it back early. I tried to get them to clarify some of the early termination option, the woman on the phone just flat out denied to provide me with anything. They basically said the dealer will auction it off and I am responsible for the remaining amount. Well here is my question. If my residual is 15K and the remaining payments are 2K. If they sell it for 10K, do I have to pay them 7K or just 2K. The b$%8h just will not answer. Very shady.

After i posted this i noticed the thread talking about Nissan offering cashback on early buyout for 2011-2013 models. If nissan adds 2014's to that list sometime in the near future that may give me some hope. Right now i'm at a $21k buyout, if Nissan were to slash $6-7k off it would probably be worth it to buy it out and sell it.

All said, i'm 90% that i'm just stuck with the car... but we'll see!

MD56 said:

After i posted this i noticed the thread talking about Nissan offering cashback on early buyout for 2011-2013 models. If nissan adds 2014's to that list sometime in the near future that may give me some hope. Right now i'm at a $21k buyout, if Nissan were to slash $6-7k off it would probably be worth it to buy it out and sell it.

All said, i'm 90% that i'm just stuck with the car... but we'll see!

Click to expand...

Those weren't early buyouts, that was for buying at end of the lease. You can turn it in up to 60 days early, but it doesn't save you any money except for insurance and the like.

I have a 2012 SL 39 months lease due in January 2016.

I just bought a Volt to replace it (apparently lemon Volt, towed back to dealer within 2 hours after I got the keys, but that's another very sad story )

Assuming Chevy fixes my Volt, takes it back or replaces it with a one that's safe to drive, I would want to return my Leaf before the lease is up. I was planning to return it at 36 months to avoid CVRP clawback, and also avoid registering it in California for 12 more months, when I really would only have it for the last 3 months.

I understand the part about having to pay for every month of lease under the contract, and the lease return fee. I don't understand why they wouldn't take the car early if those are paid, though.

If Nissan won't take my Leaf back , I suppose I could register my Leaf as PNO come October, and return it to the dealer on the due date (or 60 days before) . I doubt the dealer would like it when I return it with PNO tags.