Leased Car, selling to CarMax

My Nissan Leaf Forum

Help Support My Nissan Leaf Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Baltneu said:
Let me explain it again:

I have a 36 month lease, paying $447 per month, 6 months left on lease, so for 30 months have paid $13,410.
In October when lease is up I can walk away.
However, Nissan Finance gives me buy price now for $15, 568.
CarMax has given me written offer for buying the car now for $17,400.
I walk away with a check for $1,832.
That is all there is to it, no more.
I can get out early and have some equity.

The only issue here is will CarMax who said on 2 phone calls say they can buy the lease out, will they really be able to do it? That is all I posted about. Other people have muddied this post with their own stuff.

I have appt on 4/1 with CarMax, will report back. How is that? OK

Perfect. CarMax is a quality organization. You get out of your lease early and put some money in your pocket.
 
Reporting back:

Yes. Yes. Yes

Carmax will buy the Nissan Leaf lease.

Buyout: $15,683.63
Carmax offer: $17,400
I walk away with check: $1716.37

Did not have to pay Nissan $300 as stated in lease if I want to buy

Nissan dealer said only a Nissan dealer can do this. Total BS.

In and out of Carmax in 1 hr.
 
Nice result. That was my experience at CarMax. They know what they are doing, and don't take too much time to do it.

Makes sense the Nissan dealership is not required to be involved at all. As long as the Lease Company is happy, the dealership has nothing to do with anything! The only way they would is if there was some "gotcha" item which would need to be written down (disclosed) in you Lease Agreement contract.

For future leases, you can find out what % interest rate you are actually paying for a lease by crunching numbers in:
https://www.bankrate.com/calculators/auto/auto-lease-calculator.aspx
Remember a lease is really a balloon loan. The lease company pays cash for the car, and it ends up being a loan to you, and you either surrender the car in the end, or pay off the loan (balloon style).
 
I'm considering doing this with my car. The mileage will be under or at 10k miles when I turn her in, and while the door was hit, it was replaced with a new one and, one scratch aside, the car looks like new. Now if I could only get into NMAC to see my residual again! They asked me something for a security question that I can't seem to answer correctly...
 
LeftieBiker said:
I'm considering doing this with my car. The mileage will be under or at 10k miles when I turn her in, and while the door was hit, it was replaced with a new one and, one scratch aside, the car looks like new. Now if I could only get into NMAC to see my residual again! They asked me something for a security question that I can't seem to answer correctly...

I thought the numbers at Carmax were very competitive, in fact the highest of all the places I checked.
With such low mileage you should get a very good offer from them.
They do ask in the online offer if the car was in an accident. Mine was not, had a small dent/scratch on the pass door, disclosed that, but they did a very brief look over the car. Good luck.
 
LeftieBiker said:
The accident was in a parking lot and may not show up. I'll do a history check soon.

If you ran it thru your insurance co then it might show up
 
A free vehicle history check shows "no accidents." My insurance site shows 2 "incidents." Do I disclose this? The door was the only part of the car damaged, and it was replaced with a new door. Carmax's offer, with no accident disclosed, is $18,600. My residual is $17,388. That's a check for $1212 if I don't keep the car, instead of a bill for $300...
 
It sure is enticing to walk away with a check, I did. But coughing up $300 is not a big deal when you look at the total picture. I am no lawyer but not disclosing I guess is called Fraud. In your lease agreement it says that if you do buy the car from the thief dealers, you have to pay Nissan Finance a $300 processing fee, so you could consider it a wash. Also at lease termination if you turn the car back, you have the disposition fee, I can’t remember the exact amount but I think it was in the neighborhood of $375-$475. So if you want out early from the lease and move to a new car, then I think paying the $300 is a small situation and weigh it against the other expenses I noted above. I am not 100% sure but I think that Carmax does not pay the $300 fee to buy the car, they just pay the payoff amount so you do not pay the $300 robbery fee.

Edit: one other random thought, when one of the Nissan dealers worked up the quote for me to buy the car from them, they hit you not with only the $300 fee, but sales tax! Plus other DMV fees, and a lot of nonsense you can just laugh at, so the $300 is peanuts, in my book compared to the dealer BS.

I did this to get out of my lease early, wanted an AWD EV and longer range (226 miles these days is a joke). I Tesla Model is due for delivery early May, can’t wait!!!
 
It sure is enticing to walk away with a check, I did. But coughing up $300 is not a big deal when you look at the total picture. I am no lawyer but not disclosing I guess is called Fraud. In your lease agreement it says that if you do buy the car from the thief dealers, you have to pay Nissan Finance a $300 processing fee, so you could consider it a wash. Also at lease termination if you turn the car back, you have the disposition fee, I can’t remember the exact amount but I think it was in the neighborhood of $375-$475. So if you want out early from the lease and move to a new car, then I think paying the $300 is a small situation and weigh it against the other expenses I noted above. I am not 100% sure but I think that Carmax does not pay the $300 fee to buy the car, they just pay the payoff amount so you do not pay the $300 robbery fee.

First, I'm not looking to terminate a lease early. My lease ends in 7 days. I extended it for 3 months if I like, but the actual lease is ending. We may buy the car ourselves, but that is by no means certain.

Second, I'm not looking to commit fraud. I'm trying to ascertain what Carmax means by "accidents." I can guarantee that they don't disclose parking lot fender benders that don't show up in vehicle history reports to prospective buyers. I think I'm going to tell them about the door getting hit and being replaced - with them looking at the virtually pristine-looking car. If they want to pay me $700 instead of $1212.00, I'll take it. If they don't want the car I'll turn it in.

Last, I have no idea what you mean by saying that paying $300 to turn the car in, rather than getting paid for it, is "a wash."
 
LeftieBiker said:
Second, I'm not looking to commit fraud. I'm trying to ascertain what Carmax means by "accidents." I can guarantee that they don't disclose parking lot fender benders that don't show up in vehicle history reports to prospective buyers.
Try applying the Golden rule. It often helps people avoid rationalizing away poor ethical judgement.
 
LeftieBiker said:
It sure is enticing to walk away with a check, I did. But coughing up $300 is not a big deal when you look at the total picture. I am no lawyer but not disclosing I guess is called Fraud. In your lease agreement it says that if you do buy the car from the thief dealers, you have to pay Nissan Finance a $300 processing fee, so you could consider it a wash. Also at lease termination if you turn the car back, you have the disposition fee, I can’t remember the exact amount but I think it was in the neighborhood of $375-$475. So if you want out early from the lease and move to a new car, then I think paying the $300 is a small situation and weigh it against the other expenses I noted above. I am not 100% sure but I think that Carmax does not pay the $300 fee to buy the car, they just pay the payoff amount so you do not pay the $300 robbery fee.

First, I'm not looking to terminate a lease early. My lease ends in 7 days. I extended it for 3 months if I like, but the actual lease is ending. We may buy the car ourselves, but that is by no means certain.

Second, I'm not looking to commit fraud. I'm trying to ascertain what Carmax means by "accidents." I can guarantee that they don't disclose parking lot fender benders that don't show up in vehicle history reports to prospective buyers. I think I'm going to tell them about the door getting hit and being replaced - with them looking at the virtually pristine-looking car. If they want to pay me $700 instead of $1212.00, I'll take it. If they don't want the car I'll turn it in.

Last, I have no idea what you mean by saying that paying $300 to turn the car in, rather than getting paid for it, is "a wash."

In an earlier post you said you had an accident and the door was replaced, I think most would consider that an “accident” not a bumper scratch. Again, no lawyer here, but if you do not report that, then you are concealing information they request. That is certainly up to you to report or not, no judgements here. What I meant about the $300 is that if you buy the car, Nissan Finance charges you $300 for them to do their paperwork, it is in your lease agreement. So if Carmax giving you $300 less, then it washes out. That is all I meant. I don’t know if you got a quote from a Nissan dealer to buy the car, but they pad the hell out of it. Perhaps you have some other considerations, but as far as ease of the transaction, I can assure you from personal experience, CarMax is the way to go. Good luck.
 
I know that people tend to casually misrepresent what others say, not from malice but from a simple lack of care. I never said that the damage to the door was a "bumper scratch." I did say that the entire steel door was replaced with a new one, leaving no residual damage - just a door that is possibly a little newer or older than the rest of the car.

People also tend to be a little sloppy in their assumptions. I get that I don't want to stick some buyer down the line with a (formerly but not currently) damaged car that they weren't aware of. The problem with this line of thinking is that I am certain, having some experience in the industry, that Carmax won't disclose the "damage" to prospective buyers because it doesn't appear in VIN seaches, thus eliminating that consideration. If I were to stencil a description of the damage on the car with enamel, they would remove it before offering it for sale. So that brings us back to what Carmax defines as an "accident." Being hit while stationary in a parking lot is not generally defined that way - except maybe for the driver doing the hitting. Still, as I have already written (ignoring things in a paragraph that don't support one's argument is also a common human failing), I will be telling them about the damage - as they look at the car. Problem solved. Now I just have to figure how to get my Summer wheels back on the car, and the car inspected by Carmax, within one week. I also need to decide on which Leaf I will be leasing in Scarlet's place.

Oh, and I do have a quote to buy the car. The only "padding" there is the standard $75 doc fee.
 
LeftieBiker said:
I get that I don't want to stick some buyer down the line with a (formerly but not currently) damaged car that they weren't aware of.
You are assuming that no damage deeper than the replaced door occurred.

You cannot really know, so the Golden rule offers guidance.

As for what CarMax does afterwards, you are probably right but it should not change your ethics.
 
As for what CarMax does afterwards, you are probably right but it should not change your ethics.

Ah, to have a penny for every tenth dollar that businesses collect by taking advantage of the (non-reciprocated) ethical stances of liberals. I really can't wait to give up hundreds of dollars that Carmax will then directly pocket.
 
LeftieBiker said:
As for what CarMax does afterwards, you are probably right but it should not change your ethics.

Ah, to have a penny for every tenth dollar that businesses collect by taking advantage of the (non-reciprocated) ethical stances of liberals. I really can't wait to give up hundreds of dollars that Carmax will then directly pocket.

Sounds like a plan, let us know how it goes.
 
LeftieBiker said:
The accident was in a parking lot and may not show up. I'll do a history check soon.

If the door was replaced it’s likely that not only was the door painted but the fender and other door was also blend painted. That will show up with a paint gauge. Every commercial used car buyer uses one of these to check for repairs. I even have one I use when I was buying a car for my daughter when she was in college. https://www.amazon.com/Thickness-Coating-Automatic-Ferrous-Non-Ferrous/dp/B07W3YMM2Z/ref=asc_df_B07W3YMM2Z/
 
Back
Top