brandon272

I picked up a 2005 Pursuit a while ago when the budget was tight and needed something to drive. The lease deal on the Pursuit was great, so I decided to go with it.

Thus far, I'm satisfied with the vehicle in the capacity of being a base sedan. However, I want to upgrade to a Pursuit Coupe (through the same dealer) with some additional features like PW/PDL and Cruise.

Before I go to the dealer to discuss this - I'd like to become as informed as possible. What are my options likely to be, if any, in regard to the dealer? Is it going to be completely up to me to get rid of the Pursuit I currently have, either through transferring the lease or arranging for someone to buy it? Since I want another Pursuit through the same dealer, are they likely to facilitate the switch in any way?

Any information anyone can provide would really be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Brandon

tio

I will attempt to answer your questions, I have terminated several leases early and have worked in leasing equipment for almost 18 years.

1) The best case senario would be for you to find someone to take over your current lease.
This may involve giving them a financial kiss,but overall best option.

2) If you intend to "trade up" cars with the same dealer , they will be happy to do this for
you. The big question is how much they will charge you for this. It is not a question of
if they will build in more profit but how ! If you are going to do this I would suggest the
following;

a) Go to another dealer, pick out the exact car you want and work out the best possible
deal you can on that particular vehicle. DO NOT AT ANY TIME, TELL THEM THAT YOU
ARE GOING TO GET RID OF YOUR CURRENT CAR OR LEASE.) In fact telling them that
you want an additional car will take there focus away from "selling you on the car" and
they will put more emphasis on the cost portion of the deal. Get them to put the deal
down in writing ,showing equipment cost,interest rate, any other lease charges and the
residule value. SIGN NOTHING, do not give them a deposit.

b) Go to your original dealer and tell them what you want to do. Make sure that you
detail your car before you go to the dealer. They are going present you with a ton
of options meant to confuse you ( and make it seem like you are lucky that they are
even willing to "help" you get out of your original lease. They may suggest the
following;

i) Pay out the entire lease payments for remainder of the term-NOT
(they have to try this because if just one person does this...they look like a hero)

ii) You make a lump sum payment to cover the depreciation of the vehicle since
you picked it up. They will try to add in some additional profit to this number
(this one time payment can be negociated down)

iii) They will build into the next vehicle lease payments the depreciation cost of the
first vehicle. ( this is why you got the "real deal" numbers from another dealer
so that you can see how much they are really building in). This is usually the way
that people go when switching leases but keep in mind that in your new lease
payment will be additional interest on the depreciation as well as additional PST and
GST.

Without giving you a lesson in depreciation the unrwitten rule of thumb for breaking an
automotive lease penalty is;

1st year of 4 year lease= 12 payments
2nd year of 4 year lease=6 payments
3rd year of 4 year lease=4 payments
4th year of 4 year leaser=2 payments

These are the fair amount that you should expect to pay. The other variable is if the interest rate has changed a great deal since you signed your original lease, this will also save/cost you money.

Anytime after 30 months of a 48 month lease it is possible to trade up without any penalty.
Remember in leasing they are selling you finance not a car and the longer time that you make payments to them the better.


Good luck in what ever you decide. Just be patient, and check your emotions at the door.
This transaction is more difficult than the initial buy because not only do you want a new car (emotional hype) but you also have to admit to yourself that you made a mistake on the last deal (ego drop). You will not be dealing with a Sales Rep. on this one , they will introduce you to the "business manager", "sales manager" or what ever other title they come up with This particular person is experienced in how to work the emotions of a customer and will attemp to suck every extra dime of profit out of the deal ( How would I know this ? ). Done right, a good deal can be done for you also.

Sorry for the long post but , I thought it was time I contributed something to this site.


Steve.

brandon272

Steve,

An excellent and informative post. That will help me out quite a bit and has already answered a couple of questions I had!

Thank-You!

Brandon

Zoomyjs

Awsome post man. I am currently 2 months into the lease of a 2006 cobalt SS sedan but I want the coupe or even the supercharge. Now you stated that first year = 12 payments so does that mean i have to pay the 12 payments straight up front before they even consider trading vehicles?

epiphany

I'm sorry, but as a car salesman i cant stand people giving advice that involves wasting a salesmans time. Car salesman are not paid by the hour and the guy that wastes his time getting you a great deal so you can use it as leverage at another dealer does not deserve it. If you feel you need to pit another dealer against ur preferred dealer just to get a good deal, then you probably need to rethink your choice in dealers. Here is my advice based on being on both sides of the deal:

1. do your research! pull and edmunds TMV on the car you wish to purchase. That will give you the approximate invoice(usually off by a couple hundred dollars due to ad fees) and the average selling price of that car for your area. Also pull a KBB on your car using FAIR condition. wholesale trade in numbers usually fall around the KBB fair condition price.

2. Ask questions! Ask your dealer for ALL the numbers. You are going to need is your lease pay off, selling price of the new car, resisdual value, money factor, trade in value, and the amount of additional fees(tax, title, license, any bank fee or state fees).

3. Take those numbers home and plug them into an online lease calculator if you do not trust them. The big ones to negotiate on are the selling price and the trade in value. Please keep in mind we arent miracle workers. Getting out of a lease early is not cheap, so you are going to take a bit of a hit.

4. most importantly, be honest. If you tell the dealer where you need to be and what you are willing to pay they will do there best to get there. Once you show that you are a serious buyer they will want to get you in a car even if they have to dwindle the deal down to nothing. If your dealer is not willing to do the things I stated above then you need to find another dealer.

05REDROCKET

This is your best bet just remember you dont have deal with just that dealer you have a deal with GMAC so any dealer can help you out.

Zoomyjs

Well I told my dealer who is an awsome guy, exactly what i wanted to do. I dont mind losing a few options(heated leather seats ect..) on my sedan to get the coupe. i just turned 22 and i want a good lookin ride. however i did recently get my rear windows tinted and i havnt spoken with the dealer yet on what that will do, i hope it adds value if anything. but im going to stop by this week and talk with him about switching the SS sedan to the coupe. i already have a g/f who loves my car but with a coupe i could have 4 g/fs who love my car!! anyways... what do you think of the SS sedan, it certainly isnt a coupe but when i drive it i really dont feel in love with it. i know with a rally yellow SS coupe i would, that will rule. right now my drivetrain is auto and i want to switch up to manual just because you can feel the road and power better that way (from what i hear and i have never driven a manual yet) but if i do switch up im sure ill learn fast the car salesman i dealt with is a great guy and so im going to try to do this all through him, so to the previous poster who is a car dealer dont worry, i wont be wasting his time at all.

SilverSS/SC

I tried to get out of my lease , actually tried to outright buy it as Im WAY WAY WAY over the miles I should be at . After 8 months , its just not even rational .

buy out = $24,769 ....I wouldnt even come close to that figure making all the payments full term

$8000 penalty to turn car in and walk away , Im actually not putting all the miles on that I was previously , so I was just looking into getting out of mine getting into another new 2006 SS/SC

All roads just led to HUGE finacial loss

YoAdrian

Drive the Cobalt you have for the next three years------- then when you get the inheritance----------------- BUY A Z06!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At least that is what I would do.

myoshizawa819

How long is your lease? In the US GMAC typically pulls ahead leases 6 months letting you get out of the lease early with no penalty. If you still absolutely want out early GMAC clearly states in their lease agreement that you normally have one of two options.

1. Dealer can buy out your lease and resell the vehicle on their own.
2. You can buy out the remaining term of the lease.

zinner

Save your extra money brandon and live with your decision. I promise at the end of your lease you will be happy you did. I understand the powerful drive to have as nice of a car as you can afford, but saving that extra money you have now will leave you better off in the future when you can buy a really nice car and it won't take all your money to do it.

Crank windows aren't so bad Open an IRA or 401k and get into investing... The dealer is definetly going to help you spend all the money they can finance you for so stay away for em.

brandon272

If I can get a decent deal through my dealer or spend $400 to transfer the lease to someone else - why wouldn't I go that route? I know that many would like to proclaim, "NO, NO, NO! THERE'S NO WAY IT CAN BE DONE WITHOUT LOSING A BOATLOAD OF MONEY!" ... but what's wrong with trying?

As far as the high-and-mighty "live with your decision" moral-conviction crap, I never had any intention of living out the lease for 48 months. The only reason I took advantage of the lease was because the lease offer was excellent and I knew that I went into it with certain options to either negotiate with the dealer down the line for a more expensive vehicle or transfer the lease to someone else for a fairly insignificant fee. Perhaps it's just me, but I really do doubt that I'd be "happy" I stuck it out on a 48 month lease on a car I didn't even like. I'm sure I'd be able to appreciate that my car payments were only $190 for 4 years, but that's about the only good thing that would come of it. I'd probably be bitter about every other aspect of it, and then, to ensure that I didn't get such a raw deal again, I'd probably go out and lease some insanely expensive car that I couldn't even afford to ensure that I wasn't bitter about that lease, either. Yeah, that would be great.

Additionally, I never once said that I wanted "as nice of a car as I can afford"... not once. If I wanted the nicest thing I could afford to lease I'd be looking at luxury sedans. I'm simply looking for something that's at least a step or two above the basic-of-the-basic economy sedan that I've got now.

It would have been financially irresponsible at that point in time to try and get into a vehicle when I didn't have the income or the financial outlook to sustain such an agreement.

Perhaps some of you have been royally screwed when trying to get rid of your leased vehicles early. Perhaps you had no idea what you were doing, or maybe you did. But I think that there's some fairly viable options to consider if you would prefer to end a lease early. I think it's a damn shame that because of your bad experiences that you're willing to shat on everyone else when they get an idea in their head or simply want to know what their options are.

Brandon

wills87

i went today to try to see if i could transfer the lease and the guy told me i couldnt and had to pay the full lease off.

oldsskool

^^^ Thats BS.... call up GMAC... they dont care where the money is comin from, as long as they are getting it and the person taking over has passed the credit background. There may be an administration fee, but I know 100% you can do it.

Zoomyjs

So yeah, after thinking it all over, and considering the options. why the hell would i want to spend the next 4 years paying for this ss sedan which is OK but when i can get the SS/SC. so 4 months into my lease, im going to sell it to the dealer, who did his best in getting me the best deprectiation value, im ending up about $4500(CAD) in the whole. But, after thats worked out, within the next month i'll be driving an 06 SS/SC I figure if im going to be making all these payments with nothing to show when its over except for a buyout, i might as well go with a car i love which i intend To buyout. So yea, 4500 gone, it was a mistake, an Expensive mistake, but tell me, going from a 06 ss sedan with grey interior into a yellow or black SS/SC am I going to feel the love and will it make up for the loss?

wills87

did u have to pay it out before you get the car or can u pay it off through out the year????

Zoomyjs

im putting 4k down to basically kill the depreciation on the current lease then we will work out the lease on the SS/SC.

brandon272

Indeed. It's conditional on the person you're transferring to being approved for credit with GMAC, and there is an administration fee ($450, I believe) - but you can do it.

Brandon

tdirlmeier

I am looking into terminating my lease soon. I am currently paying 240/month for my '05 LS. My car stickered for 19000 and I want to upgrade to an SS/SC. Is there any chance that the dealer can get me in an upgrade for say an extra 100/month so that I will be paying right around $350/month? Doesn't matter to me if I have to sign another 4 year lease on it or put down another 1000. Any help before I go to the dealer and talk with them?

tiny

car dealers try to rip people off, its how they make their money
i dont mind hardballing a dealer, cuz i know that they wouldnt think twice to **** me over on a deal

plus, what do i really car how much the guys makes, im not buyin a car to support him, im buyin it for myself

Strider_2001

I was reading this thread over and I know it is old but wanted to bring it back in the light...I am working with someone right now to transfer the lease on my car...going to the dealer today to talk with them about it...Does anyone know how much it costs in fees to transfer???

Strider_2001

bump

Strider_2001

Anyone know how much it might cost to transfer a lease to another person??

brandon272

I don't know about the USA, but in Canada GMAC wants $450 to transfer the lease.

Strider_2001

450 not all that bad...Thanks for the information...