End of Lease Questions and 3rd Party Payments

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2018 Mazda CX-5 Touring
My 18 Touring lease is due next month. The payoff is about 16.5. Due to the pandemic, shortage of new and used vehicles, I have been offered up to $21K by 2 rental companies and an AutoNation dealer. Seems like a no brainer. Sell the car and pocket the difference.

However, Chase claims that they do not accept 3rd party payments and I would have to buy out the car myself. Then I could sell it when I get the title, which is taking 6-8 weeks in Cali. I would need to register the car in my name and pay the sales tax plus current reg. So about 18K in total. Seems like a no brainer, and pocket 2.5K. On all my previous leases, I've always traded them for another make when getting my next car to avoid any overages.

Any thoughts on how to handle this? If i traded the car in, Chase / Toyota would have to accept the payment from the dealer, no? If I sold the car to a third party, wouldn't it be the same?

Thoughts?
 
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Yes- I just did this today with my '19 GT. I went back to me original dealer and they bought out my lease from Chase and put me in a new '21. I would think other dealers could do the same. Not understanding the issue especially if it was Autonation. Are you buying another car to replace it? If so see what that dealer would offer. I took my Carvana offer to my dealer and they beat it by a few bucks.
 
How did you get them to buyout your lease? How many miles of the allotted amount did you have on the vehicle?

I had a 19 GTR that I traded in, and got into a 21 RDX A-Spec. However, I am wondering if I will be able to get out of my lease early and into a newer model in say 2 years. How is this done? Did you go into then dealer looking to get into a new vehicle?
 
What I did was start by contacting Carvana since I have heard of crazy offers. They gave me an offer for my 19. It had 19,500 miles out of the 36k allowed for 36mths. I was 12 mths out from turn in. Carvana's offer was within 50 of my payoff so I contacted my dealer and asked if they would match the offer and they agreed. They actually paid about 150 over the payoff. I wasn't even thinking about doing this until next year but figured it didn't hurt to ask. I am glad I did as I think this chip issue may continue for a while and if I waited, who knows what the situation will be in '22?
 
I’m not getting another vehicle at this time. I already have a 2nd car that will become my daily driver. I’ve been working out of the home and this dont need an additional pay ent at this time. In my eyes this should be handled as any dealer payoff.
 
I don't understand the issue with someone else buying it. How would it be different from your dealer? I would ask your dealer if they will offer the same amount as the other buyers which I assume would make it easier.
 
Question answered...It's right in the payoff letter...Chase accepts payment only from the leasee or licensed automobile dealer. Not from other 3rd parties. So a dealer is not considered a 3rd party.
 
Dealers have you over the barrel here. If you are buying a new car they can do all sorts of things, but they’re not going to hand you the difference in cash between lease payoff and actual car value just because you ask nicely. They want your car cheap so they can sell it into this hot market and make a nice profit. The laws and contract language are tilted in their favor.

I’m betting you’ll have to come up with the payoff out of pocket, wait on title, register the car again, insure it, then sell it privately on CL to make this work economically. Is all this hassle worth it? Maybe you want to drive it a year or two to get some value out of these expenses.

- Mark
 
Dealers have you over the barrel here. If you are buying a new car they can do all sorts of things, but they’re not going to hand you the difference in cash between lease payoff and actual car value just because you ask nicely. They want your car cheap so they can sell it into this hot market and make a nice profit. The laws and contract language are tilted in their favor.

I’m betting you’ll have to come up with the payoff out of pocket, wait on title, register the car again, insure it, then sell it privately on CL to make this work economically. Is all this hassle worth it? Maybe you want to drive it a year or two to get some value out of these expenses.

- Mark
I think you missed where he said he is allowed to sell it to a dealer, like Carvana.
 
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