Negotiating the Lease Residual Price DOWN!

[LDL]

My car lease is about a month from being up and Honda hasn't budged yet on the residual (buyout) price . I was hoping that in this economy they would throw out some lower amount so that it wouldn't sit on some dealers lot .

I'm thinking from the research that I've done that I may have about $2500 worth of equity in my vehicle (KBB and current resale pricing on like models), but in this economy, it's very difficult to tell what anything is worth .

Here's what I'm thinking - use my car as a trade-in asking for $2500 over what I owe. If that is too high for the dealer, maybe they can negotiate with Honda Finance and get a lower price from them .

Does anybody out there know if a dealer would be able to get a reduction on the buy off price??? I don't feel like trying to sell it on the street and this is my leverage tool to extract any and all equity !

p.s.
I plan on negotiating my trade-in before ANY talk of the vehicle I wish to buy so that the dealer can't tell me that I'm getting $2500 when all they have done is added it to the price of the vehicle I'm buying .

[helpmeout]

You don't own the car, you can't use it for a trade in. When the lease is up, hand the car over. Make them an offer (based on blue book value) and tell them that it is either a take it or leave it offer. If they don't take the offer, you are going elsewhere. And then follow through if they don't take it.

[jribe]

At trade in, the other dealer will just tack on what you owe for residual to the car you're buying. They won't give you much (if anything for it). They will say that the full residual is owed per your contract w/Honda and it must be paid.
I "traded" in a leased vehicle (the only one i ever leased) once and that's what happened to me.

I wouldn't bet on Honda lowering their price either; their cars have pretty good resale. Especially if KBB says it has equity. They'd likely rather take the car back.
good luck.

My car lease is about a month from being up and Honda hasn't budged yet on the residual (buyout) price . I was hoping that in this economy they would throw out some lower amount so that it wouldn't sit on some dealers lot .

I'm thinking from the research that I've done that I may have about $2500 worth of equity in my vehicle (KBB and current resale pricing on like models), but in this economy, it's very difficult to tell what anything is worth .

Here's what I'm thinking - use my car as a trade-in asking for $2500 over what I owe. If that is too high for the dealer, maybe they can negotiate with Honda Finance and get a lower price from them .

Does anybody out there know if a dealer would be able to get a reduction on the buy off price??? I don't feel like trying to sell it on the street and this is my leverage tool to extract any and all equity !

p.s.
I plan on negotiating my trade-in before ANY talk of the vehicle I wish to buy so that the dealer can't tell me that I'm getting $2500 when all they have done is added it to the price of the vehicle I'm buying .

[gamecockfan]

You don't own the car, you can't use it for a trade in.

For the most part you can trade in a leased auto or sell it just like any other vehicle. There may be some financial institutions that do not allow you to buy out the lease early. I'm not sure about Honda Finance. I traded in a lease that I had a couple of years ago. I called the leasing company and got my current payoff (not the residual). The amount offered for trade in was slightly higher than the payoff amount so that reduced the amount of the new vehicle.

You would need to make sure there were no fees or anything for ending the lease early.

[BBW]

Honda won't budge on residual value.