8 months into lease, need to get out

[Smooth317]

I was hoping perhaps someone who works at a Toyota dealership could provide a little advice regarding getting out from under my lease.

Last August I leased an '05 Sport Edition 4x4 V6 for 3 years, 15k miles at $430/month. The truck sat most of the winter due to very little snow, leaving it with only 6800 miles. This past week I have split with my wife and cannot afford the payments on my own. Is there any way for me to get out from under the lease without trashing my credit or getting reamed? Obviously, with the cost of a divorce, money is going to run out quickly.

I have a second car (2000 Accord 2dr) that I had planned on selling, but I could afford that on my own. What I need is to completely get out of the truck.

I'm hoping the value of the truck used, having only 6800 miles on it and being in mint condition other than dirty floor mats, is higher than what Toyota would require to pay off the lease early. The 4runner's obviously keep their value but I realize that most, if not all, vehicles drop drastically in value during the first year. If, by some stretch, it IS worth more than the lease, I believe I could talk the sales rep into taking it back and turning a profit on it.

Any ideas? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[coolpop]

About the only way to do it is to find someone to assume the lease and take over the payments. Of course, you need to read the terms and conditions to make sure the lease you signed allows you to do that.

 

[hiluxsurf]

try swapalease.com

or something like that.

i have heard some good things about them....

good luck

 

[BROOKLYN]

the best advice i can give is make it disappear or make a bus hit it
(lol)
how many month u have left

 

[mrshyboy]

sale it back to Toyota

I used to work at Toyota not long ago. What you can do is find out how much your car is worth, then how much you owe. With the low miles on your car, you should be able to walk away from the lease by selling the car back to Toyota and they can turn around and make some profit from it. If you have any questions, I'd be glad to answer them for you.

 

[Granth77]

I work for a Toyota dealer, so I'll try to help you out the best I can.

First off, I don't know where you're located, but in Illinois, your truck is probably worth between $24,500 - 25,500 in cold hard cash to a dealer. Dealers typically mark up vehicles between $3,000 and $4,000, and with invoice on your truck probably being around $29,000, you can see where I'm going with this. I would say the most accurate number would be about $24,500. Anymore than that would scare people off after a dealership's mark up because for that price you can almost smell a new 06.

Also, I don't know who you have your lease through, but call and get your payoff (the total you still owe on the vehicle). If you didn't trade another car in and didn't put a lot of money down when you bought it you're probably upside down several thousand dollars. Everything depends on how much the purchase price was when you leased it.

What you can do is try trading in the 4Runner and your Accord and see what kind of vehicle you could get for less money per month. It's kind of a tough situation, I know. I deal with it everyday. Just call to get your payoff amount, then take the truck to a few dealers to see what the top dollar will be for them buying it from you. Just clean it up and make sure it looks it's best, because then they'll figure they won't have to do anything to it besides put it on the lot and sell it.

If you have anymore questions, feel free to post or email me.

Grant

 

[TRD04RUNNER]

you have insurance right? just tell your insurance co. you got car jack and dump it down a cliff, river, canon, or even set it on fire out in the wood! let me know when so I can get your rims and tire and other goody to make it look like it was thief. I will even help you push it down whatever you chose to do.just make sure the cop will be able to recover it in "total condition" and your vin# is readable.:satan:

 

[TRD04RUNNER]

you have insurance right? just tell your insurance co. you got car jack and dump it down a cliff, river, canon, or even set it on fire out in the wood! let me know when so I can get your rims and tire and other goody to make it look like it was thief. I will even help you push it down whatever you chose to do.just make sure the cop will be able to recover it in "total condition" and your vin# is readable.:satan:

ohh chit! that will be kind of hard pushing it if i'm takeing the rims and tires.:bonk:

 

[Bluto]

Don't let any dealer know why you need out of the lease. Don't let any dealer know you have to get out of the lease.

Say you don't drive it, the MPG is bad, insurance is high, you want something smaller, you don't like it, etc. You're in a tough situation, don't show your hand.

 

[Smooth317]

Don't let any dealer know why you need out of the lease. Don't let any dealer know you have to get out of the lease.

Say you don't drive it, the MPG is bad, insurance is high, you want something smaller, you don't like it, etc. You're in a tough situation, don't show your hand.

I would have thought they'd be less likely to take it if they thought I just 'wanted' to get out of it instead of having to get out of it.

I dont know what they think they could get out of me except refusing to buy it back. Money and a new car from them isn't an option.

 

[Bluto]

I would have thought they'd be less likely to take it if they thought I just 'wanted' to get out of it instead of having to get out of it.

I dont know what they think they could get out of me except refusing to buy it back. Money and a new car from them isn't an option.

Most dealers won't give you the best deal up front, regardless of your situation. Being able to walk out on an offer is a negotiating factor (if they want the truck). If you have to get out, they know you can't walk, so why tell them?


Edit: You'll get the most money for it by selling it in Autotrader, the local paper, ebay, etc. The dealer is going to give you trade-in value, not market value. Have the buyer write the check to your leasing company.

 

[roccos_van]

I'm not a dealer nor do I work for one...but I've leased for many years. Here's my accessment of your situation:

If there is one thing that is probably true, it's that b/c you just leased it, you're probably "upside down" which means you owe more than the truck is worth.

Here's what you can do:

Call toyota and get your buyout. After you know how much you owe, you have to try and sell the truck privately for as close to the buyout as possible, then, take the money you get for the sale of the truck and if it's not enough, you'll have to eat the difference.

Sorry dude, but that's the best way out of it IMO.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot...some people will tell you to 'trade in' your 4runner and lease something cheaper, but the dealer will really get you then...I really do not recommend this route.

First off, they will build the difference in price (The amount you are upside down) into the new lease, plus you'll have to lease for 4 or 5 years to get the payments down. Then you'll be stuck with a cheap car you don't like for 5 years, and you'll have been taken for an extra 5 or 6 grand as well.

Hope things work out for you.

MB

 

[jlboers]

sell it privately and eat the difference. it truly is the "cheapest" way out. You get more for the 4R selling it privately. spend 100.00 and get the sucker detailed, then park it.

 

[Smooth317]

You were pretty accurate with the figures. The sale price on the truck was $30,500. Payoff on the lease is $28,150. The dealer I purchased it from would only value it at around $24,000.

Obviously, I'll either have to find a buyer myself or somehow keep the truck at least long enough to get the payoff down to a point where I'm not $4000 upside down on it. I'm hoping the high resale of the 4runners gets me there quickly.

Thanks for all the advice.

 

[bdelc]

Id keep the honda and sell the Toyota in the paper. Completely park it, don't drive it and raise your insurance deductible to the highest amount you can afford- might save you some cash in the short term.

My 0.02- don't go buy a new car by selling two to get one. A new car is the absolute worst short term "investment" ever.

Good Luck.

 

[Smooth317]

Id keep the honda and sell the Toyota in the paper. Completely park it, don't drive it and raise your insurance deductible to the highest amount you can afford- might save you some cash in the short term.

My 0.02- don't go buy a new car by selling two to get one. A new car is the absolute worst short term "investment" ever.

Good Luck.

I popped it up on cars.com today in the Indianapolis area for the payoff of $28,150. The KBB at private party sale price is $28,650. There are several other 05 4runners in the area but they are either quite a bit more expensive or have quite a few more miles on them. I've got my fingers crossed.

I'll be making sure the ad hits the paper this Sunday and possibly try to find a place to park it with a sticker in the window. I also found out that the lease is assumable with approval, so it would probably be easier to find someone to assume the $430/mo payments for the last 29 months since thats a pretty damn good deal.

 

[spyne]

Good luck, hope it works out for you.

 

[bolt]

WTF? I'll be the bad guy here..

 

[Smooth317]

Re: WTF? I'll be the bad guy here..

CAPS....I'LL BE THE BAD GUY HERE. BETTER yet the asshole> YOU SHOULD NEVER LEASE A VEHCILE UNLESS ITS A CO. TAX RIGHT OFF AND MAKES SENSE ECONOMICALLY DUMASS. There I said it.

Wow, thanks for your help jerkoff. I hope you get your ass banned for being a royal douchebag.

Not that you deserve a friggin response, but it DID make sense economically when I was married and had an extra income, especially at the ridiculously low money factor I got the lease for. Maybe if you'd read the god damn thread you'd have some idea of what you're talking about, but no... you didn't. Thanks for playing.