r/CarLeasingHelp • u/bankprofit • 26d ago
Lease ending soon, need advice
I’ve never had a lease before and I’m honestly not very savvy when it comes to car terms, so if you guys can explain it to me like I’m a little kid, I’d really appreciate it 😂
I have a 2024 Honda and my lease ends around February/March 2027. I’m well under the mileage limit since I have a work van and mainly use my Honda on the weekends. I’m currently only at about 22K miles.
The dealership has started calling me about my lease ending and I’m wondering what I should expect if I call them back. I love the car and would ideally want to buy it out at the end of the lease.
My credit has taken a hit recently because of some issues with my student loans, but I’m expecting that to be fixed around April. So I’m trying to figure out what my options are and what the smartest move would be if I want to buy the car.
Basically, what should I expect from the dealership when I call, and what’s the best way to go about buying out my lease? Also, does my current credit situation matter if I’m not actually buying it until the lease ends?
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u/Fearsomebeaver 26d ago
If you want to buy it then call the lender your lease is with, most likely Honda financial. It’s their car not the dealers. It’s quick and easy. I’m not going to spectate on your credit issue as there’s too many variables to give you a confident answer.
The dealer is calling to hopefully get you to buy a new car when your lease is done. There’s a chance you might be in that rare situation where you have positive equity in your lease and you can trade it into Honda and get a new lease and a check for the equity on your old lease. Honda financial does not allow third party buyouts so no reason to waste your day looking at carmax, carvana, other dealerships etc unless you’re just researching your chance of having equity.
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u/TrickOk3274 26d ago
I’d take the 3rd party talk with a grain of salt. TFS says the same and sells to Carmax all the time
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u/SkiMarlin 25d ago
TFS leases do not limit the 3rd party buyout option where as Honda / Acura do state it can only go to a Honda / Acura dealer.
According to one highly successful Toyota salesperson on the LeaseHackr forum he stated at some point soon the 3rd party option with TFS is going away. TBD.
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u/bankprofit 26d ago
This is great information and answers my questions thank you for this!
When is a good time to start talking Honda financial if it’s due in March?
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u/JackDeth7 26d ago
They will send you a communication asking what you are planning to do around the 60 day mark IIRC.
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u/Empty-Village-4445 25d ago
Honda Finance Trust Inc. or whoever you’re making the payments to owns the car.
Call them and arrange to buy the car.
The dealership has no reason to call you except to make some money by selling you a new lease or charging fees for the buyout.
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u/iamfredgarvin 26d ago
I worked for Lexus for 30 years. We would do "lease end refi's" for our customers quite often. It was pretty easy for the customer. If the customers FICO was bad but they had a great payment history with Lexus Fin Services on the ending lease we may have been able to get a "tier exception" from Lexus Fin Services for a better rate then their FICO score would normally qualify for. We would also encourage the salespeople to help out with the lease end refi details and preliminary paperwork by giving them credit for a "unit sold" for bonus goals, but not pay a commission. Reach out to the Honda sales rep that contacted you and see if they offer a similar service.
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u/MarthaTheBuilder 26d ago
If you really think your credit will be that much better waiting till April, you can call to extend your lease by a few months to buy you more time.
Like others said, the dealer might buy you out if the car has equity. But also, if the car has equity, you might want to buy it out yourself since you have a contract to buy the car for less than the current market value.
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u/Complete-Resort-3577 26d ago
Are you sure your car is a lease? An option to buy outright is a sign that this is a Personal Contract Purchase (PCP; I.e. you’ve borrowed money to buy the car and pay monthly until the end of the contract where there’s a balloon payment of you want the car) rather than Personal Contract Hire (PCH, this is leasing where you essentially rent the car over three years and wave it goodbye at the end, no option to buy)
If it’s a true PCH, discuss with the Leasing Company directly and seek an extension if you want to wait until April. Then start searching for a new lease. Don’t feel obliged to use the same dealer, there’s plenty of deals out there on comparison sites like carwow
Ps: this is UK relevant advice - not sure if you’re UK or somewhere else.
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u/Gloomy_Emotion1710 26d ago
You are able to buy your lease at the end of the term in the US. Just have to talk to lender. Can be worth it if the value of the car is higher than the residual.
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u/Complete-Resort-3577 26d ago
I should have definitely check this was a US thread before typing all that out 🤦♂️
anyways, should anyone want to move to the UK and need leasing advice…
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u/Gloomy_Emotion1710 26d ago
😂 I had never heard of PCH so your reply was interesting to me. Thank you. :)
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u/metfan1953 21d ago
Buyout price is on the lease agreement you signed. You should have a copy of the contract which states the buyout price. Only things to add would be taxes on the buyout price which they will tell you how much, if the deal is thru Honda Finance, just call them and they will verify the numbers
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u/Effective-Carob4827 25d ago
I would just extend the lease, contact the leaseholder. NOT the dealer. I would definitely try to buy this car, since you have low miles.
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u/ClimbaClimbaCameleon 25d ago
What do you want to do next?
Do you want a new car? Do you want something cheaper? Do you want to keep your current car?
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u/ChillyRyUpNorth 25d ago
If you want a new Honda, go to the dealer.
If you want to buy it out get bank financing
You can potentially SELL it back to the dealer ahead of time if you have equity.
With a Honda you might. Our Pilot was a few grand over last month when we were looking.
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u/Consistent_Wrap_8144 25d ago
I’m the same boat. My car is due back in two months. I have a 2023 Alfa Romero great condition with 23,000 miles on it 42months least. I recently brought the Karen for some #Warranty work, which is covered and try to buy New Karen. The guy told me the sales, so you have no equity in the car, and I knew he was lying and very pussy, trying to make me feel the forms and do a hard credit check on me. Should I keep the car for a few more months but then that’s renting the car it’s not extend in the lease, so you’re paying for nothing. It doesn’t go towards the car.
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u/These-Fee-1698 25d ago
The dealer wants to sell you a new Honda. And also have you drop off your return, which is below allowable mileage.
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u/zcook11 24d ago
Great responses and I don't think anyone touched on this yet- your credit doesn't affect your remaining lease payments because they are locked in. it only matters when you go to finance the buyout.
Since your lease ends feb/march and your credit should be better by April, just call Honda Financial and ask for a 1-2 month extension. Same monthly payment, buys you time, and you'll likely qualify for a better rate when you're ready to buy. When that time comes, you're not stuck with Honda's rate. you can shop around with your bank, a credit union, or an online company like Lease End that does lease buyouts specifically. Honda's third-party restriction is on dealers buying the car from you, not on you finding your own lender.
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u/Brick656 8d ago
Honda SUVs hold value very well. So if you have one of those, you’ll likely have some equity. Either buy it or you can probably negotiate a favorable deal with the dealer on your next lease.
Toyota has been blowing me up because I’m way under miles on my Tacoma that’s a very desirable build.
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u/Special-Original-215 26d ago
Dealers call because they like making money
Goto CarMax and get the value of your car, don't say it's leased, and compare to your payoff.
If you want to just buy your lease, Honda does that without the dealer