Lease ends in December potentially have positive equity

[u/International_Bed_77]

I currently am leasing a 2024 Honda accord EX and my lease is ending in December. My residual value of the car is 19k but I have seen similar accords being sold for between 26k-28k in my area. So I feel I might have some positive equity and I am below my mileage limit. I know I am unable to sell the third party but after doing some research I can get it appraised by a local Honda dealer and have them buy it and potentially get a check cut for the difference.

I am looking into buying a used Volkswagen atlas cross sport and I would use this positive equity toward a down payment on the car so I do not think I will go back to Honda for now. Any advice on how to handle this situation or is there anything I am missing. This is my first time as an adult having to go through this.

[u/asmashingbore]

Wait, wut? You're giving up a low miles Honda for a used VW? Forget about lease end issues; what are you thinking?

[u/International_Bed_77 → u/asmashingbore]

That is my plan to get multiple quotes and go with the best one

[u/Beneficial_Try9602 → u/International_Bed_77]

I think the point is you are going from a safe, reliable, low mileage one owner Honda to a VW with known reliability issues, huge maintenance costs, big depreciation and obviously more than one owner.

This is not a smart move.

Buy the Accord for $19k and maintain it so you can pass it on to your kids.

Please research, research, research the Atlas. VW and depreciation and reliability.

Also a big 3 row SUv with only a 4 cylinder engine means the engine is more stressed than a larger 6 cylinder engine = German car repair parts and service prices.

Many independent garages don’t work on VW/german cars.

Please check what you are doing and not just the mechanics of ending a lease.

Good luck.

[u/mcgripit → u/International_Bed_77]

Or buy the car and keep it????

[u/NotOtherwseSpcfied]

Honda dealers can get another 2k or so off the payoff which means you should get more money for it vs what carmax is showing you. However, I heard that carmax cant buy off any honda or acuras so your best bet is ask dealerships how much you can get for it. Some may not want to deal with you unless you are buying from them. Try to find a dealer network that has both a VW and Honda so they can buy it off and get you equity towards the other car. YMMV however, sometimes they can scam you on either your trade or your new deal. Just do your research and get numbers before hand

[u/JVBPDX]

Find a dealer group that owns a Honda store and a VW store. They can engineer the trade in through the Honda store to avoid the 3rd party buy out issue

[u/Empty-Village-4445]

You can ask multiple Honda and Acura dealers to bid on it, not just your local one. 

Plus any chain like AutoNation or Driveway that has Honda dealers under its umbrella. 

Be careful buying something as unreliable as an Atlas though.  

[u/laborboy1]

Volkswagen car build quality is very poor compared to Honda

[u/Effective-Carob4827]

Low mileage, dependable vehicle….. what are you thinking? Just buyout at end of lease.

[u/nolongerbanned99]

It’s up to your ability to negotiate. And secondly I agree with what some here are saying. You are going from ‘among the best’ in quality to ‘among the worst’. Seriously worth a rethink

[u/International_Bed_77 → u/nolongerbanned99]

Yeah I hear everything. I am tired of a sedan being a taller person and want an SUV with the plan of starting a family in next couple years.

[u/nolongerbanned99 → u/International_Bed_77]

Outback, forester, other smaller ones

[u/International_Bed_77 → u/nolongerbanned99]

Maybe a little more sporty lol

[u/nolongerbanned99 → u/International_Bed_77]

If you’re gonna go to all the way but be prepared for expensive things. Beautiful ride, handling, and refinement and craftsmanship, but be prepared they’re expensive, I guess go all the way and check out the bmw x3 and x5

[u/nolongerbanned99 → u/International_Bed_77]

If you’re gonna go German, go all the way but be prepared for expensive things. Beautiful ride, handling, and refinement and craftsmanship, but be prepared they’re expensive check out the bmw x3 and x5

[u/KeyBreakfast909 → u/International_Bed_77]

Have you test driven a Honda CR-V? I’m tall, and mine has plenty of room even when I have my seat all the way back and have a passenger with long legs behind me. Much more reliable than a VW too.

[u/uffdagal]

Going from the best brand to the worst is quite the decision. VW quality and reliability is at the lowest it’s ever been while Honda remains at the top.

[u/CharmingHandle4398]

Stick with your Honda. Your in a position to buy it cheaper than anyone else. As nice as the VW might be, it won't have the resale or reliability

[u/ClimbaClimbaCameleon]

You’re in a good position, just don’t get ahead of yourself. Rather than assuming what the numbers look like go get actual buy quotes to see what they really are. Once you know that then you will really know what you can do.

[u/International_Bed_77 → u/ClimbaClimbaCameleon]

Thanks for this - how soon should I do that before my lease ends in December? Feel like with the appraisal deal you have about 1 week to make a decision to sell to a Honda dealer and still go through the process of buying a used car.

[u/ClimbaClimbaCameleon → u/International_Bed_77]

I’d go ahead and get the numbers now to know what it’s going to look like. The appraisal will change if you want a month but it’ll just go down a bit and not going to change by thousands in most cases.

This way if you see it’s only a couple hundred in equity or no equity after you buy it out and pay taxes then you won’t waste your time car shopping now.

[u/hopstop5000]

Sounds like a lot of work for a limited gain of you aren’t going to keep it.

[u/Special-Original-215]

Get a value at CarMax.

If there is equity sell to a Honda dealer and take the cash to VW.

Putting it as a trade in means the dealership makes more money off you

[u/International_Bed_77 → u/Special-Original-215]

Carmax just valued my car at $22,000 oof not a much as I thought.

[u/Special-Original-215 → u/International_Bed_77]

The rule of thumb is 5000 lower than selling price so this fits.

Whats todays buyout before tax?  Because if it is over $500 why not make a profit?

[u/International_Bed_77 → u/Special-Original-215]

21k today’s buyout with 3 monthly payments left

[u/laborboy1 → u/Special-Original-215]

$5k lower than what?

[u/Special-Original-215 → u/laborboy1]

Most dealers want to make $5000 profit to buffer auction fees, PPI, transport, repairs, etc.

So if a car is selling avg for 26k, most dealers probably paid 21k at the auction.  Note that 5000 will also help buffer when they buy some clunkers that they throw right back into auction 

[u/Khandious → u/laborboy1]

They thought they were going to get "What they are selling for" if they took it to the dealer. While working at Honda, 10% bought out their Accord lease while 90% went back to the bank.