Lease Buyout Question | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

  • Register Today It's free!

Lease Buyout Question

NAiLs00

Member
Joined
August 8, 2018
Messages
48
Reaction score
7
City, State
WI
Year, Model & Trim Level
2015 Explorer Sport
Hey All!

I've got a 2015 Explorer Sport that I'm currently leasing, but it's due to be returned at the end of August. I'm planning on buying it, as I'm not interested in a 2019, but I am interested in a 2020. So I was chatting with the dealership about doing a short-term lease or buying mine and then trading it for a 2020, in which buying seems to be the best option.

The dealership drew up the service contract if I want to do a loan, but I'm a wee bit confused by a couple fees...

I see that a "lease acquisition" fee is pretty typical, though when I started my lease, this was never discussed with me, nor do I think it's on my contract. So that's a $500 fee. Then the dealer also has a $279 "dealer fee," which they tell me is for doing paperwork. So here I am, looking at $800 in fees just to buy the vehicle that I've driven the last three years. Kind of makes me think about finding something else for a year or so, but I'm not sure.

Has anyone been successful in getting these bogus fees removed? My dealer said they won't negotiate on them. Kind of gets me wondering if I should chat with a different dealer about purchasing and if they'd charge me these stupid fees.

My residual value is $26,200, roughly, but we're talking about $2,400 in just taxes and fees (plus title and registration)... Makes the purchase a little harder to decide on.

What do you all think? This is my first lease, so all of this is new to me.

Thanks!

-Brian
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





I would return it. If you buy it out when its time to trade you will be upside down and will have to through the upside down portion to the next lease with typically you can only through 10% of the upside down part. Again i would let it go....!
 






It's tempting.... but I'm not 100% certain. The dealer said they value it at $28,500 for trade, which I haven't had a chance to see if that lines up with what is typical. I do see you can buy them for around $32k or so in my area, so at least I'm not backwards on that part of it. My final contract price, with all of the fees, was $28,600 roughly... way more than I estimated.

I have looked around at like a used SHO or MKS, but those are priced almost the same as my Explorer... I just don't know which retains its value better - what will build me the best equity in the next 12-16 months? I had a SHO and traded for the Explorer, because I needed more room, but I'd live with it for a little bit if I had to.
 






Understand it can have a value of what ever. The dealers buy at wholesale because they have to make a profit. He can tell you what ever he feels when he see's that he can make a buck....Be WISE...
 






It's tempting.... but I'm not 100% certain. The dealer said they value it at $28,500 for trade, which I haven't had a chance to see if that lines up with what is typical. I do see you can buy them for around $32k or so in my area, so at least I'm not backwards on that part of it. My final contract price, with all of the fees, was $28,600 roughly... way more than I estimated.

I have looked around at like a used SHO or MKS, but those are priced almost the same as my Explorer... I just don't know which retains its value better - what will build me the best equity in the next 12-16 months? I had a SHO and traded for the Explorer, because I needed more room, but I'd live with it for a little bit if I had to.
Welcome to the Forum.:wave:
I lease all my vehicles and have never heard of a "lease acquisition fee". I can understand a fee for "paperwork". If the leasing rules in the U.S. are the same as they are here in Canada, then the vehicle has to go back to Ford in this case. I found that out when my dealer wanted to get my MKT back with 5 months left on the lease. They wanted to buy it from Lincoln Canada and ship it to the States to make money on it. They could only buy it if I was more than 120 days from the end of the lease otherwise it had to go back to Lincoln. Another option for you is to try and sell it yourself and see if you can make some money on it. The paperwork would still have to go through the dealership. I did that with a 2006 Highlander. A lease can also be extended for I believe 3 months if you plan to buy/lease a new vehicle through your dealer but that won't help you. I haven't heard of being to 're lease' your vehicle. Aside from this "acquisition fee" the rest seems about right. I'd ask for an explanation about that. Good luck.

Peter
 






I guess what you have to remember, is this is a lease and the dealer can only sell me the car for the residual... not any different, unless Ford negotiates, but I don't think most manufacturers negotiate at the end of the lease. The way they explained it to me, for leases, is if it's turned in early (120 days or more), you gain equity and they can sell it for more. This is because they can buy the car at the residual price, even though it's technically worth more. We turned in my wife's Mazda lease early and got cash for it towards her new Edge.

I'm just curious if all dealers will charge these obnoxious fees. I'm going to contact my original dealership and see what they have to say/offer. I don't deal with them, because they're 30 miles away, whereas this other dealership is basically in my back yard. I got my Explorer from the 30 mile dealership because they had it in stock, plus it was year-end. I got well below x-plan pricing on it, so I did good on that part of the purchase.

I was just doing a little digging, but still need to read more, and I see that the Explorer should lose less value in one more year than a Taurus will. I should have equity behind the Explorer, but I may be backwards with the Taurus... assuming $0 down. I'm basically looking at values of the 2014 with about 12-14k more miles than what I've got now.


One other option that I have, and I proposed it last night, is my mom still has my dad's car. My dad passed away last April and has a 2013 Equinox with like 17k miles on it - he hardly ever drove it. I asked her if I could borrow it for a year to save some money. Honestly, she seemed sort of OK with it... She has told me and my brothers to take road trips with it to put some miles on it. I just have to figure out how insurance would work on a vehicle that is not in my name.


Peter - Thanks! I have lurked these forums for quite some time, but I don't post on forums as much as I used to... so I never registered (at least I don't think I have. haha!)

I wish I could just do a slight extension, that would be awesome, though I know just being in a lease doesn't give me any cash towards a new vehicle. For the $500 fee, I was told that's with all Ford vehicles. I'm going to look over my paperwork carefully tonight, and if I don't see it written in my contract, I'm not paying it.... simple as that. As I stated above (was typing as you posted), I am going to reach out to another dealership or two and see what they've got to say. I don't know if there is any money in it for the dealer when buying a lease, aside from the obnoxious fees.
 






As for insurance, I believe there has to be a principle driver and others can be added to the policy. Best check with the company first.
 






You can negotiate the residual. I know of people who has done it. When i had my Cadillac they we're will to negotiate, but i wanted out, so i turned it back in.
 






Well, for grins I called the dealer that I got the Explorer from, told them my situation and mentioned the near dealership. I basically called them, because they called me on Monday and I didn't reply back, yet. The guy on the phone said he has never heard of Ford charging a $500 lease buyout fee, but he does agree with the $279 dealer fee. So it sounds like the near dealership is trying to scam extra dollars out of me. I have the original dealership that I got my Explorer from writing up the contract, and I should have it in the next couple days. Fingers crossed that the finance guy doesn't figure out this $500 fee to tack on for S&Gs.

I read around online and saw that negotiating the residual value is pretty much a pointless effort, as they won't. To be frank, I don't think they will, since my residual is already $2k below trade and $5k+ below dealer lot prices. Have you been successful in negotiating with Ford?
 






I have never bought out a lease nor plan to do so, but with Cadillac they did want to negotiate.
Cars being so expensive to repair. I think i would never buy out a lease.
 






I recently purchased my 2015 Limited after the lease was up... there was a $500 fee there and I said, no way. It got removed.
 






Thanks for the feedback! I'm waiting for the other dealership to send me the contract. Hopefully that dang $500 fee is gone. Can't really find much when doing Google searches, but I did find a thread on Reddit that mentioned Ford authorizes dealers to charge $500. This $500 is basically their profit.... so yeah, no thanks!

What was the residual on yours? Looks like you had a sweet deal based on a screw-up!
 






Nails00,
If you want to buy a new one the easy way I can give you an X plan pin number and that's the cheapest you can buy a new ford. The dealer can only charge the X plan buyer doc fee's and tax and title,they can not charge you dealer prep. You will get the car for .0004 below dealer cost. You are also entitled to all rebates that are in affect on the day you close the deal. If you would like a x plan pin number let me know. It only takes me a few minutes to generate one and it is good for one year from date of issue. If you don't want to buy you can use the pin number to lease one and save money.
 






Nails00,
If you want to buy a new one the easy way I can give you an X plan pin number and that's the cheapest you can buy a new ford. The dealer can only charge the X plan buyer doc fee's and tax and title,they can not charge you dealer prep. You will get the car for .0004 below dealer cost. You are also entitled to all rebates that are in affect on the day you close the deal. If you would like a x plan pin number let me know. It only takes me a few minutes to generate one and it is good for one year from date of issue. If you don't want to buy you can use the pin number to lease one and save money.

X plan is not the cheapest but it is the easiest.
 






Nails00,
If you want to buy a new one the easy way I can give you an X plan pin number and that's the cheapest you can buy a new ford. The dealer can only charge the X plan buyer doc fee's and tax and title,they can not charge you dealer prep. You will get the car for .0004 below dealer cost. You are also entitled to all rebates that are in affect on the day you close the deal. If you would like a x plan pin number let me know. It only takes me a few minutes to generate one and it is good for one year from date of issue. If you don't want to buy you can use the pin number to lease one and save money.

That would be awesome to have! I am betting I'll want to purchase the 2020 a couple months after release. If rumors are correct, the 2019 will be a short run and the 2020 is coming out by mid 2019. Would it pay to have an x-plan PIN now, or just wait? Can it be renewed? The only other thing that I am not certain on: Will a dealership ask for proof of x-plan membership, or do you just let them know you're part of a car club?


X plan is not the cheapest but it is the easiest.

When I got my 2015, the dealer was barely willing to budge towards x-plan on the price, but eventually I got them to go well below and they showed me the x-plan price compared to what I was offered. I guess I don't know how the bargaining will be on the 2020, but it definitely would be a nice thing to have in my arsenal.
 






Nails00,
I would gladly give you a X plan pin number if you were going to use it right away.
I only get four X plan pin numbers a year and will only give them to people that will use it NOW,Not save it until its convenient for them.
 






Nails00,
I would gladly give you a X plan pin number if you were going to use it right away.
I only get four X plan pin numbers a year and will only give them to people that will use it NOW,Not save it until its convenient for them.

I'm pretty confident that I won't lease something right now, so I'll shoot you a message when I'm ready! I greatly appreciate you offering to share a PIN! I just priced out one with X-Plan pricing and it's a bit rich for my blood right now, but significantly better than what the dealership tried to offer me. I don't know if the dealer would offer any other discounts on top of what Ford is offering. I know when I got my 2015 the dealer sure did, but I don't think I'd find my way into a different one right now. I also need to see another dealership, to be honest.
 






I just found a brand new 2017 at a dealer near me, which has a hefty discount applied to it. I'm kind of curious if Ford Credit would lease that?? I know if it's labeled "brand new" now and the 2019's come out, it'll be considered "Used" at that point. If they would, I'm not quite sure if the "Dealer Discounts" would fully apply if an X-Plan price would work. Any ideas on that one? They appear to close early on Fridays, so I can't chat with them just yet. I've got a couple good references for this dealership, so they definitely interest me for my business.
 






I doubt a new 2017 would be considered as "Used" when the 2019 model comes out. If that was the case, it should be "considered "Used" right now being it is last year's model. I think any new vehicle can be leased. I've heard that you can sometimes lease used vehicles but I believe the rates are higher. I think that the "Employee Pricing" event is probably one of the better ones when it is on, especially when you can combine it with the $1000 Costco rebate.

Peter
 



Join the Elite Explorers for $20 each year.
Elite Explorer members see no advertisements, no banner ads, no double underlined links,.
Add an avatar, upload photo attachments, and more!
.





I'd search for a similar one on car gurus or somewhere similar. See what they are asking, take off what you think you can talk them down, then figure out if the buyout is a better deal then buying a similar one outright. When it comes down to it, you may be able to negotiate them down a bit if you can show them a lower quote for something similar. It may be the better deal anyways. I bought mine after it came in from a 2 year lease. Not sure how much was down on it at lease signing, but the payments would had to have been awful high even with a few grand down for them to come out on it right for what I bought it for, compared to what it could have been bought for new.
 






Back
Top