*Batman*

I have a 2009 Lexus ES350 25,400 miles. Lease expires in Jan. No payments left. Navigation. Premium Plus. Location: Atlanta. We don't need the car anymore so can turn it in early.

Residual is 20,800. Carmax is offering 25,000 (they pay Lexus so I get 4,200).

Should I take the Carmax offer? or buy it off Lexus and attempt to sell it in the pre-Christmas sale season for more?

SteadyEddy

iTrader: (1)

It could be a real hazzle selling it. My vote, take the deal and let them sell it to someone. That way you walk away, right away with cash in hand. No hazzle! No phone calls, no appointment for test drives,no missed appointments no tire kickers, no advertising, no waiting at home for the phone to ring, no sad tale of woe on why they need it and don't have the cash.

JohnS

Won't Lexus do the same thing for you? GIve the the value of the car as you described from Carmax?
My Salesman said they would do that - give the difference in value. Presumably to encourage you to get into another Lexus but it does not hurt to ask, IMO.

*Batman*

The Lexus dealer offered us $500 less than Carmax, and even then on the condition we bought a car from them.

Fizzboy7

Selling it privately would likely yield double the profit, but you would have to extend the lease until the car sells (very doable). Price it right and it may sell faster, but you get a bit less for it, but still way more than what the dealers would give you. Or, skip the selling work and take the Carmax offer. Those are your two choices if you do not want the car.
A third option is to buy out the lease/residual, make payments on it so you lower the payoff even less. While doing that, you have the option of selling it privately without having to hurry or be under the gun for a time limit. The advantage with this is it allows you to ask a little more and wait for that special buyer who comes along and "has to have it."
Whatever you do, do NOT just turn it back into the dealer. That would be throwing thousands of dollars down the drain.
Good luck!

JohnS

That makes sense. I am on my first lease so I don't know how it works at the end. Seems like I should look to do the same thing when my lease is up.

*Batman*

So what do you think I can get for it if I sell it privately?
With Carmax I net $4200

If I sell privately, I have to pay $1600 sales tax on the residual. So in this case, I have to be able to sell it for $26,600 to make same as Carmax. Do you think I can get more than $28,000 for a 2009 ES350 with Nav and with 25k miles?

garsarno

I would opt for the clean sale to Car Max. Take it in, get the check and be on your way. All completed most likely in one hour. No future hassle or your time wasted on wanna be buyers if you sell it on your own.

LexFather

I would take that CARMAX deal and run!! The used market is saturated now and ES's are easy to find.

Also if you sell it for more you have to factor the time/effort etc that it takes to sell the car. If you spend some hours trying to sell it you have to factor that against any price increase you may get, so you might break even with the CARMAX offer.

That is a really good offer IMO. IF there is anything I can do here let me know.

*Batman*

Great. I will close the deal with Carmax then.

I think it is testament to how strong Lexus resale values are, that you can get $4200 credit at the end of the lease by just handing it to another dealer. With the competition, they normally call you and offer to sell it to you for below residual value.

garsarno

Just be mindful to any "surprise adjustments" they may pull before they cut you the check: deduction for detailing your car, deduction for transfer paperwork etc. Not saying they will pull this but in the back of your mind, be prepared as to your response.

*Batman*

good point. if they do that I walk.

Dave Mac

I would take the CARMAX deal but assume Lexus Financial will charge a fee for making the transfer. If CARMAX rather than you pays off the lease residual there should be no sales tax but make sure that is correct. If you buy the car from Lexus and attempt to sell it Lexus will charge you both the transfer fee and the sales tax I believe. Ending your lease is not as easy as it should be but for this amount of money I would do it.

Dave Mac

*Batman*

I turned in the car at Carmax today and got $4297 back at the end of the lease. It was the full amount they quoted us for the car, less the residual, plus a little extra because we returned it a month early.

There were no taxes, no transfer fee, no deductions at all. Very easy.

Dave Mac

That sounds very good. My current lease is up one year from today and I will certainly be checking with CARMAX at that time.

Dave Mac