CK530

I have being reading this forum since December of 2005 when I leased the 2005 GX470. Great forum with lots of helpful information (Prices, leasing, MF/residual, Bluetooth & the "Clunk")

I would like to get some feed back in regard to my wife 2005 GX470 with 15K on the odometer. The lease will end on 2/1/08 with a buyout price of $30,500.
Her options are: Nav, Mark Lev, 3rd Row, Rear Spoiler & Rosen 10" DVD player. The ext. color is Blizzard Pearl with gray interior.

The wife wants a new GX470 (2008). I have check my local Lexus dealers for pricing for a Certified Pre Owned '05 GX470. They are going for $44,000 (w/ 36k miles) w/o nav & DVD and $47,000 (w/ 37k) w/ nav & DVD.

I priced out her GX with kkb & edmund and came out with $38,500 trade-in value, $42,000 for private sale, $44,000 for Dealer and $46,000 for certified.

My plan is to purchase the GX @ $30,500 then trade it in on 12/31/07 for a new 2008 GX470. On her current lease, we went to the dealer on 1/1/05 to test drive the GX470. We discussed the lease term and the monthly lease started at $799 per month with no money down to $586 with no money down and 9 Multiple Security Deposits (MF = 1.56%). My Dealer would do almost anything for us to sign the credit application & the purchase order form on that day. That day only! (We tried to walked out 2 times and ever time we tried to walk out, a new manager came to talk to us). The funny thing was the truck won't be in the dealership for another 4 weeks.

Anyway, if they offer to sell me the 2008 GX470 (everything except for DVD & Sport package) for invoice $45,000 or $46K (MSRP is $52,146) and a trade-in of $38,000, I'll take this deal in a heartbeat. When I went to my dealer to get the "clunk" fix in July, there were 15 GXs on the Pre-Owned lot. As of today, they only have 3 left. This situation is a win win for the dealer. They would sell a new truck by year end and make about $7K on the '05 GX.

Any opinion will be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
CK530

DivX007

hi!

If I were you, I would just pay off and keep 05 GX470 for couple more years.

09 or 10 , Lexus may put the new GX in the market. Also, 08 and 05 are almost same except couple of cosmetic minor stuff. aren't they?

I leased 04 GX470 and end up paying off almost 1year early because I only put about 10K miles on it and I decided to keep it for long time. paid off early save me some money on interest portion of the payment.

It is just my opinion. I would wait couple more years to see how the new one looks *^^*

The G Man

yeah, there is not much difference between the 05 and 08. Sounds like your wife likes a new car every 3 years, why not wait til the Lexus December to remember sale and just lease another one and wait for the redesign to come out in 2010 after that.

HoboGX

Keep the '05, with only 15k it's barely broken in, and there aren't any real differences between the '05 and '08. Just my 2 cents.

jugdish

Trust me, the dealer knows exactly how much your buyout is, and is not going to offer you anywhere close to $38,000 for a trade in. Either keep the 05 until the redesign, or sell it privately and then purchase a new one. IMO, you are not gaining anything significant by moving to an 08 from an 05 GX.

CK530

Yes, the wife wants a new truck every 3 years. Before the Lexus, she leased a 2002 Mercedes ML500 and returned the truck with only 22,000 miles (I drove 4k out of the 22k). That is total waste of money. (She paid for her own lease). I gave her all the options (buy the '05, lease a '08 GX, ML550 or the GL450). She choose to lease a '08 GX. Based on last December to Remember sale, the MF was around 5% and residual was at 57%. I think this year will be around those %s, so her payment will be aound $650.


Thanks for all yours input.

Regards,
CK530

CK530

jugdish,

Thanks for your input. Just one question.
Why don't you think the dealer will give me close to trade-in value? With this fully options (except for KSS) and low mileage, I think they can sell it certified pre-owned for around $46,000.

Regards,
CK530

jugdish

Simple..........first, what they will sell it for and what they will offer you have nothing to do with each other. Why, because the dealer is looking to make as much money as possible, not give you a "good deal." Second, if you leased your last car from the same dealer, they know your "profile." (you trade cars often with little mileage at the end of the lease) You are a goldmine for that dealer, they dream of customers like you. Why are they going to offer you $38,000 when they know you are likely to commit at $32,500 trade in value? You paid off the car for $30,500, and they are going to sell you hard that being $2,000 ahead is a great deal for you. They may even offer the new 08 at $500 under invoice, making the deal impossible to pass up...........but, remember, they will certify your trade and put it on the lot for $46k. You have to remember the golden rule of car buying...............dealers are in the business of making money, that is why they wanted you to sign the papers that day! Why would they settle at making $7,000 on the GX, when they know it is likely they can make double that. Trust me, they can care less about you leasing the new 08, they will make peanuts on that deal vs. what they will make on your 05 trade.

You are looking at this from the wrong perspective, don't look at what kind of deal you can get on the 08 (just about anyone can walk into a dealer and negotiate close to invoice). Pay attention to the equity you are loosing on the 05. Dealers LOVE trade-in's, they make more money on trade-in's then on the sale of the new car. I guarantee you that the dealer will come back at you with lowball estimates of your trade via auction selling prices. He will tell you that the model is becoming dated, the price of gas is affecting SUV sales, etc. etc. My advice is to be careful and understand that the dealer is not looking out for your best interest. (My prediction is the best deal they offer you is Invoice on the 08, and $34,500 on the trade.) Let us know how it goes.

LENELSA

Buy out the lease & sell it privately.

BurgBoxstr

don't forget about the sales tax issue......

If you buy the vehicle at end of lease, you'll need to pay sales tax on that purchase price ($30K as you mentioned). If you then trade it in, you will only (in most states) have to pay the sales tax on the difference between the trade value and the value of the new lease, so the sales tax you pay will reduce the amount of profit (if any) you think you'll get from the dealer on the difference in value between what they'll give you for it as trade and what the lease buy-out is. With fifteen new GXs on the lot, know they'll be pushing to move them quickly and thus will discount them. As such, they'll end up discounting the CPOs as well and will ultimately give you less on a trade.

As suggested, either buy it out and keep until the redesign comes out, or just turn it in and lease a new one. I wouldn't buy it out and hope to turn in for a profit. Dealers swap/sell cars everyday and the likelyhood of you making a few quick bucks on one transaction could happen, but most likely would not.... JM2C but good luck either way.

CK530

Update on my lease end buyout.

Just came back from my Lexus dealer. They want to buy my wife '05 GX470 from Lexus Financial Services for $30,880 and sell me a 2008 GX470 $3k off MSRP $52,216.

I asked my sales consultant about the low mileage on my wife's GX. He mentioned that they took that into consideration with the $3k discount from MSRP.

If I sign a contract tonight, they will be very aggressive with the price. The last offer before I walked out was $46,900.

excluesive

iTrader: (10)

do not settle

The G Man

Thats not a bad price.

StevenS

My 2004 GX with 20K miles was due off lease on June 30th. Somewhere in
March I received a letter from my dealer that they are offering to give me a new lease and get my car early. I think it was just a standard letter they sent to many customers. When I called, I was told that they are not interesting in buyout of my car because it has high buyout price.
When I talked to private dealer about selling him my car (I was thinking to buy it from the bank and resell). I was told that they can buy GX with same
around the same mileage/options for a $30-$33K making it impossible for me to make any money considering tax I would need to pay on buyout.
I did not have cash to buy a car and keep it, so I was thinking to get a loan - to my surprise - if you buy new car from dealer banks has 6.5% interest, for
buyout of lease - 8.5%. I was shooked!!! It is like they are helping dealers to make money. So, I end-up of return the GX and getting new Q7 that had much better promotional lease rates (0.5%) than any other car I considered including GX (6%??). I got lease $710 for a $57K vehicle (same options I had on GX) vs. $790 for a $53K GX.
But here is the story for someone who wants to keep a car but doesn't have cash (unfortunately I got this advise after I returned GX). My summer house neighbor told me that he found a credit card that had small interest on transferred balance but not for a year as usual, but until the balance is paid off. So, he bought his car and within first month transferred balance to this CC and then during 3 years paid everything with 1.9% interest instead of 8.5% or 6%.

CK530

StevenS, thanks for your input.

What was your buyout price?

I had a day to think what had transpired last night at the dealership. I decided I will not lease/purchase a new GX470 with my current dealer. I was told by my Client Care Rep. that I had an appointment with Ralph (the manager). She mentioned to ask for Ralph at the reception desk and Ralph will introduce me to my Sales Consultant. When the receptionist called Ralph (the manager office is right behind the receptionist desk), he did not even look up or get off his seat to greet me. WOW, that customer service. After the phone call, the receptionist was going thru the appointment book. That when I told her that Ralph suppose to introduce me to Steve (the sales consultant).

I am planning to buyout the lease by the end of this month. On the last week of December, I am going to send e-mail to my surrounding MB dealers and offer to purchase a 2008 ML550 @ invoice. If any dealer agree, then to seal the deal they need to offer me $35k for the GX trade-in. If there no taker, then I keep the GX. I am going to do same e-mail blitz at the last day of each month until I get my deal. This is the way I've been buying/leasing my vehicles for the past 10 years. Just be patient, one dealer will bite the bullet.

Regards,
CK530