DrChill

Don't let the dealer simply let you out of your lease early like he's doing you a favor. My father in law was about to do this last month, and I told him to find out his lease buyout before taxes and go to Carmax. They offered him $7000 more than the dealer and the dealer declined to match the offer. On the way home with the new car, he dropped the car at Carmax and picked up a check for $7000. I recently did the same with a Porsche lease less than halfway into the lease and they bought my car for $6000 over the lease buyout amount. I told a friend who was two days away from turning in his ML350 and he got $2400. This also eliminated the $350 lease termination fee and whatever the dealer can ding you on, like tires. He owes me a nice steak dinner.

It seems like the used car market is on fire at the moment and they can't get enough of low mileage highline cars in mint condition.

Liferules

Agreed about Car Max. I got the best trade-in offer from them. About $2000 above KBB and well above the dealership. Fortunately for me, the dealership matched their offer so I saved even more on the tax break.