Buying out a lease early and reselling the car

[boiler717]

We have a 2019 VW Atlas SEL premium. It’s fully loaded, white, and less than 10k miles on it. We leased because we weren’t sure of long-term needs. We have until next summer left on payments, and planning on going down to one car after that (not replacing it). With the current car shortage and used car prices artificially high, I’m thinking of getting rid of it early.
Total monthly payments left: $4500ish
Residual value per contract: $27,500
They are current selling for around $42-45k right now, so potentially getting $10k back on this if I do it right, but I’m not totally sure how to go about doing it. Has anyone done this before? Do I get quotes from different dealers? Do we need to buy out the lease first, then sell, or could we likely do it all at once for a streamlined transaction?
Thanks!

[puppylove64]

I’m not sure about the lease, but you can get on carvana and get an instant offer for your car. Mine was about $8k lower than I could sell on my own, and I had 2 offers from buyers within a few days. So if you are willing to deal with buyers, sell it yourself. Otherwise sell directly to somewhere like carvana or carmax, but know you will get somewhat less.

[fryjack2]

So, google first to see if you are allowed to. We have a car we lease and want to get rid of it early. We took it to carmax and they told us about the new rule that almost ever dealer now has- you can not sell your leased car unless its to the dealer you bought it from. They instituted it because people were selling the cars and making money and inventory at dealerships is so low.

So, we are buying out our lease and then selling it. We owe much less than what its currently selling for. There are tax implications to doing this, so look into that as well.

[hazelden]

You can try visiting leasehackr, there's forums there where you might find advice. Otherwise you'll probably need to call the dealer or the financing company to find out more about the terms of your lease. Or see if the info you need is in your lease paperwork.

[bugginout]

boiler717, we sold our leased Atlas last year. VW is a bit of a bitch to deal with, as they have one buyout price they'll tell you if you buy it out, and a whole different, higher price they won't tell you in advance, it's only given to the buying dealership. Total nightmare for us when we sold the car to a non-VW dealer.

So your options are buying the lease out yourself and then turning around and selling it to anyone after that transaction is completed, or selling it to a VW dealership.

Either way, I would definitely contact a VW dealer to ask them how much they'd pay you for your Atlas. If it's more than your buyout price (and it should be, given the current market), then they'll cut you a check for the remainder.

[boiler717]

Sept 24, 2021 10:19:57 GMT -5 bugginout said:

boiler717, we sold our leased Atlas last year. VW is a bit of a bitch to deal with, as they have one buyout price they'll tell you if you buy it out, and a whole different, higher price they won't tell you in advance, it's only given to the buying dealership. Total nightmare for us when we sold the car to a non-VW dealer.

So your options are buying the lease out yourself and then turning around and selling it to anyone after that transaction is completed, or selling it to a VW dealership.

Either way, I would definitely contact a VW dealer to ask them how much they'd pay you for your Atlas. If it's more than your buyout price (and it should be, given the current market), then they'll cut you a check for the remainder.

Thanks!

[boiler717]

Sept 24, 2021 10:19:57 GMT -5 bugginout said:

boiler717, we sold our leased Atlas last year. VW is a bit of a bitch to deal with, as they have one buyout price they'll tell you if you buy it out, and a whole different, higher price they won't tell you in advance, it's only given to the buying dealership. Total nightmare for us when we sold the car to a non-VW dealer.

So your options are buying the lease out yourself and then turning around and selling it to anyone after that transaction is completed, or selling it to a VW dealership.

Either way, I would definitely contact a VW dealer to ask them how much they'd pay you for your Atlas. If it's more than your buyout price (and it should be, given the current market), then they'll cut you a check for the remainder.

Thanks!