My lease is coming to end in May and the residual is $16,000 for a basic 2010 Prius. I'm interested in returning the vehicle and leasing a Prius wagon. I've seen used 2010 Prius vehicles selling for more than 16k. My question is, can I use this as leverage for negotiating a lease deal? If so, how do I do this and what would be a good deal?
From what I understand - no. By leasing, you agreed to have the Prius for a certain amount of time. At the end of that time, you can either buy the car outright for the vehicle's residual price or turn it in. The dealer will be expecting most people to turn their cars in. As far as I know, its residual value has no bearing whatsoever in this instance because you don't OWN the Prius in question. If you'd bought it with a conventional loan and wanted to trade it in, I believe that would be different.
I'm sorry - this isn't true. Just FYI. Your car has a value at the end of the lease. It's either worth that value or it's worth more or less. In the case of this car, her trade-in value isn't going to match what she reads them selling for in the newspapers BUT in other cases, folks have some. Just not in her case.
Oh! Good to know that. Thank you, Diane! To be clear, are you saying if her residual is $16,000 and when her lease time is up, cars of similar years, miles, etc. are selling for less, she won't have positive equity to help her with a trade-in towards a new lease? Or am I way off?
Every single car scenario will be different. In HER case, she has a $16,000 residual at lease end, meaning her payoff is $16K. If her lease is up right now, then she is better just turning the car back at lease end. She has no equity in her trade wholesale. Her other option is a private party sale which might net her more for the car "retail" but not from a dealership. From a private party buyer.
