Infinti Lease Buyout Experience?

wyatth

wyatth

Member
Car
2015 QX70S
Hi all,
I leased my QX70S back in 2015 and the lease is up one year from now. I'm a car guy so since the day I drove it off the lot, I've been thinking about what's next. As that date approaches, I've looked into the usual contenders - SQ5, X5, etc. - and have decided that I would be pretty happy in my QX for another 3-4 years. It's unique (and not being replaced), fun, has the tech I care about (smart key, cameras, BT audio, etc.), and yet a good old-fashioned petrol engine and static suspension that should be reliable for years to come. The newer/German offerings, while objectively better, are just not worth it to me right now.

However, my lease buyout in December 2018 is about $31K. I looked at cars.com just now and it seems like my car is worth about that much, maybe $32-34K at most, right now. It'll be worth less than residual (maybe $28-29K?) when the lease is up, as I suspected all along (which made for a well-priced lease). If Infiniti is firm on the buyout, they can have the keys back and I'll go look for another 15-16 loaded, clean QX70S. If they're willing to negotiate and sell me the car for market price, I'll probably buy it since I've taken great care of it (and have done a few minor mods).

Which brings me to my question - anybody have experience with buying out an Infiniti at lease end? I leased a 2006 FX35 but just returned it at lease end without considering the buyout. My dad leased a Subaru Outback years ago and at the end of the lease offered them several $K less than the residual and they were eager to take it. I've heard Infiniti does not play ball like that, and that they'd rather take the car back and put it through their inventory. But that sounds awfully inefficient and that experience was a few years ago. I'd like to prepare for what to do with Infiniti, whether it's negotiating a buyout before lease end, or waiting until then (I'd prefer sooner, since I'd like to do other upgrades on the car but not if I'm returning it - e.g., Akebonos). I’ll reach out to Infiniti FS soon anyway, but wondering if you all might have a clue as to what I can expect.

Cheers,
 
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An easy way is to just ask your dealership... I've heard of a few people saying INFINITI doesn't budge... Something to the effect that they're covered for the value of the car in the event it's no worth what they expected at the end of the lease, so they're covered and by selling it to you for less, they'd actually lose money... Heard about it a while back and not sure if the car market is still the same but I would expect so...
 
The Infiniti dealer down in Boston has a current lease offer of $325/month for 39 months, with $2,999 down (plus a few fees). I'm not sure how much you can negotiate the selling price for a leased vehicle (and therefore its residual value at lease end), as its nothing I've done before. But the ad also states you can buy a new $53k QX for $43k (about in line with Nissan's usual 20-25% off MSRP pricing structure).

Had I not picked up my 2014 a few months back its probably something I would consider... even though I'm not a big fan of the "lease to own process" due to all the extra fees thrown in compared to just buying one outright.
 
DatMan said:
An easy way is to just ask your dealership... I've heard of a few people saying INFINITI doesn't budge... Something to the effect that they're covered for the value of the car in the event it's no worth what they expected at the end of the lease, so they're covered and by selling it to you for less, they'd actually lose money... Heard about it a while back and not sure if the car market is still the same but I would expect so...
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I am not sure about that. I think the dealer leasing a car makes money, if any, on the spread between invoice and the selling price as they would with a typical sale. The residual is fixed by IFS or the bank. Once I leave the lot, it's no longer the dealer's car and they don't care what I do with it at lease end. Infiniti NA is the legal owner. At lease end, I can return it to any dealership and it goes back into Infiniti NA's inventory (not sure how it gets to a particular dealer, maybe an auction mechanism). But Infiniti NA (or a dealer) is not guaranteed the residual at all, nobody is on the hook for that if I choose not to pay it. Regardless, I will ask my dealer since the IFS website was less than helpful.

Banjos-n-Beer said:
The Infiniti dealer down in Boston has a current lease offer of $325/month for 39 months, with $2,999 down (plus a few fees). I'm not sure how much you can negotiate the selling price for a leased vehicle (and therefore its residual value at lease end), as its nothing I've done before. But the ad also states you can buy a new $53k QX for $43k (about in line with Nissan's usual 20-25% off MSRP pricing structure).

Had I not picked up my 2014 a few months back its probably something I would consider... even though I'm not a big fan of the "lease to own process" due to all the extra fees thrown in compared to just buying one outright.
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That's a smashing deal, though I'm sure it's a base car and doesn't include tax, licensing, and other fees as you note. Advertised lease prices are extremely misleading, across the board.
You can negotiate the price on a lease, but not quite as much as if you are purchasing it. Residual is fixed. Money Factor is usually a small range based on credit and security deposits. I am not a fan of leasing to own either, but since Infiniti was inflating the residual (which shrinks the depreciation which a lease pays for) and offering 0% MF, it made sense. If I give them the keys back and go buy an identical car for $5K less than the residual, then I save another $5K which I would not have been able to do with a purchase originally (granted now I have to give keys back and go buy another car which is an inconvenience).

Thanks, guys.
 
wyatth said:
That's a smashing deal, though I'm sure it's a base car and doesn't include tax, licensing, and other fees as you note. Advertised lease prices are extremely misleading, across the board.
You can negotiate the price on a lease, but not quite as much as if you are purchasing it. Residual is fixed. Money Factor is usually a small range based on credit and security deposits. I am not a fan of leasing to own either, but since Infiniti was inflating the residual (which shrinks the depreciation which a lease pays for) and offering 0% MF, it made sense. If I give them the keys back and go buy an identical car for $5K less than the residual, then I save another $5K which I would not have been able to do with a purchase originally (granted now I have to give keys back and go buy another car which is an inconvenience).

Thanks, guys.
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1- Yeah, normally I wouldn't be surprised if that is the lease pricing on a base QX. But considering its a dealership lease offer, not a Infiniti Corporate one (which still shows like $459/Mo for 39 months with $4599 down) I'm thinking it might be legitimate for a model at least in the $53k price range as the Stock Number for the add and on their inventory list matches one with the Premium Package. Taxes, fees, etc are additional as you noted.

2- That's interesting. I know the finance guys really try to nail an actual residual value when the lease is up, but I've also seen where folks have negotiated a lower residual price when buying out their leases (say residual was $18k, but then they took $16k that was offered for the buyout).

My girlfriend is actually leasing her 2015 CRV, and its up March 2018. She plans on buying it, but will at least attempt to get a lower residual price than what was on the contract from 33 months ago. Who knows what will happen, but I believe Honda had a pretty good feeling what a 3 year old CRV would be worth, considering they hold their value pretty well as a brand.
 
Banjos-n-Beer said:
2- That's interesting. I know the finance guys really try to nail an actual residual value when the lease is up, but I've also seen where folks have negotiated a lower residual price when buying out their leases (say residual was $18k, but then they took $16k that was offered for the buyout).

My girlfriend is actually leasing her 2015 CRV, and its up March 2018. She plans on buying it, but will at least attempt to get a lower residual price than what was on the contract from 33 months ago. Who knows what will happen, but I believe Honda had a pretty good feeling what a 3 year old CRV would be worth, considering they hold their value pretty well as a brand.
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That’s exactly what I’m asking here. Residuals are fixed up front by the bank or IFS and cannot be negotiated up front. Now that my inflated residual is set (which again was a lease subsidy by Infiniti), I am wondering what can be done if I want to keep it. I will not pay the residual, and I’m curious how Infiniti treats lessees in this case. I’ll ask my dealer and report back.
 
Leasing is two transactions. As a lessor, you are negotiating the upfront sales price with the dealer (cap cost in lease terms). This is the value the dealer receives from the lease (gross profit equals dealer purchase price less this sales price--omitting other incentives for simplicity). From there on out, you are working with Infiniti Finance--not the dealer. Infiniti finance sets the leasing fees, residual values, and money factors. Dealers can mark up the lease money factor just like a bank loan rate--so check around.

This all gets to why the dealer is not really interested in your lease return. As it would have to negotiate a price from Infiniti finance before be able to determine a selling price to you that would be lower than the lease residual value.
 
I like buying them a couple years old, when the lots are full of lease returns. Most have been pretty well cared for, I saved about $.57 per mile off new, and paid nearly $20K less, for my California car with 35,000 gentle miles.

No scratches, and it still smells new!
 
huntpsu1 said:
Leasing is two transactions. As a lessor, you are negotiating the upfront sales price with the dealer (cap cost in lease terms). This is the value the dealer receives from the lease (gross profit equals dealer purchase price less this sales price--omitting other incentives for simplicity). From there on out, you are working with Infiniti Finance--not the dealer. Infiniti finance sets the leasing fees, residual values, and money factors. Dealers can mark up the lease money factor just like a bank loan rate--so check around.

This all gets to why the dealer is not really interested in your lease return. As it would have to negotiate a price from Infiniti finance before be able to determine a selling price to you that would be lower than the lease residual value.
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All true, and thanks! Though for terminology, Lessor = Infiniti, Lessee = customer.

I typically don't like buying lease returns because I've found that lessees don't care for the car like it's their own. But, I do like buying 2-3 years old when the market is saturated and the major depreciation has taken hold. Maybe I will look for a clean gray '16 S when the time comes. I like white, but I'll mix it up next time.
 
Well here I am ~3 months out from the lease end.

The car is a loaded 2015 QX70S AWD ($59.6 MSRP) with 26K miles, incredible condition (dealer serviced, new tires, blah blah). What do you all think that's worth? I looked around and it looks $34-35K. Residual is $32K or so which at least doesn't seem like a ripoff. If it's a good deal I'll just add a strut bar, Akebonos, and keep it for a few more years. :D
 
I bought my lease on a first gen 2004, but I always planned to do that as a way to get into the car for low monthly payments.

Knowing I would purchase, I leased at 8,000 miles a year - with "a plan" to break that limit and NOT get charged for the overage because I would buy the car. It gave me low monthly payments, and the residual value for me was 17K after three years, which I happily paid and kept the car. It worked exactly as planned. The moment the dealership knew that I would be keeping the car, no penalties were given against mileage or residual value.

Immediately after the purchase... I modified the CRAP out of this car.
 
Buying it back defeat the purpose. That is why i never like leased, because if i like it i will keep it.
This way the chances of losing money is less.
 
^ Er, no. The objective (set by a bank, not a dealer or maker) is for the residual to reflect the actual FMV of the vehicle at the end of the term. If you drive it close to the allotted mileage, it shouldn't make much of a difference which way you go. If you are above or below, the calculus adds a variable. In my case, I may have a residual below FMV, and combined with both my the 0% MF and a heavily discounted sales price up front on the lease, I may well end up owning the car for a very good deal. It all depends on the car, the deal/incentives, and the market 3 years later.
Since I am under miles, giving the car back will make my lease a less-good deal, but that's 20/20 hindsight.
 
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