Author Topic: Help with Car Lease Wrath Please  (Read 3313 times)

Begonia

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Help with Car Lease Wrath Please
« on: October 19, 2014, 12:03:52 AM »
My question is more like a request for confirmation that I'm going about this right. Thanks for your thoughts!

Edit: I know this is a face punch but it's from pre-Mustachian ways. Shameful in any case.

Details:

I lease a 2012 Toyota Yaris for $258/month. The lease is up on March 31, 2015, but I want out and don't want to pay more than I have to to do that.

In August, Toyota told me I could walk away from the car that day if I paid them $1200.  If I didn’t take that offer, they told me I’d be responsible for the cost of replacing the bumper and some other things. My deductible with Geico is $1000, so let’s just say I’d have to spend that much. With $1806 in monthly payments still remaining at the time, my total cost if I kept the car till March would be about $2800. If I paid it off then, I would have "saved" $1600.

I didn't go forward with it because I had some travel planned and my life was kind of chaotic at the time.

I need to go back to Toyota to get another pay-off number, which should be close to the last one. I have $1290 in payments left, plus that $1000 bumper repair isn't going away. Should I just pay them and get out? Is there any way to negotiate this? They told me that amount was firm.

I’ve looked into doing a lease swap but I’m getting mixed messages from different sources about who's responsible for repair costs at the end of the lease. Not worth the hassle it seems.

I have set aside $3000 for a new (used) car and I’m hoping to add to that, but I'd have to use part of that to fund lease pay-off immediately. I'd use my credit card and at least get points for the payment.

I do need to use a car occasionally for my work, so I could do Zipcar for about $300/month (at the most) for those clients who are located far apart that I need to get to in a hurry. My current monthly total with lease, gas ($150), insurance ($90), upkeep ($40) is over $500. Public transportation could work some of the time but not all of the time, given my schedule. I'm on my bike whenever I can be.

Thanks again for lending an ear and throwing thoughts/experience my way!



« Last Edit: October 19, 2014, 12:10:11 AM by Begonia »

gooki

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Re: Help with Car Lease Wrath Please
« Reply #1 on: October 19, 2014, 01:52:30 AM »
The $1200 buy out seems reasonable, provided it is all inclusive (no other charges). Get everything in writing and go over it with a fine toothed comb.

PS what's wrong with the bumper! Why does it need replacing? You may find it'll be much cheaper to repair at a pannel beater than it is to replace.

Begonia

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Re: Help with Car Lease Wrath Please
« Reply #2 on: October 19, 2014, 10:38:21 AM »
thanks for your feedback, gooki.

i actually had a fix-it guy glue it to the other panel -- apparently the teeth that secure the bumper to the rest of the body had broken off, though I have no recollection of having an accident to cause this (!). i was recently driving on the highway in high wind and heat and the bumper started flapping around again, so i got someone to gorilla tape it in the meantime. glue just wasn't strong enough. around town driving is fine. even when it was glued, toyota noticed it and called me out on it, saying i'd need to get it replaced.

anyway, that's my story. i think i need to bite the bullet and just pay them. i've been driving for uber for the last couple of weeks, trying to capitalize on having the car and supplementing my new freelance business as it gets off the ground.

forummm

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Re: Help with Car Lease Wrath Please
« Reply #3 on: October 20, 2014, 08:47:10 AM »
Replacing a bumper (if that's all it is) should be less than $1k. I had a Corolla and even for the dealer to remove, replace, and paint it was about $600 IIRC.

Begonia

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Re: Help with Car Lease Wrath Please
« Reply #4 on: October 20, 2014, 09:27:20 AM »
I'll get a quote on it then, just to see . Every $ counts  -- thanks for your thoughts, forummm

Sid Hoffman

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Re: Help with Car Lease Wrath Please
« Reply #5 on: October 20, 2014, 11:58:19 AM »
Replacing a bumper (if that's all it is) should be less than $1k. I had a Corolla and even for the dealer to remove, replace, and paint it was about $600 IIRC.

Just to be clear, it sounds like only the bumper CAP needs to be replaced.  If you call body shops and tell them you need a new bumper, they are going to quote you all the crush material, bumper bar, crash bolts, and everything else.  In other words, a whole bunch of foam & steel in addition to the little plastic piece that is flapping.

It sounds like the plastic bumper cap probably got hit while the OP was parked, causing several of the attachment pieces to shear off.  I doubt there's any damage to the actual bumper (the metal part underneath the plastic cap) so the repair should be very cheap for the cap alone.