Kizashi Club

I've got another year on my lease, and if I still love the car as much as I do, might consider the purchase option. I have leased several vehicles before, and although I entertained the idea, have never done it. I'm wondering how Suzuki, their current situation considered will handle the lease returns and how willing they would be to work a favorable deal. Any thoughts on this? In my experience, the lease returns have run from stringent- rubber gloves and magnifying glass (BMW) - to casual with an extra 20% off the option price (Dodge). Not sure how Suzuki handles it. Thanks for any input...

Were you told what your residual value would be at the time of purchase? Generally leases are closed end meaning the purchase price at the end is set in stone from the beginning based on an estimated residual "percentage" of the original value

Not necessarily, i have had the opportunity to negotiate the residual at the end of the lease on two vehicles in the last ten years. My Kiz lease is also up in a little over a year, and we will absolutely be negotiating the residual.

Don't even bother going through the dealership to purchase it after the lease is up. Find out which lending company holds the title and contact them directly. You can usually get for a lot less money than what the stealership tells you.

You are correct - the dealer has nothing to do with the lease, or the buyout, this is whomever you make your monthly lease payment to - these are the folks you want to speak with.

I work for Kia and there is no negotiating the residual and its all done by Kia Hyundai leasing... no 3rd party bankers. I guess this is why suzuki is no longer with us. They have no idea what they are doing on the paperwork side of things...

Not really the reason Suzuki cars is chapter 11. The buyer has the choice of where they get financing for the vehicle, it's not up to the car company or dealership. Many people use the car companies financial division because they offer better incentives.

So you're saying you are able to lease a car and finance the lease payment with your own bank? News to me

Yes, my lease contract has the purchase option price stated. However, sometimes - most often when a bank holds the paper - they would rather not have to deal with unloading the car after they get it back, and if it goes to auction they will not get the full residual value for it, so they might negotiate on the buyout. I had a Dodge Durango a few years back that I was returning which had a $16K purchase option, and I was offered 13K without even asking about it. That was a bank. In my case it's ASFS, Suzuki's financial, so I don't know what to expect.