GMAC End of Lease - Negotiating Deals on new vehicle

[seankiely]

Please move if not correct forum.

I am 12 months away from the end of my GM lease, this is my 2nd lease with them and my wife also leases with them. I understand GM no longer leases and that's fine.

What I am wondering - does anyone have tips/contacts etc on how to not get crucified on lease return?

I am going to be about 20-30K over my lease KM allowed, I also could be talked into a new GM vehicle on a purchase at anytime. What I am hoping is tips from people who have successfully had GM waive the KM rate or take the vehicle back sooner then the lease end date.

Long story short - the van is not something I want to keep -the value is not there. I plan on using my "GM loyalty" to negotiate this deal - but I have been told by 2 seperate sales people that GM doesn't do this - which I call BS, and is why I am here.

If all else fails, I will ride out the lease (not desired) and take my lumps on the KM's but GM will never see me darken their door again.

Anyone have some advice? emails or phone contacts? I know most companies have loyalty programs and GM must see the value of repeat customers - especially ones with multi vehicle needs.

thanks very much
Sean

[aggronieszka]

When I had my lease, I went in early to try to get something bigger. They will definitely finish your lease early, but you WILL be paying for ending early and for extra km's. They just roll that into your finance price.

I will never deal with GMAC again. What a bunch of scammers.

[Hugh Jass]

If all else fails, I will ride out the lease (not desired) and take my lumps on the KM's but GM will never see me darken their door again.

Not to become all moralistic on you but you entered into an agreement with GM to lease their car and return it with a certain amount of clicks on it. Anything over that amount decreses the cars resale value, so they have to make that up by charging you for the extra kms you put on it.

Now you're more or less saying f*** them if they dont waive that charge?

If you really want to f*** them, you can get it clocked back

[seankiely]

When I had my lease, I went in early to try to get something bigger. They will definitely finish your lease early, but you WILL be paying for ending early and for extra km's. They just roll that into your finance price.

I will never deal with GMAC again. What a bunch of scammers.

This is what local is telling me, and I dont beleive it for a sec. I am not going to roll anything into anything else - lol, what I left out is that the van is a Saturn and also had some warranty issues which isnt bad - but they closed all the dealers around me and the only one left is 45 minutes each way from my home....so I am not over thrilled to go back to GM amnd it certainly will not be a Saturn.

We are out of the minivan stage and will now be upgrading - we are looking at the Acadia so its a huge $$ upgrade and in my thoughts worth it for GM to work with me - if not, my wife likes the Honda Pilot to...

Please keep em coming guys/gals - experiences/phone numbers/contacts lol - it can help us all.

Sean

[seankiely]

Not to become all moralistic on you but you entered into an agreement with GM to lease their car and return it with a certain amount of clicks on it. Anything over that amount decreses the cars resale value, so they have to make that up by charging you for the extra kms you put on it.

Now you're more or less saying f*** them if they dont waive that charge?

If you really want to f*** them, you can get it clocked back

Well roll back is illegal, but the other part about waiving charges - I hear ya, but its not different then Rogers loyalty/ Bell etc...no one gets nothing for free, not even a car company. They want me again which in all odds means again for my wife who has 20 months - they help me out here, if they dont I start over.

GM of all companies should jump at the chance to make a customer happy and keep them. How many people does a happy customer tell, not many - how many does a disgruntled?

SK

[mocha'n'me]

I don't think you have much leverage. 20- 30K over is a lot. I think they charge about $0.16 per km if you didn't purchase any with the lease agreement. If you want out early you just make the remaining payments and return the vehicle. You will also be billed for any additional damage, etc.

I would check if you might be able to break even by buying out the vehicle and selling it yourself. Chances are it has little value. These are the basics of any lease. With any leasing company.

When I returned my Saturn lease they did not offer any incentive aside from $1000 customer loyalty rebate on certain vehicles. GM still has not learned that their only loyal customers are employees that have significant rebates. Perhaps that's why they aren't very successful.

[Kayne]

So you went over your lease and somehow its there fault....interesting.

Have fun dealing with Honda lol

[seankiely]

So you went over your lease and somehow its there fault....interesting.

Have fun dealing with Honda lol

Do you understand the premise of RFD? How about customer loyalty?

Am I asking for something for nothing - no I dont think so, do I need to buy another GM? Do I expect a struggling car company to treat loyal returning customers well?

Why don't you talk to me after you negotiated your next cable or cell bill or PM at FS - the difference between you and me is that I see the big picture here.

SK

[seankiely]

I don't think you have much leverage. 20- 30K over is a lot. I think they charge about $0.16 per km if you didn't purchase any with the lease agreement. If you want out early you just make the remaining payments and return the vehicle. You will also be billed for any additional damage, etc.

I would check if you might be able to break even by buying out the vehicle and selling it yourself. Chances are it has little value. These are the basics of any lease. With any leasing company.

When I returned my Saturn lease they did not offer any incentive aside from $1000 customer loyalty rebate on certain vehicles. GM still has not learned that their only loyal customers are employees that have significant rebates. Perhaps that's why they aren't very successful.

I am not against selling it if i have to - the numbers wont be crystal clear until close to the date, I am anticipating the KM overage, but who knows it could be a lot less. I am at 65K now and have 80K included in the lease.

At that time if I havent done a deal with GM I will look at the numbers and proceed accordingly, sadly though the resale on a 07 Saturn Relay is currently between 11-14K, mine has a lease buyout of about 10K.

The reason I pursued this is to educate myself in advance and be prepared for GM not wanting to budge, or be able to act immediately if they do. Hence the reason I sought out the RFD effect.

Appreciate all the positive responses.
SK

[antichrysler]

First off, I don't claim to be an expert in this area. I just hear bits and pieces from my father who owns a courier company.

1. Unless you own a business you will always get burnt on a lease.
2. If you have gone over your kms the only way of not having to pay the overage is by buying out the vehicle.
3. There's no such thing as a free lunch. If you went over the kms or damaged the vehicle, you will pay for it. If they agree to "waive" it, they will just role it in to the next vehicle you lease or purchase. If they don't put it down on paper they will just inflate the price of the vehicle you are leasing or purchasing to compensate.
4. If the buyout on the vehicle is greater than the vehicles current value, it IS cheaper to make the remaining payments on the lease and leave the vehicle parked somewhere till the lease expires.
5. If the buyout is less than the current value of the vehicle (not often the case with domestic vehicles) and you want to minimize your losses, pay off the vehicle and drive it till it dies. You have already paid for majority of the depreciation in the first 2 years you drove it.

That's about as much as I've learnt from him in the 6 years he's owned his business. He has about 35 vehicles that he's bought in the 6 years and unless it's a large truck he doesn't bother with leasing. Only time leases work in your favor is if the buyout is significantly less than what the value of the car. IE $1 buyout leases.

[seankiely]

First off, I don't claim to be an expert in this area. I just hear bits and pieces from my father who owns a courier company.

1. Unless you own a business you will always get burnt on a lease.
2. If you have gone over your kms the only way of not having to pay the overage is by buying out the vehicle.
3. There's no such thing as a free lunch. If you went over the kms or damaged the vehicle, you will pay for it. If they agree to "waive" it, they will just role it in to the next vehicle you lease or purchase. If they don't put it down on paper they will just inflate the price of the vehicle you are leasing or purchasing to compensate.
4. If the buyout on the vehicle is greater than the vehicles current value, it IS cheaper to make the remaining payments on the lease and leave the vehicle parked somewhere till the lease expires.
5. If the buyout is less than the current value of the vehicle (not often the case with domestic vehicles) and you want to minimize your losses, pay off the vehicle and drive it till it dies. You have already paid for majority of the depreciation in the first 2 years you drove it.

That's about as much as I've learnt from him in the 6 years he's owned his business. He has about 35 vehicles that he's bought in the 6 years and unless it's a large truck he doesn't bother with leasing. Only time leases work in your favor is if the buyout is significantly less than what the value of the car. IE $1 buyout leases.

Funny you should mention it, parking it is a real option here (its quasi parked now as we drive my wifes car mostly). Selling it is looking like the other option.

I appreciate the response here, that kind of advice is exactly what I am looking for.

I will call GM in a hope to see results - but at this point from all the google and RFD i have seen - its slim chance to none. If this happens GM will loose another customer, and thats fine with me.

SK

[antichrysler]

If you can park it and drive as little as possible that is your best option. If you have to make payments to the remainder of the lease and then the kms you might as well keep it in your driveway or in a field somewhere so it keeps depreciating and costing them more money.

The thing is GM doesn't want their cars back, especially not Saturn since they're shutting them down. They want money, which is why they don't like leasing and likely why they're not doing it anymore.

If it makes you feel any better right now I have an 06 Dakota rotting in my extra parking spot for the exact same reasons. Only thing is it was leased by my dad who doesn't want to pay for the parking for it where he lives. So he flatbedded it over to my place 250km away (since he was coming this way anyways with an empty trailer) and now the Dakota is here till either we can pay someone to take it off our hands or the lease runs out.

It gets driven once a month for 15-20 minutes to charge the battery. Most of the time it's just idled. It's been on the same tank of gas for 4 months... which says something considering the mileage it gets. That was also after I took it on a 300km round trip to pick up my new bike (had to pay my dad for the kms)

[Engi-Nir]

you might be expecting too much, however, if you buy the next vehicle close to MSRP, they(dealership) will have no issues absorbing the cost....the good thing about GMAC lease is, you can pretty much return the car with all stock parts(no replacement of anything), and still they will accept..try that with honda/toyota they will rape you.

[antichrysler]

you might be expecting too much, however, if you buy the next vehicle close to MSRP, they(dealership) will have no issues absorbing the cost....the good thing about GMAC lease is, you can pretty much return the car with all stock parts(no replacement of anything), and still they will accept..try that with honda/toyota they will rape you.

Buying a GM vehicle at close to MSRP is ludicrous. ANY of their vehicles they will always budge anywhere from $2,000 to $15,000 depending on the price.

Lets assume this guy is 20k over on his kms, at $0.16/km that's $3,200. Even if he bought a Cobalt they'll probably say "we'll split the difference with you" so instead of getting $2,000 off he'll get $1,600 off and they might agree to take $400 off the vehicle.

Other than stock parts what else will you return the vehicle with? A body kit? Who in their right mind would put a body kit on a leased vehicle? I suppose you could put an aftermarket door panel or something if the car was in an accident... but why would they prefer that over a stock part? You're not making sense here...

[AGR-1]

You are 30,000 klms over at 10 cents a klms its 3,000 plus excess wear and tear. Lets say $ 4,000.

Lets assume that you need $4,000 to get out of your lease today.

Whichever dealer you visit, whatever you are negotiating, whoever wants to sell you, or lease you another vehicle must assist you with the $ 4,000. Its very simple and done on a regular basis.

Banging heads with your lessor (leasing company) is an unproductive waste of time, the negotiation and money has to come from you and whoever wants to do business with you on your next vehicle.