Tip to Save Money on Lease Buyout
I wanted to alert my readers to a useful leasing tip I read on KBB.com this week. It involves buying the vehicle at the end of your lease for a lot less than the residual value listed in the contract.
A lot of you have been leasing cars over the last few years, and many of you have upcoming lease returns. Some of you may want to purchase the car instead of turning it in, but you may have found that the buyout price (residual) is way higher than the market value of the vehicle.
Here's the big tip from the article: Lease agreements prevent you from buying your lease-return vehicle for a price lower than the residual value. But there's nothing preventing the dealer from buying the car at market price and reselling it to your spouse at the lower price. The savings can be thousands of dollars, and you get to keep the vehicle that you've driven and maintained from the start.
KBB had an example of a Buick dealer which recently sold a 3-year old, off-lease vehicle to the wife of the lessee and saved them $1,800 in the process. Make sure to read the article for full details if this is something you're interested in doing.
3 Steps Every Car Buyer Needs to Take to Save Maximum Money
The key to getting the best deal is to gather price or lease bids from as many local dealers as possible. Then shop that best price around until no one can beat it. Here are the steps:Step 1 Get Prices From My Trusted Network
Select the vehicle you're interested in to see if there are local dealers in my network who will provide you with their best upfront price. You will get direct access to an internet sales manager who you can further negotiate with online (no need to visit dealership).Step 2 Get Prices From TrueCar / CarsDirect
TrueCar, and CarsDirect are my top 2 online price quote recommendations. These services show you pre-negotiated prices from dealers closest to you - and the deals are usually pretty decent. But remember, you can still negotiate further.Step 3 Complete my Checklist
Follow this up with my checklist to make sure you squeeze out every last bit of savings.- Gregg Fidan

Each week, I'll keep you up-to-date on the latest car deals and news that might affect your purchase. This includes...
- Best Rebates, Incentives, and Lease Deals
- Latest Car Buying Scams and Tricks
- The Best & Worst Time to Buy a Car
- Which Cars You Should Avoid
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