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.