Where does a end of term lease vechicle go? Remain at Dealer or go to Auction

[AD1787]

Hello. I was wondering when you return a end of term lease vehicle to a dealer, where does that car go? Does the Dealer have the option of negotiating a purchase with Infiniti or does the car go to auction no matter what?

I am asking because I was wondering if you can expect to get a better pre-owned price if you can tell that the car was returned to the dealer and they are re-selling it vs. a car they purchased at auction at what I expect would be a greater cost to themselves.

About every 2006 M35 I am finding is coming off it's 39 mo. lease and I am trying to find the best pre-owned deal.

[striz923]

I always assumed that the dealership was leasing the car and then they would sell it afterwards. There is a dealership that has this "wall of leases" that showed when cars were coming off lease, and I assumed that meant that they would be able to sell a specific car coming off lease at that time. pure speculation on my end obviously...

[MaxBolus]

Think it depends on who holds the lease, too. I leased a car through a bank, at lease end it went to an auto auction.

[Repo Man]

Typically with a closed-end lease (a lease with pre-determined residual value that the lessor is responsible for, instead of you, the lessee) the car goes to the auction if the dealer decides not to purchase it for inventory. I don't know offhand how NMAC remarkets their vehicles, but I have a feeling it's close to what GMAC does with regard to an online auction targeted at dealers. In this scenario, the pool of dealers bids online (much like eBay) and the car goes to the winner. Usually this amount will be less than what the dealer, and certainly you, could have bought the car for as a straight up off-lease vehicle.

If you can strike an agreement with your dealer, they can likely get your car back through this channel for a pretty good discount, but it's not guaranteed. The only guaranteed way to get it back is to buy it yourself for the residual value (usually NOT a good deal) or have the dealer buy it and sell it back to you. Beware though that dependent upon your state laws, you may have to title it differently when you purchase the car. That's how it is in Indiana.

If you don't buy it and the dealer doesn't buy it, then the dealer simply facilitates the return of the vehicle to the lessor. They don't have much say in it at that point because the vehicle doesn't belong to them. Be sure to review the specifics of your contract for any disposition fees, return of security deposit or other tidbits that may change the aforementioned process.

If that doesn't answer your question, let me know.

Repo

[Repo Man]

And welcome to NICO! I just noticed your join date.

[AD1787]

Thanks for all the great info.

I may have led you down the wrong path a bit. I am looking to purchase a pre-owned M35 and was just trying to figure if I could negotiate for a lower price if I determined the dealer kept the car after someone returned a lease vs them spendng perhaps more money after purchasing a end of term lease at the auction.

From your answer I would think the internal dealer online auction would give the dealer a lower sales price then picking up the same car at an auction.

I use autocheck.com for title search and so far, i've only seen leased cars being purchased through the auctions.

Thanks for your replies

[Repo Man]

Just be sure to work one dealer against another. Usually works like a charm.