Ridgeline Lease

[TNRedsfan]

Can you add aftermarket parts and turn in a lease? I want to add nerf bars etc but not Honda $$$$$$$$$ accessories

[colorider]

TNRedsfan wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")Can you add aftermarket parts and turn in a lease? I want to add nerf bars etc but not Honda $$$$$$$$$ accessories

Welcome to the forum.

I would guess it varies from lease to lease. You best bet would be to check the lease contract. BTW, is there a reason you want to lease versus buy?

Good Luck!


Moved thread FROM Polls

[Ridgeline2006]

It kinda goes like this -- the guy who does the inspection probably wouldn't even notice, but if he does, you can remove them! If it's an AHFC lease, they probably would tell you if you called them. If you add anythning permanently, then I'd think you'd have a problem (i.e. if you drilled holes in the body to add a non-honda accessory). Best to just call and find out. I would guess the contract says "no" but what you can actually do is probably different.

[TNRedsfan]

I called Honda Finance and the referred me to the inspection company and the inspection company referred me back to Honda Finance. I am going to add Nerf Bars that will bolt to pre existing holes. I can take them off if I decide to turn it in.

I went with the lease to keep my payment @$300. I only drive around 8000 miles a year. I love the truck so far and may buy it for $16,300 at the end. The payment would have been over $200 more a month for a 60 month purchase. I can invest the $200 a month and earn something and have around $11,000 if I earn 6%. That would leave me the $5000+ tax as the main difference. I also may want a 2009 Ridgeline in 2009!!!!!!!!!

[Waterbug]

colorider wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")

BTW, is there a reason you want to lease versus buy?




If you only intend to keep a vehicle for 3 years and that model has NO resale value history, the lease is the way to go. If it has a high resale, you can purchase it at lease end and make a profit. If it has a low resale, give it back to the dealer and let Honda take the loss. It is the ONLY way to make sure you won't be burned in 3 years on a new vehicle model that turns out to have problems.

[Cool Cat]

Wow.

I leased to keep my payment down too, but not because I'm planning on getting a new truck down the road. My plan has always been to buy out the lease at some point. The big difference is that for my RTL w/moonroof I'm paying $455 per month with a $17k buyout at the end of the lease. I got the first Ridgeline that the dealership sold, one of the very first in the city. They were very unwilling to negotiate, though I was able to get the towing package thrown in. I've already made many modifications, including an Access Cover tonneau cover and a Mac mini in vehicle computer. I'm at 18k miles after only 7 months on our 12k mi/year lease. I'm going to have to buy this thing out as soon as possible I think, I'm pretty sure I did not get any kind of good deal.

[Waterbug]

An early lease buy out is NEVER a good deal unless you have to get rid of it. If you intend to keep it for at least as long as the lease term, buy it at the end of the lease. There are BIG penalties for early lease termination.

[Cool Cat]

I've got an AHFC lease, and as far as I can tell from reading the contract (although, I'm not a lawyer) all I have to do to buy out the lease is pay the residual value plus the portion of the depreciated value not yet paid. They lay out a formula for how to calculate how much of the depreciation has been paid which boils down to 1/48th of it being paid with every monthly payment (for the 48 month lease anyway). Maybe there's something else hidden in there that I didn't understand, but there's also a "Payoff Amount" in my online account with Honda Owner Link that reflects my understanding of the contract. I probably won't even be ready to get a loan until its down to around $26k, which will probably be toward the end of next year.

[Waterbug]

By paying off the lease residual early, you have no idea what the vehicle will be worth at the end of the lease. Lets say your residual is 17K. If after 36 months a simular vehicle can be purchased from a dealer for 14K, why would you buy at lease end? But that is what you would do by buying out the lease early. You'd pay that 17K plus any accumulated depreciation. (The difference in 17K and the purchase price not yet paid through the lease.)

[Cool Cat]

But I'm racking up mileage at more than twice the rate allowed in my lease. At something like $0.15 per mile I think I'll be better off buying the truck anyway. My plan is to keep this truck indefinitely into the future, the lease was just a means to keep the initial payment down so that I could afford it.

The Ridgeline is a Honda anyway, and Hondas always hold their value. I expect that even with the extra mileage I'm putting on it won't be too far off the $17k in another 3-1/2 years. I'm planning to buy this truck, pay it off completely, and then continue to drive it until I've saved enough to buy its replacement (likely a 2020 Ridgeline) with cash. :D

[Waterbug]

The only time that milage matters is if you turn it in. If you purchase it at ANY time, they don't look at milage. :)

[TNRedsfan]

Since we are talking lease not parts, I "paid" $25,540 for an RT. I paid $1080 down and my payments are $300 for 42 months with the residual of $16,350. Is that a good deal? I told them $300 a month a they magically came back with that number. I didn't want to put anything down (cause I could get a Double Cab Tundra w/$0 down) but after driving the Ridgeline and I LOVE HONDA's RiDE!!!!! I went with the Ridge.

What was your money factor and how do you know exactley what you will be charged at the end? (our taxes are 7%)????

Will post pictures when I receive the Nerf Bars and install them!

[Ridgeline2006]

Not that you're (cool cat) looking to do this, but I've found that Acura dealerships, so maybe Honda dealerships, will 'buy out your lease' during the last 6 months if you get another vehicle from them. I've been able to do this several times without paying the excess mileage fee. It looks to me like you are at about $2,800 or so per year extra at .15 per mile over 12k...that translates to more that $230 per month. You could factor that into your calculation. Also, if you purchase the vehicle rather than leasing it, you pay all the depreciation and you take the risk that the vehicle will have a high resale value. If you find that it doesn't, then you've lost money vs. a lease -- either way it's a risk. If you lease it and pay it off early you're taking the same risk. If you wait until the end of the lease, you can weigh the difference between the actual value vs. payoff (buy out) and then look at your excess mileage -- is the total excess mileage (plus any wear and tear charges) more than or less than the buy out vs. actual value. In other words, if you continue to put the huge amount of miles on the vehilce, then the payoff would have to be almost $10k less than the actual value before it would make sense to turn it in and pay the mileage fee. You need to look at the vehicle at the end of the lease and say to yourself, "If I pay this sucker off, will I own a vehicle that is worth what I just paid?" or "If I turn this vehicle in, and pay the excess mileage fee, would I be better off than if I kept it and tried to sell it myself?" Look at it as an asset -- is it worth keeping because the amount you're paying for less than it's value, or is it worth giving it back because the amount it costs to give it back is less than the amount you would lose if you kept it and sold it yourself.

Of course, if it's something you want to keep for ever and ever, then this discussion is almost moot!

My suggestion on a lease is to drive it until the lease is almost over, take it to a dealership and see if you can negotiate a good deal on a new vehicle, if not then consider buying the leased vehicle and either keeping it or selling it yourself. Of course, there's always the 'sales tax discussion' that we're avoiding here....8)

Remember, it's not a bad rule of thumb to "buy appreciable assets, lease depreciable assets."

Disclaimer: I'm bored without electrical power, and sometimes my boredom shines through with long, boring posts!

[Cool Cat]

Waterbug wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")
The only time that milage matters is if you turn it in. If you purchase it at ANY time, they don't look at milage. :)


Exactly why I'll be purchasing my Ridgeline! :D

So now you see why it won't make any difference to me what the truck is worth compared to the residual at the end of the lease, I've got to buy it anyway. Which is why I'm figuring that I'll purchase it as soon as I'm able to, since it makes sense to get a better rate from a loan than to continue to pay the higher lease rate.

[Cool Cat]

Ridgeline2006 wrote (View Post): › docWrite("quote")I've found that Acura dealerships, so maybe Honda dealerships, will 'buy out your lease' during the last 6 months if you get another vehicle from them. I've been able to do this several times without paying the excess mileage fee.

Thanks for the tip! That's awesome, I had no idea that something like that was possible. This is my first lease so these little tidbits of knowledge are greatly appreciated!

[Ridgeline2006]

No problem, cool cat! I've leased tons of vehicles, and actually prefer to do so even when I know I will be over the mileage. AHFC used to have a lease that let YOU sell the car to another person at the end of the lease -- I did this because I found a buyer who didn't mind that the car had extra miles on it and who was willing to pay the same what AHFC wanted. The way it worked was that you could find a buyer, hook 'em up with AHFC, and if they qualified for a loan with them or had the cash to pay the residual, then you were off the hook for extra mileage and wear and tear. They discontinued that program a few years ago. I wish they'd start it up again.

[PR_Ridge]

I can tell you that a dealer NEVER "buys out" the last payments of your previous lease. It is ALWAYS part of the negotiated price, whether it is a simulated discount, or a part of your payoff on a trade. Just my 2 cents...in terms of buying out your lease, I agree with Waterbug: it is NEVER a good idea to buy out a lease before it has matured. just my 2 cents...

[Ridgeline2006]

That's why I put it in quotes!