I'm turning in the Ridgeline

[Ridgeline2006]

Well, after three years of bliss in my Ridgeline, the lease is up and I'm turning it back in. I've decided to go without a truck for now and use my better gas mileage vehicle as my daily driver. I'll miss the Ridgeline - it was by far one of my favorite vehicles ever!

I'll also miss this forum, but I might stop in once in a while just to see how BigDave and the rest of you are doing!

So long for now.

PS Take a look at my for sale ads if you're looking for a bargain!

[Ridgeline2006]

I just had my pre-turn-in inspection ---whew! I passed. Honda Finance allows up to $1,500 in wear and tear and I came in at $1,241! The part that bugs me (but not much because I don't have to pay for it because it's under $1,500) is that they include the scratches in the bed -- seems to me that Honda shouldn't charge for scratches that are a result of normal use of the vehicle -- if they wanted me to use the truck like a truck they should put a bed liner in that doesn't scratch, so I assume that they don't want us to use this truck like a truck!

[Hawk 51]

Ridge,

Curious, can you give a breakdown of what they tried to gig you on? I agree, scratches in the bed are a joke.

I have an '06 on three year lease, have 11 months to go, I'm just south of you in Coral Springs in Broward. I only have 15k on the odo, still contemplating whether to keep it or not, plenty of time to watch the gas prices.

Good luck to you, I've appreciated your participation and input the past few years.

Hawk

[Hawk 51]

Ridge,

One more question, did Honda Finance offer you any incentive to buy the truck? I heard that they don't, Chase and others always offered 1500-2000 off the residual with other vehicles. Just wondering.

Hawk

[Ridgeline2006]

Honda did not offer any incentives, all they do is tell you to take it to a dealership and trade it in. The dealership wanted to (1) charge me for the extra mileage, (2) give me $4,000 less than the residual for the trade in, and (3) charge me almost sticker price for a new one -- I told them I wasn't interested and I'd rather give the extra mileage charge to AHFC rather than to them because I know they don't have to pay it to AHFC if they sell it on their used car lot. They changed their story at this point and told me that either I could pay AHFC the extra mileage charge or I could pay them $4,000 for the negative equity (residual minus trade-in value). When I asked what the selling price of the new Ridgeline was he said "what difference does it make, it's a lease!" I left. What crooks! If they think I'm that stupid, then they don't need my business.

The inspection report lists the following:

CARGO BOX SCRATCHES (5 hrs labor) $472.50
DOOR DINGS (6.5 hrs labor) $566.00
LEATHER SEAT CUTS $180.00 ($90 for each 1/2" tear)
CARPET STAINED/SOILED (No Charge, but also no Stains, it looks like new!)

SUMMARY -- EXTERIOR $1,039.50 INTERIOR $180.00
TOTAL $1,219.50

Since I have under $1,500 damage, it won't cost me a cent.

But, I have over 54,000 miles on it, so it'll cost me a pretty penny in extra mileage (I think I have to pay 20 cents/mile over 36,000)

I've never had to go through this with my Acuras, the dealership always took the old car off my hands for what appeared to be nothing and put me in a new car for the same monthly payment -- made me happy, so it was always a good deal! Honda doesn't seem to want to deal at all. What a shame because I would like to get another Ridgeline, but not at that dealership!

[Ridgeline2006]

A couple of notes I forgot to add to the previous, long post.

First, after 54000 miles I'm surprised and happy that the tires were still in good shape -- no charge for new tires and these were the factory originals! I'm happy happy happy that I didn't have to shell out the money for new tires.

Also, I think the inspector knows what the limit is and pushes the damage as close to it without going over. There is no way that the exterior of this truck needed over $500 in repair work -- it looks almost new!

However, the bed was scratched but I USED IT LIKE A TRUCK, isn't that what it's sold for? Kind of bugs me that they'd think that bed scratches would be anything more than normal wear and tear. My bed was not badly scratched, but as we all know, it scratches easily. So, my advice is to take care of the bed if you plan to turn it in at the end of the lease.

This was, all in all, one of the best vehicles I've ever owned! I will surely miss it!

[Hawk 51]

Thanks for the detail, I've leased about a dozen cars and have never had any problem, and never bought the same car twice in a row.

I had a Lexus RX330 and Lexus was nice until I said I didn't want another one. My niece wanted it but Lexus would not let her buy it for the residual.

So I went to Toyota, told them I was going to buy an '08 Avalon. I told them that to do the sale they needed to buy out the Lexus and immediately sell it to my niece for the residual cost they paid off. I agreed to pay them their 500.00 dealer fee for their trouble. They jumped at the deal. I also bought the Avalon at 200.00 under invoice. I guess the big part was that in a matter of minutes the manager showed sales of over 50k for both cars. Everyone was happy.

If I don't keep the Ridge I may find a dealer to do the same thing. I have two brothers chomping at the bit for the Ridge.

By the way, Lexus's deal was for me to buy the vehicle then sell it to my niece. I called the state and they said that sales tax would have to be paid twice, once by me and then by by niece. Going through the dealer with a resale license save my niece about 700.00, even with paying the dealer 500.00 fee.

Best wishes to you, and drop by and keep everyone honest here.

Hawk

[Ridgeline2006]

Thanks, and good luck to you with your lease.

I liked it years ago when Honda let anyone buy out the lease. I had a car that was leased but I didn't want it at the end so an employee of mine's son bought it straight from AHFC. They don't do that any more. Guess they want to see if they can get you to trade it in and get a new car.

I'll stop in once in a while.

[RRider]

Ridgeline2006,

Did you get the letter from Honda about the odometer class action suit?
They are supposed to increase the lease and warranty mileage 5%. So the 36,00 gets extended to 37,800. They should not charge you the .20 per mile overage for the first 1800 miles.

[Ridgeline2006]

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I'll keep that in mind -- should reduce my liability by $360. You can be sure that I'll be looking at the final bill very carefully. Thanks for reminding me.

[Waterbug]

I turned in my 2000 Durango, after a 5 year 60,000 mile lease, and it was the scariest day of my life. Durango's took a beating between '00 and '06. It had a residual of $16K but was only worth $12K. My dealer is a Dodge/Honda dealer and I had offered to make the last 3 payments and turn it in early, when I bought a Ridge, and they turned me down. At 60,000 miles it had the original brakes, tires and battery. I waited the three months and leased the Ridge.
It was a bank lease and had to be turned in to an independent auction center. All the Honda dealer would do for me was to detail the Durango for free and accompany me to the turn-in. I think that them being there actually helped, because I'm sure that they buy used cars at auction. I had a $200 fee for a 6" scratch and that was it.
I'll NEVER do a 5 year lease again. The salesman asked me "Who was the fool that put you into that lease?". When I told him it was one of them, he got suddenly very quiet.

[Ridgeline2006]

Short term leases work out pretty good if you don't drive too much -- unless the dealer will take the over mileage vehicle off your hands without charging you, unlike this Honda dealer that I'm talking about!

[Waterbug]

I had a Civic on a 2 year 24K mile lease and put 80K on it in the 2 years. At that point, the only thing that made any sense was to buy it at the end of the lease. A month later a guy came across the center divide and hit me head on, totaling the Civic.
At first his insurance company refused to give me what I had paid for it only a month earlier, citing the high milage. :( I told them "See you in court". My insurance agent had authorized and talked me into getting a rental car. I didn't see the need, since I had another vehicle, but did as he suggested. When the other guy's insurance company found out that I had a rental car and that they would be liable for it's cost until my claim was settled, they sent me a check for what I was asking, the very next day. :)

[DopplerDon]

R2006 sorry to see this occur. Hope this was a memorable chapter in your journey. Keep in touch.......

[Ridgeline2006]

Very memorable, thanks!

[Ridgeline2006]

It's official -- I no longer have a Ridgeline -- how sad! :(

[bigdave269]

Wow, 2006, this is like losing a member of the family! :cry: :cry: :cry:

Too bad the dealer wants to screw with you. I guess you can always shop around later if you want another Ridge. I agree with you on the scratches, because you can't put ANYTHING in the Ridge bed without it showing a scratch. Oh, well, that's a lease for you, and that is why I purchased mine outright. I still plan on keeping it 10 years, and will probably get another one when it time to put her to pasture.... Meanwhile, my wife is liking the Pilot to replace her Camry. But with gas up to about $3.75 here, we might wait a bit.

Anyway, it's been good gabbing with you all these years, and I hope to still see you around the ol' board once in a while throwing in your two cents. Take care!

[bigdave269]

My tribute to 2006:

[Ridgeline2006]

Thanks Dave! It's like leaving a family, to me.

I miss the Ridgeline a lot already. Didn't realize how much I actually used it for things that the car just isn't good for like hauliing small items to taking the dogs on the road with us.

Thanks for the tribute! I still have that pic somewhere on my computer!

[bigdave269]

I don't know how I would do without mine. Just today I loaded up the bed on a trip to Costco. I would have been hard pressed to fit all that in the trunk of my Camry. You could always lease another one!