[akin67]

The used car market is very hot where many dealers have limited inventory. As a result, used car prices are at a premium. If you have a current lease that is almost up and you treated the vehicle good, most likely your residual value is a good deal less than the current market value.

Most people think their only two options are to either turn the lease in or buy it out. Well in this market you have a third option. You can go to a few dealers and tell them you are planning on buying the vehicle and selling it for profit, due to the hot used car market. The dealer, who is most likely struggling for inventory may offer to pay you a premium over the residual value to get your car enabling you to make a few thousand dollars. At a minimum you will not be forced to pay excess wear / tear and disposition fees to the dealer. You can do this with any dealer, not just the one you leased the car from. I had a Genesis G90 where the residual value was thousands of dollars less than the current market value. I took my car to a few Genesis dealers and told them what I wanted to do and managed to secure a few thousand dollars net to me. It was hassle free. I made some money and they will make even more when they resell it. And by going this route you don't have to register the vehicle and pay sales tax to your state or deal with the hassle of buying and then trying to sell it yourself. Everyone wins.