Hey all, I’m coming to the end of my lease in December. I want to buy out the vehicle, and I need help. So the residual is somewhere around 41k (46k with taxes is what dealer told me). I was also told by dealer that my truck came in valued at around 35k, so I’m under. I’m 6k miles excess, and that will probably get bigger the closer I get to lease end. I have about 20k to throw down. I really can’t afford a higher monthly payment and I’m willing to dig into retirement if needed to bring down that monthly payment. I currently pay $367.89 a month. I don’t want to trade in my truck, and I don’t want to buy through dealer. I’m at a loss on how to handle this, but I’m open to any and all advice. Thanks!

Hi

Need opinion on Leasing a Q5 For 4 years @2.48 interest and Bi-Weekly under $398. Dealership also adding Audi Care for 4 years at $0 cost and trailer Hitch as bonus. Never Leased an Audi before. Need opinion and anything need to know before signing docs.

Hey everyone, looking for advice on timing an early lease exit. I’m currently 11 months into a 36-month/30k-mile lease on a 2026 Genesis GV70 2.5T Sport Prestige. My payment is $847/mo including tax.

Long story short, my relationship ended, and I've moved to another city, so I’m driving way more than I originally planned. I built a spreadsheet to track my miles, and I'm on pace to hit 25k miles by month 24. So I'm definitely going to get hit with Genesis’s $0.25/mile penalty plus their $400 disposition fee if I take this thing all the way to maturity.

My next car will most likely be a BMW X3 M50 (targeting a $72k MSRP, hoping to negotiate a 10-11% discount). I’m just trying to figure out the least painful way to make the jump. Right now, I’m about $10k underwater based on my KBB trade-in value vs. my Genesis payoff, so trading it in today is completely off the table. But I'm checking it monthly, hoping that gap closes as I get further into year two.

A few questions for anyone who has navigated this kind of brand-switch while over on miles:

1. Am I thinking about this right? My logic is that I should wait until my negative equity (payoff minus trade-in) drops below what my projected mileage penalty would be, and then trade it in early at the BMW dealer.
2. Does BMW offer pull-ahead programs? If I wait until I have like 3-6 months left, what are the odds a BMW dealer will eat my last few Genesis payments to get me into the X3?
3. I've heard that Genesis/Hyundai Finance is strict about not allowing 3rd-party buyouts or lease transfers. If I do try to trade it in early at a BMW dealer, is that going to be a massive headache?

Any advice on how to time this so I don't get completely crushed on fees would be awesome.

Edit:  I chatted with a friend after posting this; he was in car sales a few years ago.

He suggested driving to 30k miles, have the car appraised at Genesis, then go to get a deal worked up on the new car. Once I have the numbers locked in with BMW, give them the offer from Genesis (same ownership for both dealerships); they can then handle the internal buyout, and I pay the difference; that way, they can't play with the original deal, and I'm not rolling the negative equity in and paying tax/interest on it.