Got a call from Land Rover wanting to get me out of my lease early

At first, the guy just said something like "we're calling customers that are leasing RR Sports that are supercharged because there is a good market for them and we can work something favorable out with you if you'd like to get out of your lease early". I said "can you get me another orange one"? He sounded surprised that mine was Vesuvius orange, as if he hadn't known that prior to calling, then said "oh, since yours is Vesuvius, I can definitely get you top dollar for it".

So he calls me back a couple of days later and says "okay, we can get you into another RR Sport Supercharged, any color besides another orange one, for $100 per month less than you're paying now, plus we'll give you $3k in cash. He also mentioned that getting another RR is optional. The offer still stands regardless if I get another one, in which case I would just get $3k in cash to give up my truck.

My 2 year lease ends in December. He said the buyout on it is currently $59k, so I looked on Ebay and saw an orange one with 2k more miles than mine. The buy it now price was $69.9k.

So I think it's pretty safe to say that therein lies the motivation. My question is, does anybody know if this is the case for all RR Sports or just because mine is orange, in which there are only 300-400 or so in the USA?

This is a totally new scenario to me. In fact, I'm not familiar with anything like this happening on any car besides a Ferrari, although I'm sure it happens more than I think. I just haven't leased too many cars in the past several years, so anything to do with a lease is new to me.

 

did they stop making orange ones ???

 

Could be a dealer specific goal. My brother has the same car except it's Silver, I think he would've told me if he got offered that. My guess is that it's really the Vesuvius Orange, even in So. Cal I haven't seen that many.

 

Honda did something similar to me when I had a Civic a few years back. I'm pretty sure it's just a marketing ploy to lock you into a new lease. The language in the letter was about "overwhelming demand for used Civics in the San Diego area"/"we need your car"/etc.

IMO, RR doesn't care whether your car is orange or pink or green. I'm sure if the supply of orange ones was low they would paint some more of them orange at the factory.

What they do care about is keeping you in their product with gasoline pushing $3.70/gallon and SUVs falling out of fashion. If you like your truck, I'm sure they could move you into a new lease smoothly, maybe in a way that would save you some money.

 

Yes. Despite strong demand for that color, there is no orange paint left in the UK so they are hunting down the used ones to sell at a huge markup.

 

+1

I have only leased a couple of cars, but my parents have leased a bunch, and I think every single time we've gotten "the call" that demand is super high and they can give us a smoking deal if we trade-in/upgrade. It's just a way to keep you in their brand and it lets the dealer sell another car.

Not to say it's always a bad offer, could be quite good, but there is an ulterior motive there for sure.

 

I would say probably not, I see the orange RRs on the ads over here all the time.

 

In Canada I cannot spec a RR Sport/RR Sport Supercharged with Orange paint.

 

the current buyout is $59k including all early lease termination fees,etc,etc, etc ??

that's about $63,000 after sales tax.

is the $3,000 taxable in any way ? going to get a 1099-MISC in the mail ?

 

Are you serious?

 

Yes, the winking smiley is code for "I'm being totally serious"

 

Seriously?

 

I would have thought the same thing, but he didn't sound too interested in getting me into another Range Rover. In fact, he sounded like he couldn't have cared less. His only goal was to get me out of my lease early & part with my truck. We only discussed another Range because I brought it up, initially saying "could you get me another Vesuvius orange one", to which he said "no, I could get you any other colors besides that".

And when he called the 2nd time to make the offer of $3k in cash and $100 less per month if I lease a new one, he said "and if you don't want to get in a new one, you can just take the $3k and walk".

The only logical reasoning I could think of was because orange is a limited color and there might be high demand for it.

He just called back today to followup and I told him I wasn't interested in ending the lease early at this time. The main reason is because I really enjoy it as my daily driver and there isn't anything else I want at this time. I'm sure I'll be able to make out as well with it in a few months incase I change my mind or when the lease ends in December.

 

Good question, I didn't ask. I didn't ask about any other fees associated with buying it out early, but he sounded like he was willing to make everything very easy for me had I gone that route. He even mentioned that "this is a good situation for you if there are any scratches or dings on the car since they won't be picky with it now the way we might be when the lease ends and you turn it in". LoL, he was pulling out all the stops.

 

The reason they are doing this is because they want you to be locked into another RR before you realize that it is not trail rated. They know of Husker’s campaign to enlighten the world on this deficiency and they are scrambling.

 

.....not that I ever rent vehicles,but,I received a similar letter re; my Suburban. They just want to sell (or rent as the case may be) you a new one.

 

If you did decide to just unload it what happens to the additional $2,400 that he was promising you? ($100 per month on a 24 month lease)

I just ran into a similar situation a few months back on a commercial vehicle that we were leasing. The funeral coach was worth around $40,000 and the residual was around $30,000. I was toying with the idea of selling it back to the dealer and leasing a brand new coach, that priced out at about $97,000. The dealer told me that he would pay off what I owed on the 2003 but that he would not give me anything over and above that price. I told him that I was not opposed to him making a buck or two off of the resale of the coach but that I had issues with him making $10,000. So I refinanced the residual and will keep it for another year or so, then sell it and get a new car when the 2009s are out.

Jeff, look at the worst case scenario. You get to drive a car that you really, really like for the next 7 months afterwich you can decide do you buy it and sell it for a profit or do you turn it back over to RR financial. Sounds like a pretty good scenario to me.

 

The whole thing is a Marketing tactic.

Ignore it.

 

I think the $100 comes from an adjustment in the residual values; the Sport SCs didn't tank like they expected!

I would also think this is a dealer-specific offer and they are calling their VO clients because the trucks are HOT right now... hahaha to the "Oh, yours is VO? I had no idea"...

 

Benjamin Franklin Edition 2007

 

LOL!!!! That was hilarious

 

OK guys, let's get the facts straight here: Actually, only Jeeps are trail-rated. I went with a friend of mine to look at both Jeeps and Highlanders, and the Jeep salesman said, as of right now, only Jeeps are trail rated. Jeep got tired of other SUV makers misrepresenting that their units were trail rated. I'm not saying a RR couldn't do a decent job off-road; it's simply not trail rated. According to the Jeep salesman, Jeep is doing this as a public service because a number of other SUV makers are out there touting their own makes, when they really aren't trail rated. What's funny is I looked at Consumer Reports, and sure enough, they fail to mention that some of these other SUVs aren't trail rated. It makes me wonder who might be greasing their palms. But if you don't believe me go to www.consumerreports.com and find out for yourself.

 

V. Orange was only a "Year 1" color; that is why there are none left.

This also sounds like a dealership who just "bought" a large loan through a bank, is trying to get that money filled up, and a) wants to get you back into a new lease (longer than just to December), AND b) can save you the $ because of an interest rate advantage.