How to buy a car from a leasing company?

When I leased my car, at the end of the lease, they called me up, I made them an offer, they accepted, i sent them a check, they sent me the title.

You are buying it from a dealer, a used car dealer I guess. I would "insist" on paying the dealer, have them turn over the title in your name. That way you are protected.

Or, look at the registration of the car, find the name of the lessor (leasing company), call them up, make your own deal, and forget the middle man.

 

Vincenzo,

I bought my 308 from Putnam Leasing Company in 2008. I had a sit down with the company, wrote them out a check, and they handed my the title.

Is it a legit dealer/leasing company? If so, I wouldn't worry about it.

Frank

 

I don't know how it works in your state but in Washington State a dealer (a State regulated entity) can't sell a car with liens, disclosed or not. For example, if the car is consigned and is also security for a car loan then the loan has to be paid off before, or at least concurrent with, the purchase transaction. "Concurrent" means your check goes directly to the secured party, not the dealer or "owner"

I wouldn't worry about payoffs to legit banks - they're slow in releasing the security interest but they always do it just fine if they'be been paid the agreed payoff amount.

Practically speaking, it's really your burden to do a lien check and find out who may have a secured interest in the car. If there's a secured interest then that's the person/party you need to be dealing with because if you pay the full purchase price, the secured party is not obligated to release their secured interest until they're paid. You could be paying someone who is going to high tail with the money and you'll be left with a car subject to liens. Be wary of people telling you not to worry about it all when those same people are the people receiving payment.

I learned my lesson some years ago when I bought my Mondial from Cosmopolitan Motors in Seattle - I found out after I had made payment in full to them that there was a Washington State lien on the car (associated with unpaid employer taxes of the former owner's business). I had to lean on Cosmopolitan with threats of litigation and reporting it to the State auto dealer regulators before they took care of the lien. Really frustrating, and not what you expect from a place that should be professionally run.

Net, only you can ensure you don't end up with a bad deal. Remember, you're the one spending the money, so you're calling the shots as to how the transaction should play out. It's completely reasonable to require that as a pre-condition to making payment that there's proof of release of any/all liens or secured interests.

 

The dealer does not own the car and from what you are saying he doesn't want to. You must ultimately deal with the leasing co, they own the car.

When the lease was signed there was a value placed on the car and the terms and buyout were established from that. It appears that the original lessee might have defaulted on the lease terms and the lessor took it back and consigned it to the dealer to show it.

The title usually goes along with the bill of sale and the leasing co would hold the title until you buy the car at the end of the lease. There should be a buyout already established. The total of the monthly payouts and the buyout is what the car will cost you.

If I'm right that the car was repossessed then you should be in a good position to negociate a new lease of your own. If the price is right, have them draw a new lease, insure that you have the right to buy the car, it's usually done that way. Leases on cars like this are usually done with the intention of having the car bought at the end of the lease period, they're not as you might think like a three year lease on the family car.

I bought my 308 that way and I set the monthly terms and the buyout right up front. I set the monthly payouts so the buyout after five years was $1. I hope this helps.

 

Vincenzo,

If it's Putnam, I wouldn't worry about it at all. They were great with me throughout the entire lease.

Actually, they bought the car from the dealer who was selling it, and then leased it to me. I didn't have enough to buy it outright at the time, so it was do or die. After 8 months I had the money, at which time I bought it from them. It was nice to see my name on the title! I knew then that it was really mine.

Again, they were great so don't worry. The person I dealt with was named Rick Intile and he was a great guy.

Buona fortuna con la macchina piasano mio!!