Buyout Questions on Toyota Lease

[GFer]

Lease will be up in about 4 months.  I would like to buy the vehicle (wished I had to begin with!).  The value of the car is actually a little more than the buyout amount per kbb. Curious as to if I'd be better off financing with say a CU vs Toyota?  I've never leased a vehicle, so this is all new to me.  Any thoughts or advise would be greatly appreciated!  TIA

[Anonymous]

Might be too soon to decide because who knows what Toyota Finance's captive APR will be for someone with perfect FICO scores...

CU will likely tell you their best rate but with Fed rates going up this year, rates might be higher in 4 months.

I bet CU will have a better rate, but Toyota captive might be really competitive, too.

[JGGM]

I would call Toyota finance and get the complete payoff on the vehicle (meaning they release title). Then go to your credit union and see what kind of rate you can get. Bare in mine, in some states (like mine), when you buy your lease out, you have to pay sales tax on the payoff. Your credit union should be able to tell you if that is applicable to you.  If you like their rate and payment, then proceed with refinance now and be done with it. You don't have to wait till the very end of the lease to do this. 

[Kree]

I just did a lease buyout with Nissan.

1.  I wish I had done it a few months early.  Found out after making the last payment that Nissan will waive the last 2 months of lease payments (Toyota might be similar).

2. DCU gave me 2.49% with 700s, didn't even check with Nissan for their percentage.

3.  Contact Toyota's end of lease department.  Any other department will make a mess of the paperwork. (atleast Nissan did)

4. Certain goto lenders like Cap1 do not deal with lease buyouts.