Garden State Honda

Here's the scenario. The economy is bad and car leases are nothing like they were back in the good old old days of 2007. You are an experienced Honda lease customer so you know they always have lease deals coming. They are as predictable as a K-mart blue-light special. Your 2007 Honda Pilot 4WD EX-L has only about 32K miles on it with 2 months to go on a 36K, 36 month lease. You're under on your miles, you are a non-smoker, and the vehicle is clean and well maintained. YOU know how to go around and find a dealer who is hungry and will offer you equity trade-in credit in writing, right? Did you know you can do that? I have done it numerous times and either gotten the offer in writing, and/or gotten a check handed to me to use any way I wanted. Remember, this is your equity. It's your reward for keeping the car in such good shape. You'll get nothing from Honda if you simply turn it back in. At that point, the dealer could decide to buy it and make a large profit selling it off his lot. Remember, he buys it from Honda for much less than you do. The good news here is if/when you call Honda Finance and ask for your lease buy-out figure, you can also ask for the dealer's buy-out figure. Do you know how many people NEVER even try doing this and therefore lose possibly thousands in equity credit they could have put in the bank or used to drastically lower the payments on their replacement vehicle? How many times have you simply walked away from an expired lease without even asking if any dealer wants to buy it? If so, you walked away from your own earned money. This dealer was THE ONLY one in our area who aggressively wanted to buy my Pilot in writing, AND give me the best discounted price on my Crosstour, and do a sign-and-drive lease, and do it with no deposit, AND hold the car for me (and honor all agreements) for two weeks for my convenience. EVERY other dealer within a 15 mile radius thought I was crazy, told me I would never get that kind of deal, told me I was setting myself up for a bait and switch, pointed at their own huge used car inventories filled with 07 Pilots, tried to sell me Crosstours at full list or with maybe a 500 dollar discount, would not write a sign and drive lease because "Honda doesn't allow that anymore", told me Crosstours were back-ordered and therefore getting premium above list prices, or told they were not interested in my Pilot and would not take it back because they did not sell it originally. Many other dealers were quite nasty to me once they realized and had so much information. These types of dealers don't want you toy know this. If you have heard any of these excuses or sales pitches, you went to the wrong dealer (shame on them) AND you did not do your homework and preparation thoroughly (shame on you). Remember, you CAN get equity credit if it is honestly deserved and the market warrants it. You might have to work to find a dealer who wants your car, but it is worth the effort if it gets you perhaps a thousand bucks or so in your pocket.