Anyone negotiated on a car lease-end buy?

[pinkmomagain]

I think I just made up that term, but my dh's lease is up and he'd like to buy the car, but not at the price that was part of the original terms. He spoke to them on the phone a while ago and the said they wouldn't come down on the price. But I'm wondering if he'll have any luck when he actually goes to turn the car in next week? Anyone successfully negotiated this, and do you have any tips?

[Jacksonvol]

I did this about 5 years ago. When I sat down with the person to go over the mileage, etc., I offered to pay $x for the car within 24 hrs by cashier's check. It was less than the original price by about $2,000 I think. They just said o.k.. I think I might point out that cars are not selling well right now and a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush or words to that effect.

Good luck!

[HannaAddict]

We had the price lowered over the phone with very little trouble several years ago. We negotiated the price of the car first when we bought it, but decided to lease it for lower payments while I was in law school with intention of buying it at the end. When lease was up, my husband just spoke to the finance company over the phone and asked if they would go lower on the blance and they did and we bought the car. Good luck, I would be surprised they wouldn't jump at the chance to have the car sold and not their problem in this economic climate.

(ETA I think they lowered ours by $2,500 or so, I think the reps have a certain amount of automative give on the price.)

[ohiomom]

WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THIS??!!

Duh. I bought out my lease this spring.

Duh.
:52:

[pinkmomagain]

Thanks for your replies. I think the 2 things that may be working against dh is that 1) it's a luxury brand - BMW, and 2) the mileage he put on the car is very low. Anyways, he's going to go in and try to negoitate in person...great idea about the cashier's check!

[jk3]

Given what is going on with the car market, he should be able to negotiate for a much better price, regardless of the make or model. The financing companies do not want to reclaim leased cars. I would not accept a buyout that wasn't superb at this point. Good luck!