End of Lease Dealing

So I am three months from the end of my lease and talked to the lease manager on negotiating a buyout. I made it pretty clear the residual (over 16K) is far higher than the value of the vehicle. He said he would check around and see what they might do.

He came back with an offer for $11,000 (and I don't have to make the last 3 payments which brings it down even more barely over $10,000). Basically I would be turning the car in, they would be buying it from Ford Credit (I am sure at an absurdly low auction price) and turn around and sell it back to me at 11,000. I think it holds true that ford credit is not moving on the residual price (a point of principle) but that a dealer can work around the system a bit to get a reasonable price.

I had been all set to check out a new Bolt in a few months. Now I may just be keeping the FFE. It is probably a bad investment to keep as you won't be able to give them away in a year but I do really like the car overall. I do worry about Ford's long term support (battery replacement) of the vehicle. I have a feeling you will need to find an independent to rebuild the battery pack down the road.

Hmmm.

I think it's a bad idea.

The car is obsolete already (100 mile car due soon) and any sub-200 mile car will soon be out of date. You will be better off with a Bolt.

But...if you really love the FFE, I think you will be better of leasing a new one. On the Ford web site, a zero down lease is 250/month. Total cost over three years something like $9K. Three years from now, a six-year-old FFE will be worth very little.

I'm facing this same issue with my Volt...US Bank has said I can buy it for $14K, but it makes no sense...I will lease a new one instead.

I would say it depends on how long you intend to keep the car. That seems like a fair price for a used FFE. If the range meets your needs and you plan to keep it another 4 or 5 years I think it's probably worth it. Battery fade seems to be a big question mark but you might consider whether or not battery fade reducing range would affect the car's usability for you. I outright bough my FFE because I planned to keep it for at least 5 years. I don't remember the exact math I did but buying it was equivalent to leasing it for about 5 years. The difference being I got a "free" car after "leasing" it 5 years. I forgot to mention that I don't put very many miles on the car so battery fade from miles wasn't really a concern. It will take me 16 years to even get close to 80k miles. Still not sure what I'll do with my FFE when I finally get my Model 3. I didn't expect it to be out until 2020ish back when I was shopping for my FFE 2+ years ago. Who knows with Tesla's track record I may not get it until then! :lol: Maybe I'll make the FFE my "winter beater" :lol:

11k isn't horrible, but it's certainly the top end of retail for a used FFE. I bought on the used market for FAR less. I would let that one go, and either find a used one or rent something else (I mean lease... heh.)

Auction prices on these things with 20-25k miles (13's) is running about $7000-$7500. The 14's coming off 2 year leases run about 9k. You won't find those prices unless you find a private sale (or pay a dealer friend to buy you something and cover all his costs with no profit).

ATL-FFE said:

11k isn't horrible, but it's certainly the top end of retail for a used FFE. I bought on the used market for FAR less. I would let that one go, and either find a used one or rent something else (I mean lease... heh.)

Auction prices on these things with 20-25k miles (13's) is running about $7000-$7500. The 14's coming off 2 year leases run about 9k. You won't find those prices unless you find a private sale (or pay a dealer friend to buy you something and cover all his costs with no profit).

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It is a 2014 with 22K miles. The pricing seemed pretty reasonable. Basically 10,070. with the last three lease payments bought out.

If you feel you can offset the cost of the buyback with the amount of gas (or more) then it's worth it.

In my case at $3200/year in gas (comparing to the Volvo S80's usage) I'd need to keep the car many years to offset your buyback price.
The buyback on my 2016 will be around $7200 CAD. So if at the end of the lease the battery draw-down test shows a decent result, and I can envision keeping the car for two more years then I've broken even or better. But as mentioned above, check the market too. The 2017 FFE will be coming out in a few months and with your federal/state rebates it may be more economical for another short lease.

Good luck

I am 9 payments away from my lease end and appreciate your post. My biggest issue is I will be over the 15K miles per year (45K total) on my lease. My lease is charging $.20/mile over 45K which will equate to around $1,500 at my current average miles per month at the end of my lease.

One idea is to buy a used 2013 Focus for around $8-10K and turn in the current Focus before I hit the 45,000 miles to avoid paying the overage and put the $1,500 toward a 2013 lease return Focus Electric vs. fees paying fees to Ford on a car that I likely will not purchase. That is very cool of your Ford Dealer to work with you on buying your Focus.

Ford Credit seemed very matter of fact that the buyout is $14,800 with one exception. Ford Credit notified me of is an "Early Bird" program that lets you turn in the car 3-months early if you buy/lease a new Ford. That would definitely save me from part of the mileage overage costs but unsure I want to lease a new Focus. I like the 100-mile range and $250 lease amount is fairly attractive on new FFE's but hardly worth signing for 3 more years on a car that is already behind the competition.

I have to have electric since it gets me in the Carpool Lane and saves me hours per week in my commute. Not sure what the best plan but if I could take the deal outlined in your original post, I would do it at $11K. I like the idea that I know the history and care of the car - that is worth paying a little more. Keep us updated on your decision.

I did buy it out. I was able to knock the price down to $10,700 for a 2014 FFE with 22K miles. I also do not have the last three lease payments which would have been $930. So for me it cost me $9,770+tax.

I figure this will bridge the gap to longer range vehicles being available at which point we will be a two EV household. With the short range FFE being good for most of the daily driving needs. If the battery holds up, albeit with diminished capacity, to 100K miles I figure it will have paid for it self over an ICE vehicle.

It seems like a pretty good deal, especially considering you know the vehicle's entire history.

If I could find a 2014 Focus Electric with 22K miles for $10,700 I very well might buy it, especially if I like the color.

I'm pondering a couple that are a bit cheaper, but they have either higher milage or are 2013 model year. And for some reason they are all White.

I bought a 2013 Ford Focus Electric with 29K miles for $10,600 (+tax) this afternoon. Yes, it is white.

So at least you got a better deal than I did.

bitguru said:

I bought a 2013 Ford Focus Electric with 29K miles for $10,600 (+tax) this afternoon. Yes, it is white.

So at least you got a better deal than I did.

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Congrats, they are nice little cars if its limitation do not get in the way.