kziggy

Hello everyone! I am looking to trade my wife's 2009 Lexus RX350 in on a 2016 Q5. Don't want to do the buy route with it possibly coming from Mexico.
Was thinking of leasing a 2015 for a couple of years,then buying a new Q5 that had most of the bugs ironed out of the car. I would like to know the best way to go about it. Lexus is probably worth around $20,000 on a trade in, I do not want to put all of it down on the Q5. If I would put a couple thousand down would the dealer give me the remainder of the trade in back?

Thanks for any advise

Sugadaddy

I wouldn't put anything down on a lease. Either sell your RX privately, or if you want to trade it in have the dealer write you a check.

That's what I did last year with my GTI. I ended up selling it myself for 2000$ more than what the dealer was offering, but it took a month. Maybe not worth the hassle depending on what the dealer is offering you.

Buckwheat2088

Sell the Lexus privately. But if you don't want to hassle with a private sale, get a trade-in number in writing from the dealer FIRST. Don't mention that you are interested in a lease. Dealers always low ball you with trade-in values. I was offered $4500 for my 2004 Acura TSX when buying a Q7, but sold it privately for just over $8k. Glad I did.

audi40

I'd suggest taking the Lexus to Carmax also and see what they'll give you for it - I used them last year when my wife was car shopping and it was a hassle-free, painless process, not to mention they gave me a much better price than the dealer was offering (even when considering the sales tax savings I would have gotten on the trade).

kziggy

Thanks everyone for your help. There is a Audi dealer near me that advertises he will buy your car whether you buy off him or not. Would do the private thing except for the hassle.

Shobaffum

I traded in my A4 for a Q5. I put some of it down on the lease and the dealer wrote me a check for the rest, as the OP was wondering.

Redd

Ziggy-
See if there's a CarMax anywhere near you. They'll make a simple and not totally unreasonable offer to buy your old car, a fast clean deal. You will lose somewhat since trading the car in reduces your sales tax on the new car, but I doubt any dealer will BUY your car outright at any better price to give you cash back.

Leasing is the most expensive way to own or operate cars, and gives the dealer the greatest profit. Pretty much every finance guide (Forbes, Wall Street Journal, NYTimes) and every "car" guide has said that for 35 years now, since it got popular in the 80's, and that's never changed.

If you want to look at money? Whether you sell it privately (which gets you the best price but still no sales tax reduction) or trade it in, the best bet is to just BUY the damned new car. Unless you know exactly how many miles you will be driving, the lease will always steal an overage or unused mileage charge from you. And that's just the start.

ex-quattro PETE

Probably closer to $17K, unless it's got very low miles and is in mint condition.

I agree with others - take it to CarMax. When wife was trying to sell her 2008 C300, CarMax gave the highest offer.