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Buying Car After Lease...Need Advice

sawyer4340

Ready to race!
Hi!

I currently lease a 2010 VW GTI and am looking at buying it out at the end of the lease. It's my baby, has relatively low km's, and I know how it has been driven and maintained, which is a major part of the reason I want to keep it.

My question is, the VW dealer is asking for me to pay for the safety on the car. This is strange to me as I haven't heard of anyone else having to do this. Also, when I spoke to them last week, they made it sound like it is a cost that they would cover, however I may have misunderstood what they said.

My lease is up on Saturday, so any input would be greatly appreciated.

Also, has anyone else ever gone through the process of buying out a leased car before? And if so, any tips or things to look out for that the dealer may try to ding me on?

Thanks,
 

mk7matteo

Go Kart Champion
Bump - I'm looking to buy out my lease as well
 

MichaelGTi

Ready to race!
Hi!

I currently lease a 2010 VW GTI and am looking at buying it out at the end of the lease. It's my baby, has relatively low km's, and I know how it has been driven and maintained, which is a major part of the reason I want to keep it.

My question is, the VW dealer is asking for me to pay for the safety on the car. This is strange to me as I haven't heard of anyone else having to do this. Also, when I spoke to them last week, they made it sound like it is a cost that they would cover, however I may have misunderstood what they said.

My lease is up on Saturday, so any input would be greatly appreciated.

Also, has anyone else ever gone through the process of buying out a leased car before? And if so, any tips or things to look out for that the dealer may try to ding me on?

Thanks,
The safety isn't a dealer requirement, its for the MTO to transfer the ownership from VW to you. Its required everytime a vehicle changes hands in Ontario to ensure it is road worty. If you're keeping the same plates you are exempt from the e-test for now. I'd be very surprised if they were covering it, it can get very expensive if work is required to pass the safety inspection. We always require our clients to provide it to us to avoid any issues with repair costs.
You will have to pay an admin fee or buyout fee of some kind, dealers do not make profit (usually, there are always the shady ones...confirm the payout via your original lease agreement or with vw to confirm the amount) on the buyout as it is a fixed # on your lease all going back to the lessor. Not sure how much they will charge as it varies from dealer to dealer, anywhere from $100-500 should be the range. You should not have to pay excess km's or wear/tear as it doesn't affect the value for them at all so just be weary of that otherwise it's pretty easy for the consumer, the dealer will handle all the paperwork with you.
 

sawyer4340

Ready to race!
Thanks for the input everyone!

So far my experience in the buying out process has been great. Great service and professional help.

However I have run into some issues with the dealer regarding communication, to the point where the lack of communication has ended up costing me a few hundred dollars. Things should smooth out and I only have a few more days until this is worked out and in my hands, but until them my fingers are crossed that nothing else goes wrong.
 

sawyer4340

Ready to race!
Oh that's good to know

As far as I know, you can negotiate leases only if you can prove your car is worth more or less than the residual value in the lease agreement that you have signed. As far as I have researched, this doesn't happen all too often.
 

sawyer4340

Ready to race!
The safety isn't a dealer requirement, its for the MTO to transfer the ownership from VW to you. Its required everytime a vehicle changes hands in Ontario to ensure it is road worty. If you're keeping the same plates you are exempt from the e-test for now. I'd be very surprised if they were covering it, it can get very expensive if work is required to pass the safety inspection. We always require our clients to provide it to us to avoid any issues with repair costs.
You will have to pay an admin fee or buyout fee of some kind, dealers do not make profit (usually, there are always the shady ones...confirm the payout via your original lease agreement or with vw to confirm the amount) on the buyout as it is a fixed # on your lease all going back to the lessor. Not sure how much they will charge as it varies from dealer to dealer, anywhere from $100-500 should be the range. You should not have to pay excess km's or wear/tear as it doesn't affect the value for them at all so just be weary of that otherwise it's pretty easy for the consumer, the dealer will handle all the paperwork with you.

Thanks! The fee they have me paying is $500 + another fee for a carfax report or something like that. As for the $ amount I am paying, it matches the residual value on the lease 100%.

As far as I can tell, no additional hidden fees or charges are headed my way.
 

boostedmk6

Go Kart Champion
The safety isn't a dealer requirement, its for the MTO to transfer the ownership from VW to you. Its required everytime a vehicle changes hands in Ontario to ensure it is road worty. If you're keeping the same plates you are exempt from the e-test for now. I'd be very surprised if they were covering it, it can get very expensive if work is required to pass the safety inspection. We always require our clients to provide it to us to avoid any issues with repair costs.
You will have to pay an admin fee or buyout fee of some kind, dealers do not make profit (usually, there are always the shady ones...confirm the payout via your original lease agreement or with vw to confirm the amount) on the buyout as it is a fixed # on your lease all going back to the lessor. Not sure how much they will charge as it varies from dealer to dealer, anywhere from $100-500 should be the range. You should not have to pay excess km's or wear/tear as it doesn't affect the value for them at all so just be weary of that otherwise it's pretty easy for the consumer, the dealer will handle all the paperwork with you.

Can someone confirm the part about not needing e-test if keeping the same plates?
 

MichaelGTi

Ready to race!
Can someone confirm the part about not needing e-test if keeping the same plates?
If you're buying out your lease that's already plated to you, you do not need the e-test because the plates are not changing. If your wife or friend or whoever buys it, then the mto needs the e-test because the plate portion of the registration is changing. You need the safety because the vehicle portion of the registration is changing. You would need both if selling or buying a used car to be able to put it on the road.

It works out well for modded leased vehicles, no need to worry about not passing when buying it out.
 

darkorb

Go Kart Champion
I bought out my car after lease. They didn't need to do emmission (its a 2008 car and i bought it out in 2012 when lease ended) but i needed to pay for my safety (they would have done free at dealer, but i have a rear fog light so had to take elsewhere..)
 

sawyer4340

Ready to race!
Kind of off topic, but I went to get my safety, and they failed it because my rear brakes were worn too low. This is strange as my fronts aren't needing to be replaced.

Would anyone know why my rear brakes are to the point of repair, but my fronts aren't? I had the understanding that if anything, the fronts should need replacing before the rears as they do most of the work when braking.

Not sure if this matters, but my car is at 73,000 km.
 
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