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Need some lease return advice

trez63

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I have a Launch Edition 2020 Gladiator with 22000 miles on it. The buyout is $44K. My lease is up in July. I'm in CA so a buyout would have a 8% tax ...

Two small problems:

1) Small crack on the corner of the original windshield.
2) Couple of superficial scratches on the driver door from when I had the door taken off ...

My questions are:
- How much will Jeep charge me for the above items if I were to return it as is.
- Will they insist on OEM replacement of the windshield or does an aftermarket part suffice? It's like an $800 difference in price. Will they even notices it's not OEM?

I already got my new truck so the Jeep been sitting on the driveway. I kind of wish there was some incentive for returning it early and with such low miles but obviously there isn't. And for some reason Gladiator values have fallen despite the crazy market (I priced out every carmax-like site), my guess is the fuel economy is just not desirable right now. Any specific advice that can save me some headache and money would be appreciated.
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Summitsearcher

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I’ve leased many. What you described sounds like normal wear and tear for 22,000 miles. Look at the conditions of your lease agreement. Mine never required replacement of windshield unless chip bigger than a quarter or run longer than two inches. Paint Chips I wouldn’t worry about. That truck will be gone as is for the residual value at auction in a heartbeat. 💯
 

Pedal Metal

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I’ve leased many. What you described sounds like normal wear and tear for 22,000 miles. Look at the conditions of your lease agreement. Mine never required replacement of windshield unless chip bigger than a quarter or run longer than two inches. Paint Chips I wouldn’t worry about. That truck will be gone as is for the residual value at auction in a heartbeat. 💯
Completely agree that reasonable wear and tear is acceptable.

Note, I’ve never leased and likely never will. I realize, that wasn’t your question, but just qualifying my answer from the point of view of a reasonable person with life experience and even some contracting and lease accounting experience.
 
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The Bean

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I lease all my vehicles and have never kept any the full term of the lease. You can trade your lease in on your new vehicle instead of turning it in. Trading it allows you to utilize the equity in the vehicle (basically what the vehicle is currently worth, and the total cost of buying out the lease) and use that towards the price of the new jeep. It works just the same as if you were trading in a financed car. Dealer pays off the car and you pocket the difference or can apply it to the new one. Plus, there’s no “turn-in” inspection or anything with a trade like there is if you just turned it back in.
 
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trez63

trez63

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I’ve leased many. What you described sounds like normal wear and tear for 22,000 miles. Look at the conditions of your lease agreement. Mine never required replacement of windshield unless chip bigger than a quarter or run longer than two inches. Paint Chips I wouldn’t worry about. That truck will be gone as is for the residual value at auction in a heartbeat. 💯

I should have been a bit more clear on the size of the crack. It's about 5 inches. I am sure it doesn't fit within the accepted parameters ... The scratches will easily buff out but I wonder if I should even bother with those.
 

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trez63

trez63

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I lease all my vehicles and have never kept any the full term of the lease. You can trade your lease in on your new vehicle instead of turning it in. Trading it allows you to utilize the equity in the vehicle (basically what the vehicle is currently worth, and the total cost of buying out the lease) and use that towards the price of the new jeep. It works just the same as if you were trading in a financed car. Dealer pays off the car and you pocket the difference or can apply it to the new one. Plus, there’s no “turn-in” inspection or anything with a trade like there is if you just turned it back in.
Yeah, it's a little late for that. I actually was a bit of a fool in this case. My RIVIAN R1T got delivered about 6 weeks ago and RIVIAN offered me $46k for the Gladiator in trade. I turned it down thinking I could get more from one of the other services. As it turned out $46k was the best I could do.
Unfortunately the market for these vehicles is very soft right now compared to nearly everything else.
 

ricky0018

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Yeah, it's a little late for that. I actually was a bit of a fool in this case. My RIVIAN R1T got delivered about 6 weeks ago and RIVIAN offered me $46k for the Gladiator in trade. I turned it down thinking I could get more from one of the other services. As it turned out $46k was the best I could do.
Unfortunately the market for these vehicles is very soft right now compared to nearly everything else.
How's that Rivian treating you? Been drooling over those since plans were announced and the first built for The Long Way Up documentary.
 

Labswine

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I leased my Gladiator and my Wife's 2019 GC Ltd.

NEVER do that again. I bought out the leases early. Only had to pay what ever sales tax wasn't covered by the lease at that point. In PA, the 6% sales tax is only applied monthly to the lease payment so when you buy out the lease, you pay the balance of sales tax owed when you transfer the title from the lease to your own name.

I was very disappointed in how little equity was gained on my part in the vehicles after leasing for 2 1/2 years. The pay offs were pretty much for how much I leased them for initially.

To me, the only advantage of leasing was it got me into the cars I wanted for about half of what the monthly payments would have been if I took a 6 year note to purchase. My Gladiator would have been ~$760/month where the lease was only $390/month (principle and tax). The wife's GC would have been like $590/month where as the lease payment was only $352/month (principle and tax).

So, in that sense, if I wasn't going to keep the vehicles and turned them in at the end of the lease for new ones, yeah it works. But, I really love both cars and now that they're paid off, NO CAR PAYMENTS :rock: :rock: :rock:
 
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HorneyBadger

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You should have received a pamphlet "Lease-End Guide" if you went through Chrysler Capital for your lease. It explains everything and also provides details on lease end inspection before turning it in.
 

Gvsukids

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I should have been a bit more clear on the size of the crack. It's about 5 inches. I am sure it doesn't fit within the accepted parameters ... The scratches will easily buff out but I wonder if I should even bother with those.
If you have glass coverage, the windshield will be replaced for free.
 

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DirkG

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@trez63, are you in the OC? I see several Rivians in the area (most are Launch Green).

I've leased most of my cars (I purchase at lease end when I want them) and have experience with all of the end of term options.

I know at this point, you want a no-drama turn in and be on your way.

For most manufacturers, there's the first guy at the dealership who gives the car a once-over and if nothing sticks out, then they'll take it back and have the used car evaluator examine the car. That evaluator has a defined check-list that he uses to evaluate if you abided by your terms of the lease and also to examine how much the vehicle will be worth at auction. Most go to auction, but some may stay on the dealer lot if the dealer wants the vehicle. The evaluator usually comes in once a week, so IMO, I would turn it in on a Friday afternoon. Because of the once-over, I would definitely get the windshield fixed. Go the cheaper route; they probably won't notice or if they do, probably won't penalize you. Leave the scratches - most likely wear and tear (assuming they can buff out or be lightly repaired).

Don't mention a thing on turn-in. In fact, I wouldn't say a word other than it was a great truck and now you own a Rivian and enjoy it. Toss the keys, sign some paperwork, and be on your way. Very important: I would sign the Release of Liability Form on the CA DMV website. That way you release your liability immediately when you turn in your vehicle to the dealership. Get a copy of the turn-in sheet that the dealer has you sign.

Now, I've had some manufacturers send me a report of the turn-in results from the evaluator (with or without fees), while others have not sent a thing. This is my first Jeep, so I'm not sure if you'll get a results report from the inspection.
 

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Can't comment on the lease thing, but I was super impressed by the two R1T's I've seen so far. One was RIGHT in front of us at a Santa Monica hotel valet drop off. VERY tidy size, very similar to the JT, that's EXCELLENT and the opposite of the "Hummer" zombie truck. Saw one later at the country club, didn't figure out whose it was, but even my wife remarked it was svelte. She wants an electric, but it's killing me she says "we already have a pickup" and "we already have a Jeep" - kind of hoist by my own petard, there.

Yeah, it's a little late for that. I actually was a bit of a fool in this case. My RIVIAN R1T got delivered about 6 weeks ago and RIVIAN offered me $46k for the Gladiator in trade. I turned it down thinking I could get more from one of the other services. As it turned out $46k was the best I could do.
Unfortunately the market for these vehicles is very soft right now compared to nearly everything else.
 

Pedal Metal

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I should have been a bit more clear on the size of the crack. It's about 5 inches. I am sure it doesn't fit within the accepted parameters ... The scratches will easily buff out but I wonder if I should even bother with those.
From My point of view the size of the crack does not matter unless they can prove negligence from the pov of improper caretaking of their asset. Given the propensity of Jeep windshields cracking from every day use, I think you are on solid ground to argue that a crack in the corner is a common occurrence due to improper instal and / or the nature of the Jeep windshield design. Thus, normal wear and tear. Now, if you rolled the rig, removed the windshield and flexed it, let you neighborhood kid throw rocks at it, drove with the windshield down at any rate of speed; then, I’d say it’s yours to replace it.
 
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trez63

trez63

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@trez63, are you in the OC? I see several Rivians in the area (most are Launch Green).

I've leased most of my cars (I purchase at lease end when I want them) and have experience with all of the end of term options.

I know at this point, you want a no-drama turn in and be on your way.

For most manufacturers, there's the first guy at the dealership who gives the car a once-over and if nothing sticks out, then they'll take it back and have the used car evaluator examine the car. That evaluator has a defined check-list that he uses to evaluate if you abided by your terms of the lease and also to examine how much the vehicle will be worth at auction. Most go to auction, but some may stay on the dealer lot if the dealer wants the vehicle. The evaluator usually comes in once a week, so IMO, I would turn it in on a Friday afternoon. Because of the once-over, I would definitely get the windshield fixed. Go the cheaper route; they probably won't notice or if they do, probably won't penalize you. Leave the scratches - most likely wear and tear (assuming they can buff out or be lightly repaired).

Don't mention a thing on turn-in. In fact, I wouldn't say a word other than it was a great truck and now you own a Rivian and enjoy it. Toss the keys, sign some paperwork, and be on your way. Very important: I would sign the Release of Liability Form on the CA DMV website. That way you release your liability immediately when you turn in your vehicle to the dealership. Get a copy of the turn-in sheet that the dealer has you sign.

Now, I've had some manufacturers send me a report of the turn-in results from the evaluator (with or without fees), while others have not sent a thing. This is my first Jeep, so I'm not sure if you'll get a results report from the inspection.
Yes, I am in OC. My R1T is white. So far it's been awesome. It does have quite a few little bugs but they're all software related and OTA updates have been fixing them slowly.

Thanks for the advice. I might arrange to get it returned early and do so as is, that way if they give me any issues I can hopefully ask for it back so I can get them fixed myself. I'd be okay with upto $1000 in extra fees but past that it would be hard to justify for a small crack.
 
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trez63

trez63

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I was very disappointed in how little equity was gained on my part in the vehicles after leasing for 2 1/2 years. The pay offs were pretty much for how much I leased them for initially.
You're not really looking at it in the right light imo. Leasing can be great in a normal market is you're looking to get a new truck/car every 2-3 years. That describes me to a T. In this market however, the value is close to the residual. If we were in a normal market, the value would be far less than the residual and you'd be glad you leased instead of buy.

Normal Market value after 3 yrs on a MSRP of $62k would likely be close to $36k, but my residual being 44K means that I only paid based on a $18k loss in value vs a $26k loss in value if I had purchased.
Add the fact that I can write off the lease entirely without having to bother with depreciating the asset and lease ends up looking great.

In the current crazy market though I don't think it makes a difference either way. Except for the fact that I'm still saving the the 8% tax on $44k which is $3500.

I know there are a lot of wanna be accountants that will tell you leasing is for fools, but for the right person (myself) it makes way more sense than a purchase.

Now with my R1T I purchased it outright because they don't offer leasing yet, and knowing that I was getting it at a 30% discount with $60k+ in equity, buying was a no-brainer.
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