Lease Return Experience

[trez63]

I posted here a few months ago in anticipation of returning my 2020 Gladiator LE lease.
The truck had 25k miles on it, it was nearly flawless with a couple of exceptions:

1) Windshield had a 6" crack in the bottom passenger side corner and a small .5" one in the center
2) Several 4" scratches on driver door
3) Tires and brakes had never been changed

Overall it was in excellent condition otherwise.

I contemplated fixing all of the above ahead of my inspection but I got so busy with work that I figured f- it. I'll just deal with whatever they end up doing to me. I did however have the scratches on the door buffed out. I also bought a $20 window repair kit and fixed the small .5" crack but the 6" crack really can't be fixed with those kits, but I did get some of the stuff in there and hoped for the best. It was still visible.

For my inspection, a very nice dude showed up at my house, and spent about 10 minutes with the car while I was on a zoom call. He then handed me a $0 statement saying the truck was in great shape and I don't owe anything. I thanked him and didn't say shit.

This was about 6 weeks before my lease was up but since I wasn't using the truck anymore I returned it a couple of days after the inspection cause I didn't want to risk anything else happening to it. (Lot of catalytic converter thefts lately)

I dropped it off at the dealer two weeks ago and I was told that they'll go over it and if there's anything else they'll let me know.
Chrysler told me today that we're all set and done and the account is closed!

Boy I'm glad I didn't make any of the repairs now. The windshield alone (since I had the cold weather pack on the LE) would have been $1800+ to replace. Tires and brakes would have easily cost me another $1500.

Suffice it to say I'm very very happy with the outcome.

I'm not saying you should take that risk and return as is, but it worked out for me. You should definitely do the inspection early though cause that at least gave me some documentation than an expert certifies the truck is in good shape.

Sorry for the long writeup. But I was looking for something like this a month ago and couldn't find anything.

It's been great being a part of this community. Thank you for all the great posts!
Cheers

Sponsored

 

[KWin]

what are you driving now?

 

[KoBear]

The used market is still hot. Shoulda sold the rights to your lease to a dealership.

My cousin just made $5k on his lease.

 

[RIDERED67]

Lol windshields are usually replaced for free or a small deductible by most insurance companies and you certainly should not have needed brakes and tires at 25k.

You got all hot and sweaty for nothin lol

 

[GOCAMPN]

I have never leased before, but I am surprised at how well that went for you. Nice. I will also second the fact that your brakes and tires still had plenty of life and windshields are pocket change with the right insurance. All in all though, it's great that you didn't get hassled for anything.

 

[Mister Lamb]

@25k miles and a lease residual pre-Covid how did you not buy?! You couldve flipped it immediately for a profit, guaranteed. It's no wonder they were so nice!!!

 

[Sprinkler-Fitter]

I posted here a few months ago in anticipation of returning my 2020 Gladiator LE lease.
The truck had 25k miles on it, it was nearly flawless with a couple of exceptions:

1) Windshield had a 6" crack in the bottom passenger side corner and a small .5" one in the center
2) Several 4" scratches on driver door
3) Tires and brakes had never been changed

Overall it was in excellent condition otherwise.

I contemplated fixing all of the above ahead of my inspection but I got so busy with work that I figured f- it. I'll just deal with whatever they end up doing to me. I did however have the scratches on the door buffed out. I also bought a $20 window repair kit and fixed the small .5" crack but the 6" crack really can't be fixed with those kits, but I did get some of the stuff in there and hoped for the best. It was still visible.

For my inspection, a very nice dude showed up at my house, and spent about 10 minutes with the car while I was on a zoom call. He then handed me a $0 statement saying the truck was in great shape and I don't owe anything. I thanked him and didn't say shit.

This was about 6 weeks before my lease was up but since I wasn't using the truck anymore I returned it a couple of days after the inspection cause I didn't want to risk anything else happening to it. (Lot of catalytic converter thefts lately)

I dropped it off at the dealer two weeks ago and I was told that they'll go over it and if there's anything else they'll let me know.
Chrysler told me today that we're all set and done and the account is closed!

Boy I'm glad I didn't make any of the repairs now. The windshield alone (since I had the cold weather pack on the LE) would have been $1800+ to replace. Tires and brakes would have easily cost me another $1500.

Suffice it to say I'm very very happy with the outcome.

I'm not saying you should take that risk and return as is, but it worked out for me. You should definitely do the inspection early though cause that at least gave me some documentation than an expert certifies the truck is in good shape.

Sorry for the long writeup. But I was looking for something like this a month ago and couldn't find anything.

It's been great being a part of this community. Thank you for all the great posts!
Cheers

Shouldn’t have needed brakes or tires with only 25,000 miles

 

[Deleted member 24880]

I most likely will be purchasing my Gladiator here in a few months at the end of my lease due to the current craziness and my residual being about $10k less than i could find a uses one for. I honestly have never had an issue or big penalty when turning in a lease and my wife and I have lease ALOT of vehicles in the last 20 yrs. Glad you had a great experience.

 

[punk'n]

Lol windshields are usually replaced for free or a small deductible by most insurance companies and you certainly should not have needed brakes and tires at 25k.

You got all hot and sweaty for nothin lol

Depends on the state. Some states require insurance to replace windshield at zero cost to the owner. Other states, it goes against your comprehensive deductible which can be $2500 +/-.

I have collector insurance on one vehicle. Non-negotiable windshield deductible is $1500. My regular insurance has no windshield provision, meaning it goes against your deductible before they pay up.

Over the years, I've paid out of pocket for windshields on a few vehicles since my deductible was higher than the windshields.

 

[KoBear]

@25k miles and a lease residual pre-Covid how did you not buy?! You couldve flipped it immediately for a profit, guaranteed. It's no wonder they were so nice!!!

You don’t even need to buy it and flip it. Most dealers will buy the rights to your buy out. They buy it and then send you a check.

 

[Labswine]

I leased both my vehicles...2019 GC Ltd. and my 2020 Overland (delivered 7/19).

I bought out the leases on both so I now own both vehicles outright.

My experience in buying out the leases...called the lessors and got payoff and balance of taxes owed. Here in PA, you only pay sales tax on what you use so the total is broken down into the monthly lease payments.

I was shocked as to how little of the principle was paid down over the course of the leases (each about 2.5 years out of 3).

So, when I paid off the leases, I paid the leasing companies the balance owed plus the residual sales tax. They sent me a check made payable to PA DMV so that when I went to converted the titles from the lessor to my name, the check went into the PA DMV no muss, no fuss, using a title company. (Actually this was a good thing because I had overheard them complaining about a customer writing a personal check that bounced and screwed everything up down the road for everyone).

After that experience, I'll NEVER lease again. Yes, it got me into the two vehicles I really wanted for a LOT less than financing. Gladiator would have been like $750/month for 5 years and the GC like $600/month for the same period. Instead, the Gladiator was $390/month and the GC $352/month. Much more affordable.

 

[trez63]

Just to respond to all these great comments:

• The new truck is a RIVIAN R1T
• For everyone who thinks they have equity in their trucks you can see my post where I tried to get fair value for my Gladiator using every single option possible and didn't get anywhere near what I thought: Link to post. Suffice it to say what KBB trade-in value shows and what you will actually get as an offer from KBB is miles and miles apart. Same with every other service. This was a serious reality check because my sentiment was exactly the same as everyone on this thread before I actually tried...
• I have leased 10+ vehicles in the past 20 years and I've had much less wear on tires and brakes that I was required to replace. So your opinion of 25k being within range is just that, an opinion. It's not the reality of what you'll deal with when you actually try and return the lease.
• My insurance deductible is $1000 because I have 20+ vehicles on the same policy and filing a claim for a broken windshield is just about the dumbest thing I could do. My insurance doesn't have a free windshield replacement clause. If yours does, then obviously that's what you should do.
• I won't get into the details on purchase vs lease because people get really worked up over the topic. I own several vehicles and still lease at lease one and write off the lease payments through the business. Makes financial sense for me, maybe not for someone else. Unfortunately RIVIAN doesn't have a lease program yet ...

Anyway, the good news is I loved the Gladiator while I had it, and now a perfectly good used Gladiator can go to the next owner who can rest easy it was treated very well.

Sponsored