[AlwaysBeDunking]

Hi,
I had a 3 year lease for my Kira Niro PHEV that ends November 2022 at 10k/year mileage. Due to COVID, I've barely put 15k miles in more than 2.5 years on the car.

I got an orange HOV sticker that, IIUC, allows for HOV lane access until end of 2023, I'd love to extend the lease for at least 1 more year (and potentially a bit more).

Does anyone have any advise/tips on how to do this? With the supply chain shortage, car prices being high, are car companies/Kia Finance allowing this extension at all?

I prefer to not buy it out, but could be convinced if it would make economical sense to do so.

 

[atc98092]

The ability to modify the lease is at the sole discretion of the leasing company. The first thing to do is to look over your lease agreement and see if it's addressed anywhere. If not, then contact Kia Financial and ask about it. It's tough to say if they would be amenable to it. Based on used car values today, your car is likely worth much more than the residual value listed on the contract, so it might make financial sense to purchase the car and then sell it yourself. Kia might also want the car back so they can sell it at the current inflated value.

And that is probably the wild card in the question. Today's inflated car values can't/won't continue for the long term. Depending on how long you'd like to keep the car, that inflated value may evaporate before you're ready to sell. Of course, keep the car long enough and that's immaterial. Those inflated values may be gone by November, we really don't know yet. I traded my Niro in with just under a year left on my lease, mostly because like you my mileage was significantly lower than expected for the time used and it was valued well for my trade. And I didn't have to pay over MSRP for my Bolt. No telling what the market will be like when you need to return your lease.

 

[FlNiro]

depends what your residual is? Most people now are happy to buy their car at the end of the lease since the residual is so much less than todays market value.

 

[AlwaysBeDunking]

Thank you for the replies.
It appears that the residual value captured in the agreement is around 17k and checking on kbb shows Fair value to be around 23-24k range. So it appears it might make sense to buy the car off?

 

[FlNiro]

Thank you for the replies.
It appears that the residual value captured in the agreement is around 17k and checking on kbb shows Fair value to be around 23-24k range. So it appears it might make sense to buy the car off?

There's your answer!

 

[Techy]

Thank you for the replies.
It appears that the residual value captured in the agreement is around 17k and checking on kbb shows Fair value to be around 23-24k range. So it appears it might make sense to buy the car off?

Yes and then you can decide whether to sell or finance the purchase, with consideration for rising interest rates.

 

[Peter Jay]

In the current market, I have had a couple of friends buy out their lease, and then make a decent profit selling the car if they no longer wanted to keep it.