Buy out my lease, or do something else?

Our 2021 Tacoma TRD OR lease is ending 4/2/2024. The truck currently has 25K miles and is in good condition. I’m trying to decide if I’d like to keep it, or turn it in. The Tacoma is the wife’s daily driver and she likes the truck a lot, but we haven’t treated it like a truck we were purchasing. We’ve done all the maintenance and haven’t beat the truck up, I mean it’s seen three salty winters and a few trips on the beach without the frame being coated for rust. The rust that is starting looks less severe than pictures I’ve seen for similar year trucks from very rusty areas. Cape Cod doesn’t get that much snow, but they do salt with regular rock salt. If I buy out I doubt I’ll keep it past 10 years, so other than losing some resale the rust shouldn’t affect our ownership much. If we’re buying it I can address the rust and start coating it now.

Numbers wise the lease buyout looks like we’re a little ahead of private party on a similar truck. MSRP was $42K, the 39 month lease buyout is $31K. Looking at the car market in January 2021, the subsidized lease with the high residual made it seem like this truck was sure to be turned in at the end. With the market today the truck looks like a fair purchase. We’re not much ahead in equity, but similar trucks with similar miles are advertised in the $36-38K range retail. I thought about extending the lease with the low payment as long as possible and then turning it in. Does anyone have recent experience with extending?

If I do purchase I need to add the extended warranty this week, before the 1/2/2024 expiration of the factory warranty. I would buy the 10 year 100K for $1360. Even if I can extend the lease the warranty could be cancelled for a pro rated refund later.

If we turn in the Tacoma we won’t need to buy another vehicle for a while. My wife can drive my 2021 Bronco for at least the summer (Bronco is a garage queen not driven in winter since I have an employer provided truck I daily), and could drive our 2001 Ford Expedition next winter. If we were buying something else we like the idea of the 1958 Land Cruiser, or since we have a bunch of surplus solar capacity an EV is cost effective for us. The 2024 Tacomas look good, but like the Land Cruiser I’d rather let them mature for a couple years before buying.

 

for 31k I would buy it. low miles and you know it's been treated well and maintained. Plus, you will still be ahead value wise if you decide to sell in another year or 2.

 

If you can get by with one vehicle, that's what I would do and pocket the $$ saved for a down payment on your dream truck a year or two down the road.

 

I agree it’s better you get something you know. Also you can get it undercoated. I purchased mine as a certified and coated the frame. There wasn’t much rust even in upper nys so I guessed it was regularly body/frame washed throughout. I wirebrushed and treated a couple small spots then sprayed crc. Frame still looks new. Do what you can afford.

 

Do you have any pics of the rust on suspension, frame, and axles? I might think about getting out of it with 3 salty winters with no surface shield. Problem with rust is usually in the the metal on metal areas and under rubber stuff you cant see until you start taking stuff apart. And shielding after the fact may not get in those places.

 

If she is the primary driver . More than likely she will want the 4th gen . Price is not bad with the milage .

 

I just purchased out my lease on Saturday. 2021 SR5 DBLC. My buy out was $29k. Couldn't buy one for that so it made sense to keep it. I know how it has been driven and maintained. One step ahead of buying something used that I don't know anything about.

 

My TRD OR lease ended in early December with a residual of a little south of 28K. I bought it. My truck was heavily modified so I didn't have much choice. I am also a 2 car family with 2 cars, not 4. The 31k residual situation isn't quite as good as mine but your truck spec is probably nicer. Yours also has slightly lower miles. I don't think Id give the truck back to Toyota if I were you, I would sell it privately or trade it in and capitalize on your equity. Save the money for whatever comes down the road, house shit, new car, investments, etc.

 

I'm in almost exactly the same spot and without a doubt will be buying mine. There's not a single clean, low mileage used Tacoma like mine for sale anywhere near my $31k buyout. We have taken very good care of ours but did use it like a truck and it's been perfect for us.

Exactly.

My issue now is trying to buy it out without the dealer taking advantage of me with extra fees and such. I have until May so I can do more research (and hopefully the rates come down a bit).

 

Walk away. Why pay on a used vehicle if you dont need to.
We used to vacation on the cape when I was little. The boy and girl whos family ran the motel used to tell me. " don't go in the water the shaak will get you"

 

I actually just mailed out a check to purchase my lease. I initially leased because I wasn’t sure if I’d like having a truck, but decided pretty early on I would buy it out and have modified it fairly heavily since then. Like others have mentioned, I know the truck’s maintenance history, how it was treated, I owed less than what the value is, and that it has been quite a useful vehicle.

 

My 19 month old 2022 TRDOR already has 30k on it. 20k of it Fla to NY trips. Good thing I didn't lease it. Really thought it'd be a low mileage vehicle until my parents and mother in law decided to live in Fla full time. Now make regular trips down every few months. Other car is a Wrangler and I rather do a long trip on horseback than in that. I think I'll be one of the super high mileage Tacomas in 10 years or so.

 

We could certainly live without the Tacoma, but the wife likes it and it does everything we need well enough. If I were smart I’d sell my Bronco that gets driven 2500 miles a year and just keep the Tacoma, but I really enjoy the topless stick shift fun truck in the summer and it’s the only manual transmission vehicle we have.

I’ll add, I’m in a position to write a check to buy out the lease, so I won’t have a big monthly payment. If I don’t buy the truck I’ll put that money towards mortgage principal to take time off the back end. I’m hoping to refi the house for a better rate at a shorter term in the next 12-18 months.

 

Well I think the OP stated that it kind of hasn’t …

 

I mean it’s up to you… come April 31k will likely be just about market value. The resales have been tanking along with the entire car market.

if you like the truck keep it but it doesn’t seem like you need it ?

 

Happy wife happy life. Despite that, I'd buy the truck out as well.

 

Read it again.

"The Tacoma is the wife’s daily driver and she likes the truck a lot, but we haven’t treated it like a truck we were purchasing. We’ve done all the maintenance and haven’t beat the truck up"

 

$31k is below the trade in value, so the smart money is on buying it out. If you decide you don't want to keep it you'll be able to turn around and sell it to Carvana for a nice $3-4k profit.

 

“The Tacoma is the wife’s daily driver and she likes the truck a lot, but we haven’t treated it like a truck we were purchasing”

 

OP says right after it's well maintained, and the truck hasn't been beaten up. He means treated the frame as it has some corrosion if you continue to read and makes it sound like its not that bad.