What kind of experiences has anyone had recenetly with PFS at lease end? The lease on my 997S is up in a few months and I am not sure what to do. I like the car but the buy-out is around $62 and the book is around $50k. Are they negotiating buy-outs or just taking a beating at auction?

 

My wife's Cayenne S lease with PFS was up late last year. They wouldn't even extend it (as they had previously been willing to do) unless we ordered a new pcar (which we did) (so we extended for 3 months until the new car arrived). They absolutely refused to negotiate on the buyout - no way, no how is what they and the dealer told me.

 

they wont budge that much.
return it.

 

BMW FS was the same way as my 550i was coming off lease. I mentioned it to the Porsche dealer and he said they have insurance on the residual value, so they (lease company) don't care and won't sell for less.

Seems like whoever is writing that insurance is going to be taking a bath, and already has been, on lease ends for a while.

 

I can assure you that whoever wrote the "insurance" they speak of, has already factored in the declining values in their policy/hedge, and have been compensated quite nicely.

 

I have a related question on lease end of previous cars, the "general rule" was that as long as there are no major dings, scratches or dents larger than a credit card, that was considered normal wear and tear. My car has no dents at all, but has many many small rock chips in the hood and front fascia...normal stuff from the highway driving, and all are less in size than a very tiny pea. I had the same issue on my prior BMW leases, and never had any issues at all. I assume same will hold for Porsche, and there is no need for me to have the hood "sprayed" prior to returning the car? I was more concerned I would get dinged for painting the car. Any insight from prior peeps would be helpful.

Lastly, on same topic, I have also modified the exhaust and improved the springs with the Techarts. While I am sure the safest thing to do here is return all to stock, if they have made the car better, do you think Porsche would even scrutinize to that level to notice?

 

I had a Audi RS4 that I returned off of lease. I also had rockchips in the front facia and they nailed me for it. It wasn't terribly noticable, but enough for them to get me.

 

Wow...that is amazing. I would have thought that was "normal wear and tear" that is BS

 

Thats what I said. 2 weeks before the end of my lease, the transmission went out (on a 52,000 mile car), and they wanted to charge me $12k for it. After fighting over that for 3 weeks, I figured I wasnt going to fight the rock chips.

 

Curious what did they charge you?

 

If I recall, it was something like $300.

 

Sorry, I don't know how PFS works but when you turn in a leased BMW it is pretty cut and dried. BMW sends you an approximately 3x5 inch plastic tool that has various measures on it (e.g. tread depth indicator, a circular cutout for acceptable rock chips and I think a template for minor dings). Anything that falls outside the lines on the guide they will charge you for. I'm guessing that PFS has a similar guide that they send you and that determinations of "normal wear and tear" are not arbitrary.

 

Audi offers a market-based dealer-only payoff quote once you're within 90 days of an Audi lease end. This allows the dealer to value your trade much closer to its actual value than your contractual payoff amount. We took this option earlier this year on my wife's car and saved quite a bit. I'm surprised other brands don't have something similar.

 

I have a totally different experience. My Cayenne S lease was up Jan 2009. I called early last Nov to ask about a discounted pay-off and PFS said no. The residual was $42k and no way I was willing to pay that. I called again in late Nov and PFS offered $36k. I declined. Called again mid Dec and PFS asked me to make an offer. I blurted out $30k. PFS called back two hours later to accept. The $12k discount was sweet and market correct. dave

 

Yet another reason why it may make sense to lease. Not only are you transferring the risk of depreciation beyond the residual to the lessor, you may directly benefit from any excess depreciation.