Lease-End Loose Ends - Brief Article - Column

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, May, 2000

The lease on our 1997 Plymouth Voyager SE minivan ends shortly, and the bank will sell the van to us for $14,750. Is that a good deal? --MARGIE CRAGAN, Walden, N.Y.

It depends on whether you want to keep the van. The buyout price is very close to the average selling price for similar used vehicles-$14,579--in your area. So there's little chance that you could buy the van and then sell it for enough profit to justify the hassle.

If you're happy with the van, however, and want to keep it, $14,750 is probably a fair price, particularly if it's in tiptop shape. One advantage of buying at the end of a lease is that you know exactly how well the van has been cared for. By the way, a comparable 2000 Dodge minivan (DaimlerChrysler dropped the Plymouth name last year) would cost about $24,000. --ED HENRY

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