NONE of what KMF told you is correct...
IF you buyout the lease now, RENT is NOT charged. I can tell you this with 100% certainty having done this myself. I am also the OP that posted this and work with contracts for a living...the lease agreement (contract) clearly defines what is owed with a buyout prior to maturity. it is called Adjusted Lease Balance and DOES NOT INCLUDE remaining rent.
Tax is another story and depends on the state and how the state taxes a lease. That is up to you to know and is probably worth a call to the DMV and not KMF to find this out.
This is from the buyout page on KMF...
"*sales tax is collected by HCA in the states of AZ, CA, CT, ID, KS, ME, MI, MS, NV, NJ, NY, OH, TN, UT, WA & WI. In all other states taxes are collected by the state typically at the time of registration. Please call us for detailed information regarding sales tax remittance on your individual buyout situation."
I am assuming you are in UT based on location. That being said, the buyout amount shown on the KMF Buyout Page would INCLUDE sales tax.
KMF rep does not have a damn clue what is going on. Even if they did, not sure they would tell you otherwise. Any company makes money on the lease via the RENT charge. that is the only way they can "afford" to give lease cash deals. That is the true price you pay to lease and have a new car every few years if you want that route. If you intend to keep this car, then buyout sooner than later is best option. The longer you wait the more RENT you will pay.
100% Agree. People can say all sorts of things on the phone, and either:
A. Not know what they are talking about.
or
B. Know what they are saying and are instructed to do so to discourage early buyouts of leasing the Stinger.
They can't charge you Rent on an early buyout.
Think of it this way:
– When you get a car loan, you can pay it off early, by paying off the principal. You are NOT charged interest on paying off the principal. That is illegal.
or
– When you get a mortgage, you can also pay off the principal and again, the bank cannot legally charge you interest on paying against the balance early. I personally saved over $60,000 (over the remainder of the term) by paying off my mortgage early. I didn't say "Hey, I want to pay off my mortgage, but charge me 10yrs x all those monthly payments w/interest please." Uh no. I get an actuary table, and validate the Bank just gave me the remaining principal charges and boom - done.
A lease is - 100% - JUST ANOTHER TTYPE OF LOAN. A costly, complicatedly structured loan, but none-the-less a loan. The CAR, not money, is what is loaned to you in a car lease. Once you pay them the balance for it, you give the car back - loan paid off with interest. You can then purchase or walk way.
NOW: If the person at KMF thought you were speaking to paying off the 36 month term only, and not buying out the entire car, then yes, you must pay the total stream of those 36 months payments with the interest/rent built in. HOWEVER, if you are buying out the car entirely in cash or a loan from another bank, etc... and they understood you are doing a buyout, residual and all, then no, they cannot charge you rent.
I'm sure dozens of people on this blog (and others) can show you their paperwork, their legal contract, and how the Lease Cash pays off if you go the least to buyout route.
And no. KMF would rather NO ONE ever do this!!! And few people do.... However, it seems quite popular with the Stinger, due to the fact Kia's Money Factor is close to insanely high. Of course to offset that rate, they provide a healthy dose of Lease Cash to re-aqcquire over the term.
As a result, it appears many people are taking advantage of the large lease cash offerings, purchasing their Stinger via the lease program. I'm sure KMF is NOT happy with the amount of people doing this, but they are offering this, so hey, take advantage of what people offer. Nothing unethical about that at all.
Good luck!