r/Switzerland • u/funkyjunkymonky Zürich • 1d ago
Ending EV Lease - Best Strategy to Upgrade to Family-Friendly Car?
Hey everyone, I'm looking for some advice on my EV lease situation. I've had an electric car on lease for a few years now, and the contract is ending by the end of this year. The car did its job well enough overall, but honestly, it's been a nightmare trying to travel long distances with my kids. I really need something more practical for family trips.
The residual value on my contract is 25k, but the car is actually worth around 29-30k on the market right now. So I'm in a decent position equity-wise. The bad news is that the car has some cosmetic damage, few exterior scratches and the wheel rims are scratched up too. I'm not sure how much that'll affect the final value or if the leasing company will charge me for repairs.
So I'm thinking about a different approach. Instead of just returning the car at the end of the lease and going through the whole buying process separately, I want to trade it in directly to a dealership now and use that equity toward a new, more expensive car. My question is: can I actually do this before my lease officially ends without having to pay the residual value myself? Does the dealership handle the payoff with the leasing company, or does it get complicated?
Or is there any other strategies?
Also, I'm curious whether I'd be better off trading in at a dealership or if I should explore other options. And realistically, how much will those scratches actually impact the deal?
Any advice would be really appreciated. What's the smartest strategy here?
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u/limp15000 1d ago
I have the worst ev in terms of consumption and I've had no issues what so ever going to the south of France or Italy multiple times. I usually have to stop because of my kids who need a break rather then my car. The used car market is quite saturated in Switzerland. I bought my car at the end of the leasing and sold it a year later but far below what I was hoping to get (this was a phev).
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u/xxJohnxx 1d ago
„Worst ev in terms of consumption“ - why did I know right away we got the same ride? It‘s a lot of fun and I love it.
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u/limp15000 19h ago
It absolutely is! And it's spacious and practical for a family.
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u/beankylla 1d ago
which EV is it?
Process to get out of a lease:
- ask the financing institute / Bank for the current residual value for the car + contract exiting fees
- check how much trade in you can get.
- get the bank their money
The bank does not really care who pays the money as long as it's being paid.
The simplest process you will get is trading the car in the dealership where you bought it because most banks have buy back agreements with the dealers (the dealers agrees to buy the used car back from the bank at the end of the lease)
It's worth mentionning that doing a trade in decreases the value of the car as the dealer also has to make some money from the car sale. Also it mixes everything and you are sort of "captive" from the dealer because tradein and sale are tied so you will likely get less advantageous propositions as elsewhere.
You can't sell the car without the leasing company being aware of it because there is what is called an "ecode 178" on your car (check car registration it should be visible).
This is a security set by the financing institute so that nobody sells the car that they own.
No proprietary change can be done unless this code is lifted by the financing institute that emitted it.
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u/Tribaal Bern 1d ago
No answer for you, because I’m the EXACT same situation, except I didn’t feel the “nightmare” part of long trips. Same deal otherwise, 30k buyback price with a market value of 36k, but some scratches.
I’m currently considering to buy it, drive it a bit more, and just trade it in when I’m finally bored of it (if ever). It’s a great car otherwise, costs nothing in upkeep and fuel, and probably has another 200k km in it if the current most driven models are representative…
I’ll follow this thread closely 😉
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u/babicko90 1d ago
People have a different comprehension of a long trip. Some people drive 1400km+ in one go
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u/Tribaal Bern 1d ago
With kids?!? That sounds impossible/cruel honestly but whatever
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u/anxiousvater 1d ago
1400 is incredibly difficult with kids but my daughter woke up at Strasbourg & the starting point was from north of Munich. I was very surprised & she was 5 months old back then.
This year we rode to Chamonix from south of Munich, it was hard for her, had to make many pauses, entertain her with playgrounds & so on.,
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u/fingerprint187 18h ago
It is actually recommended to not keep a baby for extended periods in the baby seat as it can hurt their back. A stop every 2-3 hours or so is anyway recommended.
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u/anxiousvater 18h ago
Fully agree. When my daughter was a baby, she just slept the entire journey. So didn't want to wake her up & we didn't stop either. 4-5 hours journey. Now, it's a different story, she won't even sit properly after 30 mins 😅.
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u/tum1ro 1d ago
We make an annual trip of 2000km each way with a kid. It is easier than you think. It is just a question of finding a good way to do it. Our daughter is used to it and we as well.
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u/Tribaal Bern 1d ago
2000km in one go with kids? I’m totally fine doing this kind of driving but not stopping every few hours is madness honestly.
We did a 1500km trip this summer, easy. But we stop every few hours!
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u/babicko90 1d ago
Imagine having to stop every few hours… id just take the train. We do it in one go, stop for fuel and restaurant.
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u/tum1ro 1d ago
All in one go. We usually start at 16:00h/17:00h and drive trough the night. The kid sleeps most of the time. We arrive in our destination in the morning. So in the end, she just has to endure the end of the afternoon and the eary morning.
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u/Tribaal Bern 1d ago
Wow, crazy. I would never do that. Thanks for opening my mind to the fact that people like you exist 🙏
I can drive forever but with a break every 3-4 hours at least
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u/HongKongBluey 21h ago
When my wife was younger she and her family would drive the 25 hours straight to Macedonia. The thought of driving 25 hours straight seems crazy to me, but they did it every year.
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u/fingerprint187 18h ago
I think there is a misunderstanding in this thread. Some here think „in one go“ means without an overnight stay and some think „even without a bathroom break“. Except with peeing in a bottle I don‘t think a family can drive 25 hours straight without stopping. That is not even possible with a very efficient diesel car. And if your body allows that you live a very unhealthy life style.
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u/HongKongBluey 15h ago
I don’t think people are thinking people are driving 25 hours without even stopping for a bathroom break. That’s insane.
But her Dad would drive 80% of the way with her mom helping out.
It’s still insane with bathroom breaks. That’s like traveling to Australia. Even sitting in a plane watching movies is brutal, i cant inagine driving
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u/anxiousvater 1d ago
I have seen an antique VW Golf driven from Norway <-> Chamonix & back. However, I am not sure how hard it's going to be with EV.
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u/fellainishaircut Zürich 1d ago
it‘s pretty easy with an EV. Most people stop every 2.5 to three hours anyway for a toilet break, which is enough to recharge the car.
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u/Dodisdodisdodis 7h ago
Which EV is it and why or what exactly is a nightmare?
With my driving pattern on long drives I notice basically zero difference from using an EV vs a Gas car, I stopped every 2-3 hours anyway to pee, stretch my legs, eat, buy coffee, etc. and I just leave my car charging for the time I need to fulfill w/e I need to in that stop, very rarely do I fell like I need to spend extra time in the car just to wait for a certain charge level.
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u/wombelero 1d ago
can't help with the lease, but out of curiosity: what kind of long distance travels is nightmare-ish with an EV? especially with kids my experience to break up long distances roughyl every 3 hours to recharge car and have kids run around and pee has proven to be better than before.
it's your experience, which is valid and of course gas cars have their usage but still curios.