I went looking at a couple of 06 GTs on Saturday. Of course they want me to buy NOW instead of waiting for my Toyota lease to mature in February.

Dealer suggest he might be willing to "buy" my lease for x amount, and with the difference I could put the down payment on the GT.

Soooo...I call Toyota and get the payoff info. If he can make it happen should I let them? Has anyone ever done this...how badly will I get ripped off?

I'd like to hear from anyone that's done this or a dealer that has offered something like this.

It is similar to trading your vehicle in. The lease buy-out would be your loan balance, and the dealer would buy-out the lease and then own the Toyota. If the dealer does not roll any money into the Mustang deal you will have been bought out completely from the lease.
Depending on the State you are in the lease vehicle may have no tax savings. The question is if the dealer is able to satisfy your buyout do you want the GT?

I would say definitely yes. If the dealer can satisify the buyout, and the buyout is fair market value (NADA or Kelly both put the value at about 20K) that puts about 2K in my hands -- enough to put the downpayment.

Trouble is...I cannot figure why a Ford dealer would take a Toyota Tacoma as a trade.

Just think of it this way. Let's say that you have $1000 left on your lease payment, and the dealer is willing to buy you out. What they're really only doing is giving you a $1000 incentive on the vehicle.

Sure, it will get you out of your lease. But if you wait out your lease, you should be able to get them to give you the same $1000 then.

In the end, it all comes down to whether you're willing to wait until your lease is up or not.

They aren't taking the Toyota as a trade... when you "buy out" a lease, you don't own the vehicle - you're just paying off the lease. You have to return the vehicle.

(I seriously doubt they'd be purchasing the vehicle... the "end-of-lease" purchase payments are typically way more than the value of the vehicle).

My Ford Dealer bought out my lease on a Civic - it is exactly the same as paying off a loan. They took ownership of the car.

Thanks all that replied. I went back and talked to the dealer last night. He's not quite giving me enough for my buy out lease (enough to pay it off but not enough to make a suitable down payment) as far as I'm concerned but it is almost do-able. Basically said the same as you...they would be buying the leased vechicle and paying to leasing company. The remaining lease payments aren't even considered because the vehicle is no longer leased but bought out.

He's also balking at selling below sticker (yeah right.). Car is about 29K with options.

Guess I should just decide whether I give the truck back to Toyota and make nothing, or let this dealer buy it out for a thousand or so. (Blue Book says 20K Dealer says 18K).

Thanks all.