Buyers Market for Off-Lease Cars and Trucks Right Around the Corner

Find Your Perfect Off-lease (Almost) New Vehicle

Washington DC May 1, 2015; AIADA Online reported that there's a buyers' market brewing in "nearly new" off-lease cars and trucks, according to Forbes.

Many auto lenders cut back or even quit leasing entirely in the recession, because they were reluctant to take a chance on how much cars and trucks would be worth when they came back at lease end.

In leasing, the lender bears the risk of what the vehicle will actually be worth at lease end. That means the lender could be stuck with a loss if the actual value at lease end is a lot less than the lender predicted when the lease began.

As the recession ended, lenders realized it was safe to get back in the leasing water. According to J.D. Power and Associates, around 3.1 million leases are due to expire in 2016, up from about 2.3 million in 2015. In 2012, lease maturities bottomed out at only about 1.3 million, the research and consulting firm said. Supply and demand suggest that prices for 3-year-old off-lease vehicles should come down, as the supply gets more abundant.

However, analysts don't expect "nearly new" used vehicles to become dirt cheap overnight. Read more about the market for off-lease vehicles here.