Lease buyout
 

My Subaru's lease is ending at the end of the year and I want to buyout the vehicle at lease end.

I've talked to the dealership and they want me to do an inspection on the vehicle for $400, even though i'm buying the car out.

I've called GMAC, and they're saying that I can purchase the vehicle directly from GMAC, and then GMAC would mail me the bill of the vehicle, which I then would have to go to the "Auto Ministry" to transfer the ownership of the vehicle onto my name. GMAC didnt know how/where the Auto Ministry of BC is, and I did a quick google search and couldnt find anything...Ideally i'd like to take this route as it'll skip the $400 inspection fee at the dealership.

Has anyone ever experienced this before?

call up ICBC and find out, i believe they do title transfer....

This is a special situation because although it's a Subaru bought at a Subaru store, the leasing was done with GMAC, and it's actually the leasing company that owns the vehicle - NOT Subaru Canada or the Subaru dealership.

You have no reason to go back to the dealership in this case, unless you want to do it in person with someone and get it done right away - and that isn't "free" - they have to make money somehow if you are going to take up their time, and the $400 or whatever fee is how they pay the bills.

You only need to do a lease-end inspection if you are dropping the vehicle, and there should never be a charge for the inspection. There is only a charge if you have exceeded the allowed KM on the car, or have damaged it, (or worn the brakes/tires/beyond spec)

Look at your leasing contract carefully, there may be a section which details what paperwork or documentation fees you will incurr in addition to the vehicle buyout.

The "Auto Ministry" is what they call ICBC. Once you have paid GMAC for the vehicle, they will mail you a bill of sale, which you take to any ICBC/autoplan office. I'm not sure if you pay the HST on the buyout to GMAC or Autoplan. They will tell you. They will take the old plates and give you new ones once you transfer the vehicle ownership. You cannot keep the plates when you buy out a lease (because the actual ownership changes)

To the OP:

I have leased a subaru from GMAC before.

All you need to do is pay GMAC the residual value + any outstanding payments + TAX (HST, 12%). Once you have paid this amount, GMAC will send you a document/letter saying that you can go to ICBC and change the ownership of your Subaru.

Your dealer is trying to rip you off.

It is unnecessary that the dealer has to perform an inspection on the vehicle, since you are NOT reuturning it to GMAC. (What is your dealership?)

Thanks everyone, I had a feeling I could bypass the dealership and the inspection process since I wanted to purchase the car straight out from GMAC, just didn't realise the "Auto Ministry" was actually ICBC haha

Btw, this dealership is Don Docksteader, however I also called Specialty Subaru and they also have the same process.