You Wouldn’t Expect That From Honda

The lease on my 2006 Honda Pilot (yes, I have young kids) is up at month’s end, so I’m shopping for a new car. It’s not exactly the best time to be looking for a new vehicle, what with financing costs sky high.

Anyway, I figured I would see what lease-end options Honda offered. Let me first say, my experience with American Honda Finance Co. has been stellar since Day One. Just class all the way. That is, until today.

That’s because today I called the end-of-lease department at Honda. What Honda offers at lease end essentially amounts to a crummy deal for consumers. There is no end-of-lease buyout option, but that’s not necessarily surprising considering Honda resale values. What is surprising is that Honda only offers a “lease extension” of up to two years at exactly the same rate as during the new-car lease term.

That is remarkable. Honda is essentially milking the customer on a residual value way below what it was at the start of the original lease. When I mentioned this to the Honda rep, she said Honda “could not change the lease contract.” If this is not bull, it is certainly close to it. First, my lease contract is over on April 30, and even if the lease contract stays in effect for some reason (why, I have no idea), any contract can be amended as long as both parties are in agreement. That’s how contracts work. Otherwise, a new lease agreement can be written up.

What Honda is really telling me (and its other lease-end customers, I presume) is we’re not going to help you. Either we’ll stick you with an inflated now-used-car lease payments or give us back the car. As my colleague Alex Kwanten said, “You wouldn’t expect that from Honda.” Well, no thank you, Honda. In one phone call, I went from a Honda faithful to an I’ll-probably-never-lease-or-buy-from-Honda-again consumer. Now where is the number for that Hyundai dealership nearby …