I bought myself an early birthday present. I figured I might as well do the deal now while I still had some bargaining power. I also know myself well enough to know I’d be obsessing about it until I actually made the purchase. It’s quite a relief to know for sure what’s going to happen.

The dealer in Hamilton is going to fix up the scratches on the bumper that I would have had to pay for upon returning the car. They also discounted the price of the car for the amount of my last lease payment, so basically they’re buying out the lease. There was also a check engine light showing on the dashboard. They plugged the car into a computer and turned that off. It was nothing serious, but I’m sure it would have cost me at least $100 if I had to pay for it. When my new car arrives, they’re going to spend a day cleaning up my old one before I take it back to the dealership in Oakville. That should make the end-of-lease inspection go a lot smoother.

The final deal is that I give them $3000 when I pick up the car (minus the $500 deposit I gave them today), and a month later I start paying $460 per month for the next four years. The buyout at the end of the lease is only $10,800, which is pretty reasonable. To compare, people are selling the 2002 Legacy for about $15,000 right now, and it isn’t as well-equipped as mine.

Now all I have to do is wait for my birthday present to arrive. 🙂