Tips on Buying Cars: returning a leased vehicle, leasing company, new hey

Question
We are at the end of our lease and want to turn in our vehicle.  We called the dealership where we got the vehicle from to make an appointment to return it and they told us that they will not take the lease back unless we repurchased the vehicle or bought another one.  They told us that they are refusing the vehicle.  My question is can they do that???  No where in our contract does it state that.  We have fulfilled our end of the contract, now they need to fulfill theirs.  Please Help!!!

Answer
I've never heard of such a thing, particularly if your lease doesn't specify a different location for returning the vehicle.  Obviously, the dealer is trying to to make sure you do business with him and no one else.  You should contact the leasing company immediately and let them know what this dealer is doing.  If they absolutely refuse to take back the car, then the leasing company has to provide you with an alternate location to turn in the car.  Whichever way you go, please make sure you get a signed and completed condition report when you turn in the car.  If no damage or excessive wear-and-tear is listed, then they can't come back to you later and try to charge for it.  Ask the leasing company if they have a "pre-turn-in" inspection available, where they will look at the car and advise you of what needs to be fixed BEFORE you actually turn it in.  Let's say you have a cracked tail light lens.  If you wait until you turn in the car, then they're going to go to the dealership's parts department and charge you several hundred dollars for a brand-new lens.  But nothing in the lease says that the part has to be brand new (hey, the car is already 2-4 years old, right?).  If you were aware of the need for a NON-CRACKED lens before you turned it in, you could go on eBay and find a good used one for as little as 1/10th the price.  A pre-turn-in inspection can save the consumer hundreds and hundreds of dollars.

If you have any more questions, please don't hesitate to ask.  That's what we're here for.