Tips on Buying Cars: buying out my car at the end of the lease, ford motor credit, leasing companies

Question
my car is due to end the lease in march, it is a lexis300 it has 29,000 miles on it... when we went to see about buing a new car the guy told us that our car would be auctioned because we smoked in it... how can i get the car for under the end of term 18,000 buy out.

Answer
Simple: make them an offer.  Some leasing companies will consider it, while others (like Ford Motor Credit) won't even listen, even if your offer is more than they can possibly get at auction, or from the dealer.  I would also check your local papers to see just what a same-year ES300 is currently going for.  No sense in paying the lease company $18000 if you can buy locally for $16,000.  And, if the Lexus name is not particularly important to you, consider a used Camry or Avalon- both cars are built on the same platform as the ES300, with many of the same parts.  Frankly, I'd take the Avalon over the Lexus- I really think it's a nicer car, but that's just MHO.