Tips on Buying Cars: Breaking a lease, liability insurance coverage, mileage limit

Question
I am in a 42 month lease on a Honda Civic. The lease started in Nov. 2006. I am allowed 12k miles a year. I am already up to about 30k. I don't want to go over my miles. Should I turn the car in when I hit my mileage limit and just finish making the payments and by a cheap used car? Or should I try to get into a new lease with the same Honda dealer. If there is a third option; I would love to hear it. Any advice?

Answer
1) Turning in a leased vehicle early is ALWAYS expensive.  As you'll hit your mileage limit in less than a year, I don't se this as a realistic option.

2) If you wait till the end and pay the excess mileage charge (assuming you keep piling on the miles at the same rate, and that they'll charge you about 15 cents per mile), then you'll owe about $5,000.  Probably another scenario that doesn't make much sense.

3) Turning in the car early for another lease car will also cost money, as the Honda dealer will merely roll over the excess-mileage charge into the new car. They may tell you that they can make those excess miles just disappear, but I can assure you you'll pay for them regardless.  Please avoid this option.

4) How about this:  pick up a cheap used car as a second vehicle, one that only requires liability insurance coverage, and put most of your miles on that for the duration of the Honda lease.  There are plenty of higher-mileage, well-maintained economy cars out there that can be purchased for less than $2,000, and you'll get most of that back when you go to sell the car. Case in point:  I drive a "beater" car for the winter, saving my Lincoln from the ravages of snow and salt here in Western New York.  I had a '94 Saturn with 140,000 miles that was in good shape, which I paid $1,000 for in October.  Drove it through the winter, spent a grand total of $78 in repairs, and sold it the following April to the first person who looked at- and he offered me $1,200!  You still may have to pay for a few excess miles at the end of the lease, but it should be minimal, and certainly far less than the $5,000 you could be facing.