Registration Renewal

SmoothJ

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I lease traded with a gentleman for his 23 MME GTPE, and it has around 16 months left on the lease. Fast forward to now, and I am about to hit 12 months left. However I found an issue that I am not sure what to do.

When the original gentleman leased the vehicle, the dealership apparently didn’t span the whole lease and only did 36 out of the 39 months. Normally I would just eat the registration fee and be done with it. However since there’s the extra “EV tax” in NJ, the registration comes out to well over $300 for the year.

I don’t want to “risk it” by driving in registered, so I am left 2 options really - pay the yearly registration fee for 3 months of use, or get another car before then.

Any other ideas from those that might have been in this situation?
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CameraCarl

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Is it possible to turn the car in at the 36 month mark instead of waiting until 39 months? Is there a penalty for early turn in?
 


Tampamike

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My dealer sends me stuff weekly about trading in my lease early and I still have 5 months left.
 

E90alex

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Is it possible to turn the car in at the 36 month mark instead of waiting until 39 months? Is there a penalty for early turn in?
You are responsible for the rest of the contract so basically you’ll have to buy it out if you want out early.

So you would have to pay the remainder of lease repayments plus the buyout price and you would only get get whatever the dealer offers for trade in value. Meaning most likely you would be completely upside down. In which case it would likely be far better to pay the registration and ride out the last 3 months.
 

Triggerhappy007

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Risk it, just follow the law and you'll be fine. I risked it for a year.
 

NY_Cade69

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So lease vehicles wouldn't follow your birthday for registrations?
(never had a leased car, so ignorant on this)
 

DesertRat46

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Just got my license plate for my new 2025. $657 here in California.
 
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SmoothJ

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Risk it, just follow the law and you'll be fine. I risked it for a year.
I would love to do this, and even the original owner said the same. However I can't do this with my current job and the type of vetting they do.

So lease vehicles wouldn't follow your birthday for registrations?
(never had a leased car, so ignorant on this)
No, its based on the vehicle's original date of registration and usually good for only a year. However if you buy or lease a new car, you can get one for X term instead of yearly.
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