This Sucks!

[surf twang]

We leased a 2007 H3x that we loved. It got us through three dangerous situations and was the perfect vehicle for us. The residual value was $26,400 which we thought was high given that high trade-in was around $20,000 (37k miles). We tried to negotiate a better price with GMAC but no deal. They said they would send the truck to auction once I returned it.

The salesman that originally leased the truck to us and the salesman at the Chevy dealer that serviced it and my Corvette both said they could buy it from GMAC but only at the residual value.

So we decided to buy it off the lease anyway. After 2 1/2 hours at my credit union they find out that GMAC is no longer accepting 3rd party lease buy-outs (they called GMAC and got conflicting answers). The last GMAC lease buy out the credit union did was four months ago and they still haven't received the title. So the credit union and/or GMAC wouldn't do the buy out.

OK, so I returned the car to the Chevy dealer. The salesman said he would take the VIN and look for it at auction. We agreed to a price and I walked away from our beloved H3. The H3 sat at the dealer for over two weeks. Last Friday I called GMAC and they had just gotten around to processing it.

I checked with the Chevy salesman today and he just learned that the H3 was just picked up and is heading to a dealer in Texas! WTF? What happened to the auction? The Texas dealer (Sewell?) must have a line into GMAC or are willing to pay high retail for it. I hate GMAC.

[Mike S]

I got my H3 tactical ed through swapalease off the person who leased it new. I was planning to buyout the lease since I only had the truck for year and half and love this truck. The residual is only $20,500. Are you saying I wont be able to buyout my lease?

[surf twang]

You will be able to buy-out the lease through GMAC and perhaps you can find another lender willing to deal with GMAC. My credit union has had problems getting the titles from GMAC so they won't deal with them any more. They think it has something to do with GM and GMAC now being separate companies.

Good luck with your H3. I hope you can keep it. We feel like we were cheated out of a fair chance at keeping ours. I know it's not rational to blame GM for GMAC's actions but it has really dampened our enthusiasm. If there was anything that came close to a Hummer we'd try it but there isn't so our search for a replacement for our H3 goes on...

[Mike S]

Oh I see. Thanks for the info, hopefully i will be able to buy it out. I'll see within the next few months you never know what could happen.Thank you.

[FloridaFeMan]

Originally Posted by surf twang

We leased a 2007 H3x that we loved. It got us through three dangerous situations and was the perfect vehicle for us. The residual value was $26,400 which we thought was high given that high trade-in was around $20,000 (37k miles). We tried to negotiate a better price with GMAC but no deal. They said they would send the truck to auction once I returned it.

The salesman that originally leased the truck to us and the salesman at the Chevy dealer that serviced it and my Corvette both said they could buy it from GMAC but only at the residual value.

So we decided to buy it off the lease anyway. After 2 1/2 hours at my credit union they find out that GMAC is no longer accepting 3rd party lease buy-outs (they called GMAC and got conflicting answers). The last GMAC lease buy out the credit union did was four months ago and they still haven't received the title. So the credit union and/or GMAC wouldn't do the buy out.

OK, so I returned the car to the Chevy dealer. The salesman said he would take the VIN and look for it at auction. We agreed to a price and I walked away from our beloved H3. The H3 sat at the dealer for over two weeks. Last Friday I called GMAC and they had just gotten around to processing it.

I checked with the Chevy salesman today and he just learned that the H3 was just picked up and is heading to a dealer in Texas! WTF? What happened to the auction? The Texas dealer (Sewell?) must have a line into GMAC or are willing to pay high retail for it. I hate GMAC.

That does suck! I feel for you. Are you looking to buy another H3 or are you going to buy something else?

[FloridaFeMan]

Originally Posted by surf twang

You will be able to buy-out the lease through GMAC and perhaps you can find another lender willing to deal with GMAC. My credit union has had problems getting the titles from GMAC so they won't deal with them any more. They think it has something to do with GM and GMAC now being separate companies.

Good luck with your H3. I hope you can keep it. We feel like we were cheated out of a fair chance at keeping ours. I know it's not rational to blame GM for GMAC's actions but it has really dampened our enthusiasm. If there was anything that came close to a Hummer we'd try it but there isn't so our search for a replacement for our H3 goes on...

It may not be Sewell Hummer who bought your H3X. Apparently there is another former Hummer dealer in San Antonio that is buying Hummers from all over the place and is planning on becoming an "exclusive" used Hummer dealer.

[surf twang]

That other Hummer dealer is Ken Bachelor which I believe is owned by Sewell. My question is, how did they know about "my" H3? I thought only me, the Chevy dealer and GMAC knew that I had turned it in. Obviously, someone else knew. My blood still boils when I think about it.

We're looking at both H2's and H3's. If we go with another H3 it will be an Alpha. However, we're so upset with what happened we're looking at other brands as well. There really is nothing else like a Hummer so we'd be compromising if we switched but I tell you, we're really bent over what happened.

[Intercooled]

I leased my first H2. an 05. The residual was pretty good but at the time gas was at $3.99 around here ana the "experts" were calling for gas to go higher. I then said ok, time to move on and returned my H2 to the dealer and bought a TRail Blazer SS. Kept that for about a month and missed my H2 so bad I called the dealer to see if they still had it hanging around. They said it went out about 2 weeks ago. They did a search for the vin but couldnt find it anywhere. I was bummed. But a month later I found my 06 H2 limited edition. It was sitting in ME and wasnt moving. It only had 17K miles on it. But no one wanted Hummers at that point in time and I was able to deal with the Trail Blazer with out much loss. I'll never lease again and learned my lesson. I'll pay the extra gas for the enjoyment on owning a Hummer!

[surf twang]

I think my salesman may have been blowing smoke. I discovered through Autotrader and Carfax that "my" H3 was sold at auction on June 10 and is now on its way to a dealer in Washington state. Now I'm even more annoyed...

Our choice is now between a 2008 H3 Alpha and a 2006 H2 Pacific Blue limited edition. The H3 has only 18,000 and still has lots of factory warranty left. The H2 has 54,500 miles and is out of warranty.