long_time_Acura_owner

Really? How dealers became dealers? They spend millions to get a dealership from a car manufacturer. More investment dealers do more profit car manufacturer makes. Without dealers making good money car manufacturers cannot keep nor expand their market share and customer base. Dealer profit has everything to do with a car manufacturer success. You need to learn a little bit of critical thinking instead of just repeating clichés. What Honda would have been without its dealers? Dealers cannot sell cars if they do not make profit. More profit they make more car they can sell. PERIOD.

Not true. Both Honda and GM clearly stated that they want to have their dealers to have "quality used cars." That is a benefit to both GM and Honda as their dealers profit directly benefits the factory. Problems is if they want to have quality used cars then they should compete in the market. I have terminated a car lease in the past and in the middle of the term by selling to an independent dealer who paid it off and Honda had no problem with it. Why they suddenly decided to change it? Because instead of supporting their dealers by direct financial assistance or direct discounts to dealers they are taking away a long stablished practice in car leasing business. It is a well understood and accepted term that lessee can sell the car to whomever he wants whenever he wants. That is why on my monthly statement from Acura they show the CURRENT payoff (not the end of lease payoff)

Honda / Acura adopted the same policy. I filed a complaint with very effective Federal Consumer Financial Support Bureau (https://www.consumerfinance.gov/) and California Attorney General. I encourage everyone to do the same.

If a lessee has to buy a leased car first then sell it to another dealer he has to pay sales tax and registration fees. That is how Honda and GM are abusing the system and the consumer.

For a lessee who want to sell his / her leased car to some independent dealer buying the car from GM / Honda/Acura first and then selling it means they have to pay sales tax and registration fees that may cost thousands of dollars extra. GM and Honda are violating the federal anti-trust laws by eliminating or restricting the independent dealers from the market the big auto manufacturers have dominated. Every lessee is entitled to sell his car whenever he wants to and to whom ever he wants to as long as he pays the payoff amount which is included in the contract. GM and Honda see that used car values are up due to pandemic and they are trying to make more money by violating a long accepted practice in leased car business.