leasing a car

nxhappy

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thinking about leasing a car/suv for the wife. It would be about 30-50% cheaper than her current car (non leased) at $400/month. She drives like 5000 miles a year. I would like to sell her car before it drops value. I have never leased before ...is this a bad idea ???
 

buffalosoldier

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Outside of owning a hobby car, I can't think of any good reason to not lease a daily driver. If it gets wrecked you are not stuck with diminished value. If the paint peels off, not your problem, if it needs a $5000 battery, you dont own it any longer. You don't pay sales tax on the entire amount. You don't need to buy a warranty on a car you only have 3 years. You can negotate the residual value. Eventually almost any car you own is worth zilch and all the money is gone. I can think of more but owning a car is mostly just an expense.

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buffalosoldier

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Also if you find you really like the car you can buy it at the end of the lease.

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nxhappy

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Outside of owning a hobby car, I can't think of any good reason to not lease a daily driver. If it gets wrecked you are not stuck with diminished value. If the paint peels off, not your problem, if it needs a $5000 battery, you dont own it any longer. You don't pay sales tax on the entire amount. You don't need to buy a warranty on a car you only have 3 years. You can negotate the residual value. Eventually almost any car you own is worth zilch and all the money is gone. I can think of more but owning a car is mostly just an expense.

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well, I am looking at it as cost savings. There are a few SUVs we can lease for $200/month. we pay $400 right now.
 

me32

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Lease is great if plan to drive under the miles allowed. And yes it will save money on sales tax.
 

nxhappy

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Lease is great if plan to drive under the miles allowed. And yes it will save money on sales tax.
saving sales tax is a huge boner. the mileage is easy, she drives like 5k-7k a year.
 

RedVenom48

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Just make sure you get the wear and tear protection. If you end up taking the lease to term and turn it in, they will nitpick the everlasting shit out of any damage.

When I leased my Lexus and turned it in, they had a 3rd party vendor inspect it. Listed pits in the windshield, tire and brake wear, measured paint thickness to verify all panels met the required standard.

If it wasn't for that, I would have owed them a few grand easy to be done with the lease turn in.

If you end up liking the leasing aspect, I think they treat leased cars like trade vehicles if you lease another car before your term is up.
 

Kevins89notch

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If you end up taking the lease to term and turn it in, they will nitpick the everlasting shit out of any damage.

I laugh every time someone says that. An old coworker got side swiped in a parking lot, and someone offered to fix it on the cheap, in the same parking lot. (read: SCAM). Dude came to my coworker's apartment, and bondoed and spray painted it for like $250. It looked like ass from 50 feet...and it was a leased car. I told him how ****ed he was but he insisted it didn't look that bad and maybe they wouldn't notice.
 

specracer

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Leasing is not "cheaper" in the long run. Remember you have nothing at the end of the lease. Your basically renting the vehicle. Also be careful, often super low leases are masked by a large cash cap reduction (down payment). Also ask if your state has a personal property / excise tax. In MA this is not included in the lease, so you get a nice bill from your town.

With that said, we have leased many vehicles. These have been high end SUVs that are daily drivers. These are complicated, and expensive vehicles to fix, so turning them in and moving to the next (with out any trade in negotiation), while still in warranty (maintenance is even included), works for us.
 

crazy4life

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Do not put any money down on a lease. The monthly payment will be higher but you could lose every penny in the case of a total loss. Put 3000 down on a lease and my kid totaled the car in 3 months with 1200 miles on it. Since the car is not yours and is owned by the leasing company, your insurance company negotiates with them and not you. Goodbye 3000 dollars. Had a neighbor trade his car worth 8000 and same thing happened to him. Totaled car and not a word from the insurance company because he does not own the car the leasing company does. I still lease vehicles but will not put 1 penny down on them. See many leases advertised for 200 a month for 24 months with 2500 down. Same lease is 305 a month with no money down. Also in PA the advertised price does not include the tax. You will pay 9% tax on the vehicle. This is basically a tax on the rental fee on the vehicle. A 200 a month advertised lease is really 218 once the monthly tax is added.
 

DAVESVT2000

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My wife had three ford focus’ in a row, all leased, all were sticks - manuals.

she did a lot of driving for her job at the time and work reimbursement pretty much paid for everything on the car.

fast forward a few years and she no longer has that job, and decided she wanted to try a small suv - Ford Escape.

we leased it, that way if she didn’t like it we could turn it in at the end.

well, she loved it. Lease was up, we turned it in, and bought her the Lincoln version a 2019 MKC because there were huge rebates and zero percent financing.

so in some cases leasing works, in some cases it doesn’t. Up to you and your personal reasons and goals.
 

buffalosoldier

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I have a friend that paid over a hundred grand for a mercedes SL 5500 and a woman Tboned it, the insurance co wouldn't total it, It took five months to repair, the insurance wouldn't pay for it to be certified and he sold it after the repair for $32,000. He said I will never own another car. That is a great reason to lease your daily driver.

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nxhappy

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I understand both have pros and cons. My main thinking was: she never drives that far, her current 2017 is depreciating, and the payment is $400/mnth. If she can get a brand new car for $200 is seems like a win win. of course the down payment is also a factor.
 

me32

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Do not put any money down on a lease. The monthly payment will be higher but you could lose every penny in the case of a total loss. Put 3000 down on a lease and my kid totaled the car in 3 months with 1200 miles on it. Since the car is not yours and is owned by the leasing company, your insurance company negotiates with them and not you. Goodbye 3000 dollars. Had a neighbor trade his car worth 8000 and same thing happened to him. Totaled car and not a word from the insurance company because he does not own the car the leasing company does. I still lease vehicles but will not put 1 penny down on them. See many leases advertised for 200 a month for 24 months with 2500 down. Same lease is 305 a month with no money down. Also in PA the advertised price does not include the tax. You will pay 9% tax on the vehicle. This is basically a tax on the rental fee on the vehicle. A 200 a month advertised lease is really 218 once the monthly tax is added.

Correct do not put money down on a lease. Its like throwing the money in the toilet. Pay it monthly.
 

Ohio Snake

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The intended use of the car, price, mileage and payments factor into a lease or purchase. Ive gone both ways. My current SUV is a daily driver purchase. I drive around 15K miles per year and found paying a higher monthly purchase payment was still in my budget and I own the vehicle or I can trade in on a newer later on.

Interestingly, I find a 12K mileage lease for a so-called luxury brand (BMW, MB, Audi) for around 36-42 months can have competitive payments when compared to a domestic similar equipped vehicle 60 month lease.

My last 2 BMW’s were a lease, whereas my Explorer Platinum is a purchase.


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08mojo

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I understand both have pros and cons. My main thinking was: she never drives that far, her current 2017 is depreciating, and the payment is $400/mnth. If she can get a brand new car for $200 is seems like a win win. of course the down payment is also a factor.

As others have said: avoid putting money down. It does not change the total price of the lease --it just puts your cash at risk. Sure, the monthly payment looks better, but the total cost of the lease should be the same.

I'm currently leasing my car. I do not believe I will lease again. While I do like to swap cars every 2-4 years, I find I'm better off buying a 2-3 year old car and letting someone else take the initial depreciation hit. With a lease, you're stuck for the term (there are ways out of a lease, but they're not typically attractive). Then you also have to be cognisant that you are driving a car that will be inspected when it's time to turn it in--and you'll be on the hook for the damage.

With an owned car, none of these are an issue. If there's damage at trade-in: it's negotiable and up to you if it should be repaired. Car is a pile of crap: you can sell it immediately. Car is awesome: you can keep it as long as you'd like. Want to travel cross country 10x per year: who cares, the mileage has no limit/penalty. Want to keep it clean and low miles to increase resell: you can, it's your decision.

I suppose I just have commitment issues....

I put some $ down because the dealer matched it. Something to consider.

I don't know the details...but the cost of the car at the time of purchase (the lease in this case) and the residual value of the car are both negotiable. The dealer, likely, did not come out of pocket with any cash--they just negotiated the deal differently.
 

Mentos

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Sounds like leasing is the way to go for OP.

I’ve been back and forth on leasing my next vehicle. I’m just worried about putting miles on it. Is it better to buy extra miles up front, especially if you know you’ll go over the limit? Will it cost me and arm and leg to buy extra miles?
 

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