Ok, so i do car sales for honda so here's some info that might help. while you dont HAVE to put anything down to get in a lease you do need decent/good credit (or a good co-signer) to get a good interest rate. They're gonna check your credit and your monthly income so if you have a ton of cards, loans, etc its definitely gonna hurt if you're not making a lot of money. If you make decent money and have already established solid credit (high 600's low 700s prefereably), that obviously will help A LOT. I would reconsider that down payment though. Save as much as you can for a down payment before its time to buy and if you have decent credit and/or a good co-signer, they're gonna know you're serious and will be more willing to work out a good deal that works for you. Be very clear that you're looking for a $200/month payment from the jump before they to woo you on some other shyt. As a salesman I'm not high-pressure and i try to find shyt that really works for people's situations but that's definitely not the norm in this industry. depending on where you go, they'll try to get your ass.
I made that mistake at a Nissan dealership a couple years ago and while i had the money to blow at the time, now I know the business and how bad i got screwed on my lease payments
. Im still pissed about it but at least i only have 11 months left
If there's one in your area, goto an Autonation dealership. not tryna plug them just cuz I work there but their process is meant to be a lot more transparent & customer-oriented and if its a reputable dealership, they're not gonna try to fukk you over and get you into something you can't pay or overcharge you. plus they dont put extra add-on on their vehicles so you dont end up paying an extra $500 on the sticker price for some accessories you dont even want or care about. Defintely do your research on the dealerships you go to and go for the best customer rated places you can find. Make sure before you agree to a car you have a general idea of the "out the door" cost because theres always gonna be tax, title, registration, etc. tacked on to whatever you agree with, and i know a lot of dealerships aren't as up front about that shyt like we are. At AN, once you ask for our sales "menu" it'll show you all that shyt right there on the menu so you know what you're paying for.
Also, id try to go with honda or toyota just because of their resale value which will help if you wanna trade it in a couple years before your lease is up and get in something even better if your personal situation permits it. Nissans resale value has gone to shyt. i have 2014 sentra SR w/ navigation and its already got negative $5000 equity, meaning the payoff is $17k but its actual value is $12K. I wanted to trade it in but that negative equity essentially gets rolled over on to the price of the next vehicle lease/financing which will hike up your payments like a muthafukka. I was tryna trade for a CRV and with my nissan trade in, and my payments woulda been $540 a month opposed to the $350 Id be paying if i just leased it without the trade in
. If your car has positive equity (hondas & toyotas have great resell value), it can actually do the opposite and help. So if you leased a civic and in 2.5 years the payoff was $8000 but the appraisal value was at $10k, you basically have a $2000 down payment just for trading in your lease early, because dealerships want those cars and they WILL sell. That lil base model 2011 corolla i traded in for that nissan is still prolly worth more than my fukking sentra with push to start & touchscreen navigation
)
