Tips for a vehicle leasing virgin??

[Rev]

So the couple of cars that I've owned have been used and old. I'm finally going to be leasing something for the first time hopefully pretty soon, but I just want to make sure I'm not being hustled. I'm the type that takes forever to make certain purchase and such because I want to feel certain about it.

I don't wanna finance anything because I barely do 7K miles a year as it is, and I don't want to commit like that. I know that with a lease I'll get something new in 3 years, but I'll have to put about $2K down or so each time...right?

For reference...I live in NYC, my driving record is pretty spotless (one speeding ticket in '05, and a couple stop sign tickets 3 years ago...blah), been driving for 14 years, and - tho I haven't checked my score in ages - I can argue that my credit is damn near immaculate.

So, say I wanna walk in and lease a 2015-16 Honda Odyssey...GMC Acadia or something along those lines. First and foremost, thoughts on those vehicles...and then what should I really be looking for when negotiating? Can I walk out of there paying under $300 a month and only putting like $2K down, while having leather and a sunroof?

Looking for all types of feedback. Help ya boy!

 

[AtomicUse]

An engineer I work with actually figured out it would make more financial sense for him to just rent a zipcar whenever he needed a vehicle instead of leasing a car, we live in Chicago.

Leasing, in my opinion, is dumb. Don't do it.

 

[unit321]

So the couple of cars that I've owned have been used and old. I'm finally going to be leasing something for the first time hopefully pretty soon, but I just want to make sure I'm not being hustled. I'm the type that takes forever to make certain purchase and such because I want to feel certain about it.

I don't wanna finance anything because I barely do 7K miles a year as it is, and I don't want to commit like that. I know that with a lease I'll get something new in 3 years, but I'll have to put about $2K down or so each time...right?

For reference...I live in NYC, my driving record is pretty spotless (one speeding ticket in '05, and a couple stop sign tickets 3 years ago...blah), been driving for 14 years, and - tho I haven't checked my score in ages - I can argue that my credit is damn near immaculate.

So, say I wanna walk in and lease a 2015-16 Honda Odyssey...GMC Acadia or something along those lines. First and foremost, thoughts on those vehicles...and then what should I really be looking for when negotiating? Can I walk out of there paying under $300 a month and only putting like $2K down, while having leather and a sunroof?

Looking for all types of feedback. Help ya boy!

With leasing, you have zero equity when the lease is over. If you don't care, then get whatever you want.

 

[The Refiner]

Leasing is about vanity. You would rather spend more to rent something new than to save money in the long run and OWN something older.

Furthermore, putting a down payment to lease something is the just something I will never understand.

I'd only lease an Accord or Camry because the payments are only $200, and I'm putting no money down. Those are MY terms.

 

[88m3]

With leasing, you have zero equity when the lease is over. If you don't care, then get whatever you want.

you're given a buy out price minus what you paid on agreed price and depreciation.



no cost in upkeep, new car every few years

cars aren't worth shlt for the most part and unless they're something that holds their value well... you're dealing with a depreciating asset no matter what.


for myself leasing vs financing they're honestly about the same.

 

[Rev]

@88m3 @SweatOutWeaves @unit321 this is the issueeeee...one side says, "finance instead because you're just throwing money away with a lease", and the other side says, "just lease so that you can have less responsibility and won't be stuck with it down the road".

shiit, i've had my 99 Grand Marquis for 5 years, and it's flown by. maybe if i buy something, time will fly too. can i pay like $300 a month with very little money down for a new Odyssey? it'd kinda hurt to put another $2K in cash down every three years tho...

FUKK!

 

[88m3]

@88m3 @SweatOutWeaves @unit321 this is the issueeeee...one side says, "finance instead because you're just throwing money away with a lease", and the other side says, "just lease so that you can have less responsibility and won't be stuck with it down the road".

shiit, i've had my 99 Grand Marquis for 5 years, and it's flown by. maybe if i buy something, time will fly too. can i pay like $300 a month with very little money down for a new Odyssey? it'd kinda hurt to put another $2K in cash down every three years tho...

FUKK!

Yes, I think you could could get a lease or buy for $300 a month for sure. I honestly don't know much about American or Asian cars anymore. I'd guess they're around 30-45k? Dealers are looking to make money and make deals. I knocked 3k off the sticker price of my car in 2014. The cars I buy I can usually flip relatively easily. Depending on what cars are on the market I'll probably buyout my S4(I really enjoy it) and lease another new car.

With my A4 I financed I paid 400mo. can't remember the interest but it was negligible
With my S4 I lease I pay 570mo. 15000 miles a year 42 or 36 months (can't remember)

I deduct my gas, maint, mileage, and or payments on my taxes too so it's like whatever to me. I think buying vs financing is all about the personal situation of the person.

 

[unit321]

@88m3 @SweatOutWeaves @unit321 this is the issueeeee...one side says, "finance instead because you're just throwing money away with a lease", and the other side says, "just lease so that you can have less responsibility and won't be stuck with it down the road".

shiit, i've had my 99 Grand Marquis for 5 years, and it's flown by. maybe if i buy something, time will fly too. can i pay like $300 a month with very little money down for a new Odyssey? it'd kinda hurt to put another $2K in cash down every three years tho...

FUKK!

It's up to you. If you got tons of cash flow and leasing is just a drop in the bucket, then do what you want.
Me, I never loan for a car. Zero payments. Zero interest. I never lease. When the car gets old, I can sell it. The equity I have in it is usually small because of the age and mileage of the car. But I get a lot out of it because I drove it a lot. If you lease, then you pay the piper in two ways, if you drive a lot, you will want to pay for extra mileage. Read the fine print. You can get anally boned if you go over your limit. If you don't drive a lot, then you are basically spending money to rent a car for a long time. You return it when you are done with it. No equity, unless you take the option to buy the car. This one window of opportunity goes away if you don't buy it. You could give it up, come back in a week and you'll have to pay more to buy it than your pay-off price. Kind of screwed up but that's the car business..

If you lease, read all the fine print. Everything. There are going to be lease-based fees that jack up the price in the beginning. You know there's a $2000 down or whatever down that isn't even a part of the monthly lease rate? That is money that you flush out of your wallet and put into the dealer's pocket.

 

[unit321]

you're given a buy out price minus what you paid on agreed price and depreciation.

no cost in upkeep, new car every few years
cars aren't worth shlt for the most part and unless they're something that holds their value well... you're dealing with a depreciating asset no matter what.
for myself leasing vs financing they're honestly about the same.

That's right. I forgot to mention that. My sister did that.
It's a one-time offer. You give it up, you can try to come back but it's all gone. You have to re-bone your butt and pay a higher price.

 

[Rev]

It's up to you. If you got tons of cash flow and leasing is just a drop in the bucket, then do what you want.
Me, I never loan for a car. Zero payments. Zero interest. I never lease. When the car gets old, I can sell it. The equity I have in it is usually small because of the age and mileage of the car. But I get a lot out of it because I drove it a lot. If you lease, then you pay the piper in two ways, if you drive a lot, you will want to pay for extra mileage. Read the fine print. You can get anally boned if you go over your limit. If you don't drive a lot, then you are basically spending money to rent a car for a long time. You return it when you are done with it. No equity, unless you take the option to buy the car. This one window of opportunity goes away if you don't buy it. You could give it up, come back in a week and you'll have to pay more to buy it than your pay-off price. Kind of screwed up but that's the car business..

If you lease, read all the fine print. Everything. There are going to be lease-based fees that jack up the price in the beginning. You know there's a $2000 down or whatever down that isn't even a part of the monthly lease rate? That is money that you flush out of your wallet and put into the dealer's pocket.

yea, the $2K that you pay or whatever up front...i know. and na, i don't have money floating around like that either. i could put the $2k-$3k down if necessary, but i'd avoid it if i could. and na, i barely do 7K miles a year in my car now...sheeeiiiit.

i gotta go to the dealerships and talk it through, man. i'm not buying & doing a loan tho...no way.

 

[The Refiner]

It's up to you. If you got tons of cash flow and leasing is just a drop in the bucket, then do what you want.
Me, I never loan for a car. Zero payments. Zero interest. I never lease. When the car gets old, I can sell it. The equity I have in it is usually small because of the age and mileage of the car. But I get a lot out of it because I drove it a lot. If you lease, then you pay the piper in two ways, if you drive a lot, you will want to pay for extra mileage. Read the fine print. You can get anally boned if you go over your limit. If you don't drive a lot, then you are basically spending money to rent a car for a long time. You return it when you are done with it. No equity, unless you take the option to buy the car. This one window of opportunity goes away if you don't buy it. You could give it up, come back in a week and you'll have to pay more to buy it than your pay-off price. Kind of screwed up but that's the car business..

If you lease, read all the fine print. Everything. There are going to be lease-based fees that jack up the price in the beginning. You know there's a $2000 down or whatever down that isn't even a part of the monthly lease rate? That is money that you flush out of your wallet and put into the dealer's pocket.

Exactly. As a general rule, I only put money down when it goes towards the principle.

A downpayment on a lease makes no sense whatsoever . But dealers know people will do anything to get that brand new dream car.

 

[unit321]

Here's an example "lease" offer by Mercedes-Benz. In this case, the down-payment includes one month's payment. Here, the capital cost reduction is the "money into their pockets" I was talking about. The $795 acquisition fee, that covers overhead costs, like the paperwork and the costs of the fancy bathrooms in the service waiting room. And if you don't take the one-time buy back offer, that's all up in smoke. AND, when they resell that lease return, they'll have all the equity that car has minus depreciation. They made money on the $3,819 plus lease costs, $20,484 for three years. Then, when its 2018, they are going to sell the car or you can buy it back. Either way, they'll make more money.
http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/speci...d|40354993615|pkw|mercedes benz|pmt|e#class=E

2015 E250 BlueTEC Sport Sedan
$569/mo for 36 months
________________________________
$5,183 due at signing
$569 First month payment
$3,819 Capitalized cost reduction
$795 Acquisition fee

And as for SPECIAL OFFERS...
Here's what Honda offers on their Civic. They got two different special offers.
One is for $149 a month for 36 months and a down-payment of $2499 at signing.
or
One is for $220 a month for 36 months and NO DOWN PAYMENT.

But if you subtract 149 from 220, that's $71. And if you multiply 71 times 36, that's $2556.
And if you go over 12,000 a mile a year, or 36,000 miles total, you pay $0.15 a mile over that limit. You need to read the fine print.

 

[Malta]

Rich people lease their cars because they understand how stupid it is to buy a car. Anyone telling you to buy has never tried to sell their own car in this current market, muthafukkas want car fax, service records dating back to 12,000 B.C. and then will still try to low ball you, all the while you still have $ left on the loan and the car is worth $8,000 less than you paid for it.

Also @Rev, a Honda Odyssey....... you giving up on life already?

 

[Rev]

Rich people lease their cars because they understand how stupid it is to buy a car. Anyone telling you to buy has never tried to sell their own car in this current market, muthafukkas want car fax, service records dating back to 12,000 B.C. and then will still try to low ball you, all the while you still have $ left on the loan and the car is worth $8,000 less than you paid for it.

Also @Rev, a Honda Odyssey....... you giving up on life already?

na i would love to get a new Ford Explorer, GMC Acadia or something in that class. I know people hate on american makes, but i dunno. the new Odyssey's are nice tho, not your typical "minivan"....and you know i'm Dominican anyway.

you say it's stupid to buy a car. that's different than financing, right? so you are pro-leasing?

 

[Malta]

The cars I buy I can usually flip relatively easily. Depending on what cars are on the market I'll probably buyout my S4(I really enjoy it) and lease another new car.

That's the key, you're buying cars that can maintain value and are in a niche spot which are easy to move after you're done with them.


People out here buying Honda Accords and shyt and the car is worth $10k less in just 3 years