Oppo please educate me

"Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras" (jegoingout) 11/05/2015 at 09:36 • Filed to: None

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On the benefits or downfalls of leasing a new car. I have never leased a car and neither have my parents. In fact, I can’t think of anyone in my family who has leased a car. The only person who I know is my neighbor but he’s biased since his wife made him lease their Land Rover. So I turn to the forever wise oppositelock for help, experience, and knowledge.

Important details: 3k down, 199 a month/36 months, 12k miles a year, unsure if I’d want to own it after the lease

yitznewton > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/05/2015 at 09:42

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Oh crikey... this is one of the Pandora’s Box topics. When I had this question, I read these (and similar) and all the comments... it’s a huge It Depends, between your financials, the lease values of the car(s) you want, special deals, your motivations/approach to car ownership... headspin.

http://thegarage.jalopnik.com/here-are-four-…

http://thegarage.jalopnik.com/four-reasons-w…

RazoE > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/05/2015 at 09:43

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Depends on the car. If it’s a really expensive car you’d otherwise never be able to afford, you can lease it to drive it. Don’t lease a Honda Fit, for example.

Nibby > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/05/2015 at 09:44

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My parents have always leased their vehicles. It’s good if you want a new car, warranty, etc., don’t drive more than 12-15k a year, and don;t mind changing cars after every 2-4 years.

Of course, you can always buy the car at the end of your lease but that’s usually not the cheapest way.

Rico > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/05/2015 at 09:47

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I’m leasing my car and my lease is up in April. It’s my first car and so far for me it’s been the best decision of my life. Car payments don’t bother me so that’s the first thing, if you feel nervous or don’t like having a car payment then obviously leasing is not for you. As for mileage concerns, I knew I would only drive the car on weekends in a years time I only drove 6,000 miles. Some people do that in less than 3 months. Full warranty, no hassles no games and you know exactly what the payment is.

Job security is important because if you lose your job that can complicate things, luckily for me I am one of the most vital employees at my job (seriously everything goes to shit when I take vacation). With a financed car you can sell right away, pay the loan off and walk away. With a lease there are fees to break it or you can swap with someone but that can be a hassle.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > yitznewton 11/05/2015 at 09:48

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I know there are no rebates for the car in question and I think (off the top of my head w/o crunhcing numbers) to finance it would make my head spin with the monthly payments compared to the lease payments

Master Cylinder > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/05/2015 at 09:49

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The ins and outs of whether or not to lease are covered pretty well in the links yitznewton posted.

For me, the #1 reason I will never lease is that I have a pathological need to modify every vehicle I own.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > Nibby 11/05/2015 at 09:49

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I wouldn’t lease to swap cars every couple years..but I can’t say for sure I’d lease to own in the end either

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > RazoE 11/05/2015 at 09:50

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I probably could afford to finance it, but the monthly payments they’re offering are only $200 a month which is very cheap

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > Rico 11/05/2015 at 09:52

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My car payment right now is $118/month and the leased car is only $200 and that’s not an issue. This entire idea also hinges on me and my job working out a salary pay, though I’m not worried since if I left, they’d be so deep in the shitter. The low payments and warranty make it worth it in my mind at least

Tripper > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/05/2015 at 09:53

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Pros:

Your monthly payment is usually significantly less than if you bought the same car. So if you can swing the payments on a 30k car, you can probably swing the lease payments on a 40k car.

You’re always under warranty

You will always be driving something relatively new if you decide to keep leasing.

Cons:

You own nothing John Snow. So if you plan on modding, leasing is a bad idea

Mileage restriction

Again, you own nothing. So at the end of your lease you have no trade, and will have to come up with down money for whatever you decided to do next. Unless of course you lease a new vehicle from the same dealer. If you do that they are likely to waive any overage fees, and will be more helpful getting you into something with no/a low down payment

My thinking is: If you know that you will probably not keep whatever car you buy for at least 5 years, and you can deal with a mileage restriction, then leasing makes sense.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > Tripper 11/05/2015 at 09:54

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what if you’re unsure you’d want to keep it after the lease is up?

TractorPillow > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/05/2015 at 09:56

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Depends on you. I personally will never do it because it just doesn’t make sense for how I buy cars. I have found out that, largely because of some info from this and other sites, I’m pretty good at finding used cars that will appreciate in value and I can sell for more than I paid. Because of that, I’ve been through five cars in the last two years and been able to own three of my dream cars for nothing (actually making a couple grand). Therefore I always recommend the used car approach. It’s not for everyone but it can be a lot of fun if done right. That being said, new cars have a sense of comfort that is hard to put a dollar value on and when something on my 13 year old engine with wheels goes wrong I start thinking maybe I should just get a new Mazda 3. How old are you? Do you want the car for college? If I were you id say buy a reliable used car and save up for a better car post college.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > TractorPillow 11/05/2015 at 09:57

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21, not in college, working full time managing a company

Nibby > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/05/2015 at 09:57

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You can specify the terms of the lease (24, 36, 42 months, etc.) and how many miles per year (generally 10k, 12k, or 15k).

Rico > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/05/2015 at 09:58

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As long as you are cool with not owning the vehicle I say go for it. I don’t care about “owning” my C300, it was a great first car. I love it dearly and I will miss it but it also taught me a lot about myself and my likes and dislikes for a car and what I would want in my next car.

I look at leasing like renting an apartment. Some people can’t fathom that.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > Nibby 11/05/2015 at 09:59

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Hm..that’s nice. Their current lease offer is 36 months with 12k miles

Tripper > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/05/2015 at 09:59

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You can always buy it. The price that you would pay at the end of the lease is usually detailed when you sign the agreement. However this is usually the most expensive way to buy a car. Say you take a 3 year lease, you pay all of the depreciation then you want to buy it. Unless you have the cash, you will have to finance. So you take a 5 year loan on the car. In total you will spend 8 years paying for the car, and it will cost you more that if you just bought it straight up at the beginning. There is an upside, your buying a used car, but you know the original owner very well.

Nibby > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/05/2015 at 10:00

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Be sure to read the fine print too, sometimes you’ll see something like “LEASE A NEW HONDA ACCORD FOR $170 A MONTH!” but then you’ll have to put like $3,500 down for taxes, registration, dealer fees, down payment, etc.

You can lower the monthly payments by putting a down payment

BigBlock440 > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/05/2015 at 10:00

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It’s a long term rental. Whether or not that is ok is up to you.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > Nibby 11/05/2015 at 10:01

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They want 3k total down payment(all fees and such included in that) and the monthly would be 199

yitznewton > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/05/2015 at 10:02

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Just remember you’ll have nothing to put forward for your next car. If you keep leasing forever, it’s not so bad, BUT — if you’re thinking about going after that Type R in five years, you’ll be starting from scratch.

Every time my Jetta develops a new creak or squeak I think about leasing, but then remind myself that a leased car is not going to pay for an S2000 when I find the right one, so I’d better deal with it until then.

Nibby > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/05/2015 at 10:03

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For an Evo?

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > Nibby 11/05/2015 at 10:04

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yes sir

Tripper > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/05/2015 at 10:07

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Whoa lol, do it!! I mean check to make sure you can swing the insurance but that is pretty good.

jariten1781 > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/05/2015 at 10:09

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Not going into the financial; there’s tons of articles that talk about that in more detail. Behavior-wise though:

The lease train is really hard for people to get off. In my experience, once someone starts they end up leasing indefinitely swapping out cars every couple years (anecdotal, of course, but fairly large sample size and only 2 exceptions).

If you never plan on owning cars free and clear, it can be an ok option, but if you like the idea of someday not having a car payment it can really hinder that (not make it impossible, but when you’re faced with paying a lump sum to keep a 3 year old car vs. paying less lump to get into a new one...well, you can see how people get trapped in the cycle).

Also, you have no ownership...modding is out, depending on the terms even stuff like swapping brands of tires can be no-go, they typically force you into a higher level of insurance (which you should probably have anyway, but the choice is taken away), and sometimes they can nickel and dime you at turn-in if you're not leasing with them again.

Patrick Nichols > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/05/2015 at 10:19

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You may not be the right person to ask, but maybe someone will see this:

What happens to a leased car if Mitsubishi pulls out of the US entirely before the lease is up? I’d assume they sell the A/R and service agreement to another financing company and chain of dealers (either separately or all together). Who would service your lease?

Your boy, BJR > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/05/2015 at 10:22

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One of the pros is that it builds credit like a motherfucker. Seriously. When we were broke (as in gas company cut off the heat and cable company cut out television broke), leasing Cadillacs helped my mom rebuild her credit to something respectable. Leasing my Hyundai built my credit to a mad decent score. Leasing a car is probably the best way to build credit I’d say.

TractorPillow > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/05/2015 at 10:32

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Maybe try leasing then. Can't hurt you too badly and you'll have a new car for a few years.

Khalbali > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/05/2015 at 10:35

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Find out the residual value and then compare to what 2012-13’s with 36k are going for in your area.

RockRam > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/05/2015 at 10:37

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It seems leasing has to do with stability in life. If you’re prone to move around or change jobs every so often, it might not be for you. But if you are in a place in life where things are chugging along at the right pace with little variability, then go for it. My buddy in mid 20's has been leasing a CLA 250 for almost 2 years now and loves the thing. It seems payments and life events aren't an issue for you, so I say go for it and keep it between the terms to avoid the fees at the end.

Nibby > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/05/2015 at 10:51

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Seems like NP to me. What’s the MSRP of the car?

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > Nibby 11/05/2015 at 10:53

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30,995, residual is 21,899.10

Nibby > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/05/2015 at 10:54

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Yeah that’s a good price. A good deal on a 328xi with some down would be around $400 a month leased for a $42-44k car.

Wobbles the Mind > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/05/2015 at 11:12

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It’s all the same. Buying a car doesn’t have any benefits over leasing. It’s time without car payments that matters. If you are going to have a car payment always then do it. I will say with $3k down for $199 a month, you’re paying the same as $282 a month (so a $10,000 car on a 3 year loan, which would still be worth 3k so really $7,000 out of pocket). Right now VW GTI are really cheap. All 2010s are under $14,000 in my area and 2012s are under $19,000. I’m sure new GTI incentives are great right now as well.

Sam > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/05/2015 at 11:14

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My only thought is this - an Evo that can’t can’t be modded is not a true Evo. Though you can do some small mods that can be reverted back to stock. Also, just remember that Evos are, and have always been, pretty crappy cars.

I’d say just save up and outright buy or finance an Abarth. Then you can mod it to your hearts content and it’s a nicer car.

El Rocko > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 11/05/2015 at 12:43

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Hi, used to be sales manager/finance manager/car salesman. Most people choose leasing because of the low payments. Most people choose buying because they want to own. It’s really personal preference. I will say that if you do not plan to buy after the lease is over, then you should be putting down as little as possible. (Taxes and fees only) This is because you will not see that money again. You’re better off hanging on to it with slightly higher payments. It’s not an “investment” like it is when you buy because you will not be able to sell the car and get that “investment” back. People also like to lease because they want a new car every 2-3 years. Idiots want new cars every two years and insist on buying and rolling in negative equity until they are paying $600/month for a new Yaris.