After planning to pay cah for a vehicle, I was convinced by the local Honda dealer to lease a vehicle. I knew nothing about leases, and in researching them retroactively the one I signed appears in retrospect to be not such a good deal. Its a $470 payment for 48 months on a $30,800 vehicle with a $15,700 residual with $5,500 down. On the lease calculation there is something titled Rent Charge for $6,140. I calcualte a money factor of about .05. So now the dealer calls and says they made a mistake - it should be 0.18 for excess miles, not 0.15 as listed on the bank lease application and the bank won't accept it. They'd like me to come in and sign a new contract. I look at this as an opportunity to reneg on the original lease. I can pay cash, finance, or look for a new lease. Any advice? Whatever i do it needs to be fairly quick. I've had the vehicle a month and already put 4k on it (although in total I expect to be close to the 12k per year).
I was wondering if you could provide me with an idea of a reasonable lease rate and details regarding the current money factor, residual, etc., for a 2005 Acura TSX, automatic, without navigation.
Lease Term: 42 months and 12,000 miles per year
I plan to put down ONLY the first month's payment.
The Acura dealer just got back to me with the MSLP you had asked for before to calculate the lease. The TOURING is high coming in at 512.44 plus tx. Mth and that's w/o Nav.
so he offered me the Premium model at $37,770 - 42mths -15K/yr - $1,195 down =$465 & tx mth.
WHAT DO YOU THINK??. He also said he just got 2.9% interest rate if I was to buy but credit has to be better than great. Mine is real good but I'm sure they'd try to work me on that. If I had the option and it was close I would rather buy.
I think I should be able to get a better deal. Your thoughts............... please
I can't thank you enough for your help. I called Premier Honda in New Orleans East today and spoke with their internet guy - he listened to what I wanted, then told me to go to Edmunds.com and print the Invoice/TMV page and bring it in so we could use that as a reference. I ended up getting an EX-L with just the first month's payment down and T+L+R and a little tax on my trade. He explained everything to me, worked the numbers with me backward and forward until I was comfortable and understood everything, and echoed your same advice - a good lease deal means as little down as possible and negotiating the cost of the car up front to a fair amount.
We used Edmunds TMV "what others are paying" figure + Honda's lease acquisition fee of $595 and everything went smoothly from there. No hidden costs or surprises like I had at the other dealership. The entire experience was one of the best car-buying deals I've encountered in a long time. The dealer made a fair profit, I got a good deal on the car and my trade.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. If I run into a book-publisher I will pitch our idea.
I will certainly double check the fine print on the lease. If the pay-out figure I was given doesn't include additional payments or other nasty unknowns, the "hit" is tolerable.
Re: 6000 pound SUV's for business use. The $100,000 loophole was effectively closed on October 22 or thereabouts. However, there is still a first year 25,000 Depreciation allowed on SUVS 6000 plus with bonus depreciation of 30 to 50% of the remaining cost (bonus depreciation ends this this year), plus you can deduct your regular first year depreciation. Verified with my CPA today. So if you happen to be upwards in the 35% bracket, you can chip away at what Uncle Sam gets. The bonus depreciation is a little confusing, so folks definitely need to check with their accountant. There's a good website on self employment that explains this much more effectively than me.
My 2002 Audi (39-month, 15,000 miles per year) lease expires at the end of February. My current payment is $549.58 per month. I believe I have one more payment left.
My mileage is about 49,600.
I'm debating whether it makes sense to keep using my car (which has been a wonderful car) until the end of the lease (and shop for a lease on a remaining, current style, new 2005 Audi A4) or to turn it in now, essentially 2 months early.
I am not interested in the "new" 2005 Audi A4 being introduced in March (the one with the big mouth, similar to the grill on the new A6).
My Audi dealer has offered me the following terms. Would it be a good deal to lease this new car and turn in my current car? Or should I wait 2 more months?
2005 Audi A4 "Special Edition" with Quattro, 1.8 Turbo, 6 speed manual, winter package and XM Radio with first 3 months subscription included:
MSRP: $31,170
Residual percentage: 54%
Lease-end value: $16,831
Initial cap cost: $30,339.04
Acquisition fee: $575
Adjusted cap cost: $30,914.04
Term: 39 months
Money Factor Sell Rate: 0.00049
Documentation fee: $160
Title fee: $15
Transfer fee: $8
Total sales tax: $899.73
Monthly payment: $407.54 (total, including sales tax, with zero down and 15,000 miles per year).
Amount due at start = $407.54 + $160 + $15 + $8 = $590.54
Bmwdoug, if you have the money to pay for an entire lease in advance it can be to your advantage to do so, provided that the break in the lease money factor that is used to calculate the cost of your lease is large enough to offset the opportunity cost of tying such a large sum of money up for a couple of years.
Hi johnnyboy. I hate to say this, but this is why is is extremely important to thoroughly research the vehicle that you want, including its pricing and lease options, and to understand how leasing works prior to negotiating with dealers. Many consumers do not understand exactly how leasing works. As a result, many dealers try to steer them towards leasing so that they can hide large profits in their deal. Edmunds.com has a number of excellent articles on leasing that you may want to check out: 10 Steps to Leasing a New Car and Calculate Your Own Lease Payment.
The first thing I noticed about the lease that you signed is the large down payment that you made. I always advise consumers against making any sort of down payment when leasing. I do so for two main reasons. The first is if your vehicle is totaled in an accident or stolen during your lease, your insurance company pays off the bank that you were leasing it through and your down payment essentially disappears. The second main reason is that down payments on leased vehicles do nothing to reduce their lease-end purchase prices. So your lease-end purchase option price for this vehicle would be exactly the same, regardless of whether you had
put $5,500 down, or had made absolutely no down payment at all.
Also, you never mentioned the selling price of the car that you are interested in leasing. This is an important number for you as a consumer to know for two reasons. First, the selling prices of leased vehicles can be negotiated, just as if you were paying cash
for them. Without knowing the price of the car that you want to lease you don't know how good a price you are getting it for. The second reason is that one needs the selling price of a vehicle that they want to lease is that it is necessary to calculate its lease payment.
You actually may be in luck if the bank that your lease is through rejected your contract. Rather than going back in and signing an identical lease, see if you can just pay cash for or finance your new vehicle. Make sure to research what price you should pay here at Edmunds.com before re-entering negotiations.
Hello gwudc. I would be more than happy to help you out. Acura never provides any sot of lease support on the Acura TSX. As a result, if you were to lease one through American Honda Finance Corp. right now, you would have to use its standard lease program, which actually isn't that bad. AHFC's 39 month, 12,000 miles per year base lease money factor and residual value for a 2005 TSX without navigation should currently be around .00235 and 59%, respectively. I am not exactly sure what its 42 month numbers are, but I suspect that they are around .00210 and 56%. Using these numbers, an MSRP of $27,560, and a selling price of $26,237, I estimate that this car would have zero down, pre-tax lease payments of around $356 for 39 months and $345 for 42 months. Good luck in your negotiations and let me know if you have any other questions.
.... **many dealers try to steer them towards leasing so that they can hide large profits in their deal** ...
Aaaah, lets take a better view of this ... profit-yes, but that's only a small portion of the "why" of leasing, because dealers take as many small deals on lease vehicles as they do on an out-right purchase ..... what makes leasing "attractive" is, it expands the buying market, in this case, those who would have normally bought a vehicle, will lease it instead, and it's mostly the buyer who wanted, but couldn't afford an ABC vehicle or an XYZ will lease it for one reason and one reason only - Payments.
At one time the leasing market was 60%+ of the vehicle market, now it's less than 35% with a big upsurge .. and over time, those who have leased went through the good and the "bad" of it, off course that "short term" memory loss kicks in and it "seems" more and more are leasing .. that said, the age group is much younger now, and they have yet to experiment with it, a good example is BMW - they're showing some big numbers right now, drop those leases and those numbers will fall like a broken tree branch .. the question will be in 25/35 months from now, on how that market will react to a second go around - it all comes down to p-a-y-m-e-n-t-s, not profit ..............
Several times I have been frustrated to discover that the juicy rebates and discounts they were offering to purchasers were not available to lease customers.
Have just become aware of the Smartbuy, the GMAC balloon financing program.
Since this is not technically a lease (or is it?), and you actually take title to the vehicle, does GMAC make their full purchase incentives available to Smartbuy customers?
Also, I believe you indicated that there is a GMAC pull forward, early out lease program for leases expiring prior to 7/31/2005.
I'm sure your car has been wonderful, but I'm also sure that you are aware of their reputation for being extremely expensive to maintain out of warranty...
The big advantage of leasing now? You get out of your car before the warranty expires.. It would really be unfortunate to get stuck with a big repair bill just for an extra 3000 miles..
The lease terms are pretty good, but only $800 off MSRP? This is a really slow period... You might try to bargain a little harder on price.. Maybe, tell them you will go for it, if they will make your last payment?
I've never leased before, and was thinking about leasing a '05 Toyota Tacoma 4x2 Access Cab 4 cyl. 5-speed for 24 months/15K miles. I know nothing about leasing and was wondering what I can expect to pay a month to lease. Since this vehicle (4x2)is not available in the Great Lakes region according to Toyota, will this increase the costs since they would have to go into the South region to get one. I could put down $5K on the vehicle.
I just walked out of a Mercedes dealer because of the money factor placed on the car I wish. I wanted to lease a MB e 500 4 matic with premium package, heated seats and lighting package. $64,490. I have a 700+ combined credit score. The money factor for this car is .00310 which equates to 7.44 interest rate. What gives? If I wanted a regular e500 the interest rate is about 5.79. Why the difference? Why would 4matic cost over $8400 over the course of a 39 month lease. Was I right to leave? Were they trying to rob me?
I'm new to the board and am currently looking to lease a a 2004 rx-8 . I was quoted $ 335/ month with $3000 due at signing. This is for a 36 month lease, and a residual ( buy out option ) of 16,800. The car with the options i want retails for roughly 31,000, but the dealer quoted me a selling price of 27,600 including a 1500 rebate. I'm not sure what the money factor is, nor do i know the breakdown of the initial $3000. After doing some research on this forum i seriously want to reconsider putting any money down. If you would be as kind to tell me whether or not this sounds like a good deal, or perhaps tell me what i can expect to pay monthly without putting anything down I would greatly appreciate it. This is my first new car experience and would love to get some help from people who know exactly whats going on. Thanks much..
Assume that $800 of the upfront money is for 1st pymt, security, etc.. That leaves $2200 for cap cost reduction.. if you roll that into a 36 month lease, it will add about $64/mo. to your pre-tax payment. A rough estimate, but pretty close..
I've found the information on this site to be extremely useful, especially the "the 10 steps a leasing a new car"
One area though i'm not quite sure about, is the sales tax.
I plan to lease a 2005, Nissan Altima in New York (11758 to be exact). I've been told by a friend that i'll only be liable for tax on the part that I lease. This is where i'm at a loss.
MSRP = 31,280
Cap Cost = 29,000
Net Cap Cost = 25,000 (4,000 approx. value of trade-in)
Residual = 16,250
How do i figure out what the total tax and % will be?
Thanks again Car_Man - another follow up question if you will indulge my incessant inquiries...is there anything I can point to if a salesman simply claims that the .00165 money factor for the ES 330 does not exist for any credit tier through Lexus Financial? Does Lexus publish these rates somewhere definitively? Also, what are the typical fees (documentation, acquisition, disposition, security dep, etc.) associated with a Lexus ES 330 lease. I don't want to get caught unawares there either...Thanks again. I'll let you know how it goes, but so far we are at the "that money factor doesn't exist impasse"
Hi again superep. Thanks for getting back to me with this truck's MSRP. Earlier I asked you to provide me with its MSRP and selling price. I need to know price the dealer is selling you this truck for as well in order to calculate a sample lease payment on it. Remember that the selling prices of leased vehicles can be negotiated, just as if you were paying cash for them. Let me know this piece of information and I can tell you what this vehicle's approximate lease payment should be.
On December 22nd, Acura introduced a special 2.9% financing rate for loans of up to 60 months on all of its models. If your credit is in good shape, you should be able to qualify for this promotion. In your post you mentioned that you would be interested in financing your MDX rather than leasing it if the deals were even close. This 2.9% financing rate is significantly lower than the special lease money factor that Acura is providing on this truck, so you may want to finance it instead of lease it.
Hi vicc. You can use the fact that you are not interested in getting a redesigned A4 to your advantage because as the arrival of the new model approaches dealers are going to be anxious to unload their remaining previous generation models. While I am not intimately familiar with what the market is like for this car in your area right now, I suspect that you should not have much trouble negotiating a larger discount than the $800 or so that you were quoted for a car that typically has a difference of at least $2,000 between its invoice and MSRP. You definitely should stop by the "Audi A4: Prices Paid & Buying Experience" discussion that appears here on Edmunds.com to see what other community members who who are in the market for or have recently purchased this car have paid recently.
To be honest with you, getting out of one's current lease with payments remaining almost always hurts one's bargaining position on their next vehicle. Unless Audi is running some sort of official early lease termination program, which I do not believe it is, the dealer that you are working with is going to have to bury your two remaining $500 lease payments in your new deal, causing you to pay more money for it than if you had waited until the end of your current lease to get your new car.
You are absolutely right, Terry. A large percentage of buyers are indeed payment buyers who are can be much more easily convinced to get a new vehicle by the low monthly payment that leasing provides. I suppose that I mentioned that many dealers use leases as an opportunity to make big profits from consumers who do not understand how leasing works because that is what was happening in the specific deal that I was commenting on.
Thanks for the additional information, jmaden. The lease money factor and residual value that you were quoted look good to me. I don't remember if I mentioned this earlier, but I definitely would not make any sort of down payment if I was in your situation. Let me know if you want me to explain why if I haven't done so already. I still need you to provide me with one additional piece of information in order for me to calculate a sample lease payment on this car for you, its full MSRP, including its destination charge.
Hello delrick. You are right. Many manufacturers' normal customer cash incentives can not be used in conjunction with their special lease programs. The tides have turned to a certain extent lately though. The trendy incentive right now is bonus cash for vehicles that are financed or leased through manufacturers' captive finance companies. Many automakers have been offering this sort of incentive lately. It helps them to generate profits by steering deals through their captive finance companies and it also enables them to help consumers who are upside down on their old vehicles bury negative equity in their new deals.
GMAC's SmartBuy program has similar restrictions to its SmartLease program in that GM's normal customer cash incentives can not be used in conjunction with it. GM provides different cash incentives for vehicles that are obtained through its SmartLease and SmartBuy programs. Having said this, its SmartBuy cash incentives are usually higher than its SmartLease cash incentives. Unfortunately, given the relative lack of popularity of balloon notes, even with the recent increased popularity of this sort of loan in states with vicarious liability issues like New York, I do not personally keep track of all of the details of automakers' balloon note programs.
General Motors' early lease termination program is currently scheduled to only run through January 3rd. It frequently runs this sort of program though and I would not be surprised if it reintroduced it shortly after its current offer expires.
Great post, kyfdx. We had the same advice about this car's selling price . You are absolutely right about Audi's suspect reliability. VW and Audi make outstanding vehicles, in that they are fantastic drivers' cars and have wonderful interiors, but their reliability definitely is not the best. If one makes it through the first couple of years without any major electrical issues, their vehicle may end up being fairly reliable, but its always better to own a VW or Audi under warranty than it is out of warranty.
Greetings buckeyeman. You have definitely come to the right place to learn more about leasing. Edmunds.com has a number of informative articles on this subject that you should check out prior to entering into negotiations with dealers. Hare are links to two to start with: 10 Steps to Leasing a New Car and Calculate Your Own Lease Payment.
Once you understand the basics of how leasing works, stop back in this discussion and I will be more than happy to work up a sample lease payment on the truck that you are interested in for you. In order for me to do so, I need you to tell me its full MSRP, including the destination charge, and an approximate selling price. You also can find this information out here at Edmunds.com. Visit the New Vehicle Pricing section of this site to find the MSRP. The pricing page for the Tacoma will also have information on its Edmunds.com True Market Value. This number will give you an idea of what sort of price you should pay for this truck. You may also want to stop by the following discussion to see what other community members who are in the market for or who have recently purchased similar trucks have paid: "Toyota Tacoma: Prices Paid & Buying Experience".
Hi tishiguri. While Mazda is only providing $1,500 customer cash on the 2004 RX-8, its cash incentives on leases are much higher. It is currently providing $3,500 dealer cash on leases of the '04 RX-8 through any lending institution and an additional $1,000 for leases of it through Mazda's captive finance company. This means that there is a total of $4,500 in cash incentives if you lease this car through Mazda. As a result, you definitely should be able to negotiate a more attractive selling price than the one that you were quoted.
I am glad that you have found this site to be so informative, jag7. Different states use different methods for calculating sales tax on leased vehicles. There are three main methods of doing so (I suppose that you could say that there are four if you count the states that don't charge sales tax at all). In the first, the state taxes the payment and down payment. Most states, including Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Connecticut, and California use this method. The second way is to tax the entire selling price of the vehicle. This is how sales tax is calculated on leases in states like Illinois, Texas, and now Ohio. Lastly, some states only tax the depreciation portion of leases. This is tax is calculated on leased vehicles in New Jersey. I am not sure exactly how sales tax is calculated on leases in New York, but you may be able to find out by visiting one of the following web sites: New York State Department of Motor Vehicles Internet Office or New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.
You're welcome again, frommx5tomz3 . I am not aware of any source that provides information on manufacturers' base lease money factors for vehicles to the general public. All I can tell you is that if the salesperson who you are working with tells you that Lexus is not providing a special lease money factor of .00165 on this car, they are lying to you and you may want to think about taking your business elsewhere.
As far as what you will have to pay at lease signing goes, you will have to pay your car's first month's payment, a security deposit that is equivalent to that payment rounded up to the nearest $25 increment, its lease acquisition fee of $600 (it is higher in New York and Rhode Island), and any down payment that you choose to make (ideally this would be $0).
You are absolutely right, bluewolf. Saab's sales of the 9-2X have been way worse than it had hoped. You should be able to negotiate a very attractive selling price on one right now. If you were to lease a 2005 Saab 9-2X through Saab Financial Services Corp. right now for 36 months with 12,000 miles per year, its base lease money factor and residual value should be an amazing low .00001 (this is actually the lowest possible money factor, other than 0% financing on a lease) and 49%, respectively. The $1,500 conquest cash for current Volkswagen owners and $2,000 lease cash on the '05 9-2X Linear may both be used to help you negotiate an attractive capitalized cost for this car.
Hello, we're looking at leasing a 2004 RX8 6MT because it seems to be a good deal with all the rebates going on right now. However, I would like to know what the money factor and residual would be at this time so we can go into the dealership prepared. Thanks for your help!
Car man, I really need help. My wife and I are going next Monday (Dec 27th) to check out the special lease on the 2005 A4 Quattro 1.8, Manual. The specs are with the MSRP prices:
A4 1.8 Quattro Sedan, 6 Speed manual: $28,150
Special Edition Package: $ 1,200
Cold Weather Package: $ 650
Special Paint: $ 450
Total MSRP: $30,450
Invoice is : $28,231
Difference: $2,219
Please note that I did not include emissions and destination charges as the are the same MSRP=Invoice.
My question to you is how can I negotiate the Capitalize cost (MSRP)? How much is a fair price/profit over invoice to the dealer?
The advertised lease deal read as follows:
Down payment: $1,995
Ref. Security: $0.00
Acquisition fee: $575
1st Month pmt: $299
Total at inception: $2,869
42 months lease; $299 plus tax per month (I live in NJ).
is is a good deal as advertised? Should I negotiate the MSRP price on this deal?
2. About 350 miles left until I hit 50,000 miles (putting me out of warranty).
3. I can use a very old minivan for the next 2 weeks (my son left it here while he's on vacation).
4. I'll be out of town for the first 2 weeks in February, knocking off 2 more weeks of Audi driving.
5. I've got a very old back up car (front wheel drive) that I can use.
6. My final answer to the problem: I'll drive the Audi only in really bad weather for the next 2 months, try not to reach 50,000 miles by the end of my lease period, turn the Audi in at the end of February, and then re-negotiate for a left over 2005 Audi.
...vicc
PS: Of course I'll make my annual pilgrimage to the Detroit auto show, but I'm 95% decided on the Audi.
Hi obrien040362. I am not sure if Ohio requires the sales tax on leased vehicles to be paid at lease signing or if it can be rolled into the vehicle's payment. You may be able to find out by visiting one of the following web sites: Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles or Ohio Department of Taxation.
Hi rhawb and ackerman. Mazda is not currently providing any sort of lease support, other than cash incentives, on either the 2005 or 2004 RX-8. I have not seen its captive finance company's lease program for these cars, but I suspect that it is not very attractive. In fact, you might be better off leasing them through an independent bank. If I had to make an educated guess, I would say that Mazda's lease money factor for both of these models is probably around .00300 for consumers who qualify for its top credit tier. This is equivalent to an interest rate of right around 7.2%. Its 3 year, 15,000 miles per residual value for the 2004 RX-8 is probably right around 50% and its residual for the '05 model would probably be a couple of points higher than that.
Hi rjorge3. You should negotiate the selling price of the car that you are interested in leasing, just as if you were paying cash for or financing it. Once you have arrived at a selling price that you feel is reasonable, have the dealer that you are working with calculate this car's lease payment using Audi Financial Services' base lease money factor for this model. You may want to stop by the following discussion here at Edmunds.com to get feedback on what sort of price to expect from others who are in the market for or who have recently purchased similar cars: "Audi A4: Prices Paid & Buying Experience".
I'm looking at the special lease programs that AHF is running for the 2005 RSX's - $199/mo for the base and $229 for the Type-S....I've never leased before, and as far as I can see, my best leverage is to get the price (cap cost) down as low as possible. Anyone have any tips on this? I have a $10,995 residual on the base, but can't find a residual $ on the S. I've already got online approval from AHF for $21K ( I guess a 740 FICO helps!)Thanks...!
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I was wondering if you could provide me with an idea of a reasonable lease rate and details regarding the current money factor, residual, etc., for a 2005 Acura TSX, automatic, without navigation.
Lease Term: 42 months and 12,000 miles per year
I plan to put down ONLY the first month's payment.
Is a payment around $380 reasonable?
I have the following information: MSRP: $27,560
Negotiated Price: $26,237
Thanks so much for your help!
so he offered me the Premium model at $37,770 - 42mths -15K/yr - $1,195 down =$465 & tx mth.
WHAT DO YOU THINK??. He also said he just got 2.9% interest rate if I was to buy but credit has to be better than great. Mine is real good but I'm sure they'd try to work me on that. If I had the option and it was close I would rather buy.
I think I should be able to get a better deal. Your thoughts............... please
I can't thank you enough for your help. I called Premier Honda in New Orleans East today and spoke with their internet guy - he listened to what I wanted, then told me to go to Edmunds.com and print the Invoice/TMV page and bring it in so we could use that as a reference. I ended up getting an EX-L with just the first month's payment down and T+L+R and a little tax on my trade. He explained everything to me, worked the numbers with me backward and forward until I was comfortable and understood everything, and echoed your same advice - a good lease deal means as little down as possible and negotiating the cost of the car up front to a fair amount.
We used Edmunds TMV "what others are paying" figure + Honda's lease acquisition fee of $595 and everything went smoothly from there. No hidden costs or surprises like I had at the other dealership. The entire experience was one of the best car-buying deals I've encountered in a long time. The dealer made a fair profit, I got a good deal on the car and my trade.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. If I run into a book-publisher I will pitch our idea.
happy holidays!
nolfilm
I will certainly double check the fine print on the lease. If the pay-out figure I was given doesn't include additional payments or other nasty unknowns, the "hit" is tolerable.
Re: 6000 pound SUV's for business use. The $100,000 loophole was effectively closed on October 22 or thereabouts. However, there is still a first year 25,000 Depreciation allowed on SUVS 6000 plus with bonus depreciation of 30 to 50% of the remaining cost (bonus depreciation ends this this year), plus you can deduct your regular first year depreciation. Verified with my CPA today. So if you happen to be upwards in the 35% bracket, you can chip away at what Uncle Sam gets. The bonus depreciation is a little confusing, so folks definitely need to check with their accountant. There's a good website on self employment that explains this much more effectively than me.
Thanks for your quick response.
Terry.
Did you have negative equity on a trade-in? You should be able to buy a car of that price for the same terms you leased it for.
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My mileage is about 49,600.
I'm debating whether it makes sense to keep using my car (which has been a wonderful car) until the end of the lease (and shop for a lease on a remaining, current style, new 2005 Audi A4) or to turn it in now, essentially 2 months early.
I am not interested in the "new" 2005 Audi A4 being introduced in March (the one with the big mouth, similar to the grill on the new A6).
My Audi dealer has offered me the following terms. Would it be a good deal to lease this new car and turn in my current car? Or should I wait 2 more months?
2005 Audi A4 "Special Edition" with Quattro, 1.8 Turbo, 6 speed manual, winter package and XM Radio with first 3 months subscription included:
MSRP: $31,170
Residual percentage: 54%
Lease-end value: $16,831
Initial cap cost: $30,339.04
Acquisition fee: $575
Adjusted cap cost: $30,914.04
Term: 39 months
Money Factor Sell Rate: 0.00049
Documentation fee: $160
Title fee: $15
Transfer fee: $8
Total sales tax: $899.73
Monthly payment: $407.54 (total, including sales tax, with zero down and 15,000 miles per year).
Amount due at start = $407.54 + $160 + $15 + $8 = $590.54
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The first thing I noticed about the lease that you signed is the large down payment that you made. I always advise consumers against making any sort of down payment when leasing. I do so for two main reasons. The first is if your vehicle is totaled in an accident or stolen during your lease, your insurance company pays off the bank that you were leasing it through and your down payment essentially disappears. The second main reason is that down payments on leased vehicles do nothing to reduce their lease-end purchase prices. So your lease-end purchase option price for this vehicle would be exactly the same, regardless of whether you had
put $5,500 down, or had made absolutely no down payment at all.
Also, you never mentioned the selling price of the car that you are interested in leasing. This is an important number for you as a consumer to know for two reasons. First, the selling prices of leased vehicles can be negotiated, just as if you were paying cash
for them. Without knowing the price of the car that you want to lease you don't know how good a price you are getting it for. The second reason is that one needs the selling price of a vehicle that they want to lease is that it is necessary to calculate its lease payment.
You actually may be in luck if the bank that your lease is through rejected your contract. Rather than going back in and signing an identical lease, see if you can just pay cash for or finance your new vehicle. Make sure to research what price you should pay here at Edmunds.com before re-entering negotiations.
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Aaaah, lets take a better view of this ... profit-yes, but that's only a small portion of the "why" of leasing, because dealers take as many small deals on lease vehicles as they do on an out-right purchase ..... what makes leasing "attractive" is, it expands the buying market, in this case, those who would have normally bought a vehicle, will lease it instead, and it's mostly the buyer who wanted, but couldn't afford an ABC vehicle or an XYZ will lease it for one reason and one reason only - Payments.
At one time the leasing market was 60%+ of the vehicle market, now it's less than 35% with a big upsurge .. and over time, those who have leased went through the good and the "bad" of it, off course that "short term" memory loss kicks in and it "seems" more and more are leasing .. that said, the age group is much younger now, and they have yet to experiment with it, a good example is BMW - they're showing some big numbers right now, drop those leases and those numbers will fall like a broken tree branch .. the question will be in 25/35 months from now, on how that market will react to a second go around - it all comes down to p-a-y-m-e-n-t-s, not profit ..............
Terry.
2005 Acura TL auto, no navigation system.
$368 / month incl tax lease for 42 months, 12K miles/yr
Selling price: $32038.29
Gross cap cost: $32795.83
Cost Reduction: $2518.50 (downpayment)
Adj.cap cost: $30277.33
Resdual value: $19412.60 (59%)
Money factor: .0022
Reg./title fee: $222.00
Doc fee: $189.00
Acqusition fee: $595.00
NJ tire fee: $7.50
First monthly fee: $368.00
Total due at delivery:
$3900.00
End of lease......
car purchase: $19412.60
extra milage: $0.15 per mile
is it a good deal?
Have been leasing for several years thru GMAC.
Several times I have been frustrated to discover that the juicy rebates and discounts they were offering to purchasers were not available to lease customers.
Have just become aware of the Smartbuy, the GMAC balloon financing program.
Since this is not technically a lease (or is it?), and you actually take title to the vehicle, does GMAC make their full purchase incentives available to Smartbuy customers?
Also, I believe you indicated that there is a GMAC pull forward, early out lease program for leases expiring prior to 7/31/2005.
When does this offer expire?
I'm sure your car has been wonderful, but I'm also sure that you are aware of their reputation for being extremely expensive to maintain out of warranty...
The big advantage of leasing now? You get out of your car before the warranty expires.. It would really be unfortunate to get stuck with a big repair bill just for an extra 3000 miles..
The lease terms are pretty good, but only $800 off MSRP? This is a really slow period... You might try to bargain a little harder on price.. Maybe, tell them you will go for it, if they will make your last payment?
regards,
kyfdx
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I've never leased before, and was thinking about leasing a '05 Toyota Tacoma 4x2 Access Cab 4 cyl. 5-speed for 24 months/15K miles. I know nothing about leasing and was wondering what I can expect to pay a month to lease. Since this vehicle (4x2)is not available in the Great Lakes region according to Toyota, will this increase the costs since they would have to go into the South region to get one. I could put down $5K on the vehicle.
Thanks, Buckeyeman
regards,
kyfdx
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I've found the information on this site to be extremely useful, especially the "the 10 steps a leasing a new car"
One area though i'm not quite sure about, is the sales tax.
I plan to lease a 2005, Nissan Altima in New York (11758 to be exact). I've been told by a friend that i'll only be liable for tax on the part that I lease. This is where i'm at a loss.
MSRP = 31,280
Cap Cost = 29,000
Net Cap Cost = 25,000 (4,000 approx. value of trade-in)
Residual = 16,250
How do i figure out what the total tax and % will be?
Should i incorporate it in the lease?
Thanks for the help!
The 9-2X isn't selling for Saab, shouldn't I be able to get a screaming deal on one?
On December 22nd, Acura introduced a special 2.9% financing rate for loans of up to 60 months on all of its models. If your credit is in good shape, you should be able to qualify for this promotion. In your post you mentioned that you would be interested in financing your MDX rather than leasing it if the deals were even close. This 2.9% financing rate is significantly lower than the special lease money factor that Acura is providing on this truck, so you may want to finance it instead of lease it.
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To be honest with you, getting out of one's current lease with payments remaining almost always hurts one's bargaining position on their next vehicle. Unless Audi is running some sort of official early lease termination program, which I do not believe it is, the dealer that you are working with is going to have to bury your two remaining $500 lease payments in your new deal, causing you to pay more money for it than if you had waited until the end of your current lease to get your new car.
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GMAC's SmartBuy program has similar restrictions to its SmartLease program in that GM's normal customer cash incentives can not be used in conjunction with it. GM provides different cash incentives for vehicles that are obtained through its SmartLease and SmartBuy programs. Having said this, its SmartBuy cash incentives are usually higher than its SmartLease cash incentives. Unfortunately, given the relative lack of popularity of balloon notes, even with the recent increased popularity of this sort of loan in states with vicarious liability issues like New York, I do not personally keep track of all of the details of automakers' balloon note programs.
General Motors' early lease termination program is currently scheduled to only run through January 3rd. It frequently runs this sort of program though and I would not be surprised if it reintroduced it shortly after its current offer expires.
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Once you understand the basics of how leasing works, stop back in this discussion and I will be more than happy to work up a sample lease payment on the truck that you are interested in for you. In order for me to do so, I need you to tell me its full MSRP, including the destination charge, and an approximate selling price. You also can find this information out here at Edmunds.com. Visit the New Vehicle Pricing section of this site to find the MSRP. The pricing page for the Tacoma will also have information on its Edmunds.com True Market Value. This number will give you an idea of what sort of price you should pay for this truck. You may also want to stop by the following discussion to see what other community members who are in the market for or who have recently purchased similar trucks have paid: "Toyota Tacoma: Prices Paid & Buying Experience".
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As far as what you will have to pay at lease signing goes, you will have to pay your car's first month's payment, a security deposit that is equivalent to that payment rounded up to the nearest $25 increment, its lease acquisition fee of $600 (it is higher in New York and Rhode Island), and any down payment that you choose to make (ideally this would be $0).
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I am glad I am now informed on this Ohio sales tax change but this is the deal breaker. I see no advantage to leasing my future Honda Pilot.
Hope you had a wonderful Xmas!
Would the MF remain .00159 for a 36 month lease of a 2005 Volvo XC 90 T6?
A4 1.8 Quattro Sedan, 6 Speed manual: $28,150
Special Edition Package: $ 1,200
Cold Weather Package: $ 650
Special Paint: $ 450
Total MSRP: $30,450
Invoice is : $28,231
Difference: $2,219
Please note that I did not include emissions and destination charges as the are the same MSRP=Invoice.
My question to you is how can I negotiate the Capitalize cost (MSRP)? How much is a fair price/profit over invoice to the dealer?
The advertised lease deal read as follows:
Down payment: $1,995
Ref. Security: $0.00
Acquisition fee: $575
1st Month pmt: $299
Total at inception: $2,869
42 months lease; $299 plus tax per month (I live in NJ).
is is a good deal as advertised? Should I negotiate the MSRP price on this deal?
Thank you.
Thank you both for your great insights.
This is what I'm thinking:
1. My lease expires end of February.
2. About 350 miles left until I hit 50,000 miles (putting me out of warranty).
3. I can use a very old minivan for the next 2 weeks (my son left it here while he's on vacation).
4. I'll be out of town for the first 2 weeks in February, knocking off 2 more weeks of Audi driving.
5. I've got a very old back up car (front wheel drive) that I can use.
6. My final answer to the problem: I'll drive the Audi only in really bad weather for the next 2 months, try not to reach 50,000 miles by the end of my lease period, turn the Audi in at the end of February, and then re-negotiate for a left over 2005 Audi.
...vicc
PS: Of course I'll make my annual pilgrimage to the Detroit auto show, but I'm 95% decided on the Audi.
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I'm looking at the special lease programs that AHF is running for the 2005 RSX's - $199/mo for the base and $229 for the Type-S....I've never leased before, and as far as I can see, my best leverage is to get the price (cap cost) down as low as possible. Anyone have any tips on this? I have a $10,995 residual on the base, but can't find a residual $ on the S. I've already got online approval from AHF for $21K ( I guess a 740 FICO helps!)Thanks...!
Thanks very much for your fast resonse.
Please check the Dealer's 2005 RX-8 #'s below:
Dealer says he is throwing in the Spare Tire Kit.
MSRP with Options $32,899
36 Month Residual 52% ($17,107.48)
36 Month Money Factor .00295 (7.08% APR)
36 Month Payment $453 + 6% FL Sales Tax = $480.18
Dealer wants the following amounts up front:
1st Month's Payment $480.18
Bank / Acquisition $495.00
Registration & Tags $225.00
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Total Up Front of $ 1200.18
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According to my financial calculator the Dealer receives $28,582.61 from the lease for this car.
Also, my calculations reflect that this is $1,100 below their invoice price even after factoring in their 2% Holdback on the Base MSRP.
The question is are the any Incentives and/or Rebates on the 2005 RX-8 that we're just not seeing?
Please advise as soon as possible.
Thanks again.