Lease Questions - Ask Here

CarMan@Edmunds

You're welcome, stratixman. Let's calculate a sample lease payment on this car and see what we come up with. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2003 Saab 9-3 Arc Sedan with an MSRP of $34,050 and a Capitalized Cost of $31,468 through Saab Financial Services Corp. this month for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, your zero down, pre-tax monthly payment should be right around $407.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hi wbenedict. Here is the information that you are looking for. If you were to lease any 2004 Nissan Maxima through Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. this month for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00168 and 56%, respectively.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hi wch3. The short answer to your question is that it usually is very unwise to try to get out of a lease well before the contract's scheduled termination date. I just posted a message on this subject a few posts ago. Click on the following link to check out your options: Car_man Jul 28, 2003 8:22am . Your best bet would be to purchase your leased vehicle and sell it on your own. However, since you are only a year into your current deal, there is a very good chance that it would cost you more to buy this car right now than it is worth on the open market. You will likely have to pay a decent chunk of change to get out of this car at this time.

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jratcliffe

Well, your math is right, assuming you're still talking about a 36 month lease, and that you'd actually be paying invoice for the truck, and that your local tax rate is 6%.

CarMan@Edmunds

Hello T. Given the fact that Toyota is not providing any sort of lease support that I am aware of on the 4Runner right now, there is a very good chance that it would be less expensive to lease one through a bank other than Toyota Financial Services at this time. In order to find out whether an independent bank has a better lease program on this truck, why don't you calculate a sample payment on one using Toyota's program. If the dealers that you speak with are able to beat this payment by running your lease through a different bank, great. If not, then there must be a reason why they won't use Toyota's program, such as more profit for them.

As far as the dealer invoice price of this truck goes, I am not sure why the numbers that dealers are quoting you don't match up with the numbers that you found on the site that you mentioned. Have you tried looking up the dealer invoice price for the model that you are interested in here at Edmunds.com? You can do so by clicking on the following link: Edmunds.com 2003 Toyota 4Runner Pricing Page. You may find that the base dealer invoice price that is listed here matches up with dealers' base invoice prices, but that they are including random charges, like ad fees, in their definition of dealer invoice. I suggest that you look up the True Market Value for the vehicle that you are interested in right here at Edmunds.com. This number will give you an idea of what sort of price others are paying for this model right now. You may also want to stop by some of the 4Runner pricing discussions here in the Town Hall to see if other community members would be willing to share the prices that they have paid for similar models with you. Once you have a good idea as to what you need to spend to purchase the model that you want, comparison shop at a few Toyota dealers in your area and go with the one that sells you this model for the lowest total price, including all of the random fees that they may try to tack on.

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CarMan@Edmunds

You're welcome, siennami. I am sorry that I didn't have better news for you. At least you know all about leasing for when you get your next new vehicle, if that is the direction that you decide to go.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Thanks for providing me with the exact models, new5er. Don't worry about being too specific. Too much information is always better than too little information when discussing lease programs. As I mentioned in earlier posts on the '03 5-Series, BMW is not providing any sort of lease support on them right now. In lieu of the special lease money factors that it had on these cars last month, BMW is currently providing $3,500 dealer cash on the '03 525i that may be used to negotiate a lower capitalized cost. As far as the specific numbers for this car go, if you were to lease a 2003 BMW 525i through BMW Financial Services this month for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00220 and 56%, respectively. The numbers for an otherwise identical 42 month lease of this car should be .00220 and 51%.

If you were to lease a 2003 BMW 330i through BMW FS this month for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00120 and 55%, respectively. The numbers for an otherwise identical 42 month lease should be .00120 and 53%.

Last but not least we have the 2003 BMW 325i. If you were to lease one through BMW FS this month for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, its base factor and resid should be .00150 and 59%, respectively. The numbers for an otherwise identical 42 month lease of this car should be .00150 and 56%.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hi again siennami. It's difficult for me to tell you exactly what it should have cost to lease this model back in 2000, but I am sorry to say that this lease definitely looks to be a little on the expensive side. The main problem that I have with this lease is its length. I always advise consumers to lease vehicles for 36 to 39 months. Just about every vehicle is covered by its manufacturers' bumper-to-bumper warranty for at least three years nowadays. So if anything goes wrong with one's vehicle during this three year term they will be able to have it fixed under warranty. If one was to lease a vehicle for longer than its bumper-to-bumper warranty coverage, they will have to fix all of the little problems that the vehicle has before they turn it in or face a possible penalty for excess wear and tear.

Like I mentioned in my previous message to you, you have definitely learned a lot about leasing since you signed your last deal. What's done is done. There's no use crying over spilled milk. You need to learn what you did wrong last time and either sign a better lease on your next vehicle, or perhaps even consider financing it using a conventional loan.

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djdez

Just wanted to thank you for all your help regarding my Dad's lease deal. We finally WERE able to get a 2003 Acura TL and we got a GREAT deal on it as well !! Several hundred dollars BELOW invoice !! And it was a great lease since it's only 36 months and it was using a really low money factor of .00102 and a pretty good residual at 58% .. we only had to come up with around $650 at signing, and the payment is right where my dad wanted to be for this car - $350 a month (with tax)! It's definitely a great deal for such a good car -- for anyone else that's interested -- this has to be the BEST lease deal going right now -- you get the MOST car for your $$$ -

We'll deal with my TSX dilemma later ! I still have a few months left on my current lease -- but thanks again !!!

stratixman

Carman, thanks for running your calc on the Saab Arc for me. Confirms my own conclusion that the dealer either made a mistake in his calc or is trying to pad the monthly payment with a few xtra bucks. Time to sit down with him and get the numbers straight. Thanks again.

CarMan@Edmunds

Hi normalo. Here is the information that you are looking for, well before your Thursday deadline . If you were to lease a 2003 Mercedes-Benz E320 Sedan though Mercedes-Benz Credit Corp. this month for 3 years with 15,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00275 and 62%, respectively. Then numbers for an otherwise identical 42 month lease of this car should be .00275 and 58%.

BMW is not providing any sort of lease support on the 2003 530i at this time. Instead, it is providing dealers with $4,000 dealer cash you can try to use to negotiate a more attractive selling price and then lease it through BMW Financial Services or some other bank. If you were to use BMW FS to lease a 2003 BMW 530i for 3 years with 15,000 miles per right now, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00220 and 51%, respectively. This car's money factor for a 42 month 15,000 miles per year lease would be exactly the same, but the residual value would fall to 46%.

Though I am not absolutely positive, I don not believe that Infiniti Financial Services requires any sort of residual value deduction for vehicles that are equipped with navigation.

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CarMan@Edmunds

No problem, red927. Saab Financial Service Corp.'s lease program varies by trim level. Even though you never mentioned the exact model that you were looking at the other day, SFSC's base lease money factor for a 3 year lease of a 2003 9-5 Linear Sedan is indeed currently .00082. A 3 year 15,000 miles per lease of this car would currently have a residual value of only 43%. In your post you mentioned a resid of 44%. This probably means that you are interested in a 12,000 miles per year lease of this particular model. As ugly as this residual value is, it is correct. Quite frankly, it probably is fairly representative of what this car will actually be worth in three years. Saabs have never had tremendously strong residual values. The low lease money factor and the $6,000 lease cash that Saab is currently providing on the '03 9-5 Linear Sedan will more than offset this low residual though.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hi tennberg. I would be more than happy to calculate a sample lease payment on this that you can use to compare with the quote that you have been given. However, I first need you to provide me with its full MSRP. Talk to you soon.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Oops, never mind, I see that kyfdx was kind enough to ask you for that additional information for me. Let's calculate a sample payment on this model and see what we come up with. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2003 Audi A4 1.8T with quattro with an MSRP of $31,075 and a Capitalized Cost of $29,972 through Audi Financial Services in MA this month for 39 months with 10,000 miles per year, your zero down, pre-tax monthly lease payment should be around $346. So the perhaps the Cap Cost that you were quoted is only the gross cap cost, not the net cap cost which has the down payment subtracted out of it. If you were to put $2,000 down on the aforementioned lease, the payment would drop to around $294 pre-tax. Generally speaking, you are better off not making any down payment on leases though.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hello hartt. Let me begin by saying that General Motors does not publish lease money factors for its vehicles, but rather lease interest rates. You can convert GMAC's lease rates into approximate money factors by dividing them by 2400. Also, the lease program for this truck varies by region. If you let me know what state you plan on leasing it in, I will be able to provide you with a much more accurate idea of what its current lease program should look like. Talk to you soon.

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CarMan@Edmunds

You're very welcome, djdez. Congratulations on the deal that you helped your father get on his new TL. It is a lot of car for the money.

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hartt

I am in Northern Kentucky.
Thanks Car_man.

CarMan@Edmunds

No problem, stratixman. I am glad that I was able to help you out.

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brcochra

My Lexus E300 lease is expiring in two months. My tires currently have 30K, should I replace them before returning the vehicle? Will I get credit for the full value for cost of the tires, or should I just eat the wear and tear charge?

kyfdx

The bank will schedule a lease return inspection. They measure your tread depth with a tool. If it passes, no charge. I had an SUV that passed with the original tires on it, and 54,000 miles!! If it doesn't pass, you can find out what they charge for new tires, and decide then if you can put them on cheaper yourself. My guess is your car will pass with flying colors.

regards,
kyfdx

red927

Thanks Car_man for the information. You were right about the 12,000 mile lease. In the end, I decided to lease a 2003 Envoy SLT. The interest figure you gave me was exactly what the dealer offered, but the residual I got was higher than you stated. The capitalized cost was under invoice and I qualified for the loyalty rebate, the conquest rebate and an additional $750 rebate. Thanks again for your assistance.

Phil

new5er

Thanks Car_man. Now all I have to do is sell my 2001 325Ci before all of the 525i's get away. The currentlease is up in 2 months but they want to roll the last two months into the new lease. An extra 1200 and about $35 a month. I'm trying to sell the thing, basically for the lease pay off. Somebody gets a good deal and I save some money on the new lease payment. But timing is everything, The 525's are getting scarce in my area.

CarMan@Edmunds

Hi brcochra. You definitely will not get any money for the new tires that you put on this car out of the bank that you are leasing it through. The only reason to get new tires is if the ones that are on your car right now are excessively worn, causing you to have to pay a penalty for excess wear and tear. If you have rotated your tires a couple of times, there is a good chance that they are in good enough shape after 30,000 miles that you may be able to just turn your car in. Many banks send their customers specific guidelines as to what they consider excessive wear and tear to be, such as any dents larger than X are excessive, tires must have 1/4 in. of tread on them, etc... You definitely should ask your bank to send you this information before you turn your vehicle in so that you can make an educated decision about whether to purchase new tires.

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CarMan@Edmunds

You're welcome, Phil. Congratulations on your new truck. The domestic manufacturers sure are offering some great deals right now. Enjoy!

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CarMan@Edmunds

Any time, new5er. You definitely need to buy before the selection of '03 5-Series models has dwindled to the point that you have a hard time finding exactly what you want, but I personally would not do anything until my current lease was up if I was in your situation. An extra $35 per month is a lot of money just to get out of your current car two months early. Heck for that much money I would just get an new 5-Series now if I had to and keep the car for the old car in my driveway for two months. If you are under mileage you can take it on one last trip or something.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Thanks for the additional information, hartt. I believe that KY is in General Motors' Southeast region. If this is the case and you were to lease a 2003 Chevrolet Trailblazer LT 4WD through General Motors Acceptance Corp. this month for 3 years with 15,000 miles per, its base lease rate and residual value should currently be 6.5% and 50%, respectively. Also, through the end of the month, GM is providing $500 bonus cash on the '03 Chevy Trailblazer in your area that may be used in conjunction with the aforementioned lease program. If I was in the market for this truck right now I would probably just finance it at 0.0% for 60 months and take the $500 bonus cash or take the $3,500 total cash and finance it through a different bank.

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brianu

Though I’d share my lease experience on my Acura 3.2 TLType-S. here's the short story.

Noble Green Pearl / Parchment
 
I closed my lease April 29, 2003 in Houston, Texas.

39 months / 12,000 miles

Total down: $1500

Monthly payment including Texas sales tax: $356

A great car at a great price shopping over the phone armed with information from Edmunds Car_Man!

roxreps

I just had my 99' Saab 9-5 inspected. I was expecting to pay about 1200. to fix everything, and I wasn't looking forward to the inspection. To my surprise, this inspector told me it would be 400. for Saab to fix it. The point is, do not fix anything before you get your inspection. You can always go to your body shop if you think you can do better.
The car companies want you back. They will not gouge you to fix up the old lease. By taking it a little easy, they figure you will lease another car from them...You know, they're right, and they all do this.

JB

CarMan@Edmunds

Thanks for taking the time to share your recent lease experience with everyone, brianu. I am glad that I was able to help you out. Enjoy your new car!

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CarMan@Edmunds

Thanks for sharing your experience as well, JB. I also have found that manufacturers' captive finance companies are usually more lenient when inspecting vehicles at lease-end than one would expect. Great advice.

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cbop

hello,
i've got myself into a seriously bad situation. last october i leased a 2003 honda accord and yes, rolled 10K from a previous car loan into it. well, now my financial/personal situation has changed. I CANNOT afford the payments. why won't the honda dealer i leased the car from help me ? someone please tell me how i can get out from under this lease. why couldn't i be able to do the following?
1. trade in my 2003
2. get a 14K civic
3. roll the existing 10K into my civic loan/lease
4. my payments would still be smaller than they are now

i went back to the honda dealer and they pretty much stood around with their hands on their hips, snubbed me, and couldn't help.

As great as Honda cars are, I was totally REPULSED by their lack of concern for one of their honda owners. I want to contact someone at corporate, but cannot find any contact information on honda.com

thanks,
connie

gteach26

You are in quite a fix and I'm sorry to hear about it. I don't think you have many options at this point. There is no easy way out; either you sacrifice as much as you can to make the remaining payments or mess up your credit by turning the Accord in to the dealer. I doubt anyone will assume your lease (through leasetrader, etc.) with that much negative equity attached to it.

I have one "wild" suggestion that I'd like to run by Carman (our host):

If worst came to worst and she absolutely could not continue her current car payments, what if she were to lease another cheaper car (let's say that 14K civic) from another dealer in her area and THEN turn in the Accord to the original dealer. If she leases the new car (assuming decent credit) before turning in the other one she won't have that "repo" attached to her credit history before she applies for the new lease. Sure, she'd be stuck with that black mark on her credit report for several years, but she'd have much lower payments on the newer car, and all of that negative equity would stop hounding her. The "price" she would pay for doing this is a messed up credit report for several years. At least it beats returning the Accord, messing up her credit, and not having a car to drive.

This is probably not a sound strategy, but I'm grasping at straws here!

kyfdx

The leasing company is not just going to put a repo on her credit record. If she is $10K upside down (and I'm betting its more than that, if thats what she rolled), then they are going to sue her for the shortage. She has no way out of that debt. So, lets assume her payment is about $600 per month. Trading down to the Civic is only going to save her about a $100 per month, even if the bank will do it, which I doubt.
My advice is to leave Honda out of this. The reason the salesmen don't want to help you, is that they can't. What bank is going to loan $24K or more on a $14K Civic?
Either adjust your lifestyle for the next 4 years to pay off this debt, or file bankruptcy. Trading for another car is not going to help you at all.

regards,
kyfdx

gteach26

That extra 10 grand will not just "go away." I see no other way out of this. Again, sorry Connie. Maybe Carman has a miracle option for you?

nsada

Hi Car_man,
Can you please provide me the money factor and residual info. for an Oddysey EX, 36 month, 12K with AHFC.
Thanks.

jratcliffe

I severely doubt that, even without the repo on her credit, she'll qualify for leasing another car - the lessor would have to believe she can make payments on both, and that's doubtful. Sorry, but there's no good solution to this problem. Your current lease buyout is something like $33k, and your car is worth something in the neighborhood of $19k (at best) - the dealer would have to roll $14k of negative equity into your Civic, so I doubt your payments will be much smaller.

gteach26

jratcliffe, the issue you brought up was the one I'd figure would be the main problem. If her current financial situation does not allow her to make her current Accord payments, then she probably won't qualify for a new lease.

Again, Connie, can you make life style adjustments to pay for this car? If not, filing for personal bankruptcy like kyfdx suggested might be your only way out. Good luck!

cbop

well, i can see i'm in a pickle.

how bout if i trade the car with $5k towards a car manufacturer that's offering some kind of rebate/incentive ? is that totally not good use of my money. god knows it's hard to come by.
thanks,
connie

jratcliffe

If you trade the car in, you'll probably get $17k-20k for it (depends on which accord, miles, etc.). I'd assume, if you rolled $10k into it, that your lease payoff is $32-35k. That means, at best, you're looking at $13k in negative equity right now. If you were to roll that into a new car, you'd just be continuing to dig the hole deeper (you had a $10k hole, and by leasing the Accord, you added $3-5k at least to the negative equity you've accumulated). If you have $5k available, put it in a bank account, and use it to make your next 8-10 monthly payments. By then, maybe things will have changed. Frankly, the only way you're going to get out of this is either to continue to make your payments, or declare bankruptcy. A new car _isn't_ the solution.

cbop

thanks jratcliffe for your response

i pretty much hate my car payment

life sucks

1234

Hi Carman,
I hope you're doing well. I'm looking to lease an Odyssey EX but noticed at http://www.hondacars.com/landing/landing.asp that AHFC is offering a special lease on the Odyssey LX. I'm guessing the base money factor could be as low as .0005 on the Ody LX right now. Can you confirm that and also provide the 3 year residual numbers for 12K and 15K? Also, would the MF and residual be the same for LX and EX models? Thank you very much for your help Carman!
Best,
Dennis

kyfdx

In your mind, try to separate the payment from the car... because they have little to do with each other... The lease payments on an Accord are actually a very good deal... I should know, I've leased three of them.. Most of that payment comes from bad decisions you've made in the past. Don't compound the problem by making another bad decision. If you have $5000 available, take the suggestion above...cut back a little on other things and use that money to supplement available funds to make your car payment. When you are done with this lease, you will be better off financially, and ready to start again.
It sounds like you are a serial car buyer.. lots of them on these boards.. trading often only gets you deeper in debt.

good luck,
kyfdx

lordbyron

Hello everyone, I just want to say how much I learned from this forum and really has opened my eyes on a lot of things. The end of my 98 328i lease is almost over and I'm thinking to get a new 325 w/ premium package, leather, heated seats, and maybe the sports package here in New york State. Is it better to lease in NY or NJ? I live in NJ but the NJ dealerships here suck. I'm putting 1,000 down and my payments would be 464 for 4 years w/ 12k per year. Do guys think is a good deal? shouldn't the price of the 2003 now should be less since the 2004 cars are coming out soon. Here is the info w/ the premium pacakge only and heated seats:

MSPR- 32,970
Sale Price of the car- 31,575
Residual Value- 56
Money Factor?? I'm putting down 968 plus MV fees .... when you re-lease w/ BMW FS you don't have to put down anything for security deposit. Let me know if I'm really getting shafted!!
Thanks

footie

1) I thought the dealers in NY were terminating leasing in general because of liability issues that the company holding the lease has? So why shop in NY.

2) Did you try Turnersville Auto Complex in South Central NJ. They usually discount month end and model year close pretty good. Call 1 (888) 252-7742 for their internet availability and pricing.

3) You can always go to Boston where the BMW market is VERY competitive. Try getting an internet quote from Herb Chambers, for example, or Foreign Motors West.

4) The discount on your deal seems low to me. You ought to be able to buy the 03 at nearly invoice. Call around, in PA and DC too.

Good luck shopping!

hartt

I thought I was close to sealing a deal on a V6 4Runner Sport Edition until the salesman showed me how they were figuring the lease.
The MSRP on this vehicle was $32506 and we agreed on a selling price of $29100. When the finance guy figured the lease payment, he was using the base MSRP of $30,495 (without options) instead of the full MSRP. When I pointed this out, he told me that was the way Toyota Motor Credit figured their leases.
Has anyone else ever heard of this?? I have leased several vehicles in the past and this has never been the case. The lease has always been figured on the full MSRP.
Was the dealership not being honest or am I wrong?
Thanks for the input

"T"

2003help

Anyone leased a Nissan 2003 2.5S Altima.
Sticker on what my wife looked at was 19,800.
If we put 2,000 down what type of payment am I looking at for 36mo. or 48mo?
I've only bought in the past never leased.Any input would be very helpful.

normalo

Car_Man, I tried to get a car by today after receiving all your info, shopping by phone, comparing numbers and I finally step in the dealer with my friend to take the car home. I was conned by ASSAEL BMW in Morovia California and wasted almost half of my day from 2pm-7:30pm. The deal was supposed to be 36/15K, 1723 drive off and $600 including 7.75%tax for a 530I with automatic, xenon, premium and sport. I waited for the salesman to find the color and get a dealer trade off. After that was done he got me the document to read and sign. He does not go over the document with me so I am looking for the main numbers and to my "surprise" it showed 48 months. It is already past 7:00pm so it is too late to go to another dealer. I do not think I can come even close to the number I want tomorrow because the residual will go lower and the dealer has no incentive because is not the end of the month. Don't you think I need to be compensated or the salesman fired or both. Complained to the manager but he is hesitant to do a follow up of any disciplinary action against the salesman stating that it is an internal affair, but it is my problem isn't it?
Any help and opinions from all of you will be greatly appreciated.

vpotluri

Car_man, any idea on residual on this vehicle for 36/45K? Thanks.

mrtruman

Could you please provide the money factor, residual and acquisition fee for a 2003 bmw x5 3.0 in N.Y.

Thank you in advance for your time.

CarMan@Edmunds

Hi nsada. I have not seen if American Honda Finance Corp. has changed its standard lease money factors for the month of August. They probably haven't though, so for now I will assume that they are the same as they were in July. If this is the case and you were to lease a 2003 Honda Odyssey EX through AHFC this month for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00210 and 64%, respectively.

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