Lease Questions - Ask Here

scanty

Hi Car Man. Any news on the HFS numbers for the new RSX yet? I'm checking out a 2005 RSX, automatic with leather. MSRP is $22,720. Looking for a 12,000 mile per year lease, and wondering what residual and money factors are for 36 and 39 month terms. Acura dealer said something about a $695 acquisition fee, but HFS site only mentioned 1st payment and security deposit due at signing. Can you straighten that out for me? Thanks!

cgrantnashvill

Hello Car_man,

I did a lease buy-out 8 months before my lease term ended... The vehicle loan was based upon the residual value plus other factors. The residual value was thousands more than the value of my vehicle in average condition, within the mileage limits at, what would be the end of the term. For example, the residual value was, say... $14,000. But the value of the vehicle is $10,000. I'm concerned that I have (am) paying a much higher price than the vehicle is worth. Is there any recourse in this situation?

Currently, I owe more than $12,000 & the trade-in value is about $5000. What can I do?

Thank you,
cgrantnashville

marcos

Car_Man,

I have a questions for you...

what is the residual for the 2004 Z4 2.5 liter this month. I am looking at a 10k lease for 24 months or 36 months.

Thanks a lot!

pattam

Thanks much Car_Man. Got the car.
Again appreciate your opinions and information. Makes it easier shopping for a car.

Joe

ctorrey

Car Man,

It looks like September is going to be the month I lease a new ride. I'm hoping to get updated September Audi money factor and residual figures for the following Audi models.

I am in metro-Boston and will lease for 36 months with 12k miles per year. Also, if there are any listed cash incentives for these vehicles, that would be helpful too.

2004 A6 2.7T SLine
2004 A6 4.2
2004 & 2005 A4 3.0q

Thanks again! Hopefully this will be the last time I hassle you - at least for the next 36 months!

yrneh1

Carman, can you verify this lease deal?

This is a brand new 2004 Honda Civic Ex sedan automatic

Cap cost: 16233
36 month/36k miles lease
payment including tax 242/mo. w/$1000 drive off fee

I think the MF was 0.00078 or so and residual 54%. I leased the car on 9/4/04 so got their special rate (I think). Your help would be greatly appreciated.

nycadguy

a local dealer offered the following:
2004 RX330 MSRP 41938, Cap cost 36938 (5K off sticker, new, not a demo or used)
0 down, 36 month, 12K miles a year. 499+ tx a month. no navi or RSE.

i believe the dealer is marking up the MF by 0.0001 from 0.00165 to 0.00175. is this fair considering the 5K off MSRP?
TIA

CarMan@Edmunds

Thanks for the additional information, mojito89. $37,520 is a really expensive Nissan Maxima. You still never mentioned this car's selling price. I can not calculate a sample lease payment on this car for you and will have a hard time telling you what I think of your deal without knowing its capitalized cost. Since you already took delivery of this car, you should be able to find this number on your lease contract. Let me know and I will tell you what you think.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hi jbush. Good thinking, getting a new car before the winter. Nothing would be worse than having your old vehicle leave you stranded in during a cold Michigan winter. A two year lease is definitely an option that you may want to consider. You should be able to lease any vehicle that you are interested in for 24 months. The only problem with leasing a vehicle for such a short period of time is that its payments will likely be higher than if you had leased it for 36 or 39 months. There are exceptions to this, like the Honda Odyssey lease that expired last month, but in general 2 year leases are more expensive than 3 year leases because new vehicles experience their highest rate of depreciation during the first year of ownership. When one leases for 36 months they have a larger number of payments to spread this initial depreciation hit over than if they had leased for 24 months.

Purchasing a used vehicle is also an option for you. Buying used would be better than buying new and selling in two years because of the aforementioned high first year depreciation.

I don't think that I have told you anything that you didn't already know, but at least I confirmed that you are on the right track. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

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CarMan@Edmunds

You're welcome, Damon. DaimlerChrysler will almost certainly have to increase its support on this van as the model year progresses. For now it is hoping to get away with a little less support than it was providing on the 2004 model because I believe that it cut its prices when it introduced the '05 minivans. The same thing happened when DCX introduced the 2004 Dodge Durango. They cut its price hoping to cut back on its incentives, but after only a few months it had to provide all sorts of incentives on it. You definitely should check out the redesigned Odyssey before making your final decision if you are not in a hurry. I think that it is going to be a heck of a nice vehicle.

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CarMan@Edmunds

No problem, gregi30. BMW's lease program on this car will likely be very different in December than it is now. If you were to lease a 2004 BMW 545i through BMW Financial Services in September for 36 months with 10,000 miles per year, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00175 and 61%, respectively. BMW FS' base lease acquisition fee is $525, but I believe that it increased it to $800 in NY.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hi 429. Honda just introduced its new September lease program yesterday and I have not had an opportunity to take a look at it yet. I have heard that it still has $500 dealer cash on the 2004 Odyssey through. Please feel free to check back with me in a few days and I will be more than happy to fill you in on what I have been able to find out about this can's new program. Talk to you then.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hi scanty. Acura just introduced its new September lease program yesterday and I have not had an opportunity to take a look at it yet. Please feel free to check back with me in a few days and I will be more than happy to fill you in on what I have been able to find out about this can's new program.

As far as the acquisition fee goes, all banks that lease new vehicles charge one. I believe that American Honda Finance Corp.'s base lease acquisition fee is $595 in most states. If you saw an advertised lease on this car that does not mention this fee it probably means that it is just being included in the vehicle's capitalized cost rather than paid by the lessee along with the vehicle's first month's payment and security deposit at lease signing.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hi cgrantnashville. It is very expensive to get out of leases well before their scheduled end. Unfortunately, you do not have any choice but pay the price that your bank quoted you for your leased car or truck if you want to buy it out early, especially if you have already completed this transaction. If you felt as though the price that you were quoted was too high, you should not have paid it. Consumers' least expensive option is almost always to continue driving their leased vehicle until they are as close as possible to its scheduled end.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hi marcos. Here is the information that you requested. According to the latest information that I have seen, if you were to lease a 2004 BMW Z4 2.5 through BMW Financial Services this month for 2 years with 10,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00200 and 62%, respectively. The numbers for an otherwise identical 36 month lease should be .00200 and 53%. When negotiating your lease on this car, keep in mind that BMW is providing $5,000 dealer cash on it.

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CarMan@Edmunds

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

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hey ctorrey. Here is the latest and greatest lease information on the models that you are considering. If you were to lease a 2004 A6 2.7T SLine through Audi Financial Services this month for 36 months with 12,000 miles per year, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00020 and 48%, respectively. The numbers for an otherwise identical lease of a 2004 A6 4.2 should be .00090 and 49%. The numbers for an otherwise identical lease of a 2004 A4 Sedan 3.0q should be .00020 and 50%. Finally, the numbers for an otherwise identical lease of a 2005 A4 Sedan 3.0q should be .00090 and 54%, respectively.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Congratulations on your new car, yrneh1. When you leased your Civic, AHFC's base lease money factor on it was .00063. This number would increase to .00073 if you were to have your security deposit waived. So this aspect of your deal looks great. I would be more than happy to work up a sample lease payment on this car for you, but in order for me to do so I need you to provide me with its full MSRP.

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marshallcpa

Car_man:

Could you provide me with the residual values for the 2005 Mercedes C230K Sedan for 42, 45 and 48 months, as well as the corresponding money factors.

Thanks.
Brian

cuco

Car_man,

   I already leased a 2004 3.0 liter Z4 a few weeks ago. I want to do a comparison between the numbers that I got last month with the ones available in the month of September from BMW Financial Services.

   Do you have the residual percentage for a 10k miles, 36 month 3.0 liter Z4 lease, this month. MSRP of $44920.

   Thanks for helping me get a great price on my lease last month.

marcos

Thanks Car_Man,

I have one more questions for you. I calculated my lease and I would like you to double check it. The dealer says this cannot be right. Maybe I am missing something.

MSRP = $36515
Invoice = $ 33307.

I am offering $33307 - $5000 + $500 = $28807

24 months / 10 k

Downpayment = $2500 plus fees

Net Cap Cost = 26307

Money Factor = 0.002

Residual = 22332.40

Depreciation Fee = 165.60

Finance Fee = 97.27

Monthly payment = $262.88

is this accurate?

Please HElp. Even though the dealer agrees to the price he says the lease should have higher monthly payments.

kyfdx

I get $22639.30 for your residual.. MSRP X .62?

Depreciation: 26307 - 22639 = $152.82/mo

Finance: [26307+22639] X .002 = $97.89/mo.

Total = $250.71 + tax (about $15/mo.)

If he is adding the acquisition fee into the monthly payment, it should be about $274/mo.+tax

Without the $2500 downpayment, and with the acquisition fee rolled in (I would do this), then the payment would be $383 + tax.

1) Your dealer may be marking up the money factor... BMWFS allows him to go up to .0024

2) They may also be marking up the acquistion fee. base fee is $525 and they can mark it up to $725.

If they did both 1) and 2), it would raise the payment in the last example from $383 + tax to $413 + tax.

not the expert,
kyfdx

cuco

Marcos,

  Now that you got the dealer to accept $500 profit, your next step should be to nail in the money factor. If you have good credit, i.e., FICA score of 700+, you should have no problem in getting the 0.002 money factor from BMW Financial Services.

  I don't know if the transaction fee is different between dealers. Since it is a fee, I guess the dealer can make it whatever it wants to be. The $525 fee for BMW is pretty standard. I had that number from 3 separate dealers for the Z4.

pacerfan_11

Hello again, Car_man. Thanks a lot for your advice earlier this week...I really appreciate it. I received another offer from a different Saab dealership this afternoon. However, this dealership wants to structure the deal a little different. I would like to get your thoughts because this deal makes more sense to me.

The dealership would like to pay 2 of my remaining 4 payments, which means they are kicking in a total of $1100 toward the remaining $2200 I have left to pay the bank. This means I would keep the Jeep (park it) until January, but save the 4,000 + miles I would put on it during that time. This is an interesting idea and the numbers don't look bad on paper. Here's how each scenario plays out over the next 6 months with a $375 monthly payment on the Saab 9-3. The payment will be due at the end of each month (27th) because I would not finalize the Saab deal until my next Jeep payment is due. I am using round numbers to make this easier.

Plan #1...Purchase Saab now and park the Jeep - $2,250 (6 Saab payments) + $1100 (2 Jeep payments) + $400 (Mileage charge for 3,000 + miles over) + $300 (Disposition fee) + $50 (Jeep Insurance) = $4,100

Plan #2...Drive Jeep until the end of January and lease Saab at that time - $750 (2 Saab payments at $375 assuming I get the same deal) + $2,200 (4 Jeep payments) + $900 (Mileage charge for 7,000 + miles over) + $300 (Disposition fee) = $4,150

Which plan do you think makes the most sense? I am having a tough time with this decision because of all the unknown variables involved (Saab '05 incentives, dealer still offering cash, final mileage on the Jeep if I keep it). I am also not a big fan of driving a vehicle out of warranty, which I am currently doing with the Jeep. Thanks again for all of your help and I am looking forward to your reply.

nans

I am interested in leasing an Acura MDX With the Touring trim for 36 mo and 12K. I live in Southern California. Should I wait and lease the 05 or lease the 04? I was given a quote of $35670. for the car. I would also like to know the current residual, money factor and incentives etc. for the 04 and 05.

Thank You,
Nancy

will2702

Hey Car_Man,
 I was interested in the RX-8 and was recently told that the incentives for this car has expired. Is this true or are they just trying to convince me otherwise? Also, if there are going to be incentives/rebates for the month of September would they be better or worse than what was offerred last month? The quote they were giving me was $500 over invoice minus the $500 cash rebate for current grad students. Do you think i can get a better deal out of them?

Will

mk2

Hi Car_Man

I'm considering several cars for a lease, but is currently interested in Toyota Highlander. Could you let me know the current money factor, residual % and incentive info. I'm interested in Limited AWD version with typical options which according to Edmunds totals to $35,020 MSRP. I want to lease for 36 month in NJ.

Thanks,

mk2

qbrozen

There is one really big problem with Plan #1. You are required to carry insurance on the vehicle even if you park it. So you need to add that cost to your figures, which will probably make plan 2 look much better.

moralecorrupt

Was in dicussions to boy 04 330i labor day, financing was 2.9, didn't close the deal. Now its 1.9. How or where does dealer incentive come into the picture?

agillman

Carman,

As you suggested, I re-posting this inquiry after September 7:

Can you please provide money factors and residuals for a 2005 LS430, 10,000 and 12,000 miles, 36, 39, and 48 months? I'm in California if that matters.

Thank you.

sjwass

Touareg V8.

Agreed price after trade is 37,722.22

Leased by Wells fargo for 39 months, 15,000 miles per year.
0 down

Payment: $490.03

cjs2002

you told me to leave you a reminder towards the end of the week and you would be able to look up those lease numbers and payments on the RX8 (24 &36 month 12K) for me thankx

mazdax605

Hey Car_Man,

I was wodering what you thought of these figures? 05 Subaru forester X with auto,armrest extension,and rear rubber mat.

$22046 before a limited time $1500 rebate on 05 X models(runs out on 9/13/04)

so a adjusted cap cost of $20546

MF of .00120
Res of $10940

Payments of $347 inc taxes

Zero down
subaru makes first payment
$188 doc fee
$86 plate fee
$75 tax on rebate which is shown as a down payment.

What do you think?

Oh yeah this is on a 3 year 15k a year lease.

My wife is worried about having a leased car as the primary car.I worry too but think that it is a good way of getting into a new car at the payments we are used to($340 a month for the last 4 years on her 00 protege es).I have my new Mazda RX-8 that I leased last month,but that is more of a fun car than anything else,and I won't need it after the 2 year lease is over.If I could get the same model as an 04 at a purchase for the same payments over a 5 year term would that be better?All of these deals are with the trade in of her mazda at what we owe on it which is in the ballpark of TMV.

Any help would be appreciated.Thanks

Chris

CarMan@Edmunds

Hey nycadguy. $5,000 off of MSRP on a brand new 2004 Lexus RX 330 is definitely a great price. This is under invoice on a desirable truck that does not have any dealer cash available on it. Lexus Financial Services' base lease money factor on this model is actually 0.00175 in September. If that is the money factor that is being used to calculate your lease payment, then it is not being marked up. I just worked up a sample lease payment on the vehicle that you described for you. According to my calculations, your zero down, pre-tax monthly lease payment if you were to lease a 2004 Lexus RX 330 AWD without navigation and without the rear entertainment system with a full MSRP of $41,938 and a selling price of $36,938 through Lexus Financial Services in September for 3 years with 12,000 miles per should be right around $502. The bottom line is that this looks like a very good deal to me and I don't see any reason not to go for it if you like the vehicle.

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CarMan@Edmunds

I would be more than happy to help you out, Brian. According to the latest information that I have seen, if you were to lease a 2005 Mercedes-Benz C230 Sport Sedan through Mercedes-Benz Credit Corp. this month for 42 months with 15,000 miles per year, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00220 and 55%, respectively. The numbers for an otherwise identical 48 month lease of this car should be .00220 and 52%.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Congratulations on your new car, cuco. I hope that you are enjoying riding around with the top down while the weather is still nice. The main difference between BMW's incentives on the 2004 Z4 3.0 in August and September is that it increased its dealer cash on this car from $4,500 last month to $6,500 this month. If you were to lease one through BMW FS in September for 36 months with 10k miles per year, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00200 and 53%, respectively.

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CarMan@Edmunds

No problem, marcos. Your offer of $500 over invoice minus the dealer cash looks reasonable to me. I would be more than happy to double check your calculations for you. However, I noticed that you are making a $2,500 down payment on this lease. Consumers can lease any vehicle that they want without making any sort of down payment. I always advise consumers to lease without making any sort of capitalized cost reduction for two main reasons. The first is if your vehicle is totaled in an accident or stolen and never recovered during your lease, your insurance company pays off the bank that you were leasing it through and your down payment basically disappears. The second main reason is that down payments on leased cars or trucks do nothing to reduce their lease-end purchase prices. So your lease-end purchase option price for this Z4 would be exactly the same, regardless of whether you had put $2,500 down on it or had put no money down at all.

OK, having said this, let's work up a sample lease payment for you. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2004 BMW Z4 2.5 with a full MSRP of $36,515 and a selling price of $28,807 through BMW Financial Services this month for 2 years with 10,000 miles per, its zero down, pre-tax monthly payment should be right around $360. If you were to put $2,500 down, which I advise against, your payment would drop to around $251 or so.

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CarMan@Edmunds

You're welcome, pacerfan_11. Since you are going to be over your allowed mileage and out of warranty I can see why you want a new vehicle now, but generally speaking, one's least expensive option is to continue driving their leased vehicle until the scheduled end of their deal. If I was in your situation, I would wait until the Jeep lease was up to make a deal on a new car. Having the dealer help you make your remaining lease payments only hurts your ability to get a good deal on your new vehicle.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hi Nancy. Interestingly enough, for the first time ever, Acura is providing a little lease support on the MDX this month. Its supported lease money factor on the 2004 MDX is currently .00221 for 3 year leases, which is only slightly lower than its base standard lease money factor of .00260. This amounts to a savings of slightly less than 1%. Even with this lease support the fact that the 2005 MDX will have higher residual values when it comes out might make it less expensive to lease than a 2004 model, provided one can negotiate similar selling prices on the two models. I could be wrong, but I don't think that dealers have '05 MDXs yet. So this while discussion is moot until they arrive. I would be more than happy to tell you exactly what sort of lease money factor and residual value you should expect on a 2004 MDX right now, but first I need you tl tell me exactly how you want it equipped, how long you want to lease it for, and how many miles per year you need to be able to drive it.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hi Will. Whoever told you that the incentives on the 2004 Mazda RX-8 had expired was not exactly telling you the truth. While they did expire, Mazda basically renewed them for the month of September. It still has $2,500 dealer cash on all 2004 RX-8 leases, $1,000 lease cash on 24 to 30 month leases of it, and another $750 to $1,000 dealer cash on it that varies depending upon what part of the country you are in. All of this adds up to $4,250 to $4,500 in cash incentives on this car that will help you to negotiate a more attractive capitalized cost for your lease. You should be able to lease this car for way under $500 over invoice.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Greetings mk2. I would be more than happy to help you out. According to the latest informaiton that I have see, if you were to lease a 2004 Toyota Highlander Limited AWD through Toyota Financial Services in New Jersey this month for 3 years with 15,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00133 and 54%, respectively. This special lease money factor can not be combined with the customer cash that is currently available on this truck in your area.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hi moralecorrupt. BMW's special financing rate on the 2004 330i has always been 1.9% for up to 5 years. Most BMW dealers try to mark up this base interest rate to 2.9% to add additional back-end profit to deals. BMW is currently providing $3,000 dealer cash on this model. This cash may be used in conjunction with the special financing program.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Thanks for checking back, agillman. Unfortunately, I have not seen Lexus Financial Services' lease program for the 2005 LS 430. I have seen the program for the 2004 version of this car if you are interested though.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hello sjwass. I do not know what Wells Fargo's lease program is like on the Touareg right now, but I would be more than happy to calculate a sample lease payment on this truck for you using VW Credit's lease program so that you can compare it to the payment that you have been quoted. In order to do so though, I need you to tell me this model's full MSRP.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hi again cjs2002. I have heard the details of Mazda's September incentives on the 2004 RX-8. It still has $2,500 dealer cash on all '04 RX-8 leases, $1,000 lease cash on 24 to 30 month leases of it, and another $750 to $1,000 dealer cash on it that varies depending upon what part of the country you are in. All of this adds up to $4,250 to $4,500 in cash incentives on this car that will help you to negotiate a more attractive capitalized cost for your lease. Its lease money factor and residual value for this car are not supported and are a little more difficult to find out. I will look around to see if I can find them out for you. If it's not too late, feel free to check back with me in a few days and I'll fill you in on what I have been able to find out.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hey mazdax605. How are you enjoying your new RX-8? I do not believe that the customer cash that Subaru is providing on its models is compatible with Subaru Motors Finance's special lease program. According to the latest information that I have seen, the base lease money factor and residual value for a 36 month 15,000 miles per lease of an '05 Subaru Forester X are .00120 and 48%. The numbers for an otherwise identical 39 month lease of this model should be .00090 and 46%. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

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nycadguy

thanks alot!
It was a really good shopping experience with the dealer, dealt with the internet manager, and this was his inital offer. I put a deposit down and hope to take delivery in a few days.

On another note, a friend is looking for a new car out in the ventura county area of CA. What are the September Residuals and Money Factors for a Saab 9-3 sedan , both the Linear and Aero trim levels. 36month lease, 15K miles a year?

thanks in advance!

cjs2002

hey thankx I'll check back in a few days with you....

lauralee

Hi...I am thinking of leasing a 2004 Pilot EX with leather & DVD. Could you please help with some info on money factor and residual %? Also any info on what may be their best lease as far as term of lease is concerned. I do need 15,000 miles per year. Any other incentives and where can I expect my cap cost to be? Thank you.

lauralee

sorry...me again..I keep forgetting details...0 down. Thank you!