Lease Questions - Ask Here

markrogo

Thanks Carman... I'll check back in here when the vehicle is released to see if you can get any intel.

But thanks already for the reply.

CarMan@Edmunds

Hi dguptaofnj. Special lease programs exist on all of the trim levels of the trucks that you are considering, not just the ones that their manufacturers are advertising lease payments on. I would be more than happy to calculate sample lease payments on the trucks that you are considering for you, but in order for me to do so I need some additional information from you first, including their MSRPs, approximate selling prices, and how long you want to lease them for.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hello nikinnicky. You never mentioned the lease payment for this car, but this late in the model year it often turns out that one can lease an equivalent brand new model, i.e. a 2005 Accord, for as much as, or even less than a leftover one. For instance, a base 2005 Honda Accord LX 4-cylinder Sedan with an MSRP of $24,315 and a selling price of $22,433 ($500 over invoice), would have a 3 year, 12,000 miles per zero down, pre-tax monthly payment of around $266. While this may be slightly more than the payment that you were quoted to lease the 2004 model, it is a brand new car with no miles on it and it has never been in an accident.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Thanks for the additional information, ev12. OK, according to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2005 Honda Pilot EXL w/ leather and DVD with an MSRP of $34,225 and a selling price of $31,400 through American Honda Finance Corp. right now for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, its zero down monthly payment should be around $381.

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brickyarddog

Well, here's what I've come up with. I actually come up with a higher payment than what the dealer is giving you. Here's my breakdown, and maybe someone can tell me where I'm going wrong:

MSRP - 28920
Sale price - 25467
Cap cost reduction - 2155
Net cap cost = 25467 - 2155 = 23312
Money factor - .00016
Residual - 57% (16484.40)

So, your depreciation portion is cap cost minus residual divided by # of months. (23312 - 16484.40)/24 = 284.48

Interest portion is cap cost + residual x money factor. (23312 + 16484.40) x .00016 = 6.37

Pre-tax payment = 284.48 + 6.37 = 290.85

CarMan@Edmunds

You're welcome in advance, lease_is_up. Here is the information that you are looking for. If you were to lease a 2006 Mercedes-Benz E350 4matic through Mercedes-Benz Credit right now for 36 or 39 months with 12,000 miles per year, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00310 and 62%, respectively if you qualify for its Tier 1 credit tier. The money factor for an otherwise identical lease with 10,000 miles per year would be the same, but the residual value would be 1% higher.

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CarMan@Edmunds

You're very welcome, petoz. Banks' lease programs are not negotiable in that individual dealers do not have the authority to lower their published money factors. Having said this, dealers usually do have the authority to mark-up banks' base money factors to add additional back-end profit to deals, so you have to make sure that the published money factor is being used to calculate your car's payment.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Here is the information that you are looking for, elag1. If you were to lease a 2005 Acura TSX without navigation through American Honda Finance Corp. right now for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00220 and 58%, respectively. A 39 month lease of this car would have the same money factor, but a residual value of 56%.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hey craigmil. Let's play with some numbers and see what we come up with. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2005 Volvo S40 with automatic and Select package, an MSRP of $27,305, and a selling price of $26,668 (the invoice that you posted + $500) through Volvo Finance right now for 3 years with 15,000 miles per, your zero down, pre-tax monthly payment should be around $418. If you were to lease this car with only 12,000 miles per year, it would drop the payment to around $404.

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CarMan@Edmunds

I sure can, kbrown. If you were to lease a 2005 Infiniti G35 AWD through Infiniti Financial Services right now for 36 months with 15,000 miles per year, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00172 and 58%, respectively. The numbers for an otherwise identical 39 month lease should be .00172 and 57%. Using these numbers, an MSRP of $36,500, and a selling price of $33,700, I estimate that this car would have a zero down, pre-tax 36 mo. 15k payment of around $443 and a 39 month payment of around $425.

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dguptaofnj

Hi Car_man,

Thanks in advance. The 4Runner Sport 4WD V6 has a MSRP of $33,005, Invoice of $29363 and I am assuming that it would retail for no more than $31,000. The Highlander V6 Limited AWD has a MSRP of $35,535, Invoice of $31,420 and I am assuming that it would retail for around $32,000. In either case, I am looking to lease for about 36 months and less than 10,000 miles annually. I prefer not to put down more than $1,000 for Cap Cost Reduction.
What should be a fair lease payments ? My credit score should be fine.
Regards

CarMan@Edmunds

Hi jetfan. I have a feeling that this lease is not being run through Volvo Finance. I say this because of the significant discount that you were given on this car. Volvo is providing a $6,500 cash incentive on leases of 2005 S60 R models through banks other than Volvo Finance right now. If you were to lease through Ford's Z-Plan, you would be able to get an attractive selling price on this car before incentives, however if you lease a vehicle using this plan you may be required to do so through the captive finance company, Volvo Finance. If that is indeed the case, apparently you would be better of not going through the Z-Plan, taking advantage of the large cash incentive, and leasing through an independent bank.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hello Jim. Saab's lease program varies by trim level, so in order for me to give you a thorough evaluation of the deal that you were quoted, I need you to tell me exactly which Saab 9-3 you are interested in. It also would be helpful if you could break down the money that is due at lease signing so that we can tell exactly how much of a capitalized cost reduction you are making.

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jjdnu

Car_man,

Quick question. I'm currently in the market for a new Audi. What is the Audi Premier Purchase? Since I live in MA it's an option I can use to purchase the car. I understand how a lease is calculated and what the factors that control a lease are. I was wondering what you thought of this type of lease and how this type of lease is calculated. What are the benefits to this type of lease other then your name on the title. I've seen is previous posts this is a great option for customers leasing in NY. I've also noticed that these payment are lower than a lease for the same car. The car in question in an 2005.5 Audi A4 2.0T Quattro, 36 months, 15k, MSRP $36000, selling price $35000. This is just an example, this is not the actual deal. Thanks in advanced for you time!
JJDNU

CarMan@Edmunds

Agillman, I believe that I recall replying to your earlier message, but if you can't find it I will do so again. Lexus is not providing any sort of lease support on the 2006 GS 430 right now, so if you were to lease one through Lexus Financial Services you would have to use its standard lease money factors. The last time that I saw them, its base standard lease money factor was around .00215 for any length lease for consumers who qualify for its top credit tier. Its 3 year, 15,000 miles per residual value for the 2006 GS 430 is currently 56%. Its 4 and 5 year residual values for this car are 47% and 38%. If you were to lease it with only 12,000 miles per year, these residuals would be 2% higher.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hello leapfrog. Let's work up a sample lease payment on this van for you and see what we come up with. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2005 Honda Odyssey EX-L-DVD (without navigation) with an MSRP of $32,410 and a selling price of $30,408 through AHFC right now for 3 years with 15,000 miles per, your zero down, pre-tax monthly payment should be around $442. Even after taking tax into account, the payment that you were quoted looks to be a little on the high side to me.

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penn2

Good Morning,

to follow-on my previous message, "Lease Flexibility 05 A6 3.2", one of the dealers I've been working with offered $697/mo.
This was based on 36 mos/12K mi, MF of .00189 and options that incl Premium(list 3k) and Cold Weather(list 900) - total MSRP incl dest $720 dest is $46,520 --
She told me it was based on a sell price of $45K(noting that invoice, incl dest. charge is 43,026)
What are your thoughts about this offer? Fair? Or is there room to move

thank you for your guidance !

jbtwo

Car_man,

I have a car that I will be trading in when I lease a car. What should I do with the proceeds from the car at the dealer? Should I use it to pay the sales tax on the lease ? I'm in IL and I understand that you pay sales tax on the selling price of the car. or ? Any guidance would be appreciated.

Now I just need to decide on the car. I've driven quite a few car and like certain things, but not the whole car. Any recommendations from the following cars which would be good.
Lexus ES330
Infiniti G35 or M35
Acura TL
Cadillac STS
Toyota Avalon

I do realize that this is a wide range of cars. I'm currently driving a 98 Pontiac Bonneville.

Thanks to all.

keeferb

No problem Car_man. I was leaning towards the Pathfinder anyway. The residual on the Explorer is bad enough, and with the high lease factor it just doesn't make a good vehicle to lease.

I picked up my new 'reasonably loaded' 2005 Pathfinder SE 4x4 for a selling price of $29,400/MSRP $31,990. I also rolled the $550 acq fee and $100 title and doc fee into the cap cost($0 sec dep) for a monthly payment of $372/month + tax due at signing. I made the offer through email and was accepted by the dealer...a very easy transaction.

Thanks so much for your help!

elag1

Thanks for the info. on the tsx... I am also considering the TL and would appreciate the info
as to money factor and residual for 12k for 36 and 42 months . also could you give me residual for tsx for 42 months thanks again.

jcrawford

Sure thing. It's a black, Linear 9-3 w/ no options other than an automatic transmission.

They want:
$2155 cap cost
$269.94 (first month's payment)
$764 (Virginia Tax)
$67.50 (Tags)
$595 (acquisition fee)
TOTAL DUE AT SIGNING: $3,851.44

I'm thinking about telling them to drop the acquisition fee. The car is sitting in a lot across the street--do they really deserve six hundred bucks for a U-turn?

stein

Car Man,

I saw that you mentioned in a earlier e-mail that there is some lease support on the Acura MDX. I live in NJ, what support if any is available? and is it available on all the MDX models, not just the base?

What would these lease support money factors and residuals be? and how good are they compared to the regular numbers?

Last, but not least, my current lease is up in July, do you think we might get a better deal by waiting or is it worth it to get it now (and have to eat the last 3 pymnts, which total about $1,000)?

sxg

Hi Car_Man and All,

I am interested in leasing an S60R, which with options would sticker at $42,000.

What type of monthly payment should I expect for the following:
Total cash down: $5,000 (incl taxes, tags, etc.)
12K miles per year
36 or 39 month lease

Also, if you can provide an estimate of the ADJUSTED price of the car with incentives, etc. that would be great...! Thanks. P.S. If anyone has details on what they are paying for a similar lease or have been quoted, I would appreciate that information. I live in Maryland.

jetfan

Car_man: The Dealer told me this deal is NOT with Volvo Finance. You are correct about the Z-Plan, it must go through Volvo/Ford finance for a lease. All things being equal, should I have any reservations about not going with Volvo Finance? Will I be screwed when I turn it in for scratches that Volvo Finance would not charge me for?

jetfan

My post & quote should help you. The MSRP on a S60R AWD is $42,850.00. Discounted to $33,751.00 ( Car_man indicates a $6,500.00 incentive to lease with a bank other than Volvo Finance is fueling the discount)36 moth lease 12K a year got quote of $765.66 inception fees & a payment of $499.46 a month. If you want to put that much cash down, your payment will be much lower. I live in NJ.

sxg

JETFAN,

Thanks. What is your total cash down and are you paying taxes, etc. separately?

sxg

sxg

JETFAN,

Just FYI, based on my specs in my prior post, I have got monthly quotes of $420 to $440. Based on a rough rule of thumb that a dealer told me some time ago, each $1,000 represents roughly $10 in monthly payment. Based on that rule, your quote of $499 with no money down seems comparable to my quotes with $5,000 down. I still plan to use the LEASEWISE service offered by Checkbook.org to make sure I don't get screwed.

dwynne

Are the dealer's payments including sales tax and yours are not? Still that is a lot of difference.

That is what you should do - make sure where every penny goes before signing the paperwork.

Dennis

dwynne

http://www.edmunds.com/advice/incentives/2004/index.html

Shows "up to $5,000" in dealer money on left over C70 convertibles.

Looks like Volvo dropped the C70 for 2005, but my local Volvo dealers still have them. In a recent ad one was asking $34,410 for a $41,410 MSRP C70 "fully loaded". A checking of the online inventory at that dealership shows 14 2004 C70s in stock.

You bet you can get a discount if you will take one of them :-)

Dennis

dwynne

They must pay their notary a lot of money. You can check here and see what the normal acquistion fee is, but $600-700 is about as high as it gets so $1,011 leaves a lot for a notary :-)

Dennis

itrolls

I got an offer for 2004 (new) volvo s80 t6 with climate -package for 34,000 (msrp is 46k). Do you think this is a good deal? Should i buy or lease this car?

qbrozen

see my response on the S80 board.

itrolls

Jeff,

Which dealer is offering this deal? What would be your residual value on this casr after the 3 yr lease? (12K?)

okleshen

Dear car_man:

I am thinking about leasing a 2005 Acura MDX Touring or 2005 Acura MDX Touring/w Rear DVD. I'd like to know the following information and possibly what the monthly payment would be on a 39 mo. lease @ 15,000 miles per year/w 0 down for each.

(1) the residual and what value, i.e. list, MSRP, negotiated price, the residual applies to.
(2) the money factor

I guess I could calculate the rest from there.

Also, is Acura currently offering any specials or offers and does Acura have any dealer holdbacks, etc. right now?

Thanks.

jetfan

SXG: My understanding of " inception fees" is that amonut that I pay the dealer as I roll the car off the lot. I may be wrong, but that is my understanding. As such, I believe my quote includes all taxes, registration fees, & first month payment. If someone knows I am wrong, please correct me.

steve57

For a Seattle area Acura TL 2005 without Navi, the MSRP appears to be $33,100 + $570 dest. charge. I can apparently purchase this car for $32,800 plus tax.
I read in a post that Money Factor for this car should be .00220 and Residual Value is 60%. If I want to lease this for 36 months with 12,000 miles/yr,what should I expect to pay monthly with
$1,000 down? How much if $2,000 down? Is there always an additional lease acquisition fee paid up front to Amer. Honda Fin. Corp?
Thanks.

mond

On a 36 month lease each $1000 you put down lowers your payment $25-$30, not $10.

dwynne

>> Lexus ES330
>> Infiniti G35 or M35
>> Acura TL
>> Cadillac STS
>> Toyota Avalon

Most folks would say to take the trad in money in cash, and use what you have to on the upfront stuff (acquition fee, title, first month's payment) and put the rest in the bank.

As to the cars you are looking at, if you are shopping the ES you might was well just get a Camry or the Avalon - really nothing special (to me) about the cheapest Lexus.

The G35 is an interesting car - so-so interior but really nice/quick motor. Rear styling is so-so (in the sedan) and back seat is a little cramped. Can be had for $500-750 over dealer cost, which makes for a good deal.

M35 is a lot nicer - larger back seat and better/newer design w/same motor. Can't get a deal right now, so you have to let the dealer make $5-6k in profit to get one.

If you look at the M34 also look at the GS300. Same no deal, high markup problem but should be looked at. Has backseat leg and head room issues, though.

TL: can't bring myself to love this car - why not just get the Accord? In fact, get the Hyrbid Accord w/NAV and just lots of MPGs and decent acceration plus a $1,000 tax credit (I think it is this year)

STS: don't care for the new "edgy" styling myself and GM reliability will probably not be up to the others cars you list.

Avalon: Interesting car. Used to me another "get a Camry" like the ES, but the new car in the Limited trim is interesting. Loaded with NAV, smart cruise, rain sensing wipers, etc is still a decent price compared to the other cars. Huge back seat and new, powerful motor. Interior trim is love it or hate it, in light colors I don't like it - but in darker colors looks OK. Also a new model, so most dealers are not dealing much (yet).

Dennis

lease_is_up

Thanks ever so much..i can see based on this the dealer was padding the Factor... I hope you dont mind if i come back with same question in month or two when hopefully the factors are less rich. Regards.

nofo1

Carman,

Can you tell me what Saab's current Smartbuy (I am in New York - no GM leases here) incentives are for a 2005 9-3 Arc Convertible?

I am interested in a 23 month Smartbuy with 12k/year - taxes in, $0 up front. A couple of dealers have given me @ $720/month computed as set forth below - which seems high to me.

MSRP: $44,800
Selling Price: $40,800
Residual: $30,700
Interest: 2.9%
Taxes: $3620
Up Front: $0

Thanks in advance,

jeff15

I'm in Indiana. The dealer told me the residual was 43% on a 12K 36 month lease. They said the big discount was only on the base fwd model, although car-man would have to confirm this. I think I'm passing on it since the interest rate (MF=.00231)is hardly discounted and the low residual pretty much negates the discount in my mind.

CarMan@Edmunds

Hi penn2. Audi Financial Services' base lease money factor for a 3 year lease of a 2005 A6 3.2 Sedan right now is actually .00132. This money factor requires that you pay a security deposit, but even without one it would be lower than the .00182 that you were quoted by the dealer that you are working with. I suspect that your dealer is trying to mark-up this car's base money factor to add additional back-end profit to your deal. This is a completely legal tactic, but one that you can avoid by knowing a manufacturers' published lease program, which you now do. It is difficult to say what Audi's lease program on this car will be like in April. As long as you get your dealer to use Audi's base lease program to calculate your payment and negotiate an attractive selling price, you should be able to get an attractive deal on this car.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Thanks for the additional information, jcrawford. $2,155 is way too much of a capitalized cost reduction to make when leasing. 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 $2,000 down, or had made absolutely no down payment at all.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Let's work up a lease payment on this puppy for you and see what we come up with, auburn97. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2005 Nissan Murano SL AWD with an MSRP of $29,330 and a capitalized cost of $28,058.05 through Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. right now for 42 months with 15,000 miles per year, your zero down, pre-tax monthly payment should be around $337.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hey coffee_fan. Saab is currently providing $4,000 lease cash or $3,000 dealer cash on the 2005 9-5 Arc wagon. These offers cannot be combined. If you lease, you are only eligible for the lease cash. Having said this, this month, Saab is providing a $1,000 bonus on all sales and leases of the 2005 9-5. So the total lease incentives on it right now is $5,000. Saab Financial Services Corp.'s base 2 year, 12,000 miles per money factor and residual value for this model is currently .00001 and 59%, respectively. 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. I would be more than happy to work up a sample lease payment on the car that you are interested in for you if you let me know what its selling price is.

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CarMan@Edmunds

As I suspected, this lease is through a bank other than Volvo Finance, asd302. I have not seen this banks' published lease program for this car. As a result, I cannot tell you whether it is marking up your money factor any. I can tell you though that you are getting this car for a very reasonable price. The only thing that I would change about this deal if I was in your situation is I would not make any sort of capitalized cost reduction.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Here is the information that you are looking for, MD_Outback. If you were to lease any 2005 Honda Accord Coupe EX with navigation through American Honda Finance Corp. right now for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00113 and 52%, respectively.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Congratulations on your new X3, funky1020. I am glad to hear that you have learned so much from reading this discussion. Thanks for taking the time to come back and let us all know how everything turned out. Enjoy!

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hi mkcal. I am sorry to hear that you have already put so many miles on your car. I definitely would not do anything now if I was in your situation. Purchasing it now will likely prove to be more expensive tha it will be down the road. Not only are you more upside down on your car at this time than you will be near the end of your lease, but the bank that you are leasing it through is much less likely to be willing to negotiate its purchase price this far before the scheduled end of your lease. You basically have two options, continue to drive your Jetta and pay the excess mileage penalty at lease end or wait until the scheduled end of your lease and purchase your car, trying to negotiate a lower selling price with VW Credit, or whichever bank you are leasing it through. If your car's lease-end purchase price is less upside down than the amount that you owe in excess mileage charges, you may want to consider buying it.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hi jq31. Edmunds.com has a ton of good articles on leasing that you definitely should check out. Here are links to a few of them:

- Leasing Glossary

- 10 Steps to Leasing a New Car

- Calculate Your Own Lease Payment.

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