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Jeff
The $0 to $600 dealer stairstep program that Honda was running on Accords and Civics last month was replaced with a new program that pays dealers $200 to $750.
Sounds like to me if you can wait until the end of the month - or whenever your area dealers make their quota for the month (so they get the full $750 incentive) then you will have no problem getting a deal for "$0 down" and $199 a month (except for acq fee and security deposit).
If the local folks will not deal, I know of dealers in the Atanta and Louisville areas that will.
Dennis
I have a 2004 Honda Civic LX i got for $2000 down and a sweet $183/mo. I'm only 20 years old so negotiating my first car was pretty scary. It's a 36mo. lease and 12,000mi/yr.
Car_man: do you think i did okay on this deal (i think the msrp was $15,994 or something close to that but i can't be sure). I've had this car for a year now and suddenly i see the sweet new 3-series 2006, so my questions are:
1) what kind of deal could I negotiate for a 36/mo lease 12k miles/year, and as near $300/mo. as possible
and 2) Seeing as I've only had my 2004 honda civic for 1 year & 1 month, what would my outlook be on trading it in or terminating the lease? I don't have my lease details with me so I couldn't tell you if the agreement states whether I have to pay off the remaining lease or if there is just a flat-rate fee (i should know this, but...nope).
Thanks, and I've been lurking around this discussion for a while now and you guys are so knowledgeable and helpful.
Yesterday, I sent you the numbers that I was given and would appreciate an analysis of this deal as I want to make a move on this. Thank you
You need to call the finance company (probably American Honda Finance Corp.) and ask them for the buyout price on your lease. This is what you owe in order to own the car outright. It will almost certainly be more than the car is worth on the open market, in which case, you will have to eat the difference when you trade or sell the car. It's generally very expensive to terminate a lease early, especially a lease like Honda's, because they inflate the residual value of the car so much. Good luck with your endeavor.
Thanks
Similar situation I'm looking at the Honda Odyssey 05 EX-L as well. I have a negotiated price of 28,500 and I'm looking at a 36 mo lease with 12,000 miles. Dealer is quoting a payment of 430.00/mo. I asked what the money factor is and I was quoted .00280 does this seam in line for this type of deal. I realize there are other fees (taxes and acquisition costs) for the lease which I'm not aware of currently. What I'm questioning is the money factor does it seem they are padding it?
The other thing I'm struggling with is if I should put down the 2,000 I have or go with no money down. From what I have read keep the cash and go zero.
I started down the path of purchasing but with payments north of 500.00 I have started considering the lease option.
meschaman (growing familyman)
Leasing is for folks who don't change their minds (or their cars) - so if you are not going to stick with the car you pick you might be better off with traditional financing.
I can get a new 2005 Civic LX from a no-haggle dealer for $14,234 ($14,964 w/auto). By the end of the month, I would expect I could get one even cheaper. So no matter what the values shown online, the value of your used Civic will have to be a good bit less. In most states you can't sell your lease car to someone else - either you have to purchase it or a dealer does. If you do, then it is likely that sales tax would be due (again, it depends on your state) and the person you sold it to would have to pay tax again. Given the current low price of a new Civic and this double tax it is very unlike you could do this without paying a good bit of money out of pocket. If you found a buyer, you could go through a dealer or broker and avoid the taxes, but they would charge you a fee to handle the deal ($300 - $750 or more).
Also, Honda has a special lease deal on the new Civic LX w/AT - $999 down and $189 a month. By negotiating a lower price for the car, you can do this deal with less money down. So a new 05 for about the same payment as yours.
There is a little hope- with your $183 a month payment you may find someone to take over your lease. It depends on your lease bank - some allow it, some don't, some allow it but charge a lot, some allow it but hold you still responsible. You can check here:
http://www.leasetrade.com/
or one of the other sites like swapalease or leaseswap or whatever. From the leasetrade site it says Honda finance does allow lease assumptions with just a $50 credit app for the new lesee and a $50 lease transfer fee - but it says that the original lessee still remains responsible. So if they trash the car, go over the miles, etc then Honda Finance comes after you. If your lease bank is Honda or one with a similar policy then I would not do this. If you can do this, it still might be hard to find someone - since you are competing against the new lease deal. If you are way under miles (if you have a 12k per year lease and you have 8k after 1 year, for example) then it is easier. If you are over miles, then you will probably never find anyone to take it over.
While BMW makes nice cars that folks love to drive - I would not buy or lease one the first year of the new model (or at least not the START of the first year). Look at the new 5 series - tons of problems at first, still quite a few but getting better - one guy I know had his replaced by BMW since they could not fix it. That is not something I would want to get into, myself.
BMW is offering nice lease numbers on the "old" 3 series cars along with dealer money ($2,500 on the 325i sedan) to move them out. They are also a proven design and likely much more reliable than the new 3s will be at first. With BMW and the dealers trying to shed the old 3s, what do you think the odds will be you can get a good deal price-wise or lease-wise on the new 3? Pretty slim, I would think.
On a 325i sedan:
2006 36/36k 0.00265 63%
2005 36/36k 0.00225 57%
If you got the cheapest 2005 325i w/auto the dealer cost would be $29,018 and if you got all the promo money (not likely) that would make your cap cost $26,518. The residual would be $17,823,90. Using the current lease promo that would put you at $311.24 plus tax, title, tags, acq fee, doc fee, etc. And that is for a "leatherette" stripper car purchased at dealer cost including the promo money.
If you got a new 2006 and had to pay full price (say $32k) then the payment would be looking at $467.11 plus all the taxes and fees. Even if you talked them down $2k you are still looking at $406.26 per month plus that stuff.
So while you may think the new 3 series is "Sweet" you might can get a stripper of the 2005 model for close to what you want to pay, but the new one is not going to be close.
This assumes you can get out of your current car.
My advice would be to keep your car and re-visit the numbers this time next year.
Dennis
Dennis
I forgot to mention this in my other reply to you. Call the lease bank back and get a break down of this number. It is possible that they included sales tax in this number. Since you are the only one who can buy this off of lease (or a dealer) then sales tax would be due when they sell it to you (in a lot of states) so they may be routinely adding it to the buy out quote. If they are and you sell through a dealer/broker or trade the car in then sales tax would not be due and this number would be less.
Also, there may be a early lease termination penalty included. If so, this may be reduced the more payments you make into the lease.
Dennis
Thanks, going to look at stuff this weekend and want to get the numbers ready.
car_man posted 0.00225 as the buy rate on the vans. If I plug $28,500 and 60% of MSRP ($18,606) into my lease calc I get $406.73 per month for 36 using the 0.00280 MF. If I used the MF car_man posted I get $380.82 - so it makes a difference. Does your quoted payment include tax or not? Maybe you are rolling the $595 lease acq fee into the lease along with other stuff?
To keep the payments low, you could consider the non-leather EX or the LX model.
Another option is to look at the Pilot. 3 rows of seating and some promo lease deals on them now. Like the Pilot EX for $279 a month with $1,500 out of pocket (or negotiate a lower price for less out of pocket). About the only knock is 17mpg/22mpg - but you do get AWD.
Still another option if your dealer will not play ball is a 3rd party lease bank. It looks like leasecompare will do 0.00220 and 58% on the Odyssey.
Dennis
2006 36/36k 0.00265 63%
2005 36/36k 0.00225 57%
dwynne,
Do you know for sure if 0.00265 is the base MF for the '06 325i? The numbers I get off the website indicate a much higher (downright ludicrous, above .003) MF.
Thanks,
Tim
I want to lease a Saab 9-3 for two years in NY. I currently live in MA and will be moving to NY in July. Now, I just learned that leases are "illegal" in NY -- so, if I want to drive a Saab for two years (I do not want to buy), what are my options? I heard of something called a "balloon loan" but cannot find much info on it. Thanks.
I like new cars, but I pretty much have to get a deal or I don't get one. The Acura RL, new GS, and new Infiniti M are all really nice cars (huge improvements over the models they replaced) but until a) the new model bugs are worked out and b) the new model non-discount deals goes away I would not consider one. Folks paying MSRP or over and getting ripped on their trades just to be the "first on the block" holds no interest for me.
Same with these new 3s - I would not get in any hurry to get one - much better deals will be right down the road. Now if you are in a lease that is expiring now or soon and you need to get into another car righ away you may have to look at them, but otherwise wait and save yourself a lot of money and a lot of potential headache.
Dennis "an early adopter, but not stupid about it :-)"
I did see the incentive that CarMan mentioned and was very excited! As per your suggestion, I have contacted further away dealers and have gotten some better quotes (around $18,700). Looks like I will be waiting till closer to the end of the month to start dealing!
Thanks for the advice. I'll let you know how I do.
Has info on the balloon option. Basically, in NY (and RI) the law says the person/company who has their name on the title has liability for what is done with the car. So if you run over someone then "in theory" that person could sue the lease bank. So a lot of companies refuse to lease cars to residents in those states and those that do charge higher fees "just in case". So leases are not illegal, just potentially a huge headache for the lease bank.
In TX lease causes a property tax hit that makes leases not a good idea for most folks.
So the balloon loan fills the gap. It is like financing, but you pay a much smaller monthly note then at the end of 24 or 36 or 48 months you pay one large payment. But at that time you can give them back the car (sell it back?) in exchange for the lease bank forgiving you the rest of the debt - or they will finance it for you to buy. It is like "36 low payments or $299 and one large payment of $20,000". But in this case your name (alone) goes on the title so they can't be sued for your actions - and in TX the property tax problem does not ruin the deal.
You would have to ask Saab financial about it, but they may require that you wait until you are living in NY before they will do the deal.
Dennis
$17,653 (including Destination)
384 Dealer Fees
Sales Tax
42 Registration
Which is a better deal than they quoted my last month by $180-280 (the difference is picking a car that they got pre or post $100 price increase). I don't think they will charge you the $42 registration fee since are out of state - but maybe they do anyway. When I asked, they had no problem with me being in a different state (but I am in a bordering one).
If you think it would be worth your while/trouble to travel down to get a car, e-mail me through my profile here and I will give you the contact info.
For that price, you would be below $199 before tax if you paid the acq fee, title, tags, and taxes up front.
Dennis
Thanks.
E-mail me via my profile here and I can pass along the salesperson info to you.
You still looking for an S2000? I have seen several discounted ones around - and at least one of the dealers here has an 04 new still on the lot.
I love my S and the new(er) ones are supposed to be even better, but they don't redline at 9,000 rpm like mine does
Dennis
Can you provide me with mf and residual for 36 months/12K per year on the s2000. Also 3 month or 42 months if possible. Thanks for your assistance.
I'm interested in residual and MF information for Saab 9-3 Linear and Arc and the Audi A4 Quattro SE w/Automatic, each at 36 months, 12k/year. Also, if there is lease cash available (as there has been on Saab for the past few months) I'd love any information on that. Thanks in advance.
Right on Dennis! They have new engines, with new metals, and new engine management electronics. It's a Marquis de Sade special.
TL was 35.5 , got it got 32.4k
What would you go with.. TL has some minor probs.. BMW is a BMW..
Same out of pocket at signing basically. (1st month, bankfee w/tl, security w/bmw)
I'm not sure which way i'd go.. love the TL nav system.. and looks... love the 330 for the ride.
Thanks!
I used to have a 330i and it is a fine car. With the $4,500 (or is it $4,200) in dealer money on the 330i you could do better, I would think, by a little bit. My dealer gives free loaners, free washes, and BMW gives you free maintenance.
I like the looks of the TL as well, but before I would pay $32k+ for a FWD car I think I would go grab a Honda Accord Hybrid with NAV for less. Nice NAV system, XM, leather, large trunk, large roomy back seat, quick 0-60, and good mileage driven hard, super mileage if you putt-putt. Does not have the "I've arrived" factor of the Acura or BMW but for the money I think I would take it over the TL. If gas hits $4 or $5 a gallon - and the TL and 330i take premium - you might be smiling all the way to the bank in the hybrid. I think you can get a $2k tax credit this year for a hybrid purchase/lease as well.
I drove the RL as well - loved the AWD and the interior and the voice command and the integrated XM and NAV. Back seat way too small, not much larger or quicker than the much cheaper TL. And for $50k you really should get a V-8.
Dennis
I am currently looking for a good deal on a 2005 Accord lease. This is the first time I've considered a lease and dont know much about the process or what to look out for. I have a couple of questions:
First what do you think of this offer: "I am responding to your request for a Lease payment on a Honda Accord with leather and Navigation System for 36 months with 15,000 miles per year and 0 out of pocket(closed end). The payment for the 4cyl. is $355.00 plus tax and for the 6 cyl. is $409.00 plus tax."
also can you direct me to a site that would have a good calculator. In addition, the values that I would need to input. I apologize if this is somewhere in the site(I just found this site today) Thanks for your help
General Motors Corp. is offering lease customers in some parts of the country the chance to return the cars if they're not satisfied.
When: through the end of June
Markets: California; Atlanta; Baltimore; Boston; Providence, R.I.; and Washington, D.C.
Models: Chevrolet Cobalt, Pontiac G6 or Buick LaCrosse
Terms: Car must have less than 12,000 miles on it when you return it. You forefeit $1500 of the down payment.
*************
They will end up bleeding a lot of money on this one!
There is a lease calculator here:
http://applications.edmunds.com/apps/calc/CalculatorController?pmtcalAction=lease_calc
An explanation of leasing and terms is here:
http://www.leaseguide.com/lease01.htm
And I posted this in the thread yesterday, and think it is still true today
You always:
1) Negotiate the price of the car - get your best price. Know dealer cost and any incentives. Check Edmunds TMV for your area and carsdirect.com pre-negotiated prices.
2) Then negotiate your trade in, if any. Know Edmunds trade-in value and kbb trade-in value. You got a wholesale price for your new car, so you will expect the dealer to only give you wholesale for the trade. You are probably better off selling the car than accept wholesale.
3) Then tell them you want to do the lease - you will know from CarMan here what the "buy rate" money factor is so you can be sure they don't jack it up on you. This Honda lease requires no "participation" from the deal (i.e. money) so you should get the lower possible price AND the lease w/o a problem.
Dealers charge different "doc" or other "Dealer" fees. So what I would do is get each dealer's bottom line price for the car, destination, and any doc/dealer fees. The lease acq fee, taxes, title, and tags should be the same. The dealer I got my wife's car from charges a hefty $298 doc fee - so they had to drop the price OF THE CAR more than another dealer to get my business.
Dennis
Thanks for the links....do you have the current residual value for the accord ex 4 cylinder,leather,navi with a 3 year lease 15k miles per year.
thanks for your help w\ my previous Honda Pilot questions. im now interested in a 05 Accord Hybrid wo Nav or an Accord EX-L V6 wo Nav. the Hybrid caught my eye after spending so much time at the dealer and would save me more $ in the long run. is the current MF and residual on the Hybrid the same as the Accord EX-L V6?
im looking at 36 mos, 15k for both vehicles w\
Accord Hybrid MSRP $30, 655, selling price of $28, 229 the same as CarsDirect.com
and
Accord EX-L V6 MSRP $27, 365, selling price $23, 473
thanks
Meaning, the upfront initial cost of buying the car may stretch me too thin budget wise.
Now, being in a crunch to get a vehicle and being cash short initially, I was wondering if I could lease with as little down as possible then call the finance company to buy it 3 months later?
This would be for a 2005 Toyota Avalon Limited in Central FL.
Is this possible and a fairly smooth transition, or full of potential "gotchya's"
TIA
Dean
The price I was quoted on the the accord ex, with navi,leather, xm, auto was 24411, invoice on edmunds is listed at 23215, the tmv price was 24457. I saw a couple of threads that suggested you should be able to get below invoice, in your opinion what is a reasonable price? What type of lease payment would that translate too?(0 down)
When is the best time of year to buy a new car? I would guess that towards the end of the year (Sept-Nov) when the '06's are coming to market you should be able to get a deal on a leftover '05. Thoughts?
MSRP: $16,925
Invoice: $15,514
Negotiated: $14,864 + $75 doc fee and Tax
% Below MSRP: 12.2%
% Below Invoice: 4.2%
Thats $2061 off MSRP and $650 under invoice...
Just for curiosities sake, anyone think I can get them any lower?
Thanks
car_man has mentioned some recent Volvo cash incentives for leases - as long as you don't lease through Volvo! Same concept, they can't sell them so they do not want you to lease them through Volvo finance or they will have to sell them again later.
So the answer to your question is there is no always right answer. It just depends on the make and model you are interested in. With cheap financing and incentives going on at the same time - and the ability to negotiate the price down, that is the "best" time to buy.
Dennis
One final comparison I want to do before making my decision this month (My current lease is up on April 30) is to run some numbers on the Accord Hybrid. I'm guessing this isn't an attractive car to lease, but it still intrigues me with it's excellent gas mileage and superior performance. I'm interested in the model without navigation.
Could you give me the money factor and residual for a 36/12K lease?
Also, are there any dealer incentives on this particular model like the stairstep program on the Accord EX?
Thanks a bunch!
Ernest
Dennis
On some odd length leases you don't get extra miles. So a 39 month lease gives only 36k miles - same as a 36 month lease. The cheaper price is due to having 3 more months to spread out the pay back. Since you don't get more miles the residual stays the same so you get a nice discount on the payment - if you can live if 36k miles over 39 months.
I THINK that Infiniti odd leases actually give you more miles - so a 39 month would give you 39k miles. The trouble is they will also lower the residual a bit, right? If so the savings will not be as great as a 39/26k lease.
Also most leases will allow you to extend them at the same payment for more months. Get to the end of your lease and want to wait, then extend it a few months if you need to.
Getting OUT of a longer lease is a lot harder than extending an existing one.
I would do the 36 month - you don't have a crystal ball so you can't know what will be out then or when in came out of if you can get a good deal on it then or not. You may decide to buy your car off the end of the lease then it will not matter. Gas may be $6 a gallon and you may need to get into something with better mileage. You may have a "lemon" and can't wait to get rid of it. Who knows?
If the 39 is a good bit cheaper, it might be worth looking at since later summer/early fall can bring lots of promos and discounts (but higher residuals). And what do you care that your car will be a year old in 3 months? You are leasing so all that stuff does not matter to you.
Dennis
Your points are well taken on the perils of purchasing a hot new model, but I am still going to investigate and see what kind of deal I could get. If it is reasonable I might jump on it.
I was wondering if you could confirm the base MF for the '06 325i and what the residuals would be for 24 and 36 months. Also, my median credit score is 705, would that qualify me for the base lease rate through BMW FS. I am an existing customer of theirs so I don't know if that helps at all. Thanks in advance for your help.
Tim
current balance owing is $54000 after first year of lease payments ($62595 total was original price and i have paid $1800 of interest in that first year).
lease rate is 3.3% for 3 years with residual of $34890 plus 7% tax.
finance rate would be 4.5%. say, 60 months.
should i get out of my lease now and transfer the balance to my line of credit? edmund's model numbers indicate i should do this but i'm still skeptical. please help.
As an existing customer you would dodge the turn-in fee on your current car (if leasing) and you might be allowed to waive the security deposit on the new one.
2006 325i (sedan): 0.00265 for all terms. 24/24k 74% 36/36k 63%
Don't do it :confuse: Think "Nickasil alloy engines" and "E46 M3 engine failures/buy-backs" and "I-drive" and "the new 5" and wait a bit for them to get the bugs worked out. A guy I know with a new 5 was talking about what "version" his car was on - as if it were a computer program, which of course it really is.
Dennis
To buy now would be $54,000 + 7 % tax = $57,780. That would be $1,077.19/mo for 60 months at 4.5% = $64,631.62
At the end of the lease it would be $34,890 + tax = $37,332.30. That would be $1,110.52/mo for 36 months at 4.5% = $39,978.68.
That is a difference of $24,652.94 . If we devide that by 24 remaining lease payments we get $1,072.21 . So if your lease payment w/tax is less than this number per month then keeping the lease, then buy is better. If your lease is more than this, then buying it out would save you some money. You can calulate this and see how much.
If the $54k includes the sales tax we will have to refigure that part.
There is also the possibility that the lease bank will offer you a discount or you can negotiate one at lease end - this would make the lease look even better.
Another thing to think about, with a high-end car comes high-end repair bills. So if you are leasing this from a captive finance company you may be able to turn it in, get it "certified" and buy it back as a CPO car. I know you can do this with BMWs - it costs $1,000 or a little more, plus whatever your car nees to pass. But now you have an extended warranty on your expensive car.
Just curious where are you located and who is your lease bank? Did they make you an early buyout offer or did you start looking at this yourself?
Dennis