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  • mgrcmmgrcm Member Posts: 53
    In this state (MA. 5% tax) when you trade-in you only have to pay sales tax on the trade difference. If I sell my car privately then purchace the new car then I would have to pay sales tax on the full amount of the new car (ouch), which would eat into any extra profit I would have made from selling my car privately.(Not to mention the hassle).

    I originally made the deal to buy, can I call the Audi dealership up tomorrow and say I no longer want to trade in the Toyota and re-negotiate the deal on the new Audi and get some money off MSRP and then do a no money down 2-year lease.(who know's)Then sell the Toyota ourselves(no need to worry about sales tax with a lease deal) and put the money from the sale of our Toyota in OUR bank! ( maybe sounds like the way to go)

    Thanks for all the information.
    Rick
  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    Hey Chigirl. If your step daughter has a decent credit history and her score is in the 700's she should have no problem qualifying for Chrysler Financial's top credit tier. If she was to lease any 2005 Dodge Dakota Quad Cab 4X2 through Chrysler Financial right now for 36 months with 15,000 miles per year, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00236 and 52%, respectively. The numbers for otherwise identical 39 and 48 month leases of this truck should be .00244 / 51% and .00319 / 45%, respectively. When she is negotiating her lease on this truck, she needs to keep in mind that DaimlerChrysler is providing $2,500 lease cash plus a $1,000 bonus for leasing through Chrysler Financial, $3,500 total, on it. This money will help her to negotiate an attractive capitalized cost for her lease.

    Car_man
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    P.S. Don't forget to let us know how everything turns out with your deal.
  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    Hi kdg. The lease money factor and residual value that you were quoted for this truck look good to me. they are right in line with Acura's base program for this model. It would be much easier for me to give you my opinion on this deal if you let me know this truck's full MSRP though. This number will show me how much of a discount you are being given and enable me to calculate a sample lease payment that you can compare to the one that you were given.

    Car_man
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  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    Hello woody2408. Let's take a look at the current lease program for the car that you are interested in. If you were to lease a 2005.5 Audi A4 2.0T Sedan with quattro through Audi Financial Services right now for 2 years with 15,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00135 and 67%, respectively. The numbers for an otherwise identical 3 year lease of this car should be .00135 and 56%. These money factors are equivalent to an interest rate of around 3.25%

    If you opt not to lease, you can still take advantage of the attractive finance rates that Audi is currently offering on this car. Specifically, it is providing consumers with 2.9% financing for up to 3 years and 4.9% for 4 to 5 years on this car in May.

    Car_man
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  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    Michael10, the selling price that you were quoted for this truck looks reasonable to me, but you may want to stop by the following discussion to see how much other community members have paid for similar vehicles lately: "Infiniti FX45 / FX35: Prices Paid & Buying Experience". As far as its lease program goes, if you were to lease a 2005 Infiniti FX35 AWD through Infiniti Financial Services right now for 39 months with 15,000 miles per year, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00190 and 61%, respectively. According to my calculations, if you were to lease this truck with an MSRP of $44,380 and a selling price of $41,223 using the aforementioned lease program, you would have a zero down, pre-tax monthly payment of around $493. If you plan on using the entire 18,000 miles per year, you may want to consider leasing with a higher mileage allowance.

    Car_man
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  • rhboo1rhboo1 Member Posts: 1
    Car_man, thanks for all the info, this forum is very helpful!

    Quick question:
    Atlanta lease for 2005 Honda Accord Ex 4 cyl w/ Leather MSRP of $24,800. Lease deal is $308 per month (total payment including taxes). $1000 down (this includes acq fee, first mo payment, doc fees, etc), 36 mo/12000 miles.

    Looks good to me by my numbers. Going in today- what do you think?

    Any help appreciated! Thanks!
  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    Hi ct1211. As you are probably already aware, BMW is providing its dealers with dealer cash on 2005 3-Series Sedans to help them unload their remaining inventory now that the redesigned 2006 3-Series Sedans are arriving. The redesigned 3-Series Coupes are not available yet, as a result BMW has not felt the need to introduce any sort of dealer cash on the '05 3-Series Coupes yet. It does have a fairly attractive lease program available on them though. I am not personally all that familiar with what the market is like for '05 3-Series Coupes in your area right now, but I doubt that you will be able to get one at invoice. For feedback on what you should pay for this car, you should stop by the following discussion: "BMW 3-Series: Prices Paid & Buying Experience".

    Car_man
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  • hpowdershpowders Member Posts: 4,331
    Hey Car_Man. What would be the residual and money factor for an M45(non-sport) for 36 months, 36,000 miles?
    Thank you.
    hpowders
  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    I'm glad that you enjoy this discussion so much, srqdave. Right off the bat, I have a problem with the $4,250 cap cost reduction that is required to arrive at the lease payment that you were quoted. 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 Escalade EXT would be exactly the same, regardless of whether you had put over $4,000 down, or had made absolutely no down payment at all.

    This truck's lease rate and residual value are right in line with GMAC's published program for it, but in order to give a complete evaluation of this deal I need to know what this truck's selling price is. 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 truck that you are interested in for you if you let me know what its selling price is.

    I just got to the bottom of your post and noticed that you will put a whopping 28,000 miles per year on this truck. That is more than double the 12,000 miles per year allowance of the deal that you mentioned. If you exceed your truck's allowed mileage by this much you will end up owing a HUGE excess mileage penalty at lease end. I definitely see your point about purchasing this truck at lease-end, you would have to if you put that many miles on it. While GMAC has been known to negotiate its vehicles' residual values from time to time, the fact that this truck's residual value is so inflated makes it unlikely that you will be able to buy it at a price that is below its market value. You may want to consider purchasing rather than leasing your next vehicle. For that matter, you might want to consider something that gets a little better gas mileage than the Escalade.

    Car_man
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  • vector6vector6 Member Posts: 34
    Car_Man-

    Thanks so much for the advice. The numbers broke down this way - MSRP: 43,995
    Selling price $39,699

    Again, the lesae deal was 51 months, 48K, zero down - bascially sign and drive 549 per month plus tax, 51 months, 48k.

    The XC70 (wagon_ I've heard has better incentives. With the: Premium, Climate, Convenience, and Metallic paint. MSRP= 41,035 Buy= 35,900 Lease= 429 per month plus tax, sing and drive zero down, 48 months, 48k miles.

    We would prefer the XC90. i just need some sense of numbes to go in with - because there are several Volvo dealers in the area and with the right info I think we could get a good dal.

    Thanks in advance.
  • pabernathypabernathy Member Posts: 1
    we are thinking about leasing an acura mdx. the salesman has told us that if we purchase a 60 month lease we can return the car in 2-3 yrs or before 50,000 and trade it in and we will not be penalized for the mileage. Is this true. The salesman at the volvo place also told us this. thanks
    pabernathy
  • scottdelscottdel Member Posts: 1
    Hi CarMan,

    I am looking to lease a 2005 Acura TSX and I was wondering if you can provide me with Acura's current (through American Honda Finance) Money Factor and residual values for a 36 month lease with 12K miles and also with 15K miles.

    Thanks,

    Scott
  • buy_lowbuy_low Member Posts: 4
    Just got an 9-3 Arc offer of my own to ask advice on:

    Auto, driver, climate, moonroof for invoice of $34,604.
    Dealer incentives drive to lease selling price of $30,300
    Two lease options:

    (a) 24 months
    $1500 initiation (first payment included)
    $406/month (taxes included)
    money factor of .00030 (actually, guessing he meant .0030)
    residual: 59%

    (b) 36 months
    $1500 initiation (first payment included)
    $390/month (taxes included)
    money factor of .00049 (again, guessing he meant .0049)
    residual: 49%

    Car could be purchased for $29,800, by the way (better share of incentives available).

    First, are these decent numbers on a Saab lease? MF's appear high, relative to rates today. The lowest of them seems to equate to a 7.2% interest rate. Either (a) or (b) stand out, strictly on the numbers, as better option? How do these stack up vs. purchasing at the $29.8? Thanks!
  • paulyballspaulyballs Member Posts: 7
    I'm completely new to leasing, but for my needs I am figuring it's the way to go right now. I'm interested in leasing a 2005.5 Audi A4 2.0T FT. Here are the specs I've configured along with the MSRP:

    Exterior: $450
    Packages:
    Premium package $2,100
    Lighting package $1,425
    Sport package with all-season tire $750
    Bose® premium sound system with AudioPilot® noise compensation feature and Sirius® Satellite Radio $1,000
    Individual options:
    Destination Charge $720

    MSRP: $33,795

    I haven't been to a dealer yet, because I want help with figures so I have some idea of what's going on when I go to negotiate. I plan on leasing for 36 months, 15,000 miles, and putting $4,000 down. What should I expect to be getting for money factor and residual value? Any other information anyone can give me that will help me getting a good price on this lease will be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks in advance.
  • woody2408woody2408 Member Posts: 8
    Thanks Car_Man, the latest update I have on availability of the car I am waiting for is that it may arrive Friday.... guess I have till then to figure out which way I should go. Thanks for all the information this forum has been a big help. :)

    woody2408
  • miamifootmiamifoot Member Posts: 1
    HAS ANYBODY LEASED A MERCEDES E350 YET?
  • jfootmanjfootman Member Posts: 1
    Please help! I am typically not an impulse buyer, but unfortunately we did this time. We agreed to a lease on a 2005 Honda Odyssey, leather w/ DVD & no additional options, $1000 up front, 15k/yr for $595/month for 48 months. We gave them a check yesterday (post-dated until the 18th), signed the paperwork & the vehicle should arrive at our dealership tomorrow. We traded in our Suzuki XL-7 which we were between $2k & $3k upside down on depending on whether we list condition as "Fair" or "Good".

    After researching online, the Honda website shows almost the exact payment we agreed on if we were $3k upside down. In other words, we may not have gotten screwed, but we definitely didn't get a deal whatsoever.

    So, my questions: 1. Can I get out of the lease legally since we have not taken posession of the vehicle yet? 2. If so, would we loose all of the $1k paid up front, $405 (less the 1st month's payment) or would we keep it all? 3. Should I obtain a lawyer (more $)? 4. If we cannot get out of the lease, do we have any options to renegotiate a better monthly payment?

    Since we negotiated after the banks were closed, they have not run our credit report yet, so it's the one time I would hope we would get declined (unlikely). We can put a stop payment on our check, but I don't want to be turned in to collections over this either.

    Any help would be appreciated. I realize we may have to pay a shipping fee to get out of the lease since they sent it from another dealership, but we would hope that would be all. They are calling us tomorrow afternoon, 5/16 to tell us when we can pick up the vehicle. Thanks to anyone & everyone for your help.

    -Footman (the dunce!)
  • conancconanc Member Posts: 14
    Car_man,
    I am a newbie -- both to the boards and to leasing. I posted a little bit earlier but since the post, have been doing some additional research trying to understand the "lingo". We're looking for fairly low payments since this is a second car. I'd like to email some local Saab dealers since they seem to have some decent lease prices. Can you please tell me what I should mention in the email other than: Saab model, MSRP, invoice, selling price, 0% down, 2 year lease, 12,000 miles. The other car we are interested in comparing with is a Honda Accord. We have never leased before and are trying to appear "semi informative" with this process. :) Thank so much!
  • steevosteevo Member Posts: 389
    48 months!?! Wow that is a pretty bad deal. You can finance 31,500 at 5.25% for 60 months and pay 598 a month without putting anything down at all. There are probably better rates out there.
    Invoice on a 2005 Odysey EX-L with DVD is 29,386. ~2500 satisfies the note on your Suzuki according to you..So it really depends on your definition of getting screwed.
    Have you called the dealer to try to cancel? I would try to get out of it if I were you regardless of any supposed legal obligation to buy. Anything can be negotiated.
  • infinitygrrlinfinitygrrl Member Posts: 5
    Hello. I have a 2003 Nissan Pathfinder that I leased for 48 months at $448 a month. It has 24 more months left. I also have a 2003 Nissan Frontier that I purchased on a loan through Nissan for $440 a month. I am upside down on the Frontier for about $9000. What I want to do is get rid of BOTH of the vehicles, the loan and the lease, and purchase one new 2005 Altima on a 60 month loan. First of all, I was wondering if my dealer would allow me to get out of my lease early without paying any fees. He had originally told me that I wouldn't have to keep the Pathfinder for all 48 months of the lease. He said when I was half through if I wanted something new I could come in and work out something else.

    So what I want to do is get out of the lease, and then use the Frontier as a trade-in. Now, I know I'm upside down on the Frontier in the amount of $9000 and I would be willing to put about $3000-$4000 down to cover the difference. If I put that much down, I wanted to know if my dealer could make the remaining $5000-$6000 amount I am upside down "disappear" in rebates/incentives in order to make the sale of a new 2005 Altima? If the dealer wants to tack on the entire $9000 difference to the new Altima loan, I just won't do it and I will tell him that. I wanted to know if this seems like a likely situation? Would my dealer let me get out of my Pathfinder lease and help make some of the upside-down difference in my Frontier disappear to get me into a new loan? I am planning this within the next 3 months so if someone could let me know what my best bet would be, please advise. I do not want to pay these two outrageous payments anymore, so one way or the other, I want to get out of this loan and lease and get into one new 2005 Altima loan.

    Thanks. Peace...
  • steevosteevo Member Posts: 389
    How much do you owe on the Frontier? WHat is the residual on the Pathy after the lease is up?
  • infinitygrrlinfinitygrrl Member Posts: 5
    The payoff on the Frontier is at about $19,000 right now. I think the residual on the Pathfinder is around $18,000...something high like that. I think the blue book on the Frontier is around $11,000 or $12,000...it's in pretty good shape but already has about 46,000 miles on it.
  • steevosteevo Member Posts: 389
    Forget blue book. WHat type of Frontier is it? On cars.com right now plenty of used 2003 Frontiers with 40ish selling in the high teens. Your payments sound like it must be a fairly loaded Crew Cab truck.No?
    The Pathfinder sounds like you got a lame deal on the original lease. You have over 10,500 in payments left and still have an 18000 residual..
    Maybe try to sell the Fronty privately for as much as possible. Shoot high take what you can. CLean it up real nice, pay for a big detail job.
    THen finish up the Pathfinder lease. WHy get rid of it? They are going to roll at LEAST the 10500 into the next car. Why pay 30,000+ for an 18,000 dollar car when you are already Driving a nice Pathfinder? . May as well enjoy the Pathfinder and try for a new car when the lease is over.
    Good Luck!
  • infinitygrrlinfinitygrrl Member Posts: 5
    Actually we got completely ripped off on the Frontier because we were upside down on our trade in when we bought it two years ago...so the dealer rolled the extra $5000 onto the Frontier loan. It's a King Cab SE...very basic, which is why I thought it would only sell for a little over 10.

    You mentioned selling the Frontier. I don't know how to sell a car that's still under a loan and I know I wouldn't get the $19000 I still owe. So even if I sell it privately for $1300, I still have to pay the remaining $6000 right? So how would that work?

    Oh, the problem with the Pathfinder is that my partner drives over 40 miles to work, so it has 42,000 miles on it and we're only allowed 48,000, so if we keep it another 2 years, we're gonna get RIPPED on the extra mileage charges at $0.15 a mile! So we are really in a bad situation right now. We have to somehow condense these two huge car payments into one, even if it's one at $550 a month, that at least beats two at $900 a month.

    HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • a6_to_m35a6_to_m35 Member Posts: 43
    Mr. Car Man,

    My "handle" says "A6 to M35", but I'm still exploring. I've been a long time Audi buyer and felt it was time for a change. But the newness of Infiniti's M is making it difficult for me to feel comfortable with what the dealers wish to offer.

    The bottom line is that the car market is too weak for me to pay top dollar for anything--save a MB/AMG.

    Now that the A6 has been out, what type of MF and Residuals are being offered for a 39 month, 15k lease?

    Thank you in advance, and you have our extreme respect for offering an unbelievable free service.
  • steevosteevo Member Posts: 389
    Wow. The upside down stuff is a real downer.
    HTe problem is that whtever you end up with you are going to be super upside down on. You could take out a new loan to pay off the difference on the Frontier. Like a refinance. And I suppose you could attempt to buy out the Pathfinder from the lease company but you will have to offer at least 25000 and there is no guarantee they will go for it.
    I don't think you are going to solve this problem by buying another car.
    You need to move this total debt into a longer term loan and probably keep one of these cars after you buy it from the bank so you dont add any new payments. Talk to a loan specialist at your bank or credit union.
    Good luck.
  • fsmdfsmd Member Posts: 3
    Just signed for a 2005 Acura TL w/Nav (MSRP $35670), Cap cost $33200, MF 0.00275, Residual $19975 (36 mos., 15K miles)==> Base payment $513 + Tx. $30.82 (6% CT).

    The lease seems fine except that the "publishes" MF is 0.00240 and I think they used the 36 month, 10K miles residual...

    Probably works out in the wash...what do you think?
  • a64marca64marc Member Posts: 21
    Car Man -Carman- you've been a great help in the past so I come to you again....oh great wizard!

    leasing a new 05 acura tl non-nav :P

    couple questions...are you aware of any loyalty incentives/bonuses for current honda finance customers releasing again via HF? :mad:

    given that it's mid-May...what would top tier 700+ fico score m/f's be and residuals for 3 years and 4 years respectively, 12k miles per year? :confuse:
  • infinitygrrlinfinitygrrl Member Posts: 5
    Thanks Steevo...I'll see what I can do.
  • infinitygrrlinfinitygrrl Member Posts: 5
    Okay, new question. I have a 2003 Nissan Pathfinder that I leased for $448 a month. It has 24 more months left. When I first got the lease, the dealer told me that when I was about halfway through I could trade it in for something else without penalty. Of course, I don't trust this shady man so I want to know my facts before I act hastily. Can I get out of my Pathfinder lease without paying any fees or paying the balance if I am going to open a new car loan through the same dealer? Will dealers generally let customers out of their leases as long as the customer is going to spend more money to lease or loan a new vehicle? I am almost out of my allotted miles on this lease, and if I keep it until the end I will go WAAAY over and be charged a fortune. However, if my dealer was telling the truth, then I will gladly return the vehicle (which the dealer will then re-sell for a huge price and end up making more profit) and I will enter into a new loan on a car to buy...not another lease. If my dealer was lying and there is no way to get out of the lease without incurring additional fees, I will simply wait it out, but then I am definitely not buying a new vehicle through this same dealer. If they are aware of this, will they take back the leased vehicle free of charge and put me into a new loan to keep me as a customer?

    (It seems logical to me because they would still be making money off the returned leased vehicle because it is only 2 years old and they will probably sell it for $25000-$27000 and they would also be making more money because I'd be starting a brand new car loan with them for at least $23,000...however I am obviously no dealer and don't know the ins and outs of the business...)

    Can someone tell me if this seems reasonable?
  • mustangmike02mustangmike02 Member Posts: 6
    Thx Car_Man, I'm actually looking into the Jeep Cheroke 4x4 Laredo w/F package, sunroof, sirius radio and cargo package. MSRP with all that is $31,620. Invoice is $29,557. Thnx...
  • hweaverhweaver Member Posts: 33
    I saw this on the honda site.
    2005 Pilot EX Special Featured $279 Lease Terms

    $279.00 per month for 36 months.
    $1,999.00 capitalized cost reduction.
    $2,873.00 total due at lease signing (includes first month’s payment, capitalized cost reduction and AHFC upfront acquisition fee; total net capitalized cost and base monthly payment does not include tax, license, registration, options and the like).
    Model YF1845EW (2005 Pilot EX).
    Special lease rates available on all new 2005 Pilot models. Offer valid from 5/3/2005 through 7/5/2005. Not all buyers may qualify. Subject to limited availability. The specific featured lease listed is not available to New York residents. New York residents should contact their dealer for New York featured lease. Terms and conditions vary for New York Residents. In addition, AHFC limits leasing terms to 39 months or less to residents and dealers in the state of Rhode Island.
    My questions:
    WHY is the down payment so expensive? I thought the big deal w/ leases is O down and low payments....
    Can I offer O down? If so, then are the payments just a little higher? ALSO, what if I do not want a plain EX, it says in small print "all pilots". I want the EX w/ leather AND dvd.
    Also, I KNOW how to negotate buys, but have only one experience w/ lease and it was in 2001...
    I KNOW I can get this and ANY Honda AT invoice or below. I've bought before and from this local dealer, do I nego to 30k (cost for the ex w/ leather and dvd) then lease? Or are leases based on MSRP??? How does this work???
    How do I know what is a good deal??
    I am currently driving a 2004 honda odyssey EX w/ cloth, buy, 3.25% apr for 60 mths nothing down; payment $465.
    Want nicer, but lower payment.
    I have the BEST credit you can have so I can get the low rates they offer like 1.9 or 2.9 apr too. I guess i could put a few k down to make the payment the same.
    Thing is, I only keep cars for a while; few yrs...
    WHAT should I do??????????
    And what can I negotate in a lease for a pilot??
    Thanks!
    heidi
  • hweaverhweaver Member Posts: 33
    I turned in a 2001 honda odyssey after 1.5 yrs on a 4 yr lease, NO penality, no cash, nothing. Bought a mazda van (hated later), but point is, I turned in early. My payoff was the same as it was worth, so they just took it as a trade in, simple
    heidi
    that's the only lease I've ever had and remember not many other details, that's why I asked all the questions on my other post, but if you are just wanting to turn in a pathfinder early, or finace the remainer of a lease, my brother in law as a beemer m coupe that he leased, then wanted to keep, financed the baloon, no issues...
    I'd call nissan finance co see what they say, and speak to the dealer of the new car you want. or if you want to keep it, call your bank, they may give you a loan, then you can pay it off, right and continue paying but you actually bought it? am I correct?? that's what banks told me when I wanted to sell my odyssey.
    heidi
  • kscctsksccts Member Posts: 140
    No need to get upset at steine13. Don't shoot the messenger. He speaks the truth. You have no easy way out. One can not borrow one's way out of debt. :confuse:
  • wsa10wsa10 Member Posts: 3
    Car_Man,

    The 2005.5 Audi S4 had an MSRP of $52,795 + gas guzzler tax of $1700. The selling price was $52,530. I am also interested in the base lease mf for 36 months and the residual for this car.

    On the 2006 BMW 330i, I have found from reading the other posts that there is not much of an incentive for the dealers to sell below MSRP. That is the same for me as the dealer was not selling below the $44,165 MSRP.

    Thanks for all of your help.
  • d_vd_v Member Posts: 1
    Turning in 2001 BMW 525i with 53,000 mi. Broker will pay last two months' payments (725 x 2) on BMW

    or should I go with 'base' 2006 E350 for same money? :confuse:
  • dotcomgirl18dotcomgirl18 Member Posts: 1
    I've decided I'd like to lease a 2005 VW Jetta. I had planned on getting the 2.5 automatic with package 1, black in color with an anthracite leatherette interior. I'm going to be trading in a 98 Toyota Sienna with 97k miles on it.

    Being the overly enthusiastic person that I am, I did a little bit of research on the Jetta itself and then on leasing, and last Friday I rushed into the dealer for a second time to see what my payments would be like. I was a little mad my boyfriend wouldn't come with me, as I really don't know the first thing about cars or negotiating. The guy at the dealership explained to me that they only had two Jettas left that had the options I wanted, a silver and a tan. They estimated my trade in at $3,000 (KBB is approx. $4,400) because it has hail damage. He wrote down the price of the silver car, minus my trade in, plus taxes. Like an idiot, I sat there asking why he couldn't do any better on my trade in (hail damage) and asking if he could do any better on the actual price of the new car. After he said "no," I had no idea what I was doing so I just said alright. However, I told him that I did not want the silver and wanted black instead. He supposedly called around and there were none in the area (which I highly doubted was the case, and looking online at another dealer, it looks like they have one). He then proceeded to offer me their black demo car, which was the same type of Jetta, only with the Package 2 (real black leather, other upgrades). This demo has 1800 miles on it and he said he could give it to me at invoice price of $24,900 (while I think the Package 1 I was looking at he put at $24,000). I said that sounded good to me. What I don't understand is why my monthly payments suddenly jumped from $300 to $369, when the final cost is only about a $900 difference before taxes and everything.

    Anyway, after talking to my Dad, I realized I shouldn't have jumped into everything so fast, and should do more research. Luckily, I signed no paperwork locking me into anything. I've looked around online, and now my head is swimming with facts and I just feel more confused. Does anyone know if the site www.fightingchance.com is useful if I order their guide? I don't want to get screwed over, as I'm sure if I had taken what he was offering me originally, I probably would have been. Any help here would be GREATLY appreicated!
  • steine13steine13 Member Posts: 2,825
    The Honda Odyssey in 2003 was still one of THE hottest vehicles around. Good for you for being able to turn it in early; it was worth a lot of money.
    Lemme guess: You were not racking up miles at nearly double the allowed rate, right?

    The Pathfinder is not going to work that way because of the miles. Most early terminations are rather dear; scroll through the past 200 posts or so for examples.

    At least it's not an Explorer; Pathfinders hold their value fairly well...
    The advice to call Nissan finance and ask about he payoff is dead on; that way she knows what the numbers are.

    -Mathias
  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 265,514
    infinitygrrl

    Unfortunately for you, steine13 speaks the truth... In fact, I couldn't even fathom a way to give you any advice that would actually work, given your circumstances... I was glad to see that he gave it a shot..

    But, I do have a few things to add...

    You've already borrowed a lot of money for these two vehicles (even the lease is a form of borrowing money). The best way to pay off that money is to keep making the payments.. If the interest rates were onerous, there could be other options, but you say they are low..

    You want to trade two vehicles in for one vehicle... Seeing as you are already driving the Pathfinder at the rate of over 20K miles/year, how can you get by with one vehicle? If you can get by with one vehicle, then drive the crap out of that Frontier, and let the Pathfinder sit... In two years, you will be out from under that Pathfinder lease, and you can then buy that 4-5 year old Chevy Prizm that was mentioned before for around $5K.. Five years from now, you will be out of debt..

    You've made multiple poor decisions to get to this point.. You've traded upside down at least once before, and leased a car with a 12K/yr mileage allowance, when you had no way to stay under... Don't compound those prior bad decisions with another one.... Trading and buying another car (which I doubt you can accomplish, given your circumstances) will not help you out of this.

    The fact that you have $3-$4K of cash to put down on another car, in spite of your current payments, shows that you have the financial capability to keep making the payments.. That is a good thing..

    Park the Pathfinder... Drive the Frontier... If you absolutely have to have another car to drive, find a $2K-$3K beater and pay cash for it... In two years, you will be in much better shape..

    You may have to replace that beater with another one by then, until you pay off the Frontier, but that is the only way to do it... You basically have five years being stuck, until you get everything paid off..

    But, if you can achieve that kind of financial discipline, you'll be much better off in the long run...

    From a car financing perspective, you are in about as deep as you can be.... you don't have many options... Good luck.

    regards,
    kyfdx

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  • rydog1818rydog1818 Member Posts: 3
    hello there, could i please get some feedback on this lease deal,

    2005 bmw 330ci equiped with-
    sport pack
    prem pack
    cold weather pack
    navi
    xenon headlights

    3 year/36k
    msrp-45400
    selling price-42120
    money factor-0.00095
    residual factor-57%
    cap cost reduction-$3000
    monthly payment-$518

    any thoughs would be greatly appreciated. thanks
  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    Hi nj00dstarz. Based upon your user id, I assume that you are in New Jersey. This is important because Toyota's lease program varies depending upon which one of its twelve regions one is in. The lease money factor that is being used to calculate your lease payment on this truck is right in line with Toyota Financial Services' base money factor for it. This is a good thing because it means that the dealer that you are working with is not trying to mark-up this vehicle's money factor to add additional back-end profit to your deal. The selling price that you are being charged for your 4Runner looks reasonable to me. If you like the truck, and have shopped around a little bit to make sure that you are getting the lowest possible selling price on it (there is a lot of competition in the Northeastern U.S. so shopping around should not be too difficult in your area), then I say go for it.

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  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    No problem, nj00dstarz. Are you in the market for both a 4Runner and a 3-Series or are you just trying to decide between them? As I believe that I mentioned earlier, BMW is currently providing $2,500 dealer cash on the 2005 325i. When one takes this cash into account, the dealer is actually getting $30,500 for this car. On a car with a full MSRP of $32,050, I would say that this deal is around $1,000 over invoice. In my opinion, this is too much for not only a discontinued model that dealers are trying to get off of their lots to make room for the redesigned version, but a demo as well. If you can't negotiate a lower price, I would pass on this car.

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  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    You're very welcome, dhamilton.

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  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    You're welcome, ctv. I'm glad that you enjoy this discussion so much. In your post you stated "The dealer is using all of the currently available incentives equaling $3500 off MSRP for a lease based on $25420." It is good that you are taking advantage of all of the available incentives on this car, $2,000 bonus cash + $1,500 lease cash, however in addition to these cash incentives you should be able to negotiate a sizable discount. A base 2005 Saab 9-3 Linear Sedan has a difference of more than $1,500 between its full MSRP and dealer invoice prices. Given the fact that the market for this car is fairly soft right now, you should be able to negotiate a capitalized cost that is at least $4,500 below this car's full MSRP ($2,500 in incentives + a $1,000 discount).

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  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    Hey Craig. Yes, BMW does allow its dealers to lock-in lease programs for consumers on ordered vehicles for several months. There is a way for the dealer to unlock your car's rates so to speak if BMW's lease program on it is more attractive when your vehicle physically arrives.

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  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    Help is on the way, Ms. Davis. Let's take a look at the current lease programs for the vehicles that you are interested in. According to the latest information that I have seen, if you were to lease a 2005.5 Volkswagen Jetta 2.5L through VW Credit right now for 2 years with 15,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00064 and 60%, respectively. The numbers for an otherwise identical 3 year lease of this car should be .00064 and 54%. If you were to lease a 2005.5 Audi A4 2.0T Sedan fronttrack through Audi Financial Services right now for 2 years with 15,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00135 and 67%, respectively. The numbers for an otherwise identical 3 year lease of this car should be .00135 and 55%. Lastly, we have the 2005 Volkswagen Passat GLS 1.8T Sedan. If you were to lease this car through VW Credit right now for 2 years with 15,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00003 and 53%, respectively. The numbers for an otherwise identical 3 year lease of this car should be .00003 and 46%. When negotiating your lease on the '05 Passat, keep in mind that Volkswagen is providing $750 dealer cash on leases of this car through VW Credit. This money will help you to negotiate an attractive capitalized cost.

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  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    I believe that I already responded to your earlier question, carbert. Let me know if you can't find my response and I will try to find it or answer your question again.

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  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    Hello Rick. If you purchase new vehicles and trade your old ones in every couple of years leasing may indeed be a good idea for you, provided that you lease a vehicle that has an attractive lease program available on it. In order to assess this deal, you really need to find out some additional information. It is important that you know the full MSRP and selling price of the Audi that you are interested in. Always remember that the selling prices of leased vehicles are negotiable, just as if you were paying cash for or financing them. Without knowing these two prices, it is difficult to tell how much of a discount you are being given on this car. Also, one needs to know these prices to be able to calculate a vehicle's lease payment. I can work up a sample lease payment for you using Audi Financial Services' published lease program if you let me know what these numbers are. Once we know how much your lease should cost and what sort of price you are paying for this car we can give an accurate assessment of this deal.

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  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    Yes, John, I believe that is the correct lease program for the truck that you are interested in.

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  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    Hi Ken. Infiniti's lease program is not nearly as attractive on the G35 Coupe as it is on the G35 Sedan. I would be more than happy to give you an idea of what this car's lease program is currently like, however in order for me to do so I need you to tell me 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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