Lease Questions - Ask Here

CarMan@Edmunds

fwdrive, it is likely that the Federal Reserve Board's two half point rate reductions this month will cause most banks to dramatically lower their interest rates. However, there seems to be a significant lag between changes in the Federal Funds rate and the rates that banks, especially manufacturers' captive finance companies whose programs run for a month or two at a time, provide consumers on new vehicle leases. In my opinion, it could be another month or even two before any noticeable changes in lease rates occur.

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bearbull

Carman, I was looking at leasing a 2001 Lexus RX300 and would appreciate your advice. The MSRP is approximately $40,700 incl destination charge but excluding ttl.

What would be an appropriate money factor, capitalized cost and residual value for the lease based on 12K miles per year? I live in Northern Virgina and have excellent credit.

egreen37

Car_Man-
I was trying to negotiate a lease last night for a 2001 Saab 9-3 base 5-dr, auto., leather, heated seats, metallic paint, 36-month/12,000.

Dealer insisted that in VA, you must pay sales tax on the entire value of the vehicle (negotiated cap cost plus rebate) instead of on the depreciation (which is how Edmunds calculates it).

His best offer was $380.06/month with $2,282.71 due at signing (which is 1st month, SD.., acquisition fee, and "cap cost" of 999 (not sure if this was supposed to be the sales tax not rolled in).

The negotiated price was $27,800 (which included a $2,000 rebate). Residual value was 15,441 (48%) and m.. was .00086. (MSRP 32170)

I calculated this to be about $390/month with $1300 due.

Have you heard about this sales tax issue in Virginia? Do you happen to know what a good lease rate for this car should be? Thanks for any help.

egreen37

Car_Man-
Forgot to mention. Alternatively, I could have bought the car for 25,718, which is $500 over invoice (after subtracting the 4700 incentive money). However, that is still 1500 over
Edmunds TMV. Is there any chance that the TMV could be wrong for this car? I spoke to 4 dealers and they all claimed that Edmunds' price was ridiculous because it was under invoice + rebate. (Also, I was looking at the power sunroof). Didn't know how to negotiate to get TMV when the numbers didn't seem to add up and didn't know how they would profit at that price.

Thanks for the help.

CarMan@Edmunds

Hi bearbull. In December, Lexus had special lease money factors available on the 2001 RX 300. However, that program was not continued for the month of January. Lexus always seems to introduce a little bit of lease support on the majority of its models at the end of the year and then discontinues the support at the beginning of the next year. If you decide to lease a 2001 RX 300 through Lexus Financial Services at this point, you will have to use their standard lease money factor of .00390. This truck's exact residual value will depend upon how many months you want to lease it for, so if you would like me to give you an idea of what it should be I will need some additional information from you.

This truck's capitalized cost will depend upon two factors: the price that you are able to negotiate on one and how much money you put down on it. In order to get an idea of what this truck is selling for at this point, you may want to check out the Town Hall SUV Message Board and look up its True Market Value in the Edmunds.com New Vehicle Price Guide.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Eegreen37, it is difficult for me to keep up with all of the various tax laws that each state has so unfortunately I can not shed any light on Virginia's specific taxation policies. I can tell you what I think a fair lease would be like on this car though. Last month Saab was advertising a lease on a 2001 9-3 5-door w/manual transmission, sunroof, heated seats, and CD for 36 months and with 12,000 miles per year for $339 per month with $999 down. Of course you need to add tax to this figure to come up with a total payment. Also, I am sorry to say that this particular lease program expired on January 31st. Given the fact that it is still early on Frbruary 1st, I have not had an opportunity to look at their February lease program yet. It may be somewhat different than it was last month.

It is possible that the TMV for the car that you are interested in is a little low. I am not intimately involved with True Market Value calculations so it is difficult for me to say for certain. Keep in mind though, that the TMV for a particular vehicle that is listed here at Edmunds.com usually does not include any sort of options. Additional options will naturally make a vehicle more expensive.

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fwdrive

Hi CarMan,

Do you have the recent residual for a 3-year lease on a 2001 GLE with 15K miles/year and the current money rate? The dealer quoted me a payment yesterday of $438/mo plus tax of apprx. $50.mo. I'm not sure how he calculated the tax since I pay 6.5% in my state. The offered price on the car was $26796. Thanks

fwdrive

Hi Cabman,

Nissan just taxed me a sample lease contract and I have some questions. Do I have to pay the sales tax on the entire car and also once again on the payments? Also, does Nissan have a disposition fee or acquisition fee?

Thanks

pmelanc

CarMan,
Do you know what the money factor and lease residuals are for the SR5 and Limited Toyota Sequoia for a 36 month 15k/year lease?
Thanks for your help.

CarMan@Edmunds

Fwdrive & Pmelanc, both Nissan and Toyota's lease programs run on a monthly basis. As a result their January program just ended yesterday and I have not gotten to take a look at their February programs yet. Please feel free to check back with me some time next week and I may have the information that you are looking for then.

Fwdrive, in answer to your second message, Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. has a $350 acquisition fee, but I do not believe that they have a lease disposition fee. As far as the tax on your lease is concerned, this will vary significantly from state to state. Your local Department of Motor Vehicles may be able to provide you with more informaiton on your area's specific taxation policies.

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ace10

in Virginia the buyer, or in this case, the lessor must pay the appropriate sales sales on the entire purchase price of the vehicle. as opposed to some states which require taxes on the usage or not at all. Look at it this way, our friends to the north in DC have to pay 10% tax on all monthly lease payments.

good luck, and don't put too much faith in the edmund's TMV, especially if you are dealing with lindsay lexus.

ace

jblaze13

Hey Car man,

36/39 months seem to be typical lease lengths. 48 months is too long a lease for me. Is there a such thing as a 24 month lease and how common is it? I'll be leasing for the first time soon(obviously); usually I just buy. Just curious, I've never heard anybody say they have a 24 month lease. If there is a lease like this, what are the fundamental differences? Thanks.

fwdrive

I really wanted to lease a Maxima GEL but I just can't get an honest dealer. We agreed on a price of $26,358, 3yr 15K hi, 54% residual, and .00255 rate. The sales guy gave me a monthly payment of $426 with the following payment up front, first payment + $450 cc deposit + $1813 tax + $143 license/title + $50.48 acquisition fee + $450 warranty contract. It took two whole days to get him to break out the numbers but they still don't add up. Originally he said there was a $450 acquisition fee but when he put it on a lease work sheet that fee was only $50 and all of a sudden I got a warranty contract (whatever that is).

In an effort to negotiate on common numbers, I asked that he fill out the lease contract and ax it to me. The first time he resent the invoice the residual and price written on it. After a second request I got an "Auto lease work sheet" with the breakdowns but the addition was wrong on it (26358 + 450 + 50.48 + 1812.95 = 29121.43 huh?). Is it a Nissan rule that they can't let you look at their contract over night? They were more than willing to let me review the numbers while they looked over my shoulder.

Anyway, the dealer is belligerent and is more interested in trying to confuse me rather than just trying to negotiate a price. Actually, I would be willing to pay a higher negotiated car price but I hate it when they try to fool you by putting the money somewhere else. I hate to rant and rave about these dealers because they are not all like that but I refuse to buy a car from someone that cannot be honest.

I hate having to go through this experience evry 3 years. Thanks for letting me vent.

fwdrive

Sorry about the misspellings in the previous post. It looks like spellchecker made changes without me approving them or I don't know how to work the spellchecker yet!

black_tulip

My question has nothing to do with financials,
but it has to do with leasing,so I thought I
would ask it here. I have a car on lease,
through the financial arm of the
manufacturer. Recently I moved to another
state and the local dmv requested some
documents(titles etc.) from the finance company,
so that the registration could be transferred
to this state.

The problem is, the finance company does not
seem to be interested. I always get the answer
that the original title has been lost and a
duplicate has been applied for. This is going
on for three months now. I have spoken to
supervisors and I get the same canned answer.

Do I have any rights at all in this
situation? How can I gently but firmly
pursuade them to act?
Thanks

bondguy

A friend of mine just leased a 2001 Maxima SE..the most expensive one..leather, 15,000 miles a year, and he came up with just under $1,000...for 1st month, tax,tag,etc...his payments for 36 months came to $415/month + tax...this seems to be cheaper than what you guys are being quoted on a new GLE...which should be less..I am currently leasing a 1999 Maxima GLE..with leather and sunroof...it is a great car...I got it before the new ones came out..I only pay $309/month with 1st month out of pocket + tax,tag. By the way, from what I've seen at dealers when we leased a Chrysler Town & Country LXi 3 weeks ago, Fifth/Third is a bank which has some pretty competitive rates. You must shop around though...they are at 7.07% while some banks are as high as 10%.

bondguy

Although we already leased it, what is the current residual on a 2001 Chrysler T&C LXi for a 39 month lease with 15,000 miles allowance/annually?
Also, what would the monthly payments come to on a lease today with a cap cost of $29,500 for this vehicle in the same situation described above? I have a friend who was thinking of getting one like mine and the dealer told him the residuals have dropped again from 49% to 44%...could it be that low already this time of year?
Also, do some banks charge on the contract what's referred to as a separate bank fee? One company had a lower interest rate (8.2% to 7%) and the dealer showed me on the contract that the lower interest rate at the one bank had an upfront $665 bank fee which brought the payment to $10 more a month than the bank with the 8.2% rate...was he pulling my leg to get me to sign at the higher rate? I remember what you said in an earlier post...that the monthly payment is the bottom line so I went with the finance guys opinion and went with the 8.2% rate on the lease.

lojpersberger

I'm looking to lease a 2001 Nissan Pathfinder Le 4wd for three years @12,000 miles/yr. I'm going to put about $1,500 down. The one I'm looking at is fully loaded(sans Navigation system)including leather package and video system in the rear. The MSRP is $34,853. What would be a good lease deal?

CarMan@Edmunds

Hi jblaze13. I am the vast majority of banks out there offer 24 month leases to consumers. In fact, most captive finance companies provide support on 24 month lease money factors. Ford Motor Credit used to feature a lot of 24 month leases in their advertisements. I think the main reason why you don't see more discussion about 2 year leases here in the Town Hall is that the monthly payments for them are usually pretty high. The reason why 24 month leases are so expensive is that vehicles experience the greatest percentage of their depreciation over the first year of ownership. When this rapid depreciation is only spread out over 24 months, it results in fairly high payments.

You are absolutely correct to stay away from 48 month lease terms. There are several reasons why I feel as though it is not a good idea to lease for 48 months, but the main two are that most vehicles' warranties do not run for that long and most captive finance companies do not provide support on 48 month lease terms.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hi bondguy. I would be glad to help you out. The residual value for a 2001 Chrysler Town & Country leased through Chrysler Financial for 39 months with 15,000 miles per year should be about 48%, unless you leased the AWD model. I don't think that Chrysler Financial's residual values will change again until their scheduled expiration date on April 4th. Perhaps the dealership that your friend is working with is using a different bank. It would not be all that surprising given the fact that Chrysler really is not providing any lease money factor support on minivans at this time.

I would be happy to let you know what the approximate monthly payment for your van would be like right now, but in order for me to provide you with an accurate estimate I will need to know what its full MSRP is, in addition to the cap cost that you already posted.

Different banks do charge different acquisition fees. Right now Chrysler Financial's official acquisition fee is $525. Other banks will change different fees, but I doubt that they would be much higher than that. Keep in mind though, that many lending institutions allow individual dealerships to mark-up their acquisition fee in order to bake additional profit into deals.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hello lojpersberger. I just played with a few numbers on the truck that you are interested in and here is what I came up with. If you decided to lease a 2001 Nissan Pathfinder LE 4x4 with an MSRP of $34,853 and a capitalized cost of $32,000 through Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. for three years with 12,000 miles per last month you would have had an approximate zero down pre-tax monthly lease payment of $444. Keep in mind though that I used last month's lease program to estimate this payment for you. I have not seen Nissan's February lease program yet, but I have a feeling that it will be very similar to January's. If you want to know for certain, please check back with me later on this week.

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glnelson1201

Hey Carman,

I've got one for you! I was wanting to lease a 2001 BMW 330i Sedan from my dealership here in my town, they were asking 41,155.00. O.K. try and follow me to see if this makes since to you, becuase it confuses me! I had a 1999 BMW Z3 2.3, with 18,000 miles on it in perfect condition, and it had everything: Fog lights,custom whls and tires,etc. I had a payoff of 27,965.00. I Blue booked off Edmunds.com for roughly 26,000.00. Now this where they try and screw with me, they only wanted to give me 23,500.00 for my car. Which I thought was weird. Because they sell BMWs. I had the lease already figured at home on what the payment would have been approx. 580.00 with tax. I got them to give me 25,500.00 for my car. They said that they would take 2000.00 off the new car. That leaves me -2465.00 in equity in my trade +500.00 I was going to put down= -1965.00 for equity. Then they were going to charge me 1721.38 for inception fees so 1965.00+1721.38=3686.38. Then 41,155.00+3686.38+550.00 assignment fee=45391.38. They gave me a Lease Information Sheet with above Info. They did not take the 2000.00 off the new car, then they try and tell me that they are only going to make 2100.00 on the new car! The payments they qouted me on were 717.50+%7.00=767.73 per month with tax for 48 months using a money factor of .003040. So could you please tell me if this is right because I am confused!!!

bretfraz

Don't know if you've discovered this, but there is a room in Smart Shopper called Real World Trade in Values. It's about what used cars are really worth. Anyway, there was a conversation about Z3 values. Check out this link and read the following 5-6 posts:
cooperdp "Real-World Trade-In Values" Aug 14, 2000 6:36pm

Sounds to me like 25.5 is fair for your trade. The gave you the 2K overallowance on your Z3. Don't know whre you got 26K for your car; KBB gave me 23075. Your post doesn't state they were giving you an additional 2K off the 330 as well as the overallow.

If Carman can come up with the residual we can calculate the payment. Is the money factor 003040 or 003400? All in all, sounds like the deal is correct: Full sticker on the 330, plus the $$ to get out of your Z3, plus full market price on the loan (8%+). Typical BMW deal, really.

bretfraz

I ran your numbers and came up with a payment of $381.07 with your $2282 down. Pretty close to what the dealer said.

Sales tax is charged based on where you live not where you buy. In MD they charge 5% on the purchase price. I don't have specific info on VA but nothing I have states you have to pay tax on the full price. Check closely.

Only question I have is why is the dealer leasing you the car for 27.8 but selling it to you at 25718? Both should be the same. And $500 over invoice is 25718? My numbers show invoice on the car you described is $28627 +500 over = 29127. The 4700 "incentive money" makes no sense to me so I left it out.

glnelson1201

Did you get that 23075 off ok kkb.com and is that for trade-in value? I just went to kkb.com and it is giving me 25915 for trade-in value for my car. The money factor .003040 is what they gave me on the lease fact sheet. Also they gave me 50%
residual of the MSRP of 41155.00. I don't if they use the total Cap cost of 45,391.00 or 41,155.00 to come up with my payment. Maybe you can help me here! I have been seeing people on here with 40,000.00 cars with no money down and leasing them for 580.00 a month. How come there is big diff. in payments here we are talking almost 200.00. And I know BMW's hold there value well!

So whats the deal! Thanks bret fraz

bondguy

The total MSRP including the $665 window sticker's dealer freight was$33,160...I wrote a check for $1,000 (including 1st month,tax,tag, and who knows what else). Remaining 38 months w/ 15,000 miles year and 13 cents for each mile over.
They had an $840 rebate going on at the time which I believe is still in effect for leases...somebody on another board posted that there is a $2,600 rebate that started this week for leases only...that sounds too good to be true...even for a Chrysler...I mean this early in the year. They applied the $840 to my down payment to make it look like I put down $1,840...I signed a paper to turn over rebate to the dealer who in turn applied it to my deal. After the $1,840 down, the cap cost reduced to about $29,100...they told me the cost on vehicle before rebated was around $30,300...from a list of $33,160...don't know what went on in closing room...but do know that I checked almost every dealer in Florida and they were all quoting me payments like $520 + tax all the way up to $568 + tax for the same list price vehicle that we leased. Let me know...Thanks!!! Again, the lease rate was 8.20% according to my lease..Oh, yes...the disposition on my new lease is $300 and their is an early termination fee of I believe either $350 or $500...I forget what it was...doesn't matter...I don't plan on giving the vehicle back early. Oh, one more question. My lease that I am turning in...the Nissan...is with Chase Auto Finance. They will pick up my lease this week...they said they send out a company to come get it and it goes straight to the auction to be sold. Then , they send me a bill for damages...I am going to take a picture of the car...it's in pretty good shape except for the front bumper which was covered with lovebugs and most came off, but there are some embedded. Is this normal for a leasing company to get the car and then send me a bill afterwards...it seems like a lot of stuff could be charged to me without any recours once vehicle is sold. Sorry this is so long...I appreciate your help in advance..Thanks!!

bearbull

Thanks for your response to my post on the DX 300 - sorry, I omitted the information that you wanted.

Once again, I am looking at a RX300 with an MSRP of approximately $40700. Lease for 36 months and 12K per year. I noticed the money factor that you posted which lexus currently offers. So the information that would be helpful to me is the residual value for this vehicle.

I noticed that you commented on the special lease terms that lexus was offering in December and that it was not currently available. Is it your experience that lexus offers special lease terms for the RX300 with any frequency?

Thanks again for all your help.

afryar

Hi Car Man, I posted a message a little while ago about what to do with my 98 Accord at lease end. It's an EX-V6 coupe, with 27,000 miles. I've seen similar Accords for sale for around 19K (my buyout is 15K). Regardless, I think I'm going to turn it in if I don't get an offer soon. I'm looking at a 2001 Jetta, both the GLX and a 1.8t- Manual, Luxury package and that's about it. Any idea what VW is offering in lease incentives on either/both of these vehicles? I'm looking at no more than 12K miles a year (maybe even 10K) and 36 months with minimum down. Any help would be appreciated!
Thanks

CarMan@Edmunds

Hi glnelson1201. I can certainly see why you would be confused. Your dealership is throwing all sorts of numbers at you. Let's try to straighten them out a little bit. Let's say that you want to lease a 2001 BMW 330i with an MSRP of $41,155.00. The dealership that you are negotiating with told you that they will give you $25,500.00 for your Z3 that you still owe $27,965.00 on and a $2000.00 discount on the new 330i. This means that you are working with a lease capitalized cost of $41,155.00 (car's full MSRP) - $2000.00 (dealer discount) + $2,465 (negative equity from your previous vehicle) - $500 (your down payment) = $41,120. I don't think that any of the inception fees that consumers are typically responsible for should be rolled into your vehicle's cap cost, other than perhaps any acquisition fee that you are required to pay and that would be around $500 (BMW Financial Services has one of $525). So let's say that you were to roll the acquisition fee into your cap cost. This now gives you a total cap cost of $41,120 + $525 = $41,645.

Now that you have an approximate cap cost we can play with this car's payments. I don't know where the dealership got the .00304 48 month lease money factor that they are supposedly using to calculate your payments, but it definitely was not through BMW FS. If you were to lease this car through them at this point you would use a special money factor of .00270 for up to 36 month terms, .00350 for 42 month terms, and standard factor of .00390 for 48 month terms. These money factors, in combination with BMS FS' residual values would result in pre-tax monthly payments of about $650 per month for 36 months, $678 for 42 months, and slightly less than $700 per month for 48 months. As you can see leasing this car using BMW Financial Services' supported 36 month term is by far the best way to go.

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CarMan@Edmunds

OK bondguy. If you were to lease a 2001 Chrysler Town & Country LXi with a full MSRP of $33,160 and a capitalized cost of $29,500 right now for 36 months and with 15,000 miles per year through Chrysler Financial your approximate pre-tax monthly lease payment would be $537 per month. This is right in the range that dealers in your area were quoting you for this van.

As far as your Nissan that you are giving back to Chase is concerned, it is definitely a good idea to take pictures of it (with a witness present if possible) prior to returning it. Chase is a very big player in the automobile leasing industry and I have not heard any bad things about them, so they probably will be reasonable in assessing your vehicle. Most banks understand that there are going to be a few minor dings on any vehicle that has been driven on a regular basis for several years and take this into account when evaluating them. Still it never hurts to be careful and snap a few photos.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Bearbull, it is difficult to say whether Lexus will offer special lease money factors on the 2001 RX 300 in the near future. I would not be surprised if they did introduce lower rates down the road, given the intense competition in the luxury SUV segment and falling interest rates. Still, there is no guarantee that they will do so. The 36 month Lexus Financial Services residual value for a 2001 RX 300 4x4 with 12,000 miles per year is currently about 62%. If you want one with the value package, navigation system, or 2WD the residual will be different.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Afryar, Volkswagen is currently providing lease money factor support on 2001 Jettas with manual transmissions through tomorrow. It is difficult to say exactly what they will do with their February lease program on this car, but if you would like please feel free to check back with me at the end of the week and I should have a good idea of what their new program is like.

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glnelson1201

Thanks Carman,

Thank you for the info. I knew they were trying to pull one over on me! I hate dealing with car salesmen... I got a couple more questions regarding this matter. So do think I should pay for the Inception fees up front? Also, what is the residuals for this car, if you don't mind me asking and for the 325I sedan, because I think I might more interested in the 325I because it is less expensive. I really don't want to pay that high of a payment! They got that money factor from Bank of America. I think they do a search based on your credit rating to see what banks will bite on the cost of the loan. They told me that BMW FS would not touch my loan because of my trade. Is that true? Also, can I just go to BMWUSA.com and apply for the lease even if I have a trade. That way I don't have to deal with those guys no more!! Any advice???? Again, thinks alot for the info, I really appricate it!

afryar

Thanks Car_Man. Would you mind posting the February VW lease numbers for the Jetta GLX and 1.8t if you get them? From what I understand VW is not offering much of a deal on the new Wolfsburg, which is fine with me, but I wonder if this translates into reduced lease figures for the regular 1.8? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks Again.

CarMan@Edmunds

Glnelson1201, whether or not to pay the acquisition fee on your lease up front or roll it into your car's capitalized cost is more a matter of personal preference than anything. Keep in mind though that even though it is annoying to have to shell out $500 at the beginning of your lease, it may be better than paying interest on that $500. As far as the other fees that are due at inception go, I usually only pay the security deposit and first month's payment at signing. You will have the option to put money down on your lease, but I generally advise against doing so for two main reasons. The first is that if you make a large down payment you will not be able to recover it if your car is stolen and not recovered or totaled. The second reason is that even though you are putting down money on a leased vehicle, you are not actually establishing any equity in it. The down payment is used to reduce the amount of money that you are financing, but the leased vehicle's residual value and in turn its lease-end purchase option price will not be any different if you put $0 down or $10,000 down.

It is very possible that BMW Financial Services will not allow consumers to roll that much negative equity over into a new lease. That certainly would explain why the dealership that you are working with ran your lease through another bank. It looks to me as though you may be better off selling your car on your own, covering the negative equity out of your own pocket, and then leasing this car through BMW FS.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Even though I have not seen all of the details yet, I just heard today that Volkswagen has introduced a supported lease program for all (manual and automatic transmissions) 2001 Jetta models for the month of February. I think that the lease factors in this program will be in the vicinity of 6.5%. You were correct when you said that Wolfsburg models are not usually supported and they probably will not be included in this program. I should have more detailed information later on this week if you would like to check back with me then.

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billd7

Car Man..the most complicated part of the rebate/incentive/special financing equation is ..What are we allowed to use? ie, mitsu is currently running 1)a $1000 rebate 2)1.9% rate 3)a special $1000(southeast-my area)and 4)$650 dealer cash(se also).As you can see alot of options with rate being most important.but don't want to missout on any others.Thanks in advance for your feedback and help.

mmcox

I have a current "Red Carpet Lease" with Ford on a 98 Explorer which expires 6/01. I'm looking to lease a 2001 Pathfinder in February or March but I'm worried about fees stated in this program for early termination. I was in a previous lease when I leased this Explorer and I terminated it 4mos early(93 Isuzu Rodeo). I just went to Ford and basically just traded it in with no problems and I was even over in my allowed mileage but I never heard from Isuzu about owing and early term fees. Do you think I will be able to do the same with Nissan or will I end up paying fees to Ford?
Please help. Thanks

KCRam

Hi mmcox

It is very possible that in your previous trransaction, you were so close to your termination date, AND your vehicle was in good condition that the value of the vehicle covered the fees. That may also be the case again, but I would first get some appraisals of the Explorer before I suggest going ahead. SUVs, and Explorers in particular, are a tough sell right now, thanks to high fuel prices, the tire fiasco, and a basic glut of availability.

If your Explorer is in good shape and you're not at risk of incurring mileage or wear fees, you are probably better off hanging on to it until June. You will probably have a better time finding a Pathfinder in the summer when SUVs are a tougherr sell (no snow/winter advantages to tout), and it's closer to the end of the model year.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hi billd7. Although this is actually a leasing topic, I will still answer you question here. I can certainly see how consumers become confused about the compatibility of incentive programs in today's automotive market where manufacturers have such a variety of programs running on certain vehicles.

In answer to your specific question about the 2001 Mitsubishi Galant, here is a break down of Mitsubishi's incentives on this vehicle and their compatibility:

Customers with good credit can finance this car at 1.9% for up to 60 months OR they can finance it at 3.9% for up to 60 months and roll a substantial amount of negative equity into their loan OR they can finance it at 4.9% for up to 60 months AND take advantage of $650 dealer cash OR they can finance it at 4.9% for up to 48 months and 6.9% for 60 months and defer their first payment for half a year OR they can pay cash and receive $1,000 consumer cash OR they can take advantage of Mitsubishi's special lease rates without any sort of cash.

Pretty simple isn't it ?

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km99cobra

Car_Man, what would you suggest in this situation; I have 3 more payments at 369 each until lease termination on my wifes Accord. The car is already 3000 miles over the allotted 36000 miles, and at 15 cents per mile the meter is running. The tires are at 5/32 inch right now (which I think is the lease wear-and-tear limit for tires), and they have basically sucked for the last 15,000 miles (Michelin MXV4 all season, except for rain or snow!!). If I terminate now, I'll owe for 3 payments plus the 3K over mileage ($1557). Waiting until lease termination, I'll owe for new tires (~$400) and probably 7500 miles over ($1125), for a projected total of $1525. Basically "break-even" right now.

I've talked with my Honda salesman and he could care less, no offers or suggestions from him. Philosophically, I hate to put new tires on it and turn it in a few months from now. And I'd rather look for a small SUB that my wife likes (RAV4, Escape, or Tribute) now and BUY IT to avoid these lease termination issues. The 3 yr/36K lease sounds good at the beginning, but as life styles and jobs change sometimes so do the number of miles you need to drive.

What would you recommend at this point? Thanks.

billd7

Carman..thanks for your quick and concise response..you did a great job simplifing :-) a complex question.
To follow up..you mentioned special lease financing thru Mitsubishi..on a 2001 Galant Es-v6 with a cap cost of 20,000--how does that compare with 1.9 "free" money.Thanks again.

brose5

Can someone give me pertinent info relative to leasing a Volvo S60 2.4T for 48 months and 12,000 mi/yr? (In reality, I only put on 9K mi/yr.) I have heard that leases are improving through Volvo Finance. Also, any feadback on who generally has better leasing numbers (Volvo, Chase, etc.)?

Thanks

CarMan@Edmunds

Hi km99cobra. You bring up a very good point that one's lifestyle very well may change during the course of a lease. I was just mentioning the same point to a consumer who was considering a 66 month lease. A lot can happen over the course of several years.

Although I generally advise against the early termination of a lease, given the excess mileage and the tire wear on your vehicle this case is a little different than most. I personally have a problem with paying for the use of a vehicle and just turning it in though. I might actually be tempted to purchase something else and just let my Honda sit there for a couple of months rather than essentially paying for someone else to drive it >:O . Still, that's really just me. I certainly think that you would be justified in getting out of your car three months early and buying another vehicle right now.

Car_Man
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CarMan@Edmunds

Billd7, in my opinion the 1.9% special financing is a much better deal than Mitsubishi's supported lease program on the 2001 Galant. Even with their support, the lease money factors that they use to calculate lease payments still only come out to about 5.6% when they are converted into percentage form.

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leepihls

Can anyone give some information on the approximate lease price on the 2001 Saab 9-5 aero wagon with automatic transmission, silver metallic paint,and heated seats,duration of lease to be 36 months with at least 12,000 miles per year with $2,000 to $3,000 down? Can this car be leased at $500.00 per month?

bretfraz

I leased a '00 9-5 SE sedan a few months ago and was very familiar with SFSC's lease deals then. I wanted an Aero (who doesn't?) but played the cheapskate and went for the SE. I'll be real interested to see what residuals and money factors CarMan comes up with, if only to see how much they've changed.

When I ran the numbers on a '00 Aero sedan in October I came up with $550/mo with $2000 dn, 12K/36mo. And this was getting the car at invoice. $500/mo will need $4000 down.

afryar

I received a lease quote from a VW dealer in my area, it's actually about $20/month lower than what he quoted me about two weeks ago (due to the changing money factors I'm assuming) but regardless, I'm wondering if this is a good deal: 2001 Jetta GLS 1.8T, manual, Luxury Package, Cold Weather Package, Monsoon Sound, for 12K miles/36 months. He gave me $338/month (that includes 5% Mass sales tax) with $863 down. I'm thinking I'm not going to get a much better deal than that. He also quoted me $370/month on the GLX. How do these sound? Thanks!

glnelson1201

HI CARMAN,

CAN YOU GIVE ME THE RESIDUAL ON 330I SEDAN FOR 36 MONTHS? THANK YOU!

emmett1

Hi Car_Man,
I'm hoping you can assist me with some numbers on a 2001 Sebring LTC convertible lease. Before I speak with a salesman, can you tell me what the residual is on the new design? Also, are you aware of who might have the better residual and money factor...is it Chrysler or another bank? I know the previous style had a poor residual and I'm hoping the new ones fare a little better. Oh, I almost forgot...standard 36 month, 12k a year lease. Your assistance is greatly appreciated....thank you!