5 Car Lease Strategies You Didn't Know About | Edmunds.com

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5 Car Lease Strategies You Didn't Know About | Edmunds.com

Leasing can be flexible and economical if you know these insider tips to customizing your lease contract.

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gluhwein

What is most disturbing about MSDs is that very very few sales people have any clue that they exist. I have to tell them that BMW and Audi do it. Some still won't believe me until I get corporate to call them.

leafdriver90

Caution on a single pay lease: if your car gets in a serious accident and is considered a total loss you will NEVER recover the money you have paid upfront. Same goes for a down payment. Whereas if you have a contractual lease, the insurance would pay to relieve the liability and you'd go shopping for a car from square one. With a single pay your are SOL.

rkb_htown

Random comments:
1. BMW no longer allows MSD's.
2. Regarding going month to month, some companies will allow a grace period (e.g., 10 days) after the formal lease end date.
3. For one-pay in the article above, it's unclear whether the net cap cost is supposed to be reduced down to the residual, which further reduces interest in addition to the reduced interest rate. In traditional leases, your net cap cost is reduced the more you pay upfront. The same should apply for single pay leases, but unfortunately not all dealerships allow this (in a number of cases, they just don't know).
4. For one-pay leases, I've seen sales tax credits available that weren't available for traditional leases.
5. For one-pay leases, not all dealerships will discount the interest rate. I actually saw a few that had higher rates, which makes no sense given the lower risk for the finance company.

isellhondas

With interest rates as low as they are, they would be little if any benefit in making a MSD!

kyfdx

isellhondas said:

With interest rates as low as they are, they would be little if any benefit in making a MSD!

BMWFS money factor is .00150, so MSDs would be a definite plus.

isellhondas

Yeah, in that case, probably so.

Freddy501

We have a 2017 RAV 4 SE we are leasing. It is up in April 2020. First time leasing. Mileage is only 9330. Would love to buy it. Any suggestions on how to do this? There should be plenty of equity in the vehicle given its low mileage
Has no damage and no accidents.

kyfdx

Freddy501 said:

We have a 2017 RAV 4 SE we are leasing. It is up in April 2020. First time leasing. Mileage is only 9330. Would love to buy it. Any suggestions on how to do this? There should be plenty of equity in the vehicle given its low mileage
Has no damage and no accidents.

Wait until the last payment is made in March. If you are still interested in it, contact TFS and tell them you want to purchase the vehicle. The purchase option price should be on your lease contract.

Artie

Good guidance, but two cautions (potential issues to consider)
1. If a car is leased with 3 year 36K mi warranty - Wouldn't the owner be liable for auto failure after the initial 3 years?
2. You suggest the probability of monthly millage allowance. How about extending months to an auto that has a contract of 36K over 3 year term. Will the Bank (Nissan) provide additional 6K miles with incremental 6 month term or is millage above 36K billed at .15 cents/per

fredFred

One-pay lease is dangerous idea. If you drive of the lot and get in a total wreck your insurance will not cover the one-pay amount you just gave the dealer, it will only pay out the depreciated value of the car which could be 35% less than the retail value which could be more almost all or even more than the one-pay amount. No car, no money to do another lease and dont kid yourself "gap" cover doesn't pay the lost one-pay money.

Michaell

fredFred said:

One-pay lease is dangerous idea. If you drive of the lot and get in a total wreck your insurance will not cover the one-pay amount you just gave the dealer, it will only pay out the depreciated value of the car which could be 35% less than the retail value which could be more almost all or even more than the one-pay amount. No car, no money to do another lease and dont kid yourself "gap" cover doesn't pay the lost one-pay money.

That's incorrect. With a one pay lease, all of the money goes into an escrow account, and the monthly payment is made out of that to the finance company. If the car is stolen or total during the lease, any unused funds in the escrow account are returned to you.