First lease as a single gal...

kellykentucky

My ex husband always leased my car through our business. Now that we are divorced and he's buying cars for his newer, younger wife (bitter? Me?), I have to handle this on my own and wish I'd paid more attention over the years. So happy to have found this forum!

I am settled on the XC60 with middle of the road features. I'd like as many of the safety features I can get but not the fully loaded version.

Here's what I know about leasing. I've had a leased vehicle for the past 25 years and sometimes we have purchased the car at the end of the lease, sometimes leased a new one. My last two leases were Infinitis but I"m ready for a change. I almost always go over the mileage, even when we have chosen 12k or 15k. My husband either rolled the overage into a new lease or bought the car for the residual price.

Here are my questions:
1. Is it reasonable to lease knowing I am going to be way over the mileage at the end, if I know that I'm going to purchase the car and drive it till it falls apart?
2. Do I have to make the advertised down payment or can I request it be spread out over the length of the lease?
3. How much negotiation can one expect off sticker price with Volvo and is there any difference to them whether it's leased or purchased?

Anything else I should know? Is it reasonable that I can get this car for less than $700 a month?

kyfdx

kellykentucky said:

My ex husband always leased my car through our business. Now that we are divorced and he's buying cars for his newer, younger wife (bitter? Me?), I have to handle this on my own and wish I'd paid more attention over the years. So happy to have found this forum!

I am settled on the XC60 with middle of the road features. I'd like as many of the safety features I can get but not the fully loaded version.

Here's what I know about leasing. I've had a leased vehicle for the past 25 years and sometimes we have purchased the car at the end of the lease, sometimes leased a new one. My last two leases were Infinitis but I"m ready for a change. I almost always go over the mileage, even when we have chosen 12k or 15k. My husband either rolled the overage into a new lease or bought the car for the residual price.

Here are my questions:
1. Is it reasonable to lease knowing I am going to be way over the mileage at the end, if I know that I'm going to purchase the car and drive it till it falls apart?
2. Do I have to make the advertised down payment or can I request it be spread out over the length of the lease?
3. How much negotiation can one expect off sticker price with Volvo and is there any difference to them whether it's leased or purchased?

Anything else I should know? Is it reasonable that I can get this car for less than $700 a month?

1) I wouldn't do it. When leasing through a company, you can write off a lot of extras, so it doesn't hurt as much. But, if it's a personal lease, a big bill at the end of the lease will be hard to swallow. If you do lease, make sure to take the 15K/yr at a minimum.
2) No, you can structure the lease anyway you want. In KY, first payment and DMV fees should be all you have to pay upfront. (DMV fees are about $100, but watch out for big dealer/doc fees) Of course, not making the big payment upfront will cause the payment to be higher.
3) The new XC60 is very popular, and doesn't have much in the way of incentives. It might not make for a very budget friendly lease.