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Excellent credit is just one more factor that makes you a great candidate for leasing. The worse your credit, the harder it is to get a vehicle lease. This is partially due to the fact that if you don't take care of your credit, you might not take great care of your "rented" vehicle, and who knows if you would be able to pay for damages or excess mileage at the end?
In today's world, not owning, but instead leasing, a vehicle can be a smarter financial move for those with good credit than owning, particularly if you are in the RIGHT situation wherein a lease fits your driving patterns and lifestyle. Seniors (and I hate to use that term, as you are around my incredibly NOT senior parents' age) with good credit, who drive few miles and may like to change vehicles every 3 years or so, and like to have a nice vehicle, are very good leasing candidates - it makes a lot of sense. No worries about out-of-warranty breakdowns or non-fixed depreciation.
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Have you considered BMW at all? The X5, which is a small-ish to midsize SUV is showing a $489/month payment in my area. One advantage to BMW leases is that they tend to include all scheduled maintenance, like oil changes, at no extra cost.
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I might change my mind, if you thought you would drive at least 10K mi/yr, since you are switching to one vehicle.
If you like the Equinox, have you considered buying one of your vehicles, instead of turning it in? You'll be getting a very low mileage vehicle for the residual price of one with higher miles.
Assuming you stick with leasing a domestic make SUV, please note that the Enclave is a pretty big vehicle that seats 7-8 people. It might be overkill for your needs. In domestics, I'd suggest the Equinox, Escape or Edge. If imports are under consideration, then you can get a lot of bang for the buck with the Kia Sorento or Hyundai Santa Fe..
The Acura RDX is a really nice vehicle that is similar in size to your Equinox, but maybe a little more luxurious. Stick with the base model (which is still nicely outfitted), and you should be able to stay under $500/mo.
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However, I think Kirstie has a good point, you don't like base or stripper vehicles. If you're trending to more feature rich, luxury vehicles, the afore mentioned Acura RDX or MDX (which was totally redesigned for the 2014 model year) is a good choice, as is a BMW X3 or X5. Both should be available for the monthly payment you've stipulated.
Good luck and let us know how your shopping goes.
I'm not sure you and kyfdx read my posts but we are NOT interested in Honda's, which makes the Acura crossed off our list.
That being said, we've decided to take another lease because we don't drive that much any more and we can realistically keep the mileage down. Why not drive a luxury car for far less a month for 2- 3 1/2 years, depending on the lease, and get a new car again after the lease is up? Why spend $700/mo. for 5 years to buy a vehicle that we still don't put any miles on?
Next week we're going to test drive a Lincoln MKX and the Enclave. I'm most interested in the Residual for any car that we're interested in.
As you get older do you really want to be on the lease treadmill anymore?
Do you want to face these same decisions three years from now?
Aren't you better off BUYING something and maybe pay it off in four or five years and at that point OWN it?
Just my thoughts...
Here is the Edmunds review about the Traverse;
http://www.edmunds.com/chevrolet/traverse/2013/
2017 MB E400 , 2015 MB GLK350, 2014 MB C250
Actually, the Traverse's are very nice and can be upgraded a little and would be even more reasonably priced then the Enclave.
We live where AWD or 4x4 is really a must for the winter's so anything else is non-negotiable.
We're going to take a look at the Traverse's but I'd be surprised if they will compare to the Pathfinder. The Acadia is a little more pricy than what we want as is the Enclave.
Surprisingly, the Residual on the Pathfinder is 56%. I don't think the Traverse, Enclave or Acadia is that high. We could have gotten a 2013 Pathfinder Platinum for .09% (.00038) for 36 months and the 2014 was 4.2% (.00175) for 36 months and $1500 down and also rebates.
The other thing we really liked was the ability of every day driving in 2WD, which helps gas mileage and then there's the 4x4 option to switch to and then you can lock the 4x4 in if needed.
I think if we didn't have 8 more months left on our current leases, we would have driven home a new one yesterday.
Don't go look at them because you'll love them!!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
These start at $45185 with AWD, are rated at 27mpg highway with AWD, and as an all new 2014 model, the residuals right now are still incredible in the 66%, etc range depending on how many miles per year you choose. Worth a look.
I go off-road on a regular basis for work and car based SUV's don't work out well. We used to run a lot of Explorers for our engineers and they held up quite well. We bought one of the new Explorers in '11 which is the new crossover style and it has not worked out well. It was demoted to courier duty after about six months.
we never agreed to pay any down.. in fact we made sure we qualify for the zero drive off and zero down payment before we agreed with the monthly payment of $349. We drove off the lot without paying a dime.
It is stated though on the Lease Agreement "Amount to be paid in cash" $733
Weird thing Finance Manager never talked about how are we making this payment and never asked us for the money. isn't it supposed to be amount "due at lease signing" well it was 45 days ago
What should we say when I call the dealership?
Any advice would be great and appreciated.
But in the end, you signed the contract apparently without reading it. Not a good situation to defend really and "I didn't read the contract" doesn't go over well in court. Now if they changed the contract after you signed it....that's more in the realm of fraud.
How is there "equity" in a lease vehicle?
We don't have any particular "dislike" about the Honda's, but they just do not appeal to us even though they have a high residual. Residual is important, but if you don't like the vehicle you're driving it's not worth anything.
The easiest way to capitalize on the equity is to trade the vehicle in on something else. You could also take it to a dealer that will buy them without trading (Carmax for example). In either case, they will basically buy the vehicle from the leasing company for the stated buy-out amount. Equity can be applied to your trade or refunded to you.
Another option is to buy the vehicle out early yourself. This usually requires you to pay sales tax on it and by that point you may not be able to get enough on a private sale to make any money. But with enough equity it's certainly possible.
I called Ally last week or so and got the buy-out because I didn't want to go to a dealer without having this figure. Unfortunately, we don't have any equity in our vehicles. We have 8 months left on the leases and with the buy-out plus the remainder of payments left ($2000 on each) dealers don't want them right now because they're not going to make any money on them.
We've pretty much realized that we need to fulfill our leases and then get something else.
Currently, the buyouts are approx. $20,000 each, which includes what we still owe. The current TMV is $18,400 each. In 8 months that TMV will be how much less?? Who knows? According to our lease the residual will be $13,241.80 and $13,377.20.
Now, I'm back to my original question....should we lease again???...or should we purchase a vehicle??
When we got the Equinox's they were selling like hotcakes and you couldn't find them any where. We were going to order one with the upgraded package (leather, etc.) but it would have been months before we got one so we took what he could get in. Anyway, they are all over the place now and I fear their value has gone down. Although the dealers around here are asking $21,000 for 2011's like ours.
This was our first experience with a lease and it was an easy deal. Our friend has a dealership and I had used the lease formula before we went so I knew what we SHOULD pay. He came within a few cents of what I had figured and I hadn't even told him my "goal" payment. He was very fair with us. Maybe we'll have to go see him about a car again
I'm not sure your numbers sound correct unless they have some sort of massive buy-out penalty (possible with Ally). The other possibility is that a dealer could have a different buy-out amount than you. I have seen that with GMAC (ally's predecessor) where a GM dealer would have much more preferential buy-out amount.
I say the numbers don't add up because if you take $20k less the residual of $13k and divide by 8 months....that would sound like your payments are somewhere around $800/month. Surely you're not paying anywhere near that for an Equinox. You may need to actually go to a dealer and have them check on a dealer buy-out.
I said $20,000 because when I called for the buyouts it was $17913 and $18013. One dealer told us they would have to buy them for $20,000 each. He said they would have to add the remainder of the lease payments ($2000 on each) to the buyout figures and that would be the $20,000.
Could Ally be tacking on a penalty for early buyout? Is that why it's so high?
Also, with the lease payments you mentioned it sounds like you put money down. I would recommend to NEVER put anything down on a lease. They may tell you you can't do that, or it's not part of the "promotion" but this is just math and they can make it happen. Yes your payment will be incrementally higher but it's still a good practice.
Yes...we did put money down on both leases. I didn't know this tidbit before we went or I could have had $$$ in my pocket!
Well, we'll see what happens in a few more months. Maybe my son has the right idea. He never buys a new car and always pays cash.
Let's face it...buying or leasing is never a win-win situation for the buyer/lessee.
I have done quite well over the years doing lease assumptions. Basically someone else puts down money and drives very few miles for a period of time and then for various reasons has to get out of the lease. There's very few good deals like that out there to find though...most people trying to get out of leases are in up to their eyeballs and are stuck because nobody wants to take over a crappy lease.
I would typically say cash is also the cheapest option, although given the super low interest rates I'm willing to risk 1% or so and invest the cash elsewhere.
You really have to look at all the options available. You have to understand leasing and things like multiple security deposits, residualizing maintenance and so on. I've lease my last 5 cars for 24 months each. I get a new car every two years with no trade in troubles. It's been a great way to own cars.
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I don't know why I didn't run the math in my head before signing, but does this even make sense??? I feel like a dum-dum, and cheated. I spoke with a manager at the dealership, and he said that the math was right. And that nothing could be done.
What should I do???
Now...here's the problem: How far along was this "original deal"? Do you have paperwork to backup this offer of was it just a number circled on a piece of paper? I say that because without some sort of proof to compare the two deals....it sounds like you've been bamboozled and don't have a leg to stand on to get out of the deal. Ultimately you signed the deal you have.
I was up all night thinking about it and I think I made a mistake. I think 15k would fit me better.
I just signed YESTERDAY, today is Sunday so I can't call till tomorrow. Can I change my terms? I realize I will probably have to pay more monthly but I think it might be worth it not to go over the mileage AND or be stressed about driving far for 3 years!!
My husband bought a truck a few months back (no lease) and he had 3 days to change his mind. I'm hoping it's the same way with a lease.
Any input?? THANKS!
Its a 2013 Sonata
But, even if you have taken delivery, I'd just show up at opening time on Monday, ask for the finance person or sales manager, and just tell them that you really need 12K/yr, rather than 10K.. It's doubtful that there is anything keeping them from making that change (other than just not wanting to do the work)..
A change from 10K/yr to 12K/yr decreases the residual by 1%, in almost all cases. If your Sonata has an MSRP of $30K, that will add $300 to your depreciation (but, decrease your finance charge, slightly).. At most, that should add $8.34/mo. + tax to your lease payment. It should actually be slightly less than that.. Also, a corresponding amount added to your due at signing (for the higher 1st month payment).
If they say okay, but it's a lot higher than that, then they are trying to take advantage of your situation...
regards,
kyfdx
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I will go first thing tomorrow.
While yes, you are locking in the extra miles, you are also committing to them. And unlike going over, if you are under, they don't give the $ back!
let's see, at $.15/mile, 9K = $1,350. divide by 36, and you get $37.50/month. So if your new payment is close to or more than that, it does not make sense.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I always look at the ads when they list options (payments based on various 4/down), and sometimes it really does end up that you pay more in total putting $ down. it is simple to divide the DP/term and see if it makes more sense to put the money in the bank (though IMO when leasing, you should always do that anyway and put nothing down)
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I'm pretty sure that Hyundai is like Kia, and the residual reduction is 2%... the numbers from my previous post would be doubled.. Still cheap. Under $0.07/mile...
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In my case it's civic lx 2013 199/month, 1500$ insurance from Honda, no disposition fee for 36/month. I would have to pay first month fee+bank fees+dmv fees. Basically 1100 down +200 each month. Do you think that's a good deal or can I do better?
thanks
for 24 months no money down
got him down to $41,840
MF 0033 res $33,599
$474.85 a month NJ tax added
thank you for the help with this.
Gap insurance only covers whats owed..Look at Porsche most of those deals want 10k down.If that car is stolen next day they are out 10k
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