Lease Questions - Ask Here

bstern71 · May 2004

I'm looking to do a 48 mo., 15k miles/yr. lease on a Lexus ES 330 in Los Angeles. Just the basic car (eg. no navigation system). What sort of monthly payments inlcuding tax will I be looking at? Assume a down of $1000-$2000. Thanks for your help.

bstern71 · May 2004

I'm considering doing a 48 mo., 15k miles/yr. lease on an Audi A4 1.8T in Los Angeles. Automatic tranmission, leather interior. What sort of monthly payments inlcuding tax will I be looking at? Assume a down of $1000-$2000. Thanks for your help.

totcessp · May 2004

Hi Carman, I'm interested on a chevrolet Venture 2004, MSRP $25,513, TMV of $19,308 ($4,000 incentives already substracted) for 36 months, 10k miles/year. More or less what figure should I expect the monthly payment to be? What is the residual/ money factor now? Thanks again for your help. Thomas.

hpowders · May 2004

Hello Car Man. I need to know the residual and mf for a Lexus GS 300 with navigation and Mark Levinson audio upgrade. 3 years, 36000 miles.
Thank you.
Howard

shap1 · May 2004

Thanks Car_Man. Your advice pretty much mirrors what I was thinking. I'll be in touch as I get close to finalizing a deal.

ajaygoel · May 2004

Dear Carman,

I have a question about turning in my leased Audi. The lease is up in two weeks -- I've received a letter from the bank saying that the steps required to complete my lease include:

1. Calling their third party vehicle insepction company and scheduling an inspection PRIOR to returning the vehicle.

2. Returning the vehicle and then paying the disposition fee.

I have two questions:

1. I did call the 800 number of the third party inspection company and ended up on hold for 15 minutes and then I hung up. Do I really have to bother with this? I read my lease contract and there is no mention of a requirement that I have to get the car inspected before I turn it in, yet the letter they just sent says that it's part of my "lease obligations".

2. The bank is currently holding a $700 security deposit, and the contract mentions a $300 disposition (vehicle return) fee. Will I have to pay the $300 disposition fee before I get my $700 security deposit back (assuming no wear and tear)? Or can they just take the $300 out of the security deposit and pay me back $400? It seems wrong that if they owe me $700 at lease end, I have to pay an additional $300 before getting my $700 back.

Thanks.

gasman · May 2004

36 or 39 mo, 12K mi/yr

shaytoon1824 · May 2004

I want to finance a $16000 car but i am afraid i wont be able to lease a new car for my wife in september. any ideas?

multiplechoice · May 2004

Is there a particular reason that you want to lease a Chevy Venture? Honda has a TV ad touting a $259/mo lease for 24 months on an Odyssey EX with DVD. I don't know what the money factor is for that rate. The Venture is not very highly rated in terms of crash worthiness, reliability, and resale value- the last item has a large impact on your monthly lease payment.

dn5150 · May 2004

I found a 2001.5 Passat GLS on leasetrader.com that I'm interested in. Here are the specs:
Mileage Allowance: 12,000per year
Lease End Buyout: $12,537.25
Lease End Date: October 2005
Original Lease Term: 48months
Leasing Company: Volkswagen Credit (Audi/Porsche Financial)
Excess Mileage Charge: $0.15 per mile
Actual Mileage: 32,000miles
Miles Remaining: 16,000 free miles
$269.42 per month
The monthly pymt is what I'm looking for, the mileage limit of 941 avg. per month, I can deal with, especially if I buy this car at lease end. Is the residual or buyout amount of $12,537.25 a good deal? How do I determine what the car wil be worth in 17 months?

Thanks.

03oddity · May 2004

Hi Car_man,

I was 95% decided to buy an Acura TL, but here in SoCal the dealers won't budge on the Navis. I've had 2 Saabs and like them fine. Thought I'd give Saab one last chance.

Saab dealer is offering the following lease. I'm just not convinced I have all the money yet.

2004 Saab 9-5 Aero
36 months, 15K miles per year
Automatic transmission
Ventilated leather seats
No other options
MSRP $42,990
invoice $40,758
cap cost $34,108
residual $18,055
monthly $471 plus tax = $510
Money factor .00075, residual 42%
Additional prepaid miles 0.15 each, subtracted from residual & calculated in pmt

Drive-offs "$1976 but you only have to write a check for $1476 'cuz we applied the $500 loyalty to your drive-offs." I calculate drive-offs as $1432 ($510 1st pmt, $595 bank fee, $282 DMV, $45 doc).

Dealer disclosed $4500 lease support from Saab and there is $500 loyalty. I qualify for the GM Supplier Discount; the dealer is claiming that's good for a set price, but isn't "free money" that can be applied *in addition to* the dealer price concession and the above $5K. I doubt that.

BTW, my current payment on a $40.3K 2001 9-5 SE, same terms, is $412 plus tax. Sweet.

Is there some room here?? Thanks!!

kyfdx · May 2004

Does the Passat have a 4-year warranty? If so, it is a pretty good deal for the rest of the lease. If warranty expires at 3 years, then I wouldn't chance it.

If you are looking to ultimately buy the car, then the total amount (lease payments plus residual) doesn't look like that great of a deal. However, it would give you 17 months to drive the car cheaply, then turn it in, if it isn't a good long term candidate.

I think if you are just looking for transportation for the next 17 months, go for it.. If you are looking for a long-term used car to buy, I might keep looking.

One other thing...that lease will be up in October.. not the best month to find a good deal on a new car.

regards,
kyfdx

dn5150 · May 2004

I'm sure it's out of warranty by now or soon will be, 4yr warranties didn't come around till 2003, so I've been told. They do say its in perfect mechanical condition and they have the service records. I'm 50/50 on this car. Some people have lots of problems, some don't. I wonder if vw credit will re-negotiate the residual at the end of the term?

jnl · May 2004

Car_man,

Can you please provide the mf and residuals for 36 month/12k leases for the Accord EX-L and Accord EX V6. Also, do the current Accord rates end on May 31 or early June. Thanks in advance for your help.

erikev · May 2004

Carman -
This is a great site. I'm looking to lease a 2004 325i with leather, cold weather, automatic, and premium package. Can you help me determine if this is an okay deal?

BMW - 325i
MSRP - $35,620
Sale Price - $33,420
36 month lease
Residual = $21,728
MF = .00270
12,000 miles
$2500 down (includes initial payment, taxes, title registration, plus $1,300 down)
Monthly payment = $476.44

Thanks for your help. It is great to have information on your side while negotiating.

serioussam · May 2004

I'm less than a year into a 3 year lease (2003 vehicle). I love the vehicle, but due to some recent financial issues, I need to put myself in a position were if I need to sell the vehicle, it would be with the least amount of hassle and cost to me. Unfortunately, I'm over the amount of yearly miles alloted for the vehicle and if I were to turn it in, I would estimate having to pay around $2500 in mileage fees and wear and tear. Lease payments and loan payments would be close to the same. What would be the best scenario for me based on this information if I needed sell the vehicle...as a leasee or lendee (??). Thanks

sonny_k9 · May 2004

Hello CarMan,

I think I might be able to get an awesome deal on a 2004 Ford Explorer 4x4 XLS. I negotiated the price for this vehicle down to $21,000 (tax, title and tags extra, MSRP is $29,800). But still an awesome price IMHO. Now I will try and lease this vehicle, can you give me the numbers (residual and rate) for this truck. I probably can't benefit from the 0% that Ford is offering, because the price includes a $3000 rebate ford is offering. Any idea what my numbers will look like for a 36 month lease.

yellowjersey · May 2004

I would like to lease the Honda Odyssey EX w/RES. I have seen the ad for 24 months,12000 miles year at $259 per month, $999 down. BUT I would like to lease for 36months, 15000 miles a year, $0 down. I have a quoted sales price of $25,000 plus tax and registration which is less than the offer from the Honda ad(25,544.11). My sales tax is 7.75%. My FICO score is 750.

What is the best I could get on a payment through AHFC?

What would me drive off fees be? I want to pay $O cap cost reduction. I'm willing to pay the security deposit for a lower money factor, but not sure how much it is, first months payment?, DMV fees are $250, doc fee is $45. Do I have to pay the acquisition fee of $590? What if any other fees might I have to pay? What would the money factor and residual be.

Thanks in advance for any advice

CarMan@Edmunds · May 2004

Hi carlos_26. Interestingly, DaimlerChrysler is already providing a $1,000 cash incentive on the 2005 Dodge Magnum for consumers who finance or lease one through Chrysler Financial. It is fairly unusual for such a new model to have cash incentives on it already. This is the only support that is being provided on this model at this time. If you were to lease one through Chrysler Financial, you would have to use its standard lease money factors. I believe that its current 3 year base standard lease money factor is currently .00235, which isn't too bad. Its 3 year, 15,000 miles per residual values are 47% for the 2005 Magnum RT and SXT and 45% for the Magnum SE.

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CarMan@Edmunds · May 2004

You're very welcome, jnl. I believe that AHFC's current 3 year 15,000 miles per residual value for the '04 Pilot EX without navigation is 61%. For leases with only 12,000 miles per year, this number would increase to 63%. I am not sure why you are being quoted different numbers by the dealers that you have spoken with. Perhaps there is some confusion about your mileage allowance.

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CarMan@Edmunds · May 2004

No problem, jend50. I am glad that I was able to help you out.

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CarMan@Edmunds · May 2004

Hi acura2000. Lexus is not providing any sort of cash incentives or lease support on the RX 330 at this time. I am not personally all that familiar with what the market is like for this model in your area right now. You should be able to get a good idea of what this vehicle is selling for by looking up its Edmunds.com True Market Value in the New Vehicle Pricing section of this site. You also should stop by the following discussion to see what other community members have paid for this model recently: jstempel "Lexus RX 330: Prices Paid & Buying Experience" May 22, 2004 2:27am. For now, I would be more than happy to calculate a sample lease payment for you on the model that you are considering, using the information that you provided in your post. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2004 Lexus RX 330 AWD with navigation with an MSRP of $45,268 and a selling price of $40,500 (the $40,000 invoice + $500 - this might be a little too optimistic though) through Lexus Financial Services this month for 4 years with 15,000 miles per, its zero down, pre-tax monthly lease payment should be right around $562. The payment for an otherwise identical lease with only 12,000 miles per year would drop to around $545. I arrived at these payments using a money factor of .00205 a 15,000 miles per year residual value of 43%, and a 12,000 miles per residual value of 45%.

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CarMan@Edmunds · May 2004

You're welcome, Vikd.

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CarMan@Edmunds · May 2004

Hi rxke. Unfortunately, since I do not keep tabs on manufacturers' balloon note programs I am not sure what the residual value for the 2004 Forester would be like if you were to take out a balloon note on one at this time. Sorry that I can not be of any more help there. I can give you an idea of what the lease programs are like for the other vehicles that you are considering though. If you were to lease a base 2004 Toyota Highlander through Toyota Financial Services in New York this month for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00225 and 60%, respectively. I have not seen any TFS residual values for leases with only 10,000 miles per year. If you were to lease a 2004 Audi A4 Avant 1.8 quattro through Audi Financial Services in New York this month for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00060 and 55%, respectively. This wagon's 10,000 miles per year residual value would be 1% higher. If you were to lease a 2004 Volkswagen Passat GLS 1.8T Wagon 4Motion through VW Credit this month for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00050 and 49%, respectively. VW Credit's 10,000 miles per year residual value for this wagon would be 1% higher. In addition to this low money factor, VW is providing $1,000 dealer cash on this model when one leases it through VW Credit.

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CarMan@Edmunds · May 2004

Hello bstern71. I would be more than happy to calculate sample lease payments for you on the cars that you are considering. However, in order for me to do so, I need you to tell me what their full MSRPs and selling prices are. Once I have this additional information I will be able to help you out.

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CarMan@Edmunds · May 2004

Greetings totcessp. The problem with the prices that you mentioned in your post is that if you lease this van through General Motors Acceptance Corp. you can not take advantage of GM's customer cash incentives. GM is providing some lease cash on this van, but only in certain regions. What state are you in? If you let me know, I can tell you exactly what lease cash incentives you qualify for. Once we have figured this out, I will need the dealer invoice price of this model. I suspect that you should be able to lease one for a couple hundred over invoice, minus any available cash incentives.

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CarMan@Edmunds · May 2004

Hello Howard. Here is the information that you are looking for. If you were to lease a 2004 Lexus GS 300 with navigation through Lexus Financial Services this month for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, in most of the country its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00156 and 52%, respectively.

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CarMan@Edmunds · May 2004

You're welcome, shap1. Thanks for offering to come back and let us all know how everything turns out. Talk to you then.

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CarMan@Edmunds · May 2004

Hi ajaygoel. unfortunately, you definitely do have to have your vehicle inspected prior to returning it. Many banks have started using independent third parties to inspect their leased vehicles because they don't want consumers to think that their own people are adding all sorts of unnecessary charges to make more money off of them. The policy for paying disposition fees varies from bank to bank, but you will probably be able to have your bank deduct its disposition fee from your security deposit. In fact, if you lease another vehicle from the same bank there is a chance that you may be able to get your disposition fee waived.

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CarMan@Edmunds · May 2004

Thanks for the additional information, gasman. If you were to lease a 2004 Infiniti G35 Sedan AWD through Infiniti Financial Services this month for 36 months with 12,000 miles per year, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00174 and 53%, respectively. The numbers for an otherwise identical 39 month lease should be .00174 and 52%.

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CarMan@Edmunds · May 2004

Shaytoon1824, you should not have any trouble financing this car and leasing another vehicle in at the end of the year unless your credit is not in very good shape or the banks that you are working with do not feel as though you do not have enough income to support both. Most captive finance companies (banks that are affiliated with automakers) are fairly lenient about who they allow to lease vehicles. This is because by approving you to lease they enable their parent company to move another unit. I have a feeling that you will not have any trouble leasing another vehicle later on this year, but of course this is difficult to say for certain without actually knowing the specifics of your situation.

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yellowjersey · May 2004

Car-man
The current add for the Odyssey EX w/RES shows an actual net capitalized cost of $25,544.11. But is the net capitalized cost after you subtract your cap cost reduction of $999? So the REAL selling price is actually $26,543.11

I did some shopping and got a purchase price for this van of $25,000.

Should I not do the "special lease" and instead offer to lease under the same terms but at this lower "selling price"?

Thank You

mjfloyd1 · May 2004

How is the security deposit used in leasing? Is it used to lower the money factor or is it applied like a down payment? I've obviously never leased and don't quite understand. From what I've read, it seems that multiple security deposits (I've read the max is 5) can be used to reduce the monthly payment and it's better to do it this way b/c the security deposit will be returned at the end of the lease if the car passes inspection. Can you use these multiple security deposits only through manufacturer sponsored programs or will independent banks, etc allow them?

Sorry for the multiple questions,
Mark

trigger · May 2004

Sorry Car_man those were some pretty obvious things I should have included. Could you tell me the note on 15k 36mo and 48mo? Thanks.

Recap: 04 corvette coupe 1SB. MSRP of $49k, $7k discount and then $3k rebate. $23k trade. Owe $23.5k.

CarMan@Edmunds · May 2004

Hi dn5150. It is difficult to say what this car will actually be worth 17 months from now, but I can tell you that the monthly payment for this car is most likely less than what you would have to pay if you were to lease a brand new one at this time. Not only is the payment lower, but you get the added bonus of not having to pay any fees, like the acquisition fee, and have a much shorter lease than the 3 or 4 year lease that you would have to sign to come close to that payment. Of course, the downside is that you are getting a used car instead of a brand new one and have a pretty low mileage limit.

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CarMan@Edmunds · May 2004

Hey 03oddity. The Saab 9-5 is a lot of car for the money. The lease money factor and residual value that you were quoted are right on the money, so your dealer is being very straightforward with you about this aspect of your deal. This car's capitalized cost is extremely low as well. If you lease this car through General Motors' supplier program you would qualify for a specific price that is dictated by GM. On a model where one can already get dealers to cut deals to the bone like this one, you probably will not realize much additional savings by going through the supplier program, but you might as well get them to quote you what it would cost you to lease through the program versus leasing without the program. Given the fact that your dealer has been honest with you about this car's lease program and cash incentives, and gave you an extremely low selling price I don't think that there is much more room to negotiate here.

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CarMan@Edmunds · May 2004

I would be more than happy to help you out, jnl. According to the latest information that I have seen, if you were to lease a 2004 Honda Accord EX Sedan without navigation through American Honda Finance Corp. this month for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00118 and 57%, respectively in every state except for New York. When negotiating your lease on this car, keep in mind that Honda is providing $400 dealer cash that you can use to negotiate a lower capitalized cost.

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CarMan@Edmunds · May 2004

I am glad that you enjoy this discussion so much, erikev. Let me begin by saying that the lease money factor that you were quoted to lease this car is much higher than BMW Financial Services' base money factor of .00220. This may be at least partially explained by some sort of waiver of your car's security deposit or acquisition fee. If you are paying both of these items then your dealer is most likely marking-up this factor to add additional back-end profit to your deal. Another thing to keep in mind when negotiating a lease on the 2004 325i is that BMW is providing $1,250 dealer cash on it this month. This cash will help you to negotiate a more attractive capitalized cost. In fact, your dealer could sell you this car at invoice and still make over a thousand dollars on the deal.

Another thing that I noticed about this lease is that you are putting over a thousand dollars down. I always advise consumers against making down payments on leased vehicles. I do so for two main reasons. The first is that if leased vehicles are stolen and never recovered or totaled in an accident insurance companies pay off the banks that they are being leased through and any down payment that was made essentially disappears. The second main reason is that down payments on leased vehicles do nothing to reduce their lease-end purchase prices. So this car's lease end price would be exactly the same, regardless of whether you had put $1,000 down or had made absolutely no down payment. You can and should lease this car without making any sort of down payment.

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CarMan@Edmunds · May 2004

Hi serioussam. I am sorry to hear about your financial difficulties. The problem with trying to get out of your lease two years prior to your scheduled termination date is that is could be fairly expensive for you to do so. When you agreed to lease your car or truck, you signed a legally binding contract to pay the bank that you are leasing it through a certain amount of money over a specific period of time. They are going to want all of, or at least a good portion of that money unless you decide to try to purchase your leased vehicle from them. Doing so and then try to sell it on your own or trade it in on another vehicle is really the only way for you to get out of your lease this early. Even then there is a chance that your bank will hit you with some sort of early termination penalty and there is a very good chance that your vehicle will cost more to buy than it is currently worth on the open market. You are most likely going to have to replace your current vehicle with another one. Unless you are leasing an extremely expensive vehicle right now and plan to get a much much less expensive one as a replacement you probably will not come out ahead. Sorry that I do not have better news for you.

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CarMan@Edmunds · May 2004

Hi sonny_k9. Ford does have some attractive incentives on its SUVs right now. You are correct, you can not finance this truck at 0% and get the $3,000 customer cash, but you can finance it at 0% for up to 5 years AND get $2,000 customer cash. If I was in the market for a new Explorer this is probably how I would get it. If you decide to lease the Explorer that you are interested in, you can take advantage of $4,000 lease cash ($3,000 lease cash PLUS $1,000 Ford Credit bonus cash). Right now, Ford Credit's 3 year, 15,000 miles per base lease rate and residual value for the 2004 Ford Explorer 4x4 XLS should be around 3.0% and 44%, respectively.

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CarMan@Edmunds · May 2004

Unfortunately, yellowjersey, Honda is only providing lease support on 2 year leases of the 2004 Odyssey right now. If you opt to lease one for 3 years, you will not be able to use American Honda Finance Corp.'s special lease money factor of .00113, but will have to use its standard lease money factor of .00215. This is the equivalent of jumping from an interest rate of around 2.7% to one around 5.2%.

All AHFC lessees are required to pay a security deposit that is equivalent to their vehicle's monthly payment rounded up to the nearest $25 increment. Also, all AHFC lessees are required to pay a lease acquisition fee of $595. This fee goes directly to the bank and individual dealers do not have any authority to waive it.

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CarMan@Edmunds · May 2004

Yellowjersey, this van's selling price should not have anything to do with how long you lease it for. Even the selling prices of vehicles that are mentioned in lease ads are negotiable. In fact, one can often beat the deals that are mentioned in manufacturers' advertised leases by comparison shopping a little bit. If I was in your situation, I would take this new, lower capitalized cost that you were able to negotiate and lease this van for 2 years.

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CarMan@Edmunds · May 2004

Hi Mark. Lease security deposits are not used to lower vehicles lease money factors or applied as capitalized cost reductions. They are charged by banks to make sure that lessees don't turn in their vehicles with excess mileage or excess wear and tear and then refuse to pay any penalty that they are liable for. Think of security deposits for leases in the same light that you would as security deposits for rented apartments. The owner of the property, or vehicle in the case of leases, is trying to protect their property by holding onto some of your money. Some banks give consumers a discount in the lease money factor that is used to calculate their vehicle's payment for every additional security deposit that they make, but there is never any sort of money factor reduction for the first deposit. Whether or not multiple security deposits are allowed varies from bank to bank.

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CarMan@Edmunds · May 2004

No problem, trigger. Let's work up a sample lease payment on this car for you and see what we come up with. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2004 Chevrolet Corvette coupe 1SB (MSRP: $49,000 / cap cost: $49,000 - $7,000 discount = $42,000) through General Motors Acceptance Corp. this month for 3 years with 15,000 miles per, your zero down, pre-tax monthly payment should be right around $568. The payment for an otherwise identical 4 year lease would drop to around $524. I did not include the $3,000 customer cash that General Motors is providing on this car right now in my calculations, because this cash can not be used in conjunction with GMAC leases. Also, I did not take your trade into account either because it is never a good idea to make down payments on leased vehicles. If you really want to trade your current car or truck in, have the dealer that you are working with cut you a check for it instead of applying it to your lease.

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martinoc · May 2004

I am considering leasing an Escape (XLT) or Tribute (either a 2004 or 2005) in New York State. What range should I expect my monthly payments to be with no money down. How do I know what lease money factor to expect?

mjfloyd1 · May 2004

So the security deposit is used the same as paying points on a home mortgage to lower the interest rate, it seems. I assume that the rate discount varies greatly from lender to lender, or is there any rule of thumb. Do you think that making multiple security deposits makes any sense- assuming that you return the car in good enough shape to pass the inspection?
Thanks,
Mark

hpowders · May 2004

Thanks a lot Car Man for your help with the BMW 530i and the Lexus' LS430 and GS300 lease statistics.
Regards.
Howard

siteexpert · May 2004

Carman,

Trying to help another friend. Can you tell me the lease money factor/ residual for the Lexus IS300 12K/ 36months and 12K/ 48 months.

Thanks.

mfullmer · May 2004

Ok, I'm thinking of getting rid of my gas hog '03 Tahoe early (lease is up Jan '05 but they are offering a early term). Here is what I'm looking at:

Buick Rendezvous Ultra
Buick Lesabre Limited
Buick Rainier CLX AWD

I need resdiual and rates for a 24 month lease, 12k/yr miles.

Thanks!

erikev · May 2004

Car_man:
Thanks again. This is great information that I'll use when negotiating.

From past postings, I see the $1250 dealer cash lasts through the end of June. Do you know how long the .00220 money factor is good?

I love the 325i, but don't want to pay more than I have to.

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