Lease Questions - Ask Here

CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Hi Damon. In your post you stated that your father in-law is interested in a 2003 SC430, but I assume that you mean the 2004 model. If that is indeed the case and he was to lease one through Lexus Financial Services this month, he would have to use its standard lease program because there is no support on it. LFS' current base standard lease money factor is .00205 for any length lease in most of the country. Its 36 and 39 month, 15,000 miles per year residual values for the 2004 SC 430 are currently 54% and 51%, respectively. 12,000 miles per year residual values for leases through LFS are 2% higher than its residual values for 15,000 miles per year leases. LFS' current base lease acquisition fee is $600 in every state but New York and Rhode Island. Lexus was providing special lease and finance rates on this car in August, but unfortunately it does not have any incentives available on it in September.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

I should have guessed from your user id that you are in New Jersey, njl. GMAC's 3 year, 15,000 miles per residual value for this truck is currently 55% there. I would be more than happy to calculate a sample lease payment on it for you, however in order for me to do so, I need you to tell me its selling price. You should be able to get a good idea of how much you should pay for an '05 Tahoe right now by looking up its Edmunds.com True Market Value in the New Vehicle Pricing section of this site or by checking out the Chevrolet Tahoe discussion that appears on the Prices Paid & Buying Experiences Message Board. Once I have this additional info I will be bale to help you out.

Car_man
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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

You're very welcome, mk2. Don't forget to come back and let us all know what vehicle you decided to get and how everything turned out.

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bobp7 · September 2004

Hi Car Man:
Thx for your response. Finally got a call back from the dealer and found out the following on the '04 FX45 lease offer:
1) the cap cost is $47,453 (less than invoice)
2) the money factor is .00194 (seems higher than what you quoted)
3) of the $ down, $2,900 is cap reduction. (can i use some of those $500 certificates towards reducing the cap cost)?
interested in your opinion.
thx
bobp7

solomon1 · September 2004

Hello Car_Man, will try to make this message short........was qouted $690.00/month for TL w/NAVI. No $ down and everything thrown in, for 36 months. Your thoughts please.

pen101 · September 2004

Hi car_man:

Looking at two 2005 vans, the Honda Odysey and Toyota Sienna. Thinking about leasing. Is there info yet on MFs and residuals on these for 36-months and 12K and 15K miles? Thanks.

scanty · September 2004

Well, we made the deal this weekend. Took the 42 month route, because the residual stayed at 53% (same as the 39 month), and the money factor dropped to .00245 (they said .00285 for the shorter terms). Thank you for your assistance in this endeavor.

Quick question, do you know how property tax on leases works in Missouri? The F&I guy said that AHFS would send a bill, but my lease through NMAC ('94 thru '97) had no property taxes out of my pocket, unless it was buried deep in the payment somewhere.

mia · September 2004

Hi -

I'm interested in leasing a 2005 Volvo XC90 2.5T for 36 mos. @ 12K per year.

Would you kindly provide me w/ the MF & residual on this lease?

FWIW, I'm in NY State.

steine13 · September 2004

1999 Passat Lease

"I still have 19 months on my lease and I called today to find out how much the buy out would be and it is $12,941!"

"[..]they will only give me $6500)

The car is worth what it's worth, and it ain't worth much. As far as "re-selling it to a private party when I don't owe more than the car is worth" -- how is that going to happen? The car is worth somewhere between $7 and $8 on the street, based on the $6,500 offered to you. This is a 6-year-old Passat we're talking about, nice car but trouble prone. And you are not building equity in it, since you lease.

You'll have lease payments almost two years from now? 8-year-old car???

"2) Keep the lease through VW and sell it to a private party (can I even do this?)"

Without real numbers to work with (mileage, trim, condition, buyout price, monthly payment etc.) we can't really tell you much of anything.... but if VW is willing to lease you this thing and take it back in the Year Of Our Lord 2006 (!) at a predetermined price, I'd recommend you let them have the car.

But it doesn't sound like you're quite clear on the concept of leasing... next time, ask car_man for advice before you lease...

Good luck,
-Mathias

Thanks!

beckieann · September 2004

What I was getting at when I said that I would sell the car when I don't owe more than it is worth, I meant that I would increase my monthly payments, or possibly even "eat" a few thousand in order to get rid of the car. I seriously wish I knew about this side two years ago!

WRXwgn · September 2004

Thanks Car_man. I got this offer from one of the dealers for a 330i automatic with moonroof with MSRP $38,220. On a 24 months lease, drive off $1,279 and monthly of $387 including CA tax. Is it too good of a deal to pass on?

Thanks

nbty · September 2004

Hi Carman,

Back again, Please let me know the residual and MF for these cars. I live in NYC. looking for 36/12 I missed a great deal on xc90 few months ago hoping that I can get a good deal again.
Thanks for this great service.

Shaker

kyfdx · September 2004

I don't know what your lease payment is.. but, I'm almost positive that the cheapest thing for you to do is keep making the payment, until the lease is up.

It sounds like you have some extra money.. keep socking it away.. you may need it for repairs, or if you don't, you'll have money for a down payment on another car in a year and a half..

regards,
kyfdx

kyfdx · September 2004

Just butting in here.. as usual..

The '04 TL w/NAVI has an MSRP of $35,195.. Let's assume you can get enough of a discount off MSRP to cover the sales tax...

You could finance the car for 60 months at 4.9%, with nothing out of pocket and your payment would only be $663/month.. And they want to lease it to you for $690/month???

Run away from this lease deal.

regards,
kyfdx

kyfdx · September 2004

WRXwgn:

Yes... it is too good of a deal to pass up.. Just curious.. did you price the same lease for 36 months? When you get a lease payment that is only 1% of MSRP, that is the holy grail.. If you can get the same or lower payment for 36 months, I'd take it.. You surely won't be able to lease a 3-series that cheap again in two years.

Car_man: Sorry for cherry picking the easy ones.

regards,
kyfdx

fxfan1 · September 2004

Hey Car_Man,

Really enjoy all the good info. Thx!

Question: I received a reply from my local Infiniti dealer on this FX35. The particulars are:

Texas
2004, FX35 RWD w/Touring + Sport pkgs
Invoice=$36150(MSRP $39540)
39 months
15k/yr
55% Residual (~$20,150?)
MF=.00194
$575.00/mo

The MF is a little higher than I recall you mentioning. They say the lower rate is for current Infiniti lease holders. The only out of pocket $'s I have is acquisition fee and 1st mo payment. Also, the per month total includes taxes. I believe the dealer is using about $1000 worth of the certificates on their side. Sound good??

FXFAN1

WRXwgn · September 2004

Thanks for the input. I'll take into serious consideration.

edit: I found out this one was a demo which has been sold.

Another offer for a new one is $428/month and $1560 drive off for 24 month. How's this deal?

bizboy · September 2004

Car_man:

Am in the same predicament as Mia (post #13261) and was wondering about how you came to $533/mo. number. According to my calculations (probably wrong), the monthly payments come out to $583.98/mo. It could be I was mistaken in my conversion of the .001 money factor to a 2.4% interest rate (MF * 2400 = interest rate; done to use this particular calculator). In any case, I was wondering exactly what goes into this monthly amount and what doesn't - i.e. title, etc. Which charges paid up front at closing and not rolled into the lease?

Thanks!

will2702 · September 2004

Thanks CarMan on the numbers. I tried calculating my estimated monthly payments getting around $305/mo tax included on a base Automatic. Numbers used were:
MSRP=25700
Cap cost=19794 (used 4000 below invoice based on incentives given)
MF= .00315
Residual Value = 61%
2yr 12k/yr
Can you check if i used the right numbers or if i am even close to a real estimate?
Also, I emailed several dealers in So Cal asking for quotes and also about the lease cash on the RX-8. Here's what one of them replied with..

"Each program is different. For a 24-30 month lease thru Mazda on approved credit you would receive the 1000 customer lease cash or on a lease from 31 months to 48 months the factory offers 2500 dealer lease cash. The programs are one or the other but are not combined."

So is this true or does it depend on each dealership?

Thanks again for your input

mazdax605 · September 2004

Hey will,
I think the figures you came up with are correct,but let the experts tell you.

In august I got an RX-8(base 6 speed),and my money factor at the time was .00305,and the residual was 65% i believe on a 24 month 12k per year lease.I received the $2500 rebate Car_Man spoke of on top of the additional $1000 for 2 year leases,and the dealer cash of $750.All this came to a grand total of $4250 off of the price which I got the car at invoice minus these figures,so I got the car with a $27200 window sticker for around $21xxx.My payments are just a smidge over $300 a month including all local sales tax rolled into the payment,and another local tax we have here in lovely Taxachusetts.I paid around $1200 up front which included 1st,security,plate fees,and acquisition fee(which may be rolled into the payment).I would think you could get similar payments as me on an auto aside from maybe you have more or less taxes in your state.I would push for all the incentives you are entitled to.They are being offered by Mazda so the dealer should not be playing games with you.If they are go to another dealer who is willing to give you everything you are entitled to.Good luck.Happy rotoring.

Chris

CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

You're welcome, bobp7. You do not have the authority to choose how the closeout certificates that Infiniti is giving dealers are used. These are considered dealer cash for the dealer to use on deals as it sees fit. They should help you to get negotiate a better selling price on this model than you normally would have been able to though. I would think that you should be able to get a capitalized cost that is within $500 of dealer invoice, either over or under, on this model without too much difficulty.

You definitely should not make such a large capitalized cost reduction when leasing. I say this for two main reasons. The first is if your leased vehicle is stolen and never recovered or totaled in an accident during your lease term, your insurance company pays off the bank that you were leasing it through and your down payment essentially disappears. The second main reason is that down payments on leased vehicles do nothing to reduce their lease-end purchase prices. So your purchase option price on this FX45 would be exactly the same, regardless of whether you had put $3,000 down or had made absolutely no capitalized cost reduction.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Hi solomon1. Let's work up a sample lease payment on the car that you are interested in and see what we come up with. Normally I can not do so without knowing a car's full MSRP and selling price, but Acura structures the pricing of its vehicles without much in the way of options so the MSRP of this car should not be difficult to find out. The full MSRP and dealer invoice prices of a 2004 Acura TL with navigation and an automatic transmission should be $35,195 and $32,120, respectively. Let's say that you were able to lease this car for $1,000 over invoice. That would give it a capitalized cost of $33,120 without any money down. If you don't want to pay American Honda Finance Corp.'s lease acquisition fee ($595) at lease signing, it will probably have to be rolled into this car's cap cost. That would bring it to around $33,715. Using these prices, if you were to lease this 2004 TL through AHFC this month for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, your zero due at lease signing, pre-tax monthly payment should be right around $534. So as you can see, the payment that you were quoted looks to be a little on the high side to me, even after taking tax into account. If I was in your situation, I would comparison shop with a few other dealers.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Hello pen101. I have not seen the lease programs for either of the new 2005 models that you mentioned yet. Toyota has not had to provide any sort of lease support on the Sienna since it was redesigned a couple of years ago. I suspect that this trend will continue and if you were to lease one through Toyota Financial Services right now, you would have to use its standard lease money factor. The last time that I saw it, TFS' base standard money factor was around .00215 for any length lease for consumers who qualify for its top credit tier.

The 2005 Honda Odyssey is an all new model. I do not believe that it is even at dealers yet. When it is, Honda definitely will not provide any sort of lease support on it. Like with the Sienna, if you were to lease this van through its captive finance company, you would have to use its standard lease money factors. American Honda Finance Corp.'s current base standard lease money factor for 3 year leases is .00265. This figure may be different by the time that the '05 Odyssey finally arrives though.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Congratulations on your new car, scanty. Thanks for taking the time to come back and let us know how everything turned out. I am not personally familiar with how taxes are charged on new vehicles in your state, but you may be able to find out more information on this subject by visiting one of the following Web sites: Missouri Motor Vehicle department or Missouri Department of Revenue.

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fish8 · September 2004

Please clarify something: You are leasing a 1999 Passat and you STILL have 19 more months of payments. If I may ask......how long was your lease for?

CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Hey mia. Here is the information that you are looking for. According to the latest program that I have seen, if you were to lease a 2005 Volvo XC90 2.5T AWD through Volvo Finance this month for for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00190 and 62%, respectively. The only difference between leasing through Volvo Finance in New York from leasing in any other state is that in NY its lease acquisition fee is $695, instead of its normal $595.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

You're welcome, WRXwgn. It would be much easier to evaluate your deal if you let me know this car's selling price. This is an important number for you as a consumer to know any how. Remember that the selling prices of leased vehicles can be negotiated, just as if you were paying cash for them. Without knowing this car's selling price, it is difficult to tell what sort of a discount you are getting and it is also difficult to calculate a lease payment on it. Let me know and I will tell you what I think. Talk to you soon.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Welcome back, Shaker. Let's take a look at the current lease programs for the models that you are interested in. According to the latest information that I have seen, if you were to lease a 2004 Acura MDX (non-Touring, without the rear entertainment system, and 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 .00221 and 61%, respectively.

Unlike last month when it had lease support on most models, Lexus is not currently providing any sort of support on the 2004 GX 470. So if you were to lease one through Lexus Financial Services at this time, you would have to use its standard lease money factor. The last time that I saw it, LFS' base standard lease money factor was .00205 in most of the country for any length lease for consumers who qualify for its top credit tier. Its 3 year, 12,000 miles per residual value for a 2004 GX 470 without navigation and without the rear entertainment system should currently be 55%.

Last but not least we have the Volvo XC90. This model's lease program varies, depending upon the exact trim level that you are interested in. It would be a big help if you would tell me exactly how you want this model equipped, i.e. a 2004 XC90 2.5T AWD, a 2005 XC90 T6, etc. Once I have this additional information I will be able to give you an idea of what this vehicle's lease program is currently like.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

I am glad that you find this discussion so interesting, fxfan1. I have a feeling that the line that your dealer fed you about the lower lease money factor being only available to returning Infiniti customers is a bunch of bunk. I have never heard of Infiniti running such a program. It's much more likely that the dealer that you are working with is attempting to mark up Infiniti Financial Services' base lease money factor to add additional back-end profit to your deal. Doing so is completely legal and happens all the time, but you should be able to prevent it by knowing IFS' base lease money factor for the model that you are interested in. I would be more than happy to work up a sample lease payment on this model for you so that you can compare it to the payment that you were quoted, but in order for me to do so I need you to provide me with its full MSRP and selling price.

Car_man
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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Hi bizboy. There is a great article on how to calculate monthly lease payments here at Edmunds.com. Here is a link to it: Calculate Your Own Lease Payment. Take a look at the article to make sure that you are using the right formula to calculate this vehicle's lease payment. If things still don't add up, let me know and we'll try to figure out why. At lease signing, consumers usually have to pay their vehicle's first month's payment, a security deposit that is equivalent to that payment rounded up to the nearest $25 or $50 increment, and the acquisition fee that is charges by the bank that they are leasing through.

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solomon1 · September 2004

Thanx kyfdx for your input, I am running as fast as I can!

solomon1 · September 2004

Thank you very much for the advice Car_Man!!!!

CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

No problem, will2702. Using the numbers that you provided in your post, I come up with a 2 year, 12,000 miles per zero down, pre-tax monthly lease payment of right around $284. The $2,500 dealer cash definitely can be combined with the $1,000 cash for 24 to 30 month leases of the 2004 RX-8. Think about it, if the $2,500 was available for any length lease, why would anyone choose to only take the $1,000 offer? This dealer is trying to mislead you so that they can pocket one of these incentives.

Car_man
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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

You're welcome, solomon1. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Car_man
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air00max · September 2004

Good morning folks!
A good friend of mine has an '02 Saturn SC2 with 33,000 miles. She owes around $10,000 on it and trade-in is approximately &7,500-$8,200. It's in excellent condition, but the warrantee is going to expire soon. She is looking to lease an '04 or '05 Solara for 36 months and 15K a year. Would you recommend this as a wise decision...or should she hold on to the Saturn until there is no negative equity?

cole · September 2004

I'm looking at a 2004 Infiniti FX35 AWD with Sport, Touring, sunroof deflector, cargo area protector and splash guards (MSRP is $41,100 including destination). Assuming that I can get the car at invoice (by bringing up the $500 certificates) which is approximately $37,500... what should my payment be? I had one figure from my calulations that differed pretty significantly from the Edmunds.com lease calculator. I arrived at a figure of about $507 pre-tax.

This would be a 3-year 15,000 mile/year lease.

fxfan1 · September 2004

Okay,

For the '04 FX35 RWD I'm considering, the MSRP is $39,540 and the selling price is $36,150 (invoice). Looking for 39 months at 15k per year.

Thank you,
FXFAN1

bobp7 · September 2004

Car Man;
appreciate your response and understand your comments. quick question:
during a phone conversation with the dealer he said we could structure the lease anyway it needed to be done to accomodate my needs. he wants to roll the downpayment into the lease while i want to eliminate it. i wanted your opinion - the cap cost is already about $1500 below invoice. do you think i could do better or will i have to deal with the downpayment in some form if i want the car? reason for asking is that i would expect a few of these cars to be around in november or december and wonder if i might get $4-5k below invoice at that time, realizing my selection will be limited.
thx for your time!
bobp7

WRXwgn · September 2004

Car_man:

I'm not sure of the selling price. The MSRP is $38,220. On a 2 yr 10,000 miles/yr lease, the offer is $1,560 drive off and $428 monthly (including CA tax). I'm not sure if that's sufficient data to figure out whether this is a good deal or not.

Thanks,

WRXwgn

rwright325 · September 2004

Car_Man:

Thank you for all your help in this forum. Can you please give the money factor and residual factor for a 2004 and 2005 (if available) BMW 325Ci? The parameters are 36 months, 10,000 miles per year. Thanks.

CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Hi air00max. Consumers get new vehicles when they are upside down on their current one all the time. Ideally your friend would continue to drive her Saturn until she was no longer upside down on it, or at least until its actual value and the amount that she owes on it are closer, but everyone loves new cars and I can understand her desire to get a new one. From a financial standpoint, rolling negative equity into another loan or lease is not a good idea, but one has to weigh the desire to get a new vehicle versus the cost of doing so.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Let's work up a sample lease payment on this model for you and see what we come up with, cole. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2004 Infiniti FX35 AWD with an MSRP of $41,100 and a selling price of $37,500 through Infiniti Financial Services this month for 3 years with 15,000 miles per, its zero down, pre-tax monthly lease payment should be right around $522. You may want to lease this vehicle for 39 months instead of 36. Doing so would drop its payment to right around $500 per month.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Wow, back to back posts on the FX35. Amazing, well not really but I try to keep this as interesting as possible

. Thanks for the additional informaiton, fxfan1. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2004 Infiniti FX35 RWD with an MSRP of $39,540 and a selling price of $36,150 through IFS right now for 39 months with 15,000 miles per year, its zero down, pre-tax monthly lease payment should be right around $492.

Good luck in your negotiations and let me know if you have any other questions.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

You're welcome, bobp7. While the capitalized cost that you were quoted for this vehicle is $1,500 under dealer invoice, I suspect that it takes the down payment that they asked you for into account. If the $2,900 capitalized cost reduction that your dealer assumed you would make when they quoted you this price is added back into it, the actual selling price of this FX45 is around $1,400 over invoice. Given the fact that there is dealer cash on this model in September, I suspect that you should be able to get one for less than that. You may want to try comparison shopping at a few other dealers to see if they can beat the deal that you were quoted.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

Hi WRXwgn. I really can't calculate this car's lease payment for you without a selling price. This is a very important number for you as a consumer to know anyhow. The two main sources of income for dealers on leases are the the selling price and the marking-up of lease money factors. This is why it is very important for consumers to pay close attention to these two numbers.

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CarMan@Edmunds · September 2004

No problem, rwright325. I haven't seen the lease program for the 2005 version of this car yet, but I should be able to give you an idea of what the program on the '04 model is currently like. According to the latest informaiton that I have seen, if you were to lease a 2004 BMW 325Ci through BMW Financial Services right now for 3 years with 10,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be an attractive .00020 and 58%, respectively.

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nbty · September 2004

here the info on the xc90 thanks again

jbl1 · September 2004

thanks Car Man! Of course I went to talk to a dealer yesterday and he assured me they never had a MF of .0007 and its actually .0011. I've read your posts that dealers often try to pad the moneyfactor - think that's the case here?

kyfdx · September 2004

.0004 is the maximum that BMW allows the dealer to markup the MF.. Amazing how that adds up to exactly what your dealer quoted, huh?

regards,
kyfdx

fxfan1 · September 2004

Thank you so much Car_man, your the best!

I'll let you know what happens.

FXFAN1

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