Lease Questions - Ask Here

CarMan@Edmunds · October 2004

The salesperson who you spoke with was correct, evilangel. Vehicles' residual values naturally decline as the model year progresses. Having said this, on vehicles that usually have lease support available on them, like the 325Ci, manufacturers' lease support often increases at a greater rate than the natural drop in residual values in order to help lower vehicles' lease payments and increase their sales. It is difficult to say whether any increase in lease support by BMW over the next couple of months will out pace any dip in this model's residuals, but if I had to make an educated guess I would say that it probably will.

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CarMan@Edmunds · October 2004

Hello pinball. You really need to know this vehicle's selling price before agreeing to lease it. The selling prices of leased vehicles are negotiable, just as if you were paying cash for them. Without knowing this model's selling price it is difficult to tell exactly what you are being charged for it. This is a very important number. If you think about it, you would never finance or pay cash for something without knowing what price you were being charged, so why should this be any different? Another important reason to find out this Murano's selling price is that without it, it is difficult to calculate a sample lease payment on it to compare to the one that you were quoted. If you can find out this car's selling price, I would be more than happy to calculate a sample lease payment on it for you and we will be able to see just how good the deal that you were quoted is.

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CarMan@Edmunds · October 2004

No problem, pen101. There's nothing wrong with leasing a vehicle through an independent bank rather than through its captive finance company. Many major independent banks, like Chase, are fine to deal with. I hate to generalize and say that you will never have a problem with leasing a vehicle through an independent bank because there are so many of them out there it is impossible to keep tabs on all of them.

It is difficult to say why you were quoted different residual values for this car. Banks' residual values are set in stone and individual dealers do not have the authority to alter them. Perhaps there was some sort of confusion about the mileage allowance, trim level, or term.

If the dealer that you are working with is quoting you a lease that was run through AHFC, then that is probably the most attractive option at that time. Dealers are all about moving metal and will usually steer customers towards the bank that will provide them with the lowest payment.

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kyfdx · October 2004

rihoops..

Assuming a 36 month lease..

$2995/36 = $83.19 + interest.. about $90/mo more.

Since they are only raising your payment by $76/mo., I'd say they are making you a better deal, or possibly they are quoting a 42 month lease? The numbers look a lot closer for 42 months...

regards,
kyfdx

pinball · October 2004

Car_Man
Here is what I found out on selling price. I've included the original deal to refresh your memory.
Selling price is $32000. Assume that price. What would be a good lease for no more than $500 down and 15K mi at 42months with tax(6.75%)?

I have an offer for a 2004 Murano SL AWD MSRP 35010 for 42 months, 12K mi and $500 down for $359+tax(6.75%) etc. Bumped it up to 15k and 600 down for $406 out the door. The extra 100 down lowered the payment from $416. Selling price is $32000.

CarMan@Edmunds · October 2004

Thanks for providing the information that was contained in your original post, pinball. It's a pain for me to flip back and forth between posts to get a complete picture. Let's work up a sample lease payment on this vehicle for you and see what we come up with. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2004 Nissan Murano SL AWD with a full MSRP of $35,010 and a selling price of $32,000 through Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. right now for 42 months with 15,000 miles per, its zero down, pre-tax monthly lease payment should be right around $358. For this example, at lease signing you would have to pay your first month's payment of $358, a security deposit equivalent to that payment rounded up to the nearest $25 increment ($375), and NMAC's lease acquisition fee of $550 for a total of around $1,283.

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kjl · October 2004

Carman:

Here's my situation:
My wife has a leased 01 Altima SE with a pay off of $12,000.00 and we want to trade it in to purchase "not lease" a 05 Maxima SE. What's the best way to get out of this lease and into a purchase?

CarMan@Edmunds · October 2004

Hello kjl. Technically you do not own the Altima that you are leasing, Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp., or whichever bank you are leasing it through does. So in order for you to trade it in on a new vehicle, you have to purchase it from them first. Your car's lease-end purchase price should be listed on its lease contract. If you are at the scheduled end of your lease and believe that you may be able to purchase this car for less than it is currently worth on the open market, place a call to the bank that you are leasing it through to confirm its purchase price. Calling them also gives you the opportunity to try to get them to lower this price a little bit. Some banks will negotiate vehicles' lease-end purchase prices from time to time. There certainly is no guarantee that they will be willing to work with you, but it's worth a shot.

If you are not at the scheduled end of your lease, but have a number of payments left to make you still can find out how much money it would cost you to purchase your leased Altima at this time by placing a call to this bank. Unfortunately, more often than not leased vehicles are worth less than they cost to buy. Furthermore, banks often also require consumers who want to purchase their leased vehicles before the scheduled end of their deal to pay all of their remaining payments in addition to the purchase price.

As you can see, it is often fairly expensive to purchase leased vehicles. Do some digging to see if you can make any money off of trading in your leased Altima, but I suspect that you will find that your least expensive option is to wait until the scheduled end of your lease, turn your car in, and walk away from it.

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daydreamer56 · October 2004

I did a lease buy-out 8 months before my lease term ended... The vehicle loan was based upon the residual value plus other factors. The residual value was thousands more than the trade-in value of my vehicle in average condition, within the mileage limits at, what would be the end of the term. For example, the residual value was, say... $13,000. But the trade-in value of the vehicle is $7,000. I'm concerned that I have (am) paying a much higher price than the vehicle is worth. Is there any recourse in this situation?

Thank you in advance.

sebring95 · October 2004

But the trade-in value of the vehicle is $7,000. I'm concerned that I have (am) paying a much higher price than the vehicle is worth. Is there any recourse in this situation?

No recourse. These are all things that should have been considered BEFORE buying out the lease. You're basically upside down by a marigin of 2-1. Sorry.

daydreamer56 · October 2004

I was hopeful that there was some law (or something) that prevented the residual value from being set far higher than the actual value.

Thank you

ua01682 · October 2004

While I am not an expert, I have found that sometime captive finance/lease companies artificially inflate residual to make the car attractive to lease in the first place. Chances are you will return the vehicle rather than purchase at the end of the lease. Maybe there is a hope on the finance companies part you will blow out the mileage alotment or damage the car in some way that forces you to purchase?

Question - why would one buy out a lease when the purchase price is so far out of line with market?

pen101 · October 2004

Thank you again Car_man.

Let me give you an example. With my credit score, the dealer is quoting me $29,810 selling price ($1K below MSRP) for 2005 Odessey EX-L at 0.00235 MF and $16,945.50 residual (through Honda Financial). Security deposit is waived, resulting in about $700 down and $423 per month. The next dealer is quoting me $30,810 (MSRP), but is using U.S. Savings Bank with MF of 0.00158 and $15,606 residual. The monthly is $414 with also about $700 down (to cover 1st month payment and tax, license, doc fee, reg, etc). It seems that the better deal is at $414 per month, even through the selling price is $1K more. The other dealer tells me he only uses Honda Financial. Am I missing something here?

rroyce10 · October 2004

....... Thats the flea's that come with the dog ..

The advantage of leasing (renting) is the low payment .. the residual is non-negotiable and no recourse while the lease is in play - would you be complaining if the market value was higher and you made 2 grand.? ...

Not to sound smart, it seems like you like to play ~ but not to pay ..............

)

Terry.

sukinsyn · October 2004

Hello Car_man,

I was offered a lease on an Infiniti G35x sedan, AWD.

Diamond graphite, premium pkg w/full size spare, splash guards and trunk mat.

This is all the information from the sheet they gave me:

MSRP $36,070.00
Sales price $33,378.00
Bank Fee $550.00
Tax (6.75%) $1172.44
Cap Reduction $357.32
Residual 56% = $20,199.20
Total Depreciation $14,544.86
License Fees $175.00
__________________
Rent $97.25
Depreciation $346.31
Monthly Payment $443.56

Term is 42 months, 12,000 per year
Money factor is .00177

I used Edmunds Lease calculator and came up with a payment of $428.68 vs. 443.56 the dealer is quoting. I plugged in the Sales price, tax (6.75%), license fees & bank fees (175 + 550), 1000 down, term, residual, money factor and miles per driven.

The dealer quote started with a newspaper ad for a $399.00 payment for 42 months with 2000.00 down. I would prefer to put $1000 down. There is no security deposit or acquisition fee.

Bottom line: Does this sound like a good deal? Per TMV #'s, it is a few hundred above invoice and the residual is pretty good. Also, the tax figure seems off. I am in Ohio.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

eagwheels · October 2004

Can you clarify whther there are any costs which will need to be paid at the end of a Honda Pilot lease in NY? Assuming I turn inteh suv at the end of teh lease within the agreed upon ,ileage and no other damage are thee any termination or similar fees which I need to be aware of?

Thanks

desgnconcpts · October 2004

Dear Car_Man,
Your information has been invaluable to me re the 2005 Rendezvous lease, here in IL.

We finally found the car we wanted:
MSRP: $36,760
Invoice per Edmunds: $33,050
Invoice per Dealer: $34,000
Dealer claims the difference is the Chicago area marketing/advertising and other costs.
Based on the $34,000 and with the $1,500 GMAC lease offer, the net they are figuring the lease on is $32,500 with no money down. We would have to come up with $3,126 which is $2,635 in Cook County tax, 1st mo payment of $396.20, license and title fees of $95.

The cost they quoted for 12,000 mi yr/36 mos is $396.20. Does this seem right to you? I really don't understand the near $1,000 difference in Invoice cost -- does this seem correct?

I also asked them to figure the tax in the lease, would then only give them 1st month payment plus license and title fee ($573.90), the $2,635 would be part of the lease -- for this they calculated a monthly cost of $478.90.

These amounts seem a little high but not that far off. Can you offer me any advice?

Thank you for your help.

evilangel · October 2004

Hi Car_Man, thank you for your help. Got a quote from a dealer.
C230K Sport Sedan, Red, Automatic, Sunroof pkg, Lighting pkg, cd-changer. MSRP $34360, selling price $30807, 39months 10k/yr, $1500 total drive off, $369+tax. I wanted $359+tax and he said he cannot do it, am i going too far? should i take the deal?

CarMan@Edmunds · October 2004

Hello daydreamer56. Unfortunately, you probably are overpaying for the vehicle that you purchased from the bank that you were leasing it through. It is usually fairly expensive to purchase leased vehicles well before their scheduled expiration dates. Consumers who do so not only have to pay whatever purchase price the bank quotes them, but also often have to pay other charges on top of that inflated price like all of their remaining lease payments. Consumers' least expensive option when leasing is almost always to wait until the scheduled end of their contract. At that time they can compare their vehicle's purchase price to what it is actually worth on the open market and purchase it if they choose to without having to pay any additional charges. In fact, some banks are occasionally willing to lower the purchase prices of leased vehicles for consumers who wait until the end of their deals to buy. I am sorry to say that since you have already purchased your leased vehicle there really is nothing that you can do if you paid more for it than it is actually worth other than to chalk it up as a learning experience and not repeat it the next time that you are in this sort of situation.

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CarMan@Edmunds · October 2004

You're welcome again, pen101. All things being equal, namely the length of the lease, the mileage allowance, and down payment, consumers usually pick the lease that provides them with the lowest payment, and rightfully so. It is difficult to say why the first dealer only does business with AHFC. Perhaps they do their floorplanning through them, receive some sort of interest rate break on conventional loans by steering all of their business towards them, or just find AHFC much easier to deal with than independent banks. It's tough to say which deal you should go with. AHFC is a very reputable bank that you should not have any problems with. I have never leased a vehicle through U.S. Savings Bank and don't know what they are like to deal with. If you are willing to roll the dice and assume that U.S. Savings Bank will be reasonable in assessing your vehicle for excess wear and tear at the end of your lease for $9 per month then that is the way to go, but if you would feel more comfortable going with a bank that we know is going to be reasonable at the end of your lease then go with AHFC.

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CarMan@Edmunds · October 2004

Hello sukinsyn. Let me begin by saying that I always advise consumers against making any sort of down payment when leasing. I do so for two main reasons. The first is if your vehicle is totaled in an accident or stolen during your lease, 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 lease-end purchase option price for this Infiniti G35 would be exactly the same, regardless of whether you had put $1,000 down, $2,000 down, or had made absolutely no down payment at all.

Now that I've said that, let's look at the deal that you were quoted. The selling price for this car looks good. It looks like the dealer is using the G35 closing certificates that are available on it to sell it to you for right around or just below dealer invoice. One thing that I noticed about this deal is that the money factor that is being used to calculate your payment is .00177. IFS' base money factor for most length leases of the '04 G35 AWD is .00179, but its 42 month base factor is a slightly more attractive .00162. There are two possible reasons why the factor that you were quoted is higher, either it is being increased because you are having this car's security deposit waived or your dealer is marking it up to add additional back-end profit to your deal.

I just worked up a sample lease payment on this car using the selling prices that you mentioned in your post and IFS' actual lease program. According to my calculations, the zero down, pre-tax 42 month 12,000 miles per year lease payment for this car should be around $401. If you were to add IFS' $550 acquisition fee to the capitalized cost it would increase the payment to around $415.

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sebring95 · October 2004

I'm rather seasoned in the world of leasing, however i have a question that I've personally never encountered. With several posts now from others stating the residual value is not negotiable, is this 100% true? I'm sure it is not negotiable to be HIGHER than their standard rate, however is it possible to be LOWER?

I ask because I recently assumed a lease from someone (who i won't personally discredit his intelligence, but you be the judge....) who was obviously not an informed shopper. He basically bought a truck as a 2nd vehicle and leased it. He put over $12,000 cash down on a 36 month lease (he overpaid by about $5,000 though, so that's not all "free" money). However, it also appears the residual is quite a bit lower than what I would consider fair. I'm basically in a situation to drive the truck for free, although the low miles helped my situation (he put 2800 miles on it in 12 months). Just curious if the dealer could have gotten the residual lower for extra profit.

CarMan@Edmunds · October 2004

Eagwheels, while Honda charges New York residents a higher lease acquisition fee at lease signing than it charges to residents of most other states, $595 versus $1,095, it does not have any additional charges at lease-end for New York residents and I believe that it does not charge any sort of lease disposition fee.

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rroyce10 · October 2004

.. "He put over $12,000 cash down on a 36 month lease" ................. Yikes.!! ....

           Someone needs to run that truck over his fat head .l.o.l...

                  $12,000.?!? -- oh my god ...

                             Terry.

sebring95 · October 2004

"$12,000.?!? -- oh my god ..."

LOL....

I've done a couple of these lease assumptions and there must be a ton of people that put chunks of cash down and/or have trade equity rolled into their leases. There's some great deals out there for assuming leases. There's also plenty of '99 Navigators with 36 months remaining, 5,000 miles over the allowance, and $700/month LOL!

kally · October 2004

Car_Man,

I just got an offer on G35x Black/Graphite w/premium package, splash guards, trunk mat for a $32,000. Lease terms are 42 months, 12,000 miles per year. Payment is $357 a month or $398 if I put the taxes in. Down payment is $1,094 not including tax and tag. Is this a good deal? Thanks for any advice!!

dprosa · October 2004

I saw an ad in a central nj paper for
G35X with Sunroof(24 to choose from) MSRP (33,870)
$269/month for 42 months or by 29,750 10K/year
$3119($2000 down,1st mnth $269, 300 sec, 550 bank) + tags, title due at signing
Residual $19305.90

I know nothing about leasing, I put the #s into lendingtree.com's buy vs lease calculator and came up about even but I did not know how to figure out the interest rate (money factor) based on the above #s I usually keep my cars for a long time but the $269 is enticing for a G35x with winter coming up.

What else should I be prepared to add to the $269/month ? tax ? 6 %. How much more should I pay if I want 12K / year

thanks for your input

siemon321 · October 2004

Thanks, Car_man. I've been hearing from dealers that I should be leasing 2005 (and buying 2004) - would you agree? What is the money factor on the 2005 Civic EX for a 24 month and 36 month lease?

Also, I saw that Honda has a deal right now leasing the Civic LX for $199/month (+ tax), with a $999 cap reduction and a 36 month term. Is the support for the LX better than that for the EX? Or should I be able to get the same terms/money factors on the EX as on the LX?

And one last question: on the current LX offer, Honda says the $$ due at signing would be $1,993. This seems really high - the cap reduction amount is $999, so the remaining fees amount to $994. This covers first month, security deposit, and up-front acquisition fees - so are they saying these "up-front acquisition fees" are roughly $600? This sounds like way too much up front - what do you think?

Thanks for the help!

CarMan@Edmunds · October 2004

I am glad that you have found our discussion so helpful, desgnconcpts. It sounds as though the actual base dealer invoice price of the model that you are interested in is around $33,050, but the dealer that you are working with is adding some sort of fees that they claim are levied by GM to it to arrive at the $34,000 price that they quoted you. Advertising fees are definitely legitimate charges that are passed onto dealers by manufacturers, though it is difficult to say exactly how much GM is charging this dealer for it. $1,000 is definitely more than most ad charges are and if I had to guess I would say that there probably is some sort of fluff in there. Having said this, the selling price of $32,500 is not terrible. It is equivalent to around $1,000 over invoice. It is in your best interest to look at this deal as a whole. The bottom line is that this dealer is willing to lease you this model for $32,500. It doesn't matter how they break it down in terms of invoice price, advertising fees, etc... If you feel as though this price is too high, you should comparison shop with a few other local dealers (GM certainly has enough dealers out there) to see if any of them are willing to give you a lower total price.

To give you a point of reference as to what your payment should be like, I will work up a sample lease on this vehicle for you. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2005 Buick Rendezvous with a full MSRP of $36,760 and a selling price of $32,500 through General Motors Acceptance Corp. in Illinois right now for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, its zero down, pre-tax monthly payment should be right around $393. As you can see, the payment that you quoted you is pretty close to what I came up with. You just need to decide if the selling price that it is based upon is low enough for you.

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CarMan@Edmunds · October 2004

No problem, evilangel. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2005 Mercedes-Benz C230K Sport Sedan with an MSRP of $34,360 and a selling price of $30,807 through Mercedes-Benz Credit Corp. for 39 months with 10,000 miles per year, its zero down, pre-tax monthly payment should be $369. As you can see, this is the exact payment that the dealer that you are currently working with quoted you, which means that they are being very straightforward with you. The selling price that you were quoted is very attractive and the payment calculation is correct, so if you like the car I don't see any reason why you shouldn't take this deal.

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CarMan@Edmunds · October 2004

Hi sebring95. When I state that vehicles' published residual values are not negotiable, I mean that dealers do not have any authority to increase bank's resids. I have never personally done this, but I have heard that many banks will allow consumers to lower the residual values that are used to calculate a vehicle's lease payment. From the bank's perspective, there certainly isn't any reason why they wouldn't want to allow their lessee to do this because it would make their payment go up. However, I do not believe that individual dealers are allowed to lower vehicles' residual values to get kickbacks from banks like they are allowed to do with the marking-up of lease money factors.

You assumed a lease from a consumer who made a $12,000 capitalized cost reduction?!?! Ouch. At least it wasn't your money

.

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desgnconcpts · October 2004

Dear Car_Man,
Thank you!
You have given me very solid advice and since this dealer is about 2 miles from my home and provides things like free car washes any time (I can simply stop in and get the truck washed!), I'm willing to let them make a few dollars profit for treating me well -- their quote was $3.20 more per month than your number.

My final question is wrapping the tax into the lease. The tax is $2,635 -- and for adding that amount, my payment would be $478.90 mo/36mos. or $82.70 more (a diff of $2977-$2,635 or $342, about $9.51 more per month to service the add'l amt).
If that sounds right, I'll finalize the deal with my dealer.

Again, I am indebted to you for your help, I will heartily recommend my friends visit this forum!

Best Regards.

CarMan@Edmunds · October 2004

Hello kally. I would be more than happy to give you my opinion on the deal that you were quoted. However, it would be a big help if you could tell me its full MSRP first. This number is important because it is difficult to calculate a lease payment on vehicles without and it will show us just how much of a discount you are receiving on this car.

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CarMan@Edmunds · October 2004

Wow, dprosa, another post about the Infiniti G35 AWD. These things must be flying of of lots

. Perhaps its the anticipation of winter snow that has everyone scrambling to get AWD vehicles. I just took a look at the advertised lease that you mentioned in your post. Let me begin by saying that I always advise consumers against making any sort of down payment when leasing. I do so for two main reasons. The first is if your vehicle is totaled in an accident or stolen during your lease, 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 lease-end purchase option price for this Infiniti G35 would be exactly the same, regardless of whether you had put $2,000 down or had made absolutely no down payment at all.

In your post you mentioned that you do not know a whole lot about leasing. It is definitely in your best interest to learn as much as possible about the subject prior to visiting any dealers. Consumers who don't know how leasing works often get taken advantage of. Take a look at the following articles that are available here at Edmunds.com: 10 Steps to Leasing a New Car and Calculate Your Own Lease Payment. They will give you an excellent grasp of how leasing works.

I notice that the advertised lease that you posted never mentions this car's selling price. This is a very important number to know because the selling prices of leased vehicles can be negotiated, just as if one was paying cash for them. If you let me know the full MSRP and a target selling price for the exact car that you want, I can tell you what its payment should be like for any length lease or mileage allowance.

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CarMan@Edmunds · October 2004

You're welcome, siemon321. Given the attractive lease program that is available on the 2005 Civic right now and the lack of any other support on this car, if I was a good candidate for leasing (want a new car every couple of years, drive 12,000 to 15,000 miles per year) I would probably lease it instead of buy it.

Honda has two different special lease money factors on the 2005 Civic right now. A factor of .00147, around 3.5% interest, on the '05 Civic Si, EX, & LX and a factor of .00062, around 1.5%, on the '05 Civic VP, HX, & DX.

You are correct about AHFC's lease acquisition fee. It is currently $595 in every state but New York. While this is a lot of money, most banks' acquisition fees are at least this high so it is not out of line with industry norms.

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kally · October 2004

The MSRP is 36,320. Thanks!

rthompson10 · October 2004

Hi,

A close friend is thinking about buying her leased 02 Accord. Lease up in December, she is about 7K over her miles
What factors to consider to determine what price to buy it at? Is this negotiable or does she have to take the dealer offer

Thank you from the Lease Ignorant
Robert

anick · October 2004

I currenty have a lease and am at 1.5 of 3yrs. I picked up a 4runner v8 and my office closed and I am now putting on too many miles on the car + gas price. Is there ever a point in a lease when the car's value equal the pay off amount? Right now the pay off is 25k but TMV is at 22.5K. I assume this is why the lease is set up this way but is there a point in a lease when you can get the best bang for your buck? Hopefully not the 36th

Thanks in advance!

tonyf · October 2004

Where can I find the money factor and residual % used for the Sign and Drive lease special that are currently in place.

THanks
Tony

siemon321 · October 2004

Thanks, Car_man. Great info for me to use. One more thing that came up in my research - is it possible to lease Certified Used cars? If so, is this a good strategy (avoiding the first couple years' high depreciation)? Any thoughts?

liannell · October 2004

Hi Car_man, just checking in to see if you've received lease specs for the 2005 G35 sedan.

Also, wanted to ask about the "closing certificates" you mentioned in the above post (#14254) on the 2004 G35x. I'm assuming that's different from the G35x $500 mfr-to-dealer cash, since the m-t-d cash isn't allowed to be combined with any lease deals. Are there any closing certificates on the 2004 regular G35 sedan? I know there's $1000 m-t-d cash on that car for purchases, but it sounds like maybe there's something out there for leases too?

Thanks!

dprosa · October 2004

Car man, thanks for the info, I will look at the 2 links you provided and get an understanding of the whole lease process. Here are the #s from the ad

G35X with Sunroof(24 to choose from)
MSRP $33,870
Buy for $29,750
$300 sec deposit, $550 bank)
Residual $19305.90
This deal is asking for an additional $2000 down payment at $269 a month

suebeedux · October 2004

I am looking to lease a 2004 Infiniti QX56. It seems that these are not selling very well as I never see them on the road. I was also thinking of a 2005 Sequoia but probably can get a better deal on the QX56 because of sales being down. Car Man,
What kind of deal should I be looking for particularly for the QX56. One nearby dealer has 15 of the 2004's. I would think they are desperate. The sticker price is $55,240 fully loaded.

What kind of price, money factor and residual would be considered a good deal? Also, the only way I can afford the lease is to put my $8,000 trade-in towards the lease, but I know you shouldn't put large $ down. What are your thoughts?

Also, do you know if any of the later 2004's have the problems fixed (roof, resonance, etc.) after 200 Japanese went to the Canton plant? Should I wait for the 2005 and pay more (maybe alot more)?

daydreamer56 · October 2004

During my lease period, I became unemployed (for 13 months) which damaged my credit. While I was working a contract job, I received the offer to buy-out. I knew my contract was ending, & could only envision being unemployed with damaged credit at the end of my lease term. Consequently, I felt my options were, buy now or wait & possibly not have a vehicle, period.

The really sad thing, aside of the whole residual 'thing', is... my 2000 Isuzu Rodeo (with 80,000 miles) is using 1 qt. of oil every 1300 miles... Yes, that is thirteen hundred miles. I'm currently going through an "oil consumption test" with the dealership. But, I figure I'll "get it" on this end too.

qbrozen · October 2004

yeah, unfortunately, I don't think you'll win that battle. My father just went through the same thing with his Trooper. Turned out they wanted it to use, IIRC, 1 quart every 1K miles or less. So it sounds like you may be a bit shy. Now, you didn't hear this from me, but I'm not sure what would allow them to know that you drained a little bit of oil between the measures of the test. Let it be known, I don't condone this, and in no way did my father do such a thing. I was just pointing out a "theory."

To me (and many others), the consumption that they consider to be "within parameters" is absolutely horendous.

good luck.

if you'd like to discuss further, probably this would be a better place:
"Got a Quick, Technical Question?"

daydreamer56 · October 2004

Thank you, Car_man. Ouch!!!! Another of life's lessons...

kyfdx · October 2004

I believe that is the standard that every manufacturer pretty much sticks to.. Less than one quart every thousand miles is within parameters...

Of course, if you add the oil when it is low, and nothing else negative happens to the car, who is to say they aren't correct?

Last car I had that used that much was a '77 model, though.

daydreamer56 · October 2004

Thank you. Yeah, that's what I'm hearing... 1 qt. every 1K miles, is acceptable. Still, we all know people who have vehicles with 200K & more that don't use any oil.

It's interesting, you mentioned, the Trooper... When I went to the place where I get my oil changed (not the dealership). They knew of 2 people with Troopers (&/or Rodeos) within the last few days that were going through the same type of usage (whose vehicles had around 80K miles). There's a lesson here, somewhere.... Did you say, Isuzu???? LOL

cdc · October 2004

Still hoping you can respond to the question I have around taxes. Please reference original text for #14177.

sergkn · October 2004

Hello Car_man,

I was offered a lease on an Infiniti FX35,AWD
Here is the Queues I got:

"... The MSRP on the vehicle is $45,540.
The Capitalized cost on the the vehicle is $40,914.

The money factor on the 36/months and 39/months is .00194.
The Residual on the 36/month lease is $25,502.40;
and the Residual on the 39/month lease is $25,047.00.
The money factor on the 42/month with .00194 and
the residual value $24,136.00.

You not required to put down and cap cost reduction.
The numbers that I quoted you require you to put down fees.

Brake down:

$570.00 1st months payment
795.00 Bank fee
68.57 Tax on Bank fee
600.00 Security
199.00 Documentation
185.00 DMV
--------
$2417.57

I can offer 2004 Infiniti FX35 with Touring Package, Sport Package and Technology Package.

A 36/month lease with 12,000/miles with just inception fees
a monthly payment at $566.16 plus tax

A 39/month lease with 12,000/miles with just inception fees
a monthly payment at $533.94 plus tax

A 42/month lease with 12,000/miles with just inception fees
a monthly payment at $524.74 plus tax...."

How do you estimate these deals? I would say MF looks high?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am in NYC.

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