Lease Questions - Ask Here

corral · December 2004

With bmw fs if you qualify for a subsidized rate you qualify. The dealer is marking up the rate jst because they can. Tiers 1,2,3 credit scores of 650 and up get .00150 rate. don't settle for any thing less or make them discount the car the cost of money factor mark up.

alex123 · December 2004

Thanks, lwite

Car_man, can you confirm that:
--.000145 and 63% on 530 36/10k.

keeferb · December 2004

Hi Car_man,

Can you give me the December money factor and residual for the 2005 Nissan Pathfinder? 36 or 39 month and 15k/yr.

Thanks!

CarMan@Edmunds · December 2004

Hey baseballmom97. I just replied to a similar post that you made in the discussion titled "Rebates, Incentives, APRs - Questions & Comments." Please check there for my response and make sure to let me know if you have any other questions.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · December 2004

Hi chubby4. American Honda Finance Corp.'s base lease money factor and residual value for a 3 year, 15,000 miles per lease of a 2005 Acura TSX without navigation were .00245 and 61% the last time that I saw them. These numbers are a little different than the ones that you saw earlier. The residual value for the other model is lower than the residual for an '05 TSX without navigation, but is right on the money if the navigation option was added. The money factor is higher as well. This may be in part because the other deal incudes a security deposit waiver.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

baseballmom97 · December 2004

Hi Car_Man,

Hope I catch you before you sign off! Any idea what the money factor and residual value is for an '04 Sequoia in the Ohio region. Thanks for anwering my other question as well!
Thank you!

CarMan@Edmunds · December 2004

Hello Sandy. I haven't seen DaimlerChrysler's new lease program for the model that you are interested in yet, but I understand that because it had such a solid sales month in November DaimlerChrysler cut back on its lease support on some models. I should be able to give you an idea of what its new lease program is like on the model that you are interested in in a few days. Please post a quick reminder in this discussion for me then and I will be more than happy to fill you in on what I have been able to find out.

I have seen Nissan's new December lease program for the 2005 Altima. However, in order for me to tell you what it is like I need some additional information from you, including how long you want to lease it for and how many miles per year you need to be able to drive it.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · December 2004

You caught me, baseballmom97

. I don't believe that Toyota is providing any sort of lease support on the 2004 Toyota Sequoia in any of its regions this month. If that is indeed the case and you were to lease one through Toyota Financial Services, you would have to use its standard lease money factor. The last time that I saw it, TFS' base standard lease money factor was .00215 for consumers who qualify for its Tier 1 credit tier. This means that you have a credit score in the high 600 to low 700 range. It recently introduced a "Tier 1+" credit tier for consumers who have a credit score of over 740 that I believe usually has money factors that are .00010 less than its Tier 1 factors. The last time that I saw TFS' residual values for the '04 Sequoia, its 3 year, 15,000 miles per residual for the base 4WD model was 57% and for the Limited 4WD model was 52%. Its residual values for leases of this truck with only 12,000 miles per year would be 2% higher.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · December 2004

Hi jim53. Lexus' December to Remember lease program is very attractive. If you were to lease a 2005 RX 330 4WD without navigation or the rear entertainment system through Lexus Financial Services right now for 36 months with 12,000 miles per year, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00165 and 59%, respectively. The factor for an otherwise identical 39 month lease would be the same, but the residual value would drop to 56%.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · December 2004

Your conclusions from reading some of the older posts in this discussion are absolutely correct, squirreljam. Hyundais have terrible residual values. As a result they are usually more expensive than one would think to lease, that is when Hyundai even bothers to offer a lease program on them. It is not currently providing any sort of lease support on the Santa Fe. As a result, if your friend was to lease one, they would have to do so through an independent bank. If I was in the market for a Santa Fe right now, I probably would just purchase it or finance it using the special financing rates that Hyundai is providing on it.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

sandyl · December 2004

on the altima, 12k 36 months. I can go as low
as 10K, but I noticed that 10K leases are not
that "popular".

sandy

baseballmom97 · December 2004

Car_Man, just wanted to thank you again for your helpfulness and sharing your knowledge! I appreciate it very much!

kapterian · December 2004

By January I want to get an X5. I'm an independent sales rep and will be driving a lot, maybe 1,500 miles a month at times. I know I can write-off the miles either way. Are the lease payments tax deductible? If I purchase a 2 year old X5 is that tax deductible? My budget will be around $700 per month. I just want a great deal on a decent X5, but take advantage of all the tax breaks being a 1099 employee. Thanks!!

jshiley · December 2004

Hi,

I am in the process of researching a lease for a 2005 Jetta GLI. Is the residual value something you can negotiate or does it a constant that depends on yearly mileage and price of car? I've received two different quotes, one saying it's 52% and one saying it's 54%. I am negotiating the cap. cost at $300 over invoice. How do I deal with residual value to determine my monthly depriation and finance charge?

Thanks!
Jill

brodway · December 2004

I'm interested in leasing the 2004 G35X, the All Wheel Drive.

My local dealer is offering what seems like a reasonable deal (there is this new Winter Engagement Event that is geared towards liquidating the 04's) , and i wanted to be assured that it really is.

Here are the details.

42 month lease with no money down except the motor vehicle fees.

the MSRP on the vehicle is 35890 which includes the premium package.

15k miles per year.

the payment offered is 389.99 per month

the residual value is 55%

with a trade that is being appraised at $3,000(Plus the 6% tax i'm saving on the trade in value) i can go down to $299.99 per month.

please advise if this makes sense and whether i'm doing ok. i have no idea how to calculate lease deals.

brodway · December 2004

Wanted to add that the invoice price according to Edmunds is 32,873

thanks in advance for your help

apothny · December 2004

Car_man....I would appreciate your opinion on this deal... I am returning my 2002 Saab 9-3 and considering a "balloon" lease on an '05. My dealer worked these numbers pretty quickly and said he may be able to bring the payment down closer to 400.00. Here we go:

MSRP 34,545
36 mos--12,000 miles/year
Sale price 30,145
Residual 50% (17,272 final payment)
APR 2.9%
Payment 426.88

My $500 "loyalty" is included.

Thanks!!

gogiants · December 2004

Car Man please advise if this seems like a good deal dealer today offered following lease

2005 BMW 325
MSRP 33,715
Net Cap Cost 31,725 (incl.$725 acquisition fee)
Residual 21,240
MF .00135
Drive off 701.34
36 month 10,000 miles/year
Payment w/tax = 390.85

Sounded very good to me what do you think? can I do better? Is the dealer increasing the factor or is this consistent with BMW's standard factor? Thanks again for all your help.

sandyl · December 2004

carman

on that 36 month 12K altima S, can I take the
1500 cash back into account in my negotiations

thanks!
sandy

rustyt1 · December 2004

My lease for my Nissan Xterra is over and instead of driving an hour to return it, I asked the Ford dealer where I am considering buying an Explorer if they would do it. They said it would not be a problem. Is there anything I should be aware of with this process?

rroyce10 · December 2004

...... You need to have one of the lease adjusters meet you .. you need to have them do a walk-around and sign off on any paper work and get *Copies* signed ..... the vehicle could sit at the Ford dealer for weeks and maybe get whacked or broken into - and you would liable for all of it, it happens everyday .......

Terry.

bravest086 · December 2004

Hi, I appreciate you helping me out.
I'm looking to lease (smart buy) the 05 Toyota 4Runner Limited 6 cylinder 4WD.
I can negotiate the price to $34-34,500.
Based on this price, and a 3yr lease, with 15k per year in mileage...what can I expect my monthly payment to be considering no money down.
I live in NY and I'm not too concerned about the buyback price as I will be turning the car in. I believe one of there current incentives is 2.9% financing
Any other advice you can give about this car would be gretaly appreciated

cfb · December 2004

Hi,

Have a 2002 allroad leased through August 05, and seriously considering 2005 4.2 allroad as replacement. I understand Audi will stop producing allroad in April or May 05, so, if I want new one, I'll have at least several lease payments left when I turn my 02 allroad back in (I am dealing with original dealer who leased me the 02 allroad).

Given this, doing a deal now If Audi has some good customer retention incentives, money factors etc.)might be OK, as I wonder if both incentives and money factors for allroads in late spring 2005 may be worse, with interest rates going up, and the car out of production with no replacement.

To help with my decision, can you tell me what Audi's current money factors, RVs, etc. are for 2005 4.2 allroad (15K miles, 24, 36 or 42 months)and whether the large retention incentive(I heard $5K from a dealer, despite Audi's official $1,000 bonus lised in KBB)was or still is on through end of this year? Also, do you think rates, incentives, etc., will get worse next year?

Thanks for your help!

CFB

texasteasip · December 2004

I read the post regarding the MF and residual for the Lexus RX330 for 36 mos. and was wondering what the MF and residual would be for 48 mos.. I am interested in comparing how good the December to Remember deal for $499/mo. over 48 mos. actually is.
Thanks.

andre1 · December 2004

Car_Man,
What kind of lease support is Nissan providing on the 2005 Murano SL FWD? I need the money factor and residual for 36, 39 and 42 months for 15,000 miles a year. Thanks!

st7 · December 2004

Car_Man,
I had a similar situation. My 02' V6 EX Accord coupe was in a front end accident one and a half years ago. I had it repaired ($3500), and it looks/performs same as before. End of lease is one month away - has under 30k miles. I can buy it out at about 75% of Edmunds retail, and 87% of PP value. If I were to turn this car in to the dealer, wouldn't they likely be able to get 75% or more of retail? In other words, how much diminished value does this type of accident cause ?

CarMan@Edmunds · December 2004

Hey 4thbmw. A base 2005 BMW 545i has a difference of almost $5,000 between its full MSRP and dealer invoice price. You are only getting this car for $1,500 under MSRP. I am not intimately familiar with what the market is like for the 545i in your area, but if there is a decent level of competition for your business I would not be surprised if you were able to get this car for less. You may want to stop by the "BMW 5-Series: Prices Paid & Buying Experience" discussion that appears here on Edmunds.com to see what other community members have paid for similar cars recently.

Another problem I have with this deal is that not only was BMW Financial Services' base lease money factor lower than the .00190 that you were quoted to lease this car last month, BMW enhanced it to .00125 for the month of December. This is much lower than the .00190 that you were quoted. I suspect that the dealer that you are working with is marking-up BMW FS' base money factor to add additional back-end profit to this deal. BMW FS does not have money factors that vary by credit tier. Either you qualify for its special money factors for a car or you don't. I suppose that it is possible that this lease is being run through a bank other than BMW FS if you don't qualify for its lease program though.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · December 2004

Hey John. Audi's November lease program was supposed to run through January 3rd and it did not make any unscheduled changed to it for the month of December. If I already provided you with the November numbers for this car, they still would be good. As far as what you will have to pay at lease signing to lease an Audi goes, typically AFS lessees have to pay their vehicle's first month's payment, a security deposit equivalent to that payment rounded up to the nearest $25 increment, a lease acquisition fee of $575 in every state but NY, and any sort of down payment that you choose to make (ideally this would be $0). You should be able to get out of paying a security deposit on this car though because Audi is currently waiving its security depsoit requirement for all leases of 2005 A4 models.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · December 2004

Hello artd1. I would be more than happy to try to give you an idea of what sort of lease payment you can expect to pay on the truck that you are interested in leasing. However, in order for me to do so I need some additional information from you first. This informaiton includes the truck's full MSRP, its selling price, how long you want to lease it for, and how many miles per year you need to be able to drive it. Once you provide me with this info I will work up a sample lease payment on it for you.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · December 2004

You're welcome, gold233790. Infiniti's December lease program for the 2005 Infiniti G35 AWD is the same this month as it was last month.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · December 2004

No problem, lwhite. Let's take a look at the current lease programs for the other vehicles that you are considering. According to the latest informaiton that I have seen, if you were to lease a 2005 Volvo XC90 AWD 2.5T through Volvo Finance this month for 3 years with 10,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00174 and 62%. The numbers for an otherwise identical lease of a 2005 Volvo XC90 T6 should be .00134 and 62%.

If you were to lease a 2005 Volkswagen Touareg V6 or V8 through VW Credit right now for 3 years with 10,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00151 and 57%, respectively.

The last that I heard, Land Rover was not providing any sort of lease support on the Range Rover. If you were to lease a 2005 Range Rover HSE through Land Rover's captive finance company right now for 3 years with 10,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00300 and 61%.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · December 2004

Any time, andre1 (well not any time, but that's how the saying goes

). If you were to lease a 2005 Chrysler Pacifica Touring FWD with the 26S package through Chrysler Financial right now for 36 months with 15,000 miles per year, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00121 and 52%, respectively. The numbers for otherwise identical 42 and 48 month leases of this vehicle would be an unattractive .00295 / 48% and .00295 / 45%. When negotiating your lease on this vehicle, keep in mind that DaimlerChrysler is providing $2,000 lease cash plus an additional $1,000 bonus for '05 Pacificas that are financed or leased through Chrysler Financial ($3,000 total) that will help you to negotiate an attractive selling price.

If you were to lease a 2005 Acura MDX Touring w/Entertainment Center through American Honda Finance Corp. right now for 36 months with 15,000 miles per year, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00210 and 59%, respectively. This money factor would be good for 42 month leases of this truck as well. I am not positive, but I believe that its 42 month residual value would be around 55%. The 48 month numbers for this truck should be .00220 and 51%.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · December 2004

I knew that consumers either qualify for BMW FS' special lease money factors or they don't but I was not sure of what credit rating was necessary to do so. It is 650, huh. Thanks for the info, corral.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · December 2004

Here you go, alex123. If you were to lease a 2005 BMW 530i through BMW Financial Services in December for 3 years with 10,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00125 and 63%, respectively.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · December 2004

I sure can, keeferb. If you were to lease a 2005 Nissan Pathfinder LE 4WD (this truck's lease program varies by trim level, let me know if you were interested in a different version) through Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. in December for 36 months with 15,000 miles per year, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00214 and 57%, respectively. The numbers for an otherwise identical 39 month lease should be .00170 and 57%. As you can see, its 39 month lease program is more attractive than its 36 month program. This is the way to go if you want to lease this truck this month. As an added bonus, a small one but still a perk, Nissan is waiving its lease security deposit requirement on '05 Pathfinder leases in December.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · December 2004

You're right, sandy. Most consumers tend to lease vehicles with 12,000 miles per year. One would have to have a pretty short commute or use a vehicle only on the weekend to lease with only 10,000 miles per year. If you were to lease a 2005 Nissan Altima S through Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. in December for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00096 and 60%, respectively.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · December 2004

You're very welcome, baseballmom97. I am glad that I was able to help you out.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

artd1 · December 2004

Ok Carman, thanks and I'm sorry for not including this info. I am looking for a slightly used 2004 butso far no luck. I've been told that leasing is almost as much as buying. MSRP is 63k.I can get it for about 10k less(inv plus rebates)I plan on leasing no more than 4 years pref 36-39 mo. MIleage is a issue.y wife puts on 15-20 per year. I could buy or neg at term end so 12-15 k per year would work. My payment buying new with $3000 down (to offset trade)would be mid/high $800's.Thanks again Carman.

CarMan@Edmunds · December 2004

Hi kapterian. I am not an accountant so you need to check with yours before making any sort of decision as whether to purchase or lease your new truck, but I believe that a percentage of your vehicle's lease payment proportionate to the amount of driving that you do in it for work would be deductible for tax purposes. If you were to purchase a used X5, you would be able to take depreciate it for tax purposes.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

keeferb · December 2004

Sorry Car_man, I should have specified what trim level. I'm looking at either the XE or SE trim, so if you give me those numbers I would appreciate it. Looks like I only need the 39 month/15k numbers since they are more attractive than the 36 month.

Thanks again!

sandyl · December 2004

can I take into account the 1500 cash back when negotiating for the altima?

sandy

CarMan@Edmunds · December 2004

Hi Jill. Vehicles' residual values are published by banks and individual dealerships do not have any authority to alter them. As a result, you shouldn't waster your time trying to negotiate them. Instead, focus your efforts on negotiating the selling price of the vehicle that you are interested in and on finding out the lease money factor that is being used to calculate your car or truck's lease payment. I say to negotiate the selling price, because the selling prices of leased vehicles can be negotiated, just as if you were paying cash for them. I also mentioned that it is important to find out your vehicle's money factor because even though individual dealerships do not have the authority to lower banks' published factors, they often are allowed to mark them up to add additional profit to deals. Please feel free to ask me what the base money factor of the vehicle or vehicles that you are interested in should be like and use this information to help you in you negotiations. Just make sure to let me know how long you want to lease them for and how many miles per year you need to be able to drive them.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · December 2004

Hi brodway. 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 G35 would be exactly the same, regardless of whether you had used the proceeds from your trade as a down payment, or had made absolutely no down payment at all. If you enjoy the convenience that trading your current vehicle in provides over selling it on your own, have the dealer that you are trading it in to cut you a check for it rather than use the money as a capitalized cost reduction for your lease.

You never mentioned the selling price of the car that you are interested in leasing. This is an important number for you as a consumer to know for two reasons. First, the selling prices of leased vehicles can be negotiated, just as if you were paying cash for them. Without knowing the price of the car that you want to lease you don't know how good a price you are getting it for. The second reason is that one needs the selling price of a vehicle that they want to lease is that it is necessary to calculate its lease payment. I would be more than happy to work up a sample lease payment on the car that you are interested in for you that you can use to compare to the payment that you have been quoted if you let me know what its selling price is. I also need to how many miles per year you want to be able to drive this car.

In your post you mentioned that you don't know how to calculate lease payments. There is a great article on the subject that it available here at Edmunds.com. You definitely should check it out prior to leasing anything. Here is a link to it for your convenience: Calculate Your Own Lease Payment.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

jarbatz · December 2004

I have 3 questions:

1. Looking at the 2005 Saturn Vue 6 cyl., FWD. Received a quote for $345/month including taxes. This also includes my remaining payments on my current lease($,1500), $490 due at signing, 39 month lease/12,000 miles per year. Does this sound like a good quote? They are showing the MSRP as $26,015, however I received a GM employee discount, which brings it down to $24,065. This car also has ALL the luxury options on it - leather, heater seats, power driver seat, power sunroof, XM radio and advanced audio.

2. Also interested in Chevy Equinox - what can I expect for a payment with the same terms and options as the above car?

3. Also what credit score do I need for GMAC (Tier AB)?

Thanks!!

CarMan@Edmunds · December 2004

I am sorry to say, apothny, that because balloon notes are so much less popular than leases, I do not keep tabs on manufacturers' balloon note programs. I can work up a sample lease payment on this car for you if you would like though. This might be a good point of reference as to what you may expect to pay for a balloon note on one. Let me know if you would like me to do this for you.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · December 2004

Greetings gogiants. The selling price that you were quoted on this car looks good to me, but I have a problem with the lease money factor that you were quoted. BMW enhanced its lease program on it for the month of December. Its current base lease money factor for a 3 year lease of a 2005 BMW 325i is only .00080, which is significantly lower than the .00135 that you were quoted by this dealer. There is a good chance that they are trying to mark-up BMW FS' base lease money factor on this car to add additional back-end profit on your deal. BMW dealers are notorious for doing so.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

CarMan@Edmunds · December 2004

Hey Sandy. Unfortunately, no the $1,500 customer cash that Nissan is currently providing on the 2005 Altima can not be used in conjunction with Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp.'s special lease program.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper Forum

kyfdx · December 2004

Adding my $0.02..

Not only are they probably marking up the MF, you also stated that the acquistion fee is $725, which is also a $200 mark-up.. In addition, it looks like they are bumping up the MF by .00015 to waive the security deposit.. While this results in less upfront, you'll come out behind in the end.. You get security deposits back, while that MF bump-up is money gone..

Get them to use the base MF, and the base acquisition fee... and make your security deposit, and you could save $1500 over the 36 months of this lease deal.. Then you would have a "great" deal.

regards,
kyfdx

jarbatz · December 2004

I have 3 questions:

1. Looking at the 2005 Saturn Vue 6 cyl., FWD. Received a quote for $345/month including taxes. This also includes my remaining payments on my current lease($,1500), $490 due at signing, 39 month lease/12,000 miles per year. Does this sound like a good quote? They are showing the MSRP as $26,015, however I received a GM employee discount, which brings it down to $24,065. This car also has ALL the luxury options on it - leather, heater seats, power driver seat, power sunroof, XM radio and advanced audio.

2. Also interested in Chevy Equinox - what can I expect for a payment with the same terms and options as the above car?

3. Also what credit score do I need for GMAC (Tier AB)?

Thanks!!

leeshuck · December 2004

Hi Car_man,

As you requested, this is a reminder for you to advise on Volvo's December lease program for a Volvo S60 R - I'm interested in 15k miles/year for between 36 and 42 months. Volvo has a 4 year warranty and 36 month maintenance program as I understand it - that is why I might consider going over 36 months.

Thanks again,

Lee

Lease Questions - Ask Here

Comments

Helpful Tools

Most popular vehicles