Lease Questions - Ask Here

deca1980 · February 2005

The two cars I'm looking at are the G35 MSRP $35140 with a selling price of $31864 and the BMW 325i MSRP $31270 with a selling price of $26999. Can you work up leases for me for 3 years. Thanks Car Man

gwudc · February 2005

Hi Car_Man,

I was wondering if you could please provide me with the current Money Factor and Residual Rates for an Acura TL, Automatic, NO Navigation for the following terms:

1) 36 months - 12,000 miles
2) 39 months - 12,000 miles
3) 42 months - 12,000 miles

Thanks so much for the help, I really appreciate it!

vanme · February 2005

First time leaser here... I'm looking at leasing a Grand Caravan. With 12k mi/yr, I received the following:

24mo; 56% residual; .00014 money factor (almost free money!); van priced at invoice.

I'm trying to verify the dealerships numbers. Questions:
- is the residual figured on the MSRP and without destination?
- should I be eligible for some one of the three rebates listed here on edmunds (and thus be able reduce my cap cost by that amount)?

Thanks in advance!

bmwfannstl · February 2005

Hey car-man, I've seen your numbers on the BMW X5 4.0. Do you have the numbers on a 2005 BMW X5 3.0? Thanks!

bmwfannstl · February 2005

Sorry to make this a two-part question, but in addition to the current MF and residual, what kind of percentage range should we be looking at over invoice on the X5 3.0i?

old · February 2005

I think my post got lost, so I'm posting this again.

Hi Car_man,
I'm headed to the dealer today to try and negotiate a Lease deal.
I'm looking into a 36 month, 15K miles/year, with no more than $1500 down on an 05' Nissan Maxima.
The MSRP is $33180 and the TMV less $1000 rebate is $29603 (according to Edmunds.com).
I want to try and negotiate a monthly payment of ~ $350/month.
I'm just wondering if this is possible or am I out of my mind here? If so, what type of monthly payment should I expect? I have perfect credit. Thanks for any help.
Old

CarMan@Edmunds · February 2005

Oh, this is a 15,000 miles per year lease, mattdal. That would increase its payment for the aforementioned lease to around $477.

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CarMan@Edmunds · February 2005

You're welcome, chriscon. Let me begin by saying that it would be in your best interest to have this dealer cut you a check for your trade rather than using the proceeds from it as a down payment on your lease. 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 Highlander would be exactly the same, regardless of whether you had put nearly $3,000 down, or had made absolutely no down payment at all.

Let's work up a sample lease payment on the truck that you are interested in and see what we come up with. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2005 Toyota Highlander 4WD with an MSRP of $30,500 and a selling price of $28,500 through Toyota Financial Services in your area for 3 years with 15,000 miles per, its zero down, pre-tax monthly payment should be around $314. If you were to use $2,750 in equity from your trade as a down payment, it would drop this truck's lease payment to around $234. As you can see, the payment that you were quoted is too high.

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CarMan@Edmunds · February 2005

No problem, prewitt1. This sort of thing happens all the time. According to the latest information that I have seen, if you were to lease a 2005 Subaru Legacy Sedan GT Limited through its captive finance company right now for 4 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00110 and 43%, respectively. Using these numbers, an MSRP of $29,918 and a selling price of $27,533, I come up with a zero down, pre-tax monthly payment of around $351. So it looks to me as though the payment that you were quoted is a little on the high side.

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CarMan@Edmunds · February 2005

You're very welcome, maryv. The current generation Volkswagen Jetta is a decent car, though its reliability is a little spotty. I believe that the next generation Jetta is scheduled to arrive in showrooms in the next month or two.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with leasing a vehicle for 2 years instead of the more common 3 years. The only problem with doing so is that the shorter a lease is, the higher its monthly payment usually is. This is because new vehicles experience their most rapid depreciation during the first year of ownership. The longer one leases for, the larger the number of payments they have to spread out this initial depreciation hit over.

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CarMan@Edmunds · February 2005

Hi spektre. I am not sure what your budget is like, but the first vehicle that came to my mind after reading your post was the Nissan Altima. In mid-February Nissan enhanced its two year lease program for this car. There are cheaper cars out there, like the Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla, but they are a lot smaller than the Altima. The more specific that you can be about your needs and budget, the better we will be able to suggest vehicles for you.

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CarMan@Edmunds · February 2005

Sorry if your previous post got lost in the shuffle, iwants2000. Honda is not currently providing any sort of lease support on the 2005 S2000. As a result, if you were to lease one through American Honda Finance Corp., you will have to use its standard lease program. The good news is that AHFC just lowered its standard money factors a week or two ago. Despite this recent enhancement, I would not say that it changes its lease program weekly. At the most, it does so monthly. Its new standard money factors are .00225 for 36 to 39 month leases and .00195 for 48 month leases. Its residual values for this car are 58% for 36 months, 54% for 39 months, and 51% for 48 months, all with 15,000 miles per year. Its residual values for leases with only 12,000 miles per year would be 2% higher. Even though this is not a supported lease program, it is pretty good. While I don't know for certain, I personally would be surprised if there was an independent bank out there that has a more attractive lease program than this on the S2000. It is difficult to predict what automakers will do with their future incentives with 100% accuracy, but I suspect that this is as good as the lease program is going to get on the S2000 so if you are in the market for one I don't see any reason not to pull the trigger now.

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CarMan@Edmunds · February 2005

Let's take a look at the lease programs for the models that you are interested in, funky1020. According to the latest informaiton that I have seen, if you were to lease a 2005 BMW 525i through BMW Financial Services right now for 2 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00125 and 73%, respectively. The numbers for an otherwise identical 3 year lease of this car should be .00125 and 62%.

If you were to lease a 2005 BMW X3 2.5i through BMW Financial Services right now for 2 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00210 and 68%, respectively. The numbers for an otherwise identical 3 year lease of this car should be .00210 and 59%.

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CarMan@Edmunds · February 2005

Very interesting, carbert. Thanks for the info.

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CarMan@Edmunds · February 2005

Hi lmacmil. Dealers cut checks to consumers for their trades all the time. If you plan on leasing your next vehicle, but want to trade your current one in rather than dealing with the hassle of selling it on your own, you should be able to get the dealer that you are working with to give you a check for it rather tha using the proceeds as a capitalized cost reduction for your lease. You also may want to stop by a CarMax dealer, if there is one in your area. They buy used vehicles from consumers at fair prices and will be more than happy to cut you a check.

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CarMan@Edmunds · February 2005

Hello guiseppe. You never mentioned the selling price of the truck that you leased. 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 truck that you leased it is difficult to tell how good a price you got it for. The second reason is that one needs the selling prices of leased vehicles is that they are necessary to calculate lease payments. I would be more than happy to work up a sample lease payment on the Highlander that you recently leased for you so that you can compare it to your current payment if you let me know what its selling price is.

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CarMan@Edmunds · February 2005

Here is the information that you are looking for, shaun132. According to the latest information that I have seen, if you were to lease a 2005 Lexus RX 330 2WD without the navigation or rear entertainment systems through Lexus Financial Services right now for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00145 and 57%, respectively.

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CarMan@Edmunds · February 2005

I think that you are being a little optimistic with the $350 per month that you are looking for on this car, Old. Let's work up a sample lease payment on it for you and see what we come up with. Before I do so, I need to tell you that the $1,000 customer cash incentive that is currently available on the '05 Maxima can not be used on vehicles that are leased through Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2005 Nissan Maxima SE (you never mentioned the exact model, let me know if it is different) with an MSRP of $33,180 and a selling price of $30,603 through NMAC right now for 3 years with 15,000 miles per year, your zero down, pre-tax monthly payment should be around $430. If you are able to negotiate a lower selling price than this, it will lower this payment some, but it will never be near the $350 per month that you are looking for, especially after tax is taken into account.

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CarMan@Edmunds · February 2005

Here you go, deca1980. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2005 Infiniti G35 2WD Sedan with an MSRP of $35,140 and a selling price of $31,864 through Infiniti Financial Services right now for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be around $386. If you were to lease a 2005 BMW 325i with an MSRP of $31,270 and a selling price of $26,999 through BMW Financial Services right now for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, its zero down, pre-tax monthly payment should be aruond $348.

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CarMan@Edmunds · February 2005

Hi gwudc. Here is the info that you are looking for. According to the latest information that I have seen, if you were to lease a 2005 Acura TL without navigation through American Honda Finance Corp. right now for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00220 and 60%, respectively. The numbers for an otherwise identical 39 month lease of this car should be .00220 and 56%. I have not seen its 42 month lease program.

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CarMan@Edmunds · February 2005

Welcome to the wonderful world of leasing, vanme. I always suggest to community members who have never leased before that they read the following informative articles that are available here at Edmunds.com: 10 Steps to Leasing a New Car and Calculate Your Own Lease Payment.

As far as the lease program that you were quoted for this van goes, it is right on the money if you are talking about the 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT FWD (its exact numbers vary by trim level and term). A money factor of .00014, is equivalent to an interest rate of around less than one percent, which as you said is pretty darn good. When negotiating your lease on this van, keep in mind that DaimlerChrysler is providing $2,500 lease cash and an additional $1,000 bonus for deals through Chrysler Financial ($3,500 total) that will help you to negotiate an attractive selling price. In answer to your specific question, vehicles' residual values are always based upon a percentage of their full MSRPs, including destination charges.

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old · February 2005

Car_man,

I really appreciate your reply and you being upfront with me. I now atleast know what I can and cannot expect when I got to the dealer.

Yes, the Maxima model is the SE, with Navigation.
I am looking to put about $1500 down. Would that help? I can settle with 12K miles/year as well.
And thanks for letting me know that the $1000 rebate does not apply to leases. I did not know that. Thanks again and take care.
Old

spektre · February 2005

Car-man,

Thanks for the reply and for your valuable service here on this board.

My needs are fairly simple, as I outlined in the original post (#17177). My budget is to pay as little as possible. I know Honda has a $159/mo (w/ $999 CCR,36mo,12k/yr) on the Civic VP and that actually is my #1 pick right now - I just wanted to see if anyone had any info on any REALLY good deals that I may have overlooked.

Thanks!

scott31 · February 2005

Local Nissan dealer quoted me $519 a month on an SE 6-speed with everything but the Elite Pkg. 1st, sec, acq, taxes, etc down.

I laughed on my way out the door.

Go look at the Acura TL. Has a lot more features, a better warranty and cheaper.

reo9674 · February 2005

Hello, I was wondering if you could help me calculate 2 different lease payment amounts that I should expect to receive for the Acura MDX ('05) and the Toyota Highlander ('05). With the options that I am looking for, the following information was obtained from Edmunds:

MDX - Invoice 36,175; MSRP 40,095; TMV 39,076

Highlander-Invoice 31,698; MSRP 35,895; TMV 32,883

I would like to know the payment I could expect through a 3 yr./12k lease for each of these vehicles.

Thank you so much!

kyfdx · February 2005

Car_man:

BMW changed their lease program on the X3 effective Feb.16th and expiring March 31st.

Residuals for both 2.5 and 3.0 models increased by 2%.

New MF for 2.5 is .0016
New MF for 3.0 is .0010

regards,
kyfdx

stymiee · February 2005

I'm looking to lease a Honda Pilot EX-L. I have what seems to be an OK deal from one dealer and am waiting on one from another. I know the current deals through AHFC are scheduled to end on Feb. 28. Does history and the current marketplace suggest they would likely continue or sweeten the deal after the 28th? Would it be worth waiting to see if it gets better or take what I can get now? My lease on the car I'm replacing isn't up until the end of March so I am able to wait, but I don't mind an overlap of one month if I can secure a good deal.

Thanks.

dwauster · February 2005

The factory sponsored Accord leases look great. Will the offer expire on 2/28, or will it be extended. I expect to get an Accord EX for $259/ month, just would rather wait till next month.

jbuchta3 · February 2005

I'm looking to lease an 05 Pathfinder. The dealer offered me around $360/month for 39 months for a $36,000 Pathfinder with $5,000 down. Residual will be around $20,000. Does this sound like a good deal, or should I shop around more. Thanks.

jbaer · February 2005

Car_man -

Can you give me the residual and money factors on a 2005 Saab 9-3 Linear for a 36month 15k lease? Thanks in advance.

pingpng50 · February 2005

I would appreciate it very much if you could give me some idea of what i can expect to see on a four year 15k per year lease on a new 2005 lexus ls 430. also what does money factor mean and how can i compare it with an interest rate. I have excellent credit. thank you very much

iwants2000 · February 2005

Thanks alot Carman! Does your money factors includes waiving the security deposits? I've had dealers trying to add .0001 to the money factors for waiving the deposits. What are Honda's standard acqusition, disposition fees, etc. Are these fees negotiatiable? Is there anything else on the lease agreement I should watch for? I understand dealers always try to pad fees somewhere. As an avid reader of your forum, I'm going in making sure I covered all the basis. Thanks again for your help!!!

wdb1011 · February 2005

Hi Car_man,

I have been reading this forum for a long time and have received valuable information.

I am looking for the money factor and residuals for the following cars:

2005 Infiniti G35 Coupe with Nav and without Nav-
12,000 36 months, 12,000 42 months
15,000 36 months, 15,000 42 months

2005 Infiniti G35 Sedan with Nav and without Nav-
12,000 36 months, 12,000 42 months
15,000 36 months, 15,000 42 months

Thanks for all your help.

v8displacement · February 2005

Car_Man,

Could you please tell me what the MF and residual are on the following vehilces (I'm lettting the finances make the decision for me here). I've built a spreadsheet to figure the payments, but I need this info to complete it.

Nissan Titan LE Crew Cab (36month 15k and 39month 15k)
Infiniti M35 Sport (48month 15k)

thanks

v8displacement · February 2005

wdb1011,

FYI - my wife has a G35 Sedan and sometimes I prefer it to my corvette. Hence why I'm looking at the M35^

It is an amazing car, even after 18 months.

funky1020 · February 2005

Thanks a lot Carman. Is it possible for you to work up potential leases for 2 or 3 years? I am hoping to go tomorrow. Thanks again.

trneal276 · February 2005

Car_man,

Would you happen to know on average, what type of commission the salesman and F & I person is taking home on these sales/leases? Is the F & I guy only getting a percentage of the extras he/she tries to sell (i.e. alarms, service plans) or from the entire vehicle?

Terry

jone345 · February 2005

Grosss cap :34,660
cap cost reduct : none
Reidual value : 20796.00
Deprecition : 13864
rent charge : 5969.12
total base monthly payment : 19833.12+tax = 22351.70
total : 36 months
pay /month : 596.37
12,000 mile per yr.
amount due at signing : 1478.75

please tell me how is this deal

thank

marwan · February 2005

Car_man

I'm trying to negotiate a lease on last years stock of Muranos. Am I correct in assuming I should be able to press for a deeper discount on a 2004? I think Nissan has a "good" deal on similarly equipped 2005 models through the end of February. . .

Could you tell me what Residual value, Money factor, and monthly payments I can expect for a 2004 Murano SE AWD (w/ Touring pkg)?

MSRP 36,710
Selling Price 30,000
1,000 down
42 month
15,000 mile

Thanks!

kywon · February 2005

Hi carman! 2.5 years later and I'm very glad you're still around. You helped me out a lot in figuring out my existing lease. I got a call today from Saab financial to do the GM Pull Ahead thingy where they'll waive my last 5 months lease payments on my existing Saab if I lease another one.

The only Saab I'd consider is another Saab 9-5 Aero sedan and I was hoping you could give me the residual and MF for a 3yr/12k lease. Also can you tell me of any rebates/dealer cash/etc that are available. Thanks again!

Ky-Won

jone345 · February 2005

oh by the way those is for the 2004 year

brandi20 · February 2005

you so right, i was just at the acura dealership 2 days ago. not only are they awesome, the cars are awesome as well. an acura is the way to go. my grandmas kicking herself for getting 2005 Altima instead of the TSX.

CarMan@Edmunds · February 2005

I sure do, bmwfannstl. If you were to lease a 2005 BMW X5 3.0 through BMW Financial Services right now for 3 years with 12,000 miles per (you didn't tell me how long you want to lease for so I made an assumption), its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00125 and 60%, respectively.

I am not personally all that familiar with what the market is like for this truck in your area right now, but you may be able to get an idea of what you should pay for it by visiting the following discussion: "BMW X5: Prices Paid & Buying Experience".

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CarMan@Edmunds · February 2005

You're original message did not get lost, old. I replied to it in post #17205.

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CarMan@Edmunds · February 2005

You're welcome, Old. 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 your Maxima would be exactly the same, regardless of whether you had put $2,500 down, or had made absolutely no down payment at all.

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CarMan@Edmunds · February 2005

You're very welcome, spektre. If you don't need a vehicle that is any bigger than the Honda Civic, it is an excellent choice. In that price range, you also may want to consider the Toyota Corolla, Subaru Impreza, and Mazda3.

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CarMan@Edmunds · February 2005

Hello reo9674. I would be happy to calculate some sample lease payments for you. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2005 Acura MDX (non-touring and without navigation or rear entertainment) with an MSRP of $40,095 and a selling price of $39,076 (Edmunds.com TMV, which probably can be beaten) through American Honda Finance Corp. right now for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, its zero down, pre-tax monthly payment should be around $500. If you were to lease a 2005 Toyota Highlander 4WD (non-Limited) with an MSRP of $35,895 and a selling price of $32,883 (TMV) through Toyota Financial Services in most regions for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, its zero down, pre-tax monthly payment should be around $331.

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CarMan@Edmunds · February 2005

I just found that out last night, kyfdx. Man, you really stay on top of things. Thanks for the info. Out of curiosity, where did you hear about the enhancement to the X3's lease program. In case you are interested, BMW also introduced a special financing program, 2.9% for up to 5 years, on all X3 models and raised its residual values on the X3 3.0.

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CarMan@Edmunds · February 2005

Hi stymiee. You're right, Honda's special lease progam on the 2005 Pilot is scheduled to run through February 28th. It is difficult to say for certain what its new March lease program is going to be like. I can tell you that the mid-SUV segment of the market is becoming increasingly competitive. General Motors, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler all enhanced their incentives on mid-SUVs this month. In fact, not only did GM enhance its incentives on these trucks, but it also cut its prices on the Chevrolet Trailblazer and GMC Envoy by $1,500. Toyota has been increasing its incentives on the Highlander as well. As a result, I suspect that Honda can not afford for the lease program on the Pilot to get worse. Its lease support on the '05 Pilot will probably be the same as its current program, or a little better in March. Again, this is just an educated guess though.

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CarMan@Edmunds · February 2005

Hello dwauster. As I mentioned in my previous post, It is difficult to say what Honda's new March lease program is going to be like. If I had to make an educated guess, I would say that its lease program on the 2005 Accord for March will be relatively the same as its current program, perhaps a little better, but there are no guarantees that this will be the case.

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