Lease Questions - Ask Here

pluvious · April 2005

Thanks, Car_man,

The MSRP is $48,570.00. Selling price is $42,800.00. I would like to lease for 36 months @15K miles per year.

Thanks again,
Pluvious

mister22 · April 2005

Has anyone had any luck negotiating a good price for this vehicle? Dennis, you are quite the experienced Honda guy. What would you recommend as far as how to approach this lease considering that there are only 3 of these cars in the Southeast! I would be negotiating through email. I sure would like my complete share of the current $750 incentive and to get as far below invoice as possible. I have the base MF=.00113 and 36/12k residual at 52%. Thanks for everyone's thoughts on this.

mister22

dpj · April 2005

Hello Car-Man,
Was hoping you could look at my lease questions from post 19159. here it is again...

I am looking at the 2006 GS300 or 2005 LS430 and am trying to find out what the best lease should be for each.

For the GS300 the best I have seen in So. Cal is:
MSRP: $50,209
Sell Price: $47,995
Residual: $21,589
Money Factor: 0.0017
Term: 48 months
Miles: 15,000 / year
Down Payment: $2,000
Lease: $666 + Tax
Also wanted to see 36 months but don't know residual.

For the '05 LS430 I saw the following post from 12/2004 and am wondering if this is realistic or I might even be able to do better from a sell price or money factor.
MSRP: $62,489
Sell Price: $54,552
Residual: $35,562
Money Factor: 0.00188
Term: 36 months
Miles: 12,000 / year
Down Payment: $1,662 (1st payment+$200 down payment+$495 dealer fee+ some additional fees)
Monthly Payment: $738 (including 6% tax)

Finally, what would I expect to add for 15,000 miles/year?

Thanks, Don

CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Hi dpj. Neither of the lease money factors that you mentioned in your post jibe with what I have seen for the 2006 GS300 or 2005 LS430. Did you get that info from this forum or were you quoted those numbers from a dealer. It is possible that these are quotes for leases through a bank other than Lexus Financial Services. If they are through LFS, I can tell you that increasing your mileage allowance from 12,000 miles per year to 15,000 would decrease these vehicles' residual values by 2%.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Hi chrismang1. According to the latest information that I have see, if you were to lease a 2005 Lexus RX330 without navigation or the rear entertainment system through Lexus Financial Services in your area right now for 3 years with 15,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00146 and 56%, respectively. I am not aware of any dealer cash that is available on this model at this time.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

I'm pretty sure that I already responded to your post about the Ford Expedition, 4x4. Take a look around and see if you can find my reply. If not, let me know and I will respond to it again.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

You're very welcome, Miguel. I used a lease money factor of .00175 and residual value of 59% to calculate the 39 month, 15,000 miles per year lease and a factor / residual value of .00175 / 57% to calculate the 42 month lease. Infiniti Financial Services' 12,000 miles per year residual values are 1% higher than its 15,000 miles per year residuals.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Yeah, sorry about that Dean. If I am not mistaken, I believe that North Carolina is in Toyota's Southeast region as well. If you decide that you do not want to pay the SE Toyota distributor's jacked up prices, you can always lease your new car up here in New York before moving. I don't believe that Toyota's lease program is actually that bad in New York. It isn't providing any sort of lease support on the recently redesigned Avalon though. As a result, if you were to lease one through Toyota Financial Services, you would have to use its standard lease program. The last time that I say its standard lease money factor for your area it was .00225 for consumers who qualify for its "Tier 1" credit tier. Its 36 month, 15,000 miles per year residual value for your area should be 58%.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

No problem, Dan. I also saw the earlier post on Texas' unfavorable sales tax laws changing, but I do not know the exact details of this change. You may be able to find out more informaiton on how sales tax is now calculated on leased vehicles in Texas by visiting one of the following sites: Texas Department od Transportation Expressway or Texas Taxes.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Hi seden. Interesting, two consecutive posts about how sales tax is calculated on leased vehicles in Texas. Please see my previous post for my response to the first question on this subject. The lease money factor and residual value that you posted are correct for a 3 year, 12,000 miles per lease of a 2005 Honda Accord EX-L without navigation.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

You're welcome, suvgal. I have no idea what state your zip code is for, but I can tell you that Toyota Financial Services' base lease money factor and residual value for a 3 year, 12,000 miles per lease of a base 2005 Highlander 4WD should be .00106 and 62% in most areas. If you let me know what state you are in, I can confirm that this program is available in your area.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Hey Dennis. I believe that Mazda's lease cash on the 2005 RX-8 is up to $3,000 in April, $1,000 customer lease cash, $1,000 dealer lease cash, and a $1,000 bonus for unsupported leases of this model through Mazda Credit. I have not seen what its unsupported lease money factors and residual values for this car are like recently though.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

No problem, kappajen. You're right, the redesigned Jetta is a little expensive to lease right now. If you were to lease a 2005 Mazda3s through Mazda Credit right now for 3 years with 15,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00056 and 47%, respectively. Toyota's lease program varies by region, but in most areas its base lease money factor and residual value for a 3 year, 15,000 miles per lease of a 2005 Toyota Corolla should be .00097 and 51% for consumers who qualify for its Tier 1+ credit tier. If you let me know what state you are in, I can confirm whether this program is good in your area.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Greetings smd5. Here is the informaiton that you are looking for. If you were to lease a 2005 BMW 525i through BMW Financial Services right now for 36 months with 15,000 miles per year, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00125 and 60%, respectively. The money factor for an otherwise identical 30 month lease of this car would be the same, but the residual value would increase to 65%.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Hi Janell. The selling prices of leased vehicles are always negotiable. While there usually is some sort of discount from MSRP used to arrive at manufacturers' advertised lease payments, they usually leave a little meat on the bone so to speak. Dealers would be pretty irritated if automakers advertised unbelievably thin deals. Do some comparison shopping with Honda dealers in your area and you should be able to beat the lease payment that Honda is advertising on the Pilot right now. Since you are new to the world of leasing, you definitely should check out the following informative articles that are available here at Edmunds.com prior to visiting any dealers: 10 Steps to Leasing a New Car and Calculate Your Own Lease Payment. Once you have checked these articles out, stop back in this discussion and I will be more than happy to answer any specific questions that you have.

In answer to your question about trading your current vehicle in, yes you can do so when leasing. However, it is in your best interest to have the dealer that you are working with cut you a check for your trade rather than to use the proceeds from it as a capitalized cost reduction. Consumers are actually usually able to get more money for their used vehicles by selling them on their own instead of trading them in. Of course, selling vehicles privately is often a hassle.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Here is the information that you are looking for, zhangtao9703. If you were to lease a 2005 Saab 9-3 Linear Sedan through Saab Financial Services Corp. right now for 2 years with 12,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00002 and 57%, respectively. When negotiating your lease on this car, keep in mind that Saab is currently providing $1,500 lease cash and $1,500 bonus cash, $3,000 total, that will help you to negotiate an attractive capitalized cost.

I noticed that the deal that you are looking for includes a substantial down payment. 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 9-3 would be exactly the same, regardless of whether you had put several thousand dollars down, or had made absolutely no down payment at all.

I would be more than happy to work up a zero down lease payment on this car for you if you let me know what its full MSRP and selling prices are.

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4x4 · April 2005

Thanks Car Man, sorry about missing your original post.

I have a leasing agent giving me a quote on it...let me know what you think about his arguments here...I cant tell if he is telling me the truth or is just a good salesman.

(QUOTE)

Since the information you provided me is accurate, I can certainly confirm that your lease payments on a 3 and 4-year lease would look something like this............

Term 35 47
Payment 615 Super A Teir 540
Cash Dn 1st Months Payment
Mileage 12k 12k

If you compare these payments to that of a loan spread over 60 months on $33,000 dollars, I think you'll see the savings.

Retail
Sale Price + t.t.l. $33,000
Term 60
Payment 624
Cash Dn 0
Rate 4.75%

as I stated earlier, a lease saves you money by not only shortening the obligation, but by also saving off the monthly payments. The longer the lease program, the more money you save on a monthly payment. On the other hand, the shorter you lease your next vehicle, the more you save on a total expense.
I feel strongly that the lease option is the way to go becuase I can safely assume that the difference in the two total costs in regards to the retail purchase and the lease will ultimately be returned to you in flexibility and reduced financial risk.
For example, if you paid out the 3-year lease in its entirety, your total expense would be $22,140. Doing the same on the retail purchase produces a total expense of $ 37,440 leaving a difference of 15,300.
I feel confident that a paid off 5-year old Expedition will not be worth $15,300. In addition, I also don't feel like your remaining balance on the purchase after 3-years will be less than this amount.
If you'd like to drive a vehicle for less money, and you feel you'll have an need to replace this vehicle before the 5-year period of time, the lease option is the least expensive, the most flexible, and the best value on the market today. (END QUOTE)

What do you think, is this solid advice or i am getting the rug pulled over my eyes?

CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

I'm sorry to hear about your unpleasant experience, Bill. In order to resolve this issue, you need to contact Jaguar Credit directly. It sounds as though you have already done so without any luck. If this is the case, you can always escalate your complaint to a manager at Jaguar Credit. To be honest with you though, most banks do not provide their lessees with a refund for unused miles on their leases, unless they have purchased additional miles above 15,000 on a per-mile basis.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Hi mrhyde. Generally speaking, dealers usually do not lie about how the sales tax is calculated on leased vehicles. Of course, I am sure that there are isolated cases where this happens though. I am not personally familiar with how sales tax is calculated on leased vehicles in Chicago. You may be able to find out additional informaiton on this subject by visiting the following site: Chicago Department of Revenue.

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suvgal · April 2005

Hi Car_man,
I am from NJ. I used the 'calculate your own lease payment' and if I worked this out right, I am now paying $24 too much for a longer term lease (and if I'm right, is there a way to renegotiate a lease?)
This is how I did it:
MSRP:$34,558
Net Capitalized Cost:$31035.77
1. Residual: $34,558 * .62:$21,425.96
2. Depreciation: $31,035.77-$21,425.96 = $9,609.81
3.Monthly Depreciation Payment:$9,609.81/36 = $266.94
4. Money Factor Payment Portion: ($31035.77 + $21,425.96) * .00106 = $55.61
5. Bottom Line Monthly Lease = $322.55
6. With State Tax (6% included) = $322.55 * 1.06 = $341.90

I'll be paying $365 so if this is right I got taken by a lot.

Thanks for your advice.

CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Hello ibs. The stairstep program that provides dealers with $200 to $750 on Accords and Civics is a national program. Having said this, this is a dealer cash incentive. That means that not only are dealers not obligated to share it with consumers, they don't even have to confirm that it exists. The more Accords and Civics dealers sell, the more money they get back from Honda. The exact amount that each dealer receives through this program will vary, but most dealers will probably receive $300 to $400 per car.

Honda's lease program for Accord and Civic coupes are the same as they are for sedan models.

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chrismang1 · April 2005

Hi Carman, Sorry to be a pest but I would like the rates for a Lexus 330 AWD WITH navigation. 36/15k in PA. thanks.

brickyarddog · April 2005

By my calculations, I get 428.28, but this is before you add the 8.25% tax. After tax, it becomes 463.62.

kappajen · April 2005

Thanks alot. It looks like VW is the better deal! Mazda just quoted me $406.00! Granted I'm buying extra miles (25000 extra over 3 yrs at .08 cents/mile) but does that make sense? I live in New York (bad state for leasing, I know) but that seems a little excessive! The price for the Mazda3 that I tested was 17,000. Am I missing something?

dhamilton · April 2005

O.K.
I called the Texas state comptroller's office. When leasing a vehicle in Texas you pay 6.25% on the whole vehicle, not just on the leased part. I'm not sure what changed as far as the previous posts that mentioned some sort of Texas tax change. It definatly was not the tax on the whole vehicle part. That bumps up the payment on a base MDX 50 freakin bucks. THAT STINKS. Hope this helps..Dan

suvindc · April 2005

I am interested in leasing a 2005 Infiniti FX35 (with sport package and cargo protector). I have spoken to several different dealerships via email or the phone. Before I start talking money factor and residuals, I've been trying to get an out the door quote of some sort. The most recent quote was $41,250. According to the Internet Manager this includes the final figure plus taxes (I live in VA), tags, and the processing fee. According to Edmunds, the MSRP for this same vehicle and the options I stated is $39,080. Therefore, is $41,250 after taxes, tags, and fees a good deal?

ca_man · April 2005

Fellow netizens ,

Audi currently has a decent deal on the A6 , .00129 MF base and 56% Residual for 36 months .... plus $1500 rebate for Audi loyalty.
We are in no hurry to buy though. I have been shopping around on the internet, and the questions I have are :
Is it worth waiting for next month's lease rates ?
What is the typical direction for lease rates at this point in a brand new car's life cycle ?

Thanks in advance !

nathann · April 2005

Car_Man, can you figure out a least payment for me?
36 month lease, 15k/year, MSRP of $37k, selling of $34,632, money factor of .00215, residual of 60%. Normal fees and such, with a security deposit.

Also, and more subjectively, do these numbers sound fairly decent? Thanks for all your help!

thrawn · April 2005

Carman,

I just spoke to a dealer who told me that the Altima 2.5S with the SL package, 24 month lease and 12k miles, has a residual of 67% vs. a residual of 69% for the base model. Is this true? Other dealers haven't mentioned this, but this guy seemed to be honest with me on other details. Can you confirm?

Thanks much,

Sean

PS - all dealers I have spoken to so far have told me that Nissan is waiving the $795 security deposit this month. Not sure if this is for all models and all lease types, but I'm looking at a 24 month and they say they won't increase the MF even though there's no sec. dep. Thought others might be interested in that.

jimscooking · April 2005

Car_man, I'm looking for information on a 3 year 15,000 miles per year lease on a Highlander Limited 2WD. I'm hoping they'll bring it back at 60%, is that logical? I've seen factors like .0085 on the tier I and a little lower on the tier 1+. But I'd like to know for sure when I take my 2002 Highlander back in off of lease and get another one.

zhangtao9703 · April 2005

Hi, Car_man

That's really helpful. Thank you so much.

The MSRP $30120 (including all options I want)
The invoice $28947 (including all options)
The $25847 is the target price from carsdirect.com (including all options)

Car_man, could you tell where I should start to minus the $3000cash back?
From invoice price or the target buying price?

Forgive my dumb question. Residual is calculated based on MSRP price, right?

I really appreciate your help.

kurb · April 2005

Carman,,

What would my payment be on an 05 G35x automatic w/ Premium Package C at a sale price of 33,917 including docs and fees. I'm in NJ so sales tax would be 6%. The lease deal is for 39 months at 15k per year. I have been quoted .018% MF and 57% Residual.. do these numbers sound right..? They are also paying off $500 of my previous lease... And do you think it will be beneficial to wait until next weekend to do the deal since it is the last weekend of the month.. will I do better

mrw176 · April 2005

Carman,

I'm considering leasing an 05 Pacifica for 39 months (dealership said this was their most attractive option) for 12k miles per year. What is the base money factor and residual?

jvigil88 · April 2005

I am trying to use the Lease calculator to see what they would have to bring the car down to for me to have my monthly payments at or under $300. How do I plug the lease special numbers into this calculator. The special does not show a %.

Janell

nathann · April 2005

Oops, forgot to include that sales tax is 5%.

dpj · April 2005

Hello againi Car_Man,

The good news is I have decided upon the GS300. The bad news is I don't know what I should be shooting for on a 36 or 48 month lease. The prices I gave you were from a local dealer but probably not using Lexus financing ($50,209 MSRP, $47,995 sell price, 0.0017 money factor, $21,589 residual, 48 months, 15,000 miles, payment $666+tax). Can you tell me if this is a good deal or if I should be able to get the money factor or sell price down? Also trying to figure out what a good lease would be at 36 months? If the dealer internet dept quote was from outside Lexus Financial Services, can you tell me LFS is offering as a best rate this month and what their residual might be if different than $21,589? Thanks Car_Man, Don

alphawolf · April 2005

Thanks Dennis..good to know. Yeah- If I don't get a good enough deal on the new Avalon I'll get a Toyota Highlander. I'm going into Real Estate and have 9 months saved with zero debt (as of now) factoring in $650/mo lease and every other possible thing one can think of.

Well...except some catastrophic accident that lands me in the hospital for an extended period...I have prepared a fairly liberal budget and I'm good to go.

It's cool to know someone has used Leasecompare.com with good results.

I won't get anything here in NY. The accord is great, but too small. I'm giving my 2001 Accord to my Sister. In fact, if I weren't getting into real estate the Accord V6 would be my defacto vehicle.

Regards,

Dean

alphawolf · April 2005

>>> It would probably be excellent for creating a baseline though.<<<

Yeah...the more info one has, the better.

Dean

alphawolf · April 2005

Hi Car_man,

Re: Leasing here in NY vs SE Toyota's "jacked up prices"- wouldn't I end up basically around the same result when one figures in whatever extra fee it is we pay in NY?

Also, it's a long trip and 1300 miles from NY to FL.

I think I'd be better off just getting it down there when all is said and done.

I'll use leasecompare.com as a rough guideline.

Regards,

Dean

testykaren · April 2005

Car Man:

I sent you a request for information on the above in message number 18698 and have not yet received a response. Can you please get back to me. Also, the lease will be in New York. Thank You

kyfdx · April 2005

Residual and money factor.. 2yr/30K and 3yr/45K..

Also, what are the cash incentives? Both for leasing and for a straight purchase..

As always, thanks a lot!! You are the MAN!!

regards,
kyfdx

pumpkinjack · April 2005

Hey carman,
Help, I have never leased before and so I am a little confused. Nissan this month has SL AWD Muranos with touring package for $359 a mo, with $2000 down, 12K a year. This sounds like a really great deal, only problem is I don't want to trade in my old car and I only have about $1,000 to put down. My real questions are 1. Do you know how to/what the tax would be on this (I live in Pennsylvania and the tax rate here is 7%), do you pay tax on the whole amount, only the amount you finance, etc? and also can you factor the tax into the monthly, or is it something you have to pay upfront. My other question is that when you are getting a special lease like this, are any other incentives valid? Like the lower APR (thus making the money factor lower)? or the 500 rebate? Thanks for all the help and the sooner the better, I am looking to buy in the next few days. :confuse:

kurb · April 2005

Has anyone actually gotten .00172 MF from an Infiniti Dealer... I keep getting quoted .00187..for 39 month 15k per year lease..I'm in NJ anyone know of a dealer offering this rate..

miamimike1 · April 2005

I'm in miami, FL - and this car (a new corolla is my current choice) would get even less that 10000 miles a year - just a second car for my not-even-daily use. How low do they go as far as mileage agreements? I have yet to study the two suggested URLs here (10 steps....and calculate....) but I was curious as to this low mileage reducing my payments.

TIA

Mike

jdg345 · April 2005

Is there such a thing for a secondary vehicle? Something that wouldn't be used as a daily driver, etc. And if there is, is there any benefit to it? I'm thinking something along the lines of 3000-5000 miles per year.

Thoughts?

markrogo · April 2005

So, now the car is out, is it possible to track down the following money factors and residuals:

3 year and 4 year
12K miles and 15K miles

Also, will the "many security deposits" rules apply?

Thanks in advance for any info you can track down!

CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Hi lucky9. This "lease to own" program that the salesperson who you are working with described really is not anything more than Nissan's normal lease program. Consumers always have the option to purchase their leased vehicles at the end of their deal. In fact, putting $5,000 down when you plan to purchase the vehicle that you are leasing is a very bad idea. 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 Pathfinder would be exactly the same, regardless of whether you had put $5,000 down, or had made absolutely no down payment at all.

The only advantage to leasing and then purchasing at the end would be that the only sort of incentive that Nissan has on the 2005 Pathfinder right now is some lease support. If you were to lease the right model for the right term, you could take advantage of its special lease money factors as low as .00139. This is equivalent to an interest rate of around 3.33%. Then at the end of three years, or however long you lease for, you would have the option to purchase your Pathfinder or walk away from it without paying a dime if you decide that you don't like it or it has been in an accident (of course as long as it has been repaired properly). So as you can see, there's nothing wrong with leasing with the intention to buy at the end of your term, its just that this isn't some sort of unusual program and you should not make a large down payment.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Greetings jaybee85. It is difficult for me to say how much room there is for negotiation in the Accord lease that your local Honda dealer is advertising without knowing the full MSRP and selling price that it is based upon. If you let me know these numbers, we can try to figure out how much lower you might be able to get them on the selling price of this car. As far as its residual value goes, the higher it is the better it is for you. This is because lease payments are made up of two main components, the interest portion and the depreciation portion. The more your vehicle is worth at the end of your lease, the less depreciation you have to pay, and the lower your lease payment will be. Sure, a high residual value will make it expensive for you to purchase your vehicle at lease-end, but you always have the option to just walk away from your car if you feel as though its purchase price is too high. Honda's current special lease program on the Accord is scheduled to run through May 2nd. It is difficult to say what its lease program will be like on this car after that date, but there certainly is no guarantee that its May lease program will be worse than its current one. On the contrary, since Accord sales have been fairly soft lately, it is entirely possible that Honda would have to enhance its lease program on this car next month. I don't know that this will definitely happen, but the salesperson who you are working with does not know that the Accord's lease program will be worse either. At this point, I would say that both scenarios are equally as likely.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Hello buy_lease. If I am not mistaken, Toyota's Gulf States region, where Texas resides, it a distributorship. much like its Southeast region. As a result, Toyota's lease program is often different there than it is in the rest of the country. Unfortunately, I have not seen its current lease money factors for the Sequoia in that area. Sorry that I can not be of more help with that model. I can give you an idea of what Honda's current lease program is like on the Pilot though. According to the latest information that I have seen, if you were to lease a 2005 Honda Pilot Honda Pilot EX-L without navigation or the rear entertainment system through American Honda Finance Corp. right now for 3 years with 15,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00154 and 58%, respectively. Its residual value for an otherwise identical lease with only 12,000 miles per year would be 2% higher.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

No problem, jdg345. Ha I completely understand what you're saying about the MINI not being allowed, I'm married as well

. That's way I'm driving an automatic sedan instead of a coupe with a stick.

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