Lease Questions - Ask Here

pluvious · April 2005

I'm looking at getting a 2005 Jaguar, S-Type, 3.0 automatic, preferred premium package, with an MSRP of $48,795 at:

Sells Price: $40,016.00
$5,000 down
36 months
15K mile per year
$499 per month
Residual value at end of lease: $21,469

Is this a good deal?

Thanks

jdg345 · April 2005

Car_Man,

Thank you very much for all the information! I'm working on getting approved as I type this!

jdg345 · April 2005

Dennis,

Thank you very much for all the information! I greatly appreciate it!

I checked out Leasecompare.com already, in fact, I'm already waiting on an approval from them; do you have any other sites that I could check for lease figures? weleasebytel.com I found as well but I wasn't sure how good they were.

Thanks again!

ct1211 · April 2005

My local dealer has a 2005 BMW 330i in silver with performance package, xenon, navigation and auto trans (oh well) the msrp is 46,995.00 MSRP If he will sell the car at invoice I am coming up with these numbers

41,000 Dealer Invoice
-4200.00 Dealer cash

36,800 cap cost 63 & 55 @ 12k miles

25,847 is the resid. price for 36 months that means I would be looking at

10953 / 36 months = 304.00 per month
the money factor I think is .00225 (25,847 + 36800 x .00225) = 140.00

304.00
140.00

444.00 plus tax

does anyone know if this looks like a good deal? I am very tempted to take and run rather than get nailed on the E90 at full msrp

Thanks for your help and input!!!

jmcd0 · April 2005

Car Man,

I am moving in a couple of months from MA to NY. I want to lease a car, and was wondering if it makes more sense to start the lease now, while in MA, or start when we move to NY? I heard NY has additional fees. Also, how do dealerships handle a person who moves while leasing a car?

Thanks!

al330ci · April 2005

Hi Car Man,
Can you please provide the residual % and money factor for 36 and 39 mos for 12k/yr for a lease this month through IFS. Also, a dealer told me that as of May 3 they will not offer leases on the 04 model. Is this true ?
Thanks!

tresmith · April 2005

Thanks Dennis.

dwynne · April 2005

I have used leasecompare twice myself, so I know they are good. I have heard/read folks saying that got good deals from lease-by-tel, but LC is so easy to get my own quotes and LBT is not as easy. But to be fair, you could still call or e-mail them for a quote to see if they have a better deal. As I mentioned before, often if you just look in the local yellow pages there will be local lease brokers who can help you out. I worked with one several years ago, but ended up going with a different deal. But all of these folks can often get a cheaper price on the car than you or I can. The dealer knows we might be back for another car in 3 years when the lease is up, the broker may be back in 30 minutes with a quote for another customer. Tends to give them a repeat customer advantage with dealers they work with. In any case, if you find the car you want and the selling dealer will not and cannot make you a good deal, any lease broker should be able to buy that car for your price and lease it to you.

Dennis

dwynne · April 2005

IF he will sell the car at invoice. BMW has no holdback, so you are NOT going to get the car at invoive AND get the dealer cash too. Most BMW dealers will usually want to make $1,500 or so profit. I know that sounds like a lot, but with no holdback like other car makes they have to sell for more over invoice.

If you could get it for $1,500 over invoice and the dealer cash would be a more realistic number. The residual should be 54% of MSRP and 0.00225 should be the MF.

It can be hard to find a BMW dealer that will give you buy rate on the money factor as well.

Dennis

hiemi · April 2005

Hi car man.
I am not very knowledgeable about car leases and would sure like some advise. I visited an audi dealer and this is the price they gave me. MSRP 31370 vehicle cost 30500
GRS cap 31,502 Cap reduction $273 net cap cost $31228 adj res 18194 total term dep. 13034 monthly payments 362.06 month lease charge 61.78 base price 423.84 1st payment 455.63 cap red 273.83 tax on red. 20.54 total init down payment $750 monthly payment $455.63. It is a 36 month lease of 10,000 miles a year. Money factor is 1.25 acq fee is $575. Tax rate is 7.5 After reading some other posts of BMW and Mercedes, this price seems high. It doesn't seem like there is much competition in our city. Can I find a lease in another state and lease it from that dealership? Another question...
If I can afford to pay the entire cost of the three year lease upfront, would it be wise, and would I save much money? Also, do audi dealers ever lease one year old cars that have been driven and sold to the dealership? As you can tell, I need a lot of help in car buying 101. Thanks, Hiemi

CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Thanks for the additional information, urbny. Let's work up a sample lease payment on these trucks and see what we come up with. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2005 Honda Element EX AWD with an MSRP of $23,010 and a selling price of $21,650 through American Honda Finance Corp. right now for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, their zero down, pre-tax monthly payments should be around $334. As you can see, the payment that you were quoted for these trucks is definitely in the ballpark. Having said this, Honda is not currently providing any sort of lease support on this truck, but it does have special financing rates. If I personally was in the market for a 2005 Element, I would finance it through AHFC at 1.9% for 5 years.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

You're very welcome, ae5555. The money factor and residual value that you were quoted for this car are right on the money. The selling price that you were quoted, $32,555, on a car with an MSRP of $35,670 looks very reasonable as well. Using these numbers, I estimate that this car would have a zero down, pre-tax monthly payment of right around $449. $526 per month sounds a little high to me, even after tax is added to the payment. American Honda Finance Corp. charges consumers an acquisition fee of $1,095 in New York. If you are not paying that or a security deposit of around $500 at lease signing, your monthly payment would be higher than the one that I came up with.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Wow, three straight New Yorkers. I would be more than happy to give you an idea of what the lease program should be like right now on the car that you are interested in, Caleb. According to the latest information that I have seen, if you were to lease a 2005 Acura TSX without navigation through American Honda Finance Corp. right now for 36 months with 12,000 miles per year, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00240 and 60%, respectively. The numbers for an otherwise identical 39 month lease of this car should be .00240 and 56%. The numbers for an otherwise identical 48 month lease of this car should be .00220 and 51%. AHFC charges a lease acquisition fee of $1,095 in New York and you will have to pay a security deposit that is equivalent to your car's monthly payment rounded up to the nearest $50 increment at lease signing. This lease program is scheduled to run through May 2nd. It is difficult to say what automakers will do with their future lease programs, but if I had to make an educated guess, I would say that Acura's lease program on the 2005 TSX may actually be worse next month. I base this statement on the fact that Acura has never provided any sort of lease support on this model, interest rates are rising, and AHFC is scheduled to publish new residual values for its vehicles (which generally drop as the model year progresses).

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Hey Chigirl. I think that the lease payment that you worked up for this car is off. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2005 Mazda3s Sedan with an MSRP of $23,385 and a selling price of $21,365 through Mazda Credit right now for 3 years with 15,000 miles per, your zero down, pre-tax monthly payment should be around $307. Even with Texas' terrible sales tax rules, I doubt that this comes to over $500 per month with tax.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

You're welcome, minn55441. I believe that Chrysler Financial's current base lease money factor and residual value for a 39 month, 15,000 mile per year lease of a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 4WD should be .00204 and 50%, respectively.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Nice choices in cars, andre1. Unfortunately, there isn't much in the way of lease support available on either of them right now. If you were to lease a 2005 BMW M3 Coupe 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 .00200 and 58%, respectively. BMW is not offering a 39 month lease on this car, but its 42 month numbers should be .00200 and 54%, respectively. Its 12,000 miles per year residual values would be 2% higher.

If you were to lease a 2005 Mercedes-Benz C55 through Mercedes-Benz Credit right now for 36 months with 15,000 miles per year, its base lease money factor and residual value should be around .00315 and 52%, respectively assuming that your credit is in good shape. MBC is running a special program called "value added" that allows the use of its 36 month lease program for 39 month terms. This is probably the way that I would lease this car if I was interested in it. The numbers for an otherwise identical 42 month lease should be .00315 and 48%. Again its 12,000 miles per year residual values would be 2% higher.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Hello pbflorida. While there is a $4,000 cash incentive on the 2005 GMC Envoy for consumers who finance one using GMAC's standard rates, if you lease this truck through GMAC you would only be eligible for a $1,250 cash incentive. If you are able to purchase, or in this instance lease, this truck through GM's supplier purchase program then should be getting a pretty good deal on it. In answer to your specific question about this truck's current lease rates, GMAC's 4 year, 12,000 miles per base lease rate and residual value for the 2005 GMC Envoy LX Denali should be 4.5% and 61%, respectively.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Here is the information that you are looking for, johngt. If you were to lease a 2005 Honda Pilot EX/Leather/Navigation through AHFC right now for 36 months with 15,000 miles per year, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00154 and 56%, respectively. The only difference between a lease of this truck with 15,000 miles per year and one with 12,000 miles per is that the 12k residual value is 2% higher.

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handsonart · April 2005

I've been given the following quote from a car dealer:

2005 Pilot EX-L

36 months
15000 miles/yr
$0 down
8.75% tax rate (Nassau County Tax, NY)

427.14 per month for 36 months. Tax included in payment.

Due at signing:
1st month = $427.14
MV FEES = NY State Inspection $10
NY State Tire Waste $12.50
DOC FEE (Title) $45
Registration (new) $125 (approx)
Registration (xfer) $30 (approx)

Money Factor = .00154 (approx APR 3.7%)
Residual Value = 58% = $19044.30

Leased is based on a selling price of $29179.00

Can anyone tell me if this is a good deal- or can I do better?? As soon as possible please- I would like to sign a contract before the end of this week. Thank you in advance for your help-
-Betsy

CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Hi carnag. I am familiar with the BMW Owner's Choice program. It is what is known in the industry as a balloon note. Balloon notes are very similar to leases in that they provide consumers with low monthly payments with the option to purchase their vehicle for a specific amount of money after a specific period of time. The main difference between balloon notes and leases is with leases the bank's name is on the vehicle's title, while with balloon notes yours is. Many banks offer balloon notes to consumers in states where they are exposed to additional liability through vicarious liability laws or in states where the sales tax rules make them more attractive than leases. Since balloon notes are much less popular than leases, I do not personally keep tabs on the exact details of manufacturers' programs.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Hi jmcd0. Because of the vicarious liability laws that exist in New York, a number of banks have increased their lease acquisition fees for consumers who live there or have completely stopped leasing to residents of that state. I don't know how the sales tax rates and rules stack up between Massachusetts and New York, but strict from a pre-tax cost standpoint you probably will save money by leasing your new vehicle in a state other than New York. You are free to move anywhere within the continental U.S. when you lease a vehicle from most banks.

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caleb · April 2005

Thank you for your help... I have question about the Honda Accord Coupe EX-L with a manual transmission. What is the money factor and residual value for a 3 year 15,000 mile lease? I am also wondering what you think are the best lease deals on cars in the $25,000 range? I'm buying the car in NY.

Thanks,
Caleb

CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Thanks for the additional information, arache97. Something does not look right here. In your previous post, you states that the 2005 BMW 325xi that you are interested in has a full MSRP of $33,320 and that you were putting several thousand dollars down. Now you are saying that this car's selling price is $34,770, which is over its full MSRP. This would normally be a bad deal on this car, but the fact that BMW is currently providing $1,500 dealer cash on it makes it even worse. Perhaps one of the numbers that you mentioned is wrong. If not, it definitely would be in your best interest to shop around for a better deal.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Gary, I personally would not sign a lease contract for a vehicle that I had not personally seen yet, but you may be able to do so if you want to. Most manufacturers, especially luxury manufacturers, have programs that allow consumers to lock-in lease programs on ordered vehicles. You should see if you can lock-in Audi's current lease program on this car. Doing so will enable you to choose between its current program and the new May program, whichever is better, when your car finally arrives at the dealer.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Hi Cor. I am sorry to say that it is usually fairly expensive to get out of leases well before their scheduled end dates. In order to do so, you need to purchase the vehicle that you are currently leasing from the bank that you are leasing it through. It often turns out that it costs more to do so than your vehicle is worth on the open market. Furthermore, many banks expect consumers who end their leases early to still make all, or at least the depreciation portion of their remaining lease payments. As you can see, this can get very expensive.

You can determine approximately how much it will cost you to get out of your current lease by comparing its purchase price to its value on the open market at this time. You should place a call to the bank that you are leasing your vehicle through to find out its exact price. Once you know exactly how much money it is going to cost you to buy your leased vehicle you need to compare it to its current value on the open market. You can find out approximately what your vehicle is worth by looking up its Edmunds.com True Market Value in the Used Vehicle Pricing section of this site. You also may want to stop by the following discussion: "Real-World Trade-In Values". One of our most knowledgeable community members, Terry, frequents that discussion and he is often kind enough to give community members who give him an accurate description of their vehicles with his opinion on their value. Don't forget to check to see if you are still on the hook for your remaining lease payments. The difference between your leased vehicle's current value and how much it will cost you to buy it plus any remaining lease payments that you are obligated to pay will equal the cost of getting out of your lease right now. You may find that you are better off waiting until you are closer to the scheduled end of your lease to get another new vehicle, even with the high gas prices. Unless you somehow are not seriously upside down on your current lease, you would have to get a really inexpensive vehicle that sips gas to make this transaction worth your while.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Ahhhh, I was about to ask you where you live. Thanks, kappajen. According to the latest information that I have seen, if you were to lease a 2005 Toyota RAV4 2WD through Toyota financial Services in its New York region right now for 36 months with 15,000 miles per year, its base lease money factor and residual value should be around .00154 and 59%, respectively.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Hey ct1211. If you were to lease a 2005 Infiniti G35 Coupe through Infiniti Financial Services right now for 39 months with 15,000 miles per year, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00215 and 59%, respectively. I would be more than happy to calculate a sample lease payment on this car for you, however in order for me to do so I need to know its selling price. You should be able to get an idea of what sort of price to expect on this car by stopping by the following discussion: "Infiniti G35: Prices Paid & Buying Experience".

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Hello ca_man. Here is the information that you are looking for. If you were to lease a 2005 BMW 545i through BMW Financial Services right now for 36 months with 12,000 miles per year, its base lease money factor and residual value should be .00100 and 61%, respectively. BMW is not currently providing any dealer cash that I am aware of on this model.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Ewegleitner, something is not right with the money factor that you were quoted. Saab Financial Services Crop.'s current base 36 month lease money factor for the 2005 9-5 Aero Wagon is .00029 and its 48 month base factor for this model is .00060. Using these numbers, the appropriate residual values, an MSRP of $45,335, and a selling price of $40,140, I come up with zero down, pre-tax monthly payments of around $516 for 36 months with 10,000 miles per year and $494 for 48 months with 10,000 miles per year.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Hi murph1031. According to the latest information that I have seen, if you were to lease a 2005 Toyota 4Runner SR5 V6 4WD through Toyota Financial Services in its New York region right now for 3 years with 15,000 miles per, its base lease money factor and residual value should be around .00136 and 63%, respectively. It is difficult to say what Toyota's May lease program will be like on this truck at this time. I doubt that Toyota's dealers even know what the May program will be like until it is actually published by Toyota early next week. Toyota is providing customer cash on the 2005 4Runner, but this cash cannot be combined with its special lease program. Mentioning dealer holdback is a good way to get the dealer that you are working with angry. You would be better off figuring out what the market is like for this truck and how much others are paying for it right now. You can do so by stopping by the following discussion and asking other community members who have either recently purchased or who are in the market for similar trucks: "Toyota 4Runner: Prices Paid & Buying Experience".

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Hi tresmith. Paying off a lease early is definitely not like paying off a loan early. It is usually fairly expensive to get out of leases well before their scheduled end dates. In order to do so, consumers need to purchase the vehicle that they are leasing from the bank that they are leasing it through. It often turns out that it costs more to do so than their vehicle is worth on the open market. Furthermore, many banks expect consumers who end their leases early to still make all, or at least the depreciation portion of their remaining lease payments. As you can see, this can get very expensive. If you don't plan on keeping your vehicle until the scheduled end of your lease, or at least very close to it, you would be much better off financing or paying cash for it.

Manufacturers do offer pre-paid leases on vehicles where consumers can make one lump sum payment rather than having to send in a monthly payment. Pre-paid leases are NOT interest free though. Banks still charge interest on them, though most do provide a break in the interest rate that is used to calculate the costs of pre-paid leases. The exact deduction that is provided for a pre-paid lease varies from bank to bank.

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CarMan@Edmunds · April 2005

Hi Pluvious. 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 your S-Type would be exactly the same, regardless of whether you had put $5,000 down, or had made absolutely no down payment at all.

Let's work up a sample lease payment on this car for you and see what we come up with. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2005 Jaguar S-Type 3.0 with an MSRP of $48,795 and a selling price of $40,016 through Jaguar Credit right now for 3 years with 15,000 miles per, your zero down, pre-tax monthly payment should be around $521. A $5,000 capitalized cost reduction would drop this car's monthly payment to around $382. As you can see, something definitely does not look right about the payment that you were quoted.

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urbny · April 2005

Thank you for your help. We tried shopping the number around to other dealers and it seems the best lease we're going to get. I will invistigate financing.

This is a great service!

arache97 · April 2005

Thanks, Car-man...I think the dealer gave me wrong numbers cause it does not make sense to me either. Thanks for your help.

carnag · April 2005

Car Man

I was wondering if you knew the money factor and residual on the '06 GS300 for 3yr/30-36k?

I'm also wondering if any one is paying less than MSRP.

How about the '06 acura RL same terms?

madhu2 · April 2005

Hi,
I plan to lease 2005 Accord LX 4 DR sedan for 36 months/45000 miles.
I want 0 down (sign and drive) deal.
What would be my monthly payment? What will be residual value, money factor?
Thanks in advance.

dwynne · April 2005

It depends on your negotiated purchase price. The residual is 54% for a 3/36k lease, so the 3/45k residual will be 53% or 52% - this is of full MSRP. The money factor is 0.00038 with a security deposit and 0.00048 w/o one. For sign and drive you use the latter.

You negotiate a low purchase price - I have been quoted $18,100-18,200 for the car, destination, and dealer fees. I have seen others claim that dealers in MA and NY/NJ or going lower than that. The you roll in the $595 acquisition fee (higher in some states) and tags, title, taxes (all this varies by state and locale) - this gets you the pay the first payment and drive payment. The sign and drive would be higher.

With so many variables, pretty much impossible to tell you the payment - but a guess would be $250-260 plus tax a month.

Dennis

jellybean713 · April 2005

Dear Car_man:
I drive at least 30K miles per year. I am caught between driving a car into the ground (are there any that can take this volume of miles?) or just leasing (in NY it's called a GM Smart Buy) every two years at 30K miles programmed into the lease.
Looking at a Pontiac G6, with PC1 and XM, also have the GM-S family discount, bringing the payment to $404.00 at $500.00 down and a little bit of residual value with my turn in of my current Smart Buy (ends on 06/14/2005).
Is this a good thing to do? Or should I find a car to buy outright?
Please advise,
Thank you!
Jellybean713

ddelise · April 2005

Car_Man -

I am looking for the 36 month, 12k (10k if they have it) miles/year money factor and residual on the 2005 Ford Freestyle SEL, both FWD and AWD.

Also, what is the aquisition fee and rebates/incentives applicable to leases?

Finally, if the numbers are better for the SE or Limited model, please let me know that as well. Sometimes it is cheaper to lease a more expensive model due to incentives!

Location in NJ.

Thanks!

Damon

mtngoat · April 2005

2005 passat wagon all wheel
0 down
48 month
15,000
440.00 month

cyninhi · April 2005

Thank you Car man. I guess I will go in and see if I could bring the price down a little.

Yes, it is beautiful here but VERY expensive but we love it. We are from here so wouldn't be able to live anywhere else.

Do you think there might be a better lease deal on another car? Like I said the car is basically for my two boys and I want a short lease (24 months) for about $200 a month for a sedan.

Any advice would be great.

Cyn in HI

miamimike1 · April 2005

Very helpful website, but I'm confused! the offer on honda's web site says this:

2005 Accord LX Special Featured Lease Terms

* $199.00 per month for 36 months
* $1,499.00 capitalized cost reduction.
* $2,493.00 total due at lease signing (includes first month's payment, security deposit, capitalized cost reduction and AHFC upfront acquisition fee; total net capitalized cost and base monthly payment does not include tax, license, registration, options and the like).
* Model CM5645EW (2005 Accord LX Sedan with Automatic Transmission)

is this a 36/45000 lease or what? zero down? I thought I understood this!! http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/townhall/webxicons/emotorcons- /emo_confused.gif

Mike in Miami

jdg345 · April 2005

How difficult is it to transfer / swap a lease from one individual to another? Do the same credit checks, etc take place?

Thanks!

smith83 · April 2005

CarMan. We are looking to lease one of these vehicles for my wife before the end of this month. Can you help me with numbers on a 36 month lease, 15k miles per year for the following:

1) Acura MDX Touring AWD w/DVD - MSRP $41,795.00, Cap Cost $39,398.00
2) Lexus RX 330 FWD w/NAV - MSRP $46,503.00, Cap Cost $42,346.00

Can you show me the payment, residuals, and MF for each?

Thank you.

dwynne · April 2005

You have to click on the detail link on the Honda deals page (to get the details):

Terms and Conditions

2005 Accord LX Special Featured Lease

$199.00 per month for 36 months
$1,499.00 capitalized cost reduction.
$2,493.00 total due at lease signing (includes first month's payment, security deposit, capitalized cost reduction and AHFC upfront acquisition fee; total net capitalized cost and base monthly payment does not include tax, license, registration, options and the like).
Model CM5645EW (2005 Accord LX Sedan with Automatic Transmission)
Special lease rates available on all new 2005 Accord models. Subject to limited availability. The specific featured lease listed is not available to New York residents. New York residents should contact their dealer for New York featured lease. Terms and conditions vary for New York Residents. In addition, AHFC limits leasing terms to 39 months or less to residents and dealers in the state of Rhode Island.

Offer valid through 5/2/2005 for new and unregistered Accord vehicles only and only on approved credit by HFS (Honda Financial Services) through participating dealers. HFS' standard credit criteria apply. FEATURED SPECIAL LEASE: Closed-end lease for 2005 Accord LX Sedan with Automatic Transmission (Model CM5645EW). MSRP $21,090.00 (includes destination). Actual net capitalized cost $18,148.68. Dealer participation may affect actual payment. Taxes, license, title, registration, documentation fees, options and insurance extra. Total monthly payments $7,164.00. Option to purchase at lease end $11,388.60. Lessee responsible for maintenance, excessive wear/tear and 15¢/mile over 12,000 miles/year. SEE DEALER FOR DETAILS. The specific featured lease listed is not available to New York residents. NY residents should contact their dealer for NY featured lease. Terms and conditions vary for NY Residents. In addition, HFS limits leasing terms to 39 months or less to residents and dealers in the state of Rhode Island.

It shows it is a 36/36k lease (12k per year). It is NOT a $0 down lease, however if you notice the special calls for the net cap cost (the amount to be financed after discounts and/or money down) of $18,148.68 . The special also expects you to pay $1,4999 to get down to this price, meaning the dealer would price the car to you at $19,647.68 (the sum of the 2 numbers). This is $600 or so over invoice. Right now there is an up to $750 dealer incentive on these cars and some dealers are pricing the cars down in the $18,000 to $18,200 range. IF you get a dealer to agree to price the car to you for $18,100 (for example) then that is below the price in the special WITHOUT ANY MONEY OUT OF POCKET. You would pay the lease acquisition fee, security deposit, and first month's payment, and your tax/tags and drive it home with a payment of around $199 a month.

Everything can be adjusted. If you want a $0 down lease, you can roll the $595 acq fee into the lease. You can pay a higher MF and they will waive the security deposit. You can even do it true $0 down - where you just sign and drive. Obviously, the more you roll into the lease the less you have to pay up front, but the higher the monthly payments will be.

Dennis

miamimike1 · April 2005

BTW i was referring to the following response the HOST made :
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19374 of 19554 Re: Re: Accord LX lease by Car_man HOST United States of America Apr 23, 2005 (2:20 pm)
Bookmark | Reply

You're welcome, jaybee85. I am glad that you find this discussion so helpful. Let's work up a sample lease payment on this car for you and see what we come up with. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2005 Honda Accord LX 4-cylinder Sedan with an MSRP of $21,090 and a selling price of $18,000 through American Honda Finance Corp. right now for 36 months with 12,000 miles per year, your zero down, pre-tax monthly payment should be around $201. If you were to make a $1,000 capitalized cost reduction on an otherwise identical lease, it would reduce the monthly payment to around $173. It is difficult to generalize how much money a $1,000 down payment will reduce vehicle's monthly payments by because every vehicle's lease program is different. As you can see, for this particular vehicle and term a down payment of $1,000 would drop the monthly payment by around $30
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It doesn't seem to jibe with the Honda offer of 2493 down and 199/mo.....posted again here for clarity (i hope...)

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2005 Accord LX Special Featured Lease Terms

* $199.00 per month for 36 months
* $1,499.00 capitalized cost reduction.
* $2,493.00 total due at lease signing (includes first month's payment, security deposit, capitalized cost reduction and AHFC upfront acquisition fee; total net capitalized cost and base monthly payment does not include tax, license, registration, options and the like).
* Model CM5645EW (2005 Accord LX Sedan with Automatic Transmission)

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how did the host get to nothing down and $201???

dwynne · April 2005

It varies from lease bank to lease bank. See this page for details:

http://www.leasetrade.com/learning_center/lease_companies.cfm

Basically, if you are wanting out of your lease and your lease bank still holds you liable the I would not let someone else assume the lease. They turn the car in dinged up with too many miles on it and walk away - the bank comes to you for the money.

Some banks are really easy about this, some don't allow it at all, others allow it but at really bad terms.

To get someone to assume a lease, you need to have a cheap payment (something the "buyer" could not get now on their own) and be ahead on miles (e.g. 10k miles after 24 months of a 36/36k lease) - since either would be something that would attract someone to assume your lease.

For example, if I look on leasetrade right now there are things like an 04 Accord LX sedan for $300 a month plus tax, 17 months left and just under 18k miles left. Since we all know you can lease a new Accord LX sedan with about nothing out of pocket for LESS than this right now - this would be a pretty hard lease to get out of. If you look, the cheapest payment on any Accord on the site is $270 per month - and that is one the seller is helping out with.

So if you have a bad lease deal, you are not likely to find anyone to take it off your hands - I don't think.

Now if you are LOOKING to take one over, the trouble is so many of these deals are just bad deals and would not be something you would be likely to want. Only if you found something that was way ahead on miles would most of them be worth thinking about.

Dennis

buckeyeman · April 2005

Hi Car man,

I thinking about leasing a '05 Frontier XE King Cab, 2WD, 4 cyl., 5-speed ($15,500), with XE Preferred Pkg.($1500), Cruise Control ($250), Bedliner ($430).
MSRP is $18,240
36 month, 15K miles a year.
The dealer says our starting point is $17,427.00 ($300 over invoice)
$250 a month with $1900 down
Money factor .00235
Residual is 54% after 36 months ($9,892.80)
Does this sound like a good deal or should I work 'em some more?

Thanks, Karl

dwynne · April 2005

It says "selling price of $18,000" - that is how.

Normally "nothing down" in a lease means no cap cost reduction - nothing out of pocket to reduce the price of the car. You normally still would pay the acquisition fee, security, and first month's payment, plus tax and tags up front. Just nothing "extra" to reduce the payments.

Leasing is like renting, you pay at the start of the month for the use for that month. So there are almost never a truly nothing down lease. You CAN do that, as I said - but it just costs more per month.

Dennis

jvigil88 · April 2005

These are the numbers I am getting from a Honda dealer. What do you think?

Pilot EX
3/Years 12000 miles
$2,873+DMV Fees=$3050 down
Your payment will be around $279+8.25 TAX=$303.50
MSRP is 30,635
Your Internet price will be 28,100
Residual on that is 63%

Pilot EX-L
For 3/Years 12000 miles
Just drive off $732
Your payment will be $414.03
MSRP is 32,635
Your Internet price will be 29,980
Residual on that is 60%

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