Lease Questions - Ask Here

mdiver65 · October 2001

Hi...I am in the market to lease a vehicle for business though it's only a 24 month, 15,000 mile lease. Can anybody please tell me if $400/month + tax is good for this Ford Taurus. I am trading in my 1993 Honda Accord for $3,000.

If not, can you recommend another vehicle in this class. I am trying to stay within $350 + tax.

Thank you!

CarMan@Edmunds · October 2001

Hi again, maxwella11. Audi just introduced a new lease program for the month of October and I have not seen the exact details of it yet. I should be able to provide you with a good idea of what the new TT lease program is like tomorrow. Please feel free to check back with me them.

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CarMan@Edmunds · October 2001

Lotus, in some cases one payment leases, also known as advance pay leases, can save consumers quite a bit of money. However, in other cases it definitely is not worth tying up such a large amount of cash for a period of several years. Basically, a one pay lease is a normal lease of a car or truck where the bank that the consumer is leasing through allows them to make all of their vehicle's payments in advance in exchange for a break in the interest rate that they are being charged. I've personally always thought that it is kind of funny that manufacturers' captive finance companies feel the need to charge interest on advance pay leases when they get all of the money in advance, but that is just how the system works. With some vehicles one pay leases are a viable option to consider, however on others there isn't enough of a break interest rate-wise to justify paying the entire contract in the beginning. Not only will the attractiveness of one pay leases vary from model to model, but it will vary from month to month as manufacturers change their lease programs. If you are thinking about leasing a vehicle that has an attractive advance pay lease program this is certainly an option to consider, especially given the lousy returns from other investment options that are out there in today's economic environment. If you let me know which vehicles you are interested in, I will do some digging to see if I can find out if they offer a one pay lease program and perhaps even get an idea of what their rates may be like at this time.

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CarMan@Edmunds · October 2001

Hi fuzzywuzzy. Welcome to the Finance, Warranty, and Insurance Message Board. From time to time I am able to find out a vehicle's current residual values for community members if they let me know the exact model they are interested in, how long they want to lease it for, and how many miles per year they want to be able to drive without having to pay a lease-end penalty for excess mileage. If you provide me with this information, I will see what I can find out for you.

Leasing a new car or truck is very similar to financing it in that a consumer's credit rating will definitely have an effect upon what sort of interest rate they are able to get. It seems that some manufacturer's captive finance companies, banks that are either affiliated with or owned by a vehicle's manufacturer, are more lenient as to who they allow to take advantage of their most attractive interest rates than outside lending institutions are. This is because it is in their parent company's best interest for them to get as many potential customers into its vehicles as possible.

Leasing is very similar to purchasing a vehicle in that you still need to negotiate a price for the car or truck that you are interested in, just as if you were paying cash for it. So yes, you would be able to trade-in your current vehicle and put any amount of money over your current loan payoff towards your leased vehicle. Keep in mind though that I usually advise consumers against using any money as a down payment when leasing a car or truck. If you trade in your current vehicle when leasing a new one, you may be better off just getting the dealership to cut you a check for the amount of money that they are willing to give you over what you still owe.

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fuzzywuzzy · October 2001

Ok, cool thanks. I'm looking at a:

2002 Acura 3.2 CL-S 36 month lease with 15K miles/year
2002 Acura 3.2 TL-S 36 month lease with 15K miles/year

Thanks

fgrethel · October 2001

Hi Car_Man! I need the current residual and moneyfactor for the 2002 Toyota Highlander V6 non-Limited. I have not been able to find any info anywhere on the Toyota Finance numbers for this truck. Thanks!

kkramer25 · October 2001

MSRP - 34,060
negotiated price 33,060
$2500 down (maybe)
15K/36
Residual value
Total depreciation
Monthly depreciation
Monthly interest

Thanks in advance. any differences in 01,02 models?

CarMan@Edmunds · October 2001

Hi Jeff. Congratulations on finding a new M3 that you won't have to wait for. I have driven the last generation M3 and M Roadster, but have not had the pleasure of driving the 2002 M3 yet. The previous generation was fast as heck, I can't even imagine what it must be like now that it kicks out 333 hp! As you can imagine, BMW is not providing any sort of lease money factor support on this car right now. So if you choose to lease one through BMW Financial Services, you will have to use their standard lease money factor. The last time that I saw the BMW FS standard lease program, their standard factor was .00300 for 24, 30, and 36 month terms. The corresponding 12,000 miles per residual values for a 2002 BMW M3 leased through BMW FS should be 69% for 24 months, 65% for 30 months, and 60% for 36 months through October 31st.

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CarMan@Edmunds · October 2001

Hi hsj1906. Yes there is a difference between 36 and 39 month lease residual values. Lexus Financial Services' 36 month residual values are usually a point or two higher than their 39 month residual values. Yes, your assumption that you would have to use LFS' standard lease money factor to lease a 2002 ES 300 right now is probably a good one. I have not seen the specifics of their lease program for this model yet though. I should have had an opportunity to check it out by early next week at the latest. Please feel free to check back with me then and I would be more than happy to fill you in on what I have been able to find out. Talk to you then.

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gwarren · October 2001

Car_Man
I am now past the due date on my car and have still not been able to finalize what I would consider a fair deal on this vehicle.
The facts are that there is a $2,500 lease cash incentive. In addition the dealer will sell me the car at invoice. Even with that said on a vehicle with $27,895 MSRP. Cap cost would be $25,855 - $2,500 for an adjusted Cap Cost of $23,355. I have only been offered viable "48 Month Leases" I would only accept with a full Chrysler extended Warrantee for the 48 months. That increases the cap by $500 so it is now $23,855.

The lease offered is not from Chrysler, but an outside bank with .00217 Money Factor (5.2%)
but residual is only 39%.

So they come up with a monthly fee of $386.00 inc tax. I still think that is high, for 48 Mos.
anything new on Chrysler for now, need an answer ASAP.
Thank you again Car_man

Gary W

mannymoe · October 2001

I have been a lurker here for the last month as I have tried to narrow the field of possibles for my upcoming lease. I am amazed at how giving you are with your time, advice, and positive comments. I am in sales myself and appreciate the fact that if I go in with all the facts I will take less time with the salesperson and should be able to justify getting a pretty good deal. I realize their time is worth something, but I certainly don't want to pay any more than I should.
With 6 weeks to go until my current lease expires, I am deep in the process of evaluating the many choices for entry luxury sedans. Before I begin asking specific questions on some of the models I am considering, I have a pretty basic question up front. Are residual values based on what options are on a car? I know how mileage and time affect the relationship, but would a car w/nav and all the extra's carry a higher residual (or does the percentage make the necessary adjustment based on the higher initial price?) Also, have you seen any programs on Jaguar X Type 2.5's for 36 or 39 months at 15k per year? I am anxious to see the 2002 Lexus ES300 numbers also that a previous poster asked about (available shortly I believe). I am waiting to drive the new A4 also. Thanks again for your help!

CarMan@Edmunds · October 2001

Hi Mike. As I mentioned in my previous post, I have not seen the latest Lexus Financial Services lease program yet. I should have had an opportunity to check them out by early next week. Just in case you are interested, here is the September lease program for the car that you are interested in getting. Chances are that the September program is fairly close to the October program. If you were to lease any LS 430 through LFS last month, you would have had to use their standard lease money factor, which was .00300 for consumers who qualify for their top credit tier. The 36 month residual 15,000 miles per year values for the 2001 LS 430 (non-Custom Luxury model) were 54% and for the 2002 LS 430 was 55%. The 39 month residuals for these cars were 2% less than the ones that I just mentioned. It is difficult to say whether Lexus will introduce any supported lease money factors for this car now that the '02s are on dealership lots. Lexus typically provides supported lease money factors for its cars during the month of August in an effort to clear out left over models and this year was no exception. Unfortunately, they have subsequently discontinued their lease support for this particular model and it is tough to say whether they will renew it.

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CarMan@Edmunds · October 2001

Lotus18, much like Nissan's (Infiniti's parent company) lease program, Infiniti's incentives typically expire at the end of every month. As of yesterday, the hard copy of Infiniti's October lease program had not hit dealers yet. As a result, I have not had an opportunity to take a look at it. Even if I had, the current money factors and residual values for the 2001 I30 are likely significantly different than those for the old model. Please feel free to check back with me early next week and I should be able to shed a little more light on this subject for you then. Talk to you soon.

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CarMan@Edmunds · October 2001

Hello mdiver65. Let me begin by stating that Ford Motor Credit's lease program often varies depending upon what part of the country one is in. Using their most common lease rate for a 24 month 15,000 miles per year lease of a 2002 Taurus SEL Delux (MSRP: $22,955 & selling price: $21,097) I come up with a zero down, pre-tax monthly lease payment of $442.

If you were to take the $3,000 that you expect to get for your trade-in and use it as a down payment on this lease, it would reduce the monthly payment to around $313 or so. Still, in my opinion you would be better off selling your current car yourself or even trading it in for cash than using the proceeds from it as a down payment on your lease. I personally believe that it is a good idea to put as little money down as possible when leasing. I say this for two main reasons. The first is that if your leased vehicle is stolen and not recovered or totaled in an accident your down payment essentially disappears. The second reason is that down payments on leases only serve to reduce the amount of interest that one pays over the life of the contract and establish no equity in the vehicle whatsoever. In fact, a leased car or truck that a consumer made a $10,000 down payment on would have the exact same lease-end purchase price as if they had put nothing down.

Also, for this type of money I personally believe that you could lease a much better car than the Ford Taurus. I don't really have anything against the Taurus per se. In fact, I think that the current generation looks 100% better than the previous one. Still, given this car's low residual values you should be able to lease something like a loaded Honda Accord for around the same monthly payment, or perhaps even less.

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mdiver65 · October 2001

Car man,

You are not the man, behind the man. But theeee man! As I read up on these boards (since I posted my message) I have found your comments to be very valuable. This is my first time diving into the world of leasing.

FYI...here is what Ford quoted me on a 2002 Ford Taurus SEL with leather, sunroof, mach stereo-basically everything for a Taurus (I had the salesman give me a printout of his screen-is this unusual?). I live in Ft. Lauderdale.

Initial cap cost: $23, 438. 58
Rebate: $500
Residual: $50%
APR: 6.5%
Trade in: $3,000 (my 92 Accord EX w/ 100,000m)
Adjusted Cap Cost: $19, 938. 58
Security Deposit: $425.00
Annual Fee: $117.00
Init Fees: $66.50
Base monthly rate: $400.51 (+ tax)

Again, this is a 24 month, 15,000 mile lease. Do you see any room where I could do better? If I put $0 down per your suggestion what will this do to the rate? I have also read where increasing the security deposit helps in monthly payments.

I have tested both the Taurus and Accord's. Both are fine cars that simply get the job down. Nothing fancy. You know what you are getting (though I do find the a/c much better in the Ford-very important here in FL!). I find the Taurus to have more room for my 6'1", 230 pound frame and that's why I chose it. You do probably get a little more from Honda but the Taurus works for me.

One more item if you don't mind. I explored some websites last night and found some reasonable deals on leases on 3 years,15,000 miles-like a Acura TL, Type S with Navi (this is my dream car!)for $560 or so per month + tax w/ NOTHING DOWN! Hard to believe. Compare that to the Taurus with $3,000 down. No comparison for the extra $$.

The problem is the 3 year lease. 3 questions and I swear I'm done (for now!!). One, can you drop off a leased vehicle in another state? I plan on moving back to Seattle after my job is done down here in the 3rd year. Second, say I go over the 45,000 alloted miles but I want to buy the car after the 3rd year is complete. Will I be penalized for the extra miles even though I am purchasing the car? Finally, is one able to purchase a vehicle in the middle of a lease? I doubt it but just want to confirm.

Again, I really appreciate any feedback you have. THANK YOU!

Mark in Fort Lauderdale

maxwella11 · October 2001

Hi Car-Man--I'm reposting like you said, after release of the new audi lease info...

I'm interested in a 2002 Audi TT roadster, 225 hp. Can you give me residual and money factor for a three- and four-year lease? 12K miles.

Also, you hearing anything about the roadster market these days? I know dealers had a hard time clearing out the 2001 roadsters...think they may discount the 2002s some?

felixdacat13 · October 2001

here are the facts..
I am currently end of lease on a 1997 maxima. I am paying
339+tax a month. I would like to lease again. the cars I am
looking at are:
2001 maxima (leftover)
2002 altima (highly unlikely to get a good lease rate)
2002 toyota camry le
2002 (or 01) galant V6

I would like sign and drive 39 or less months. I put less then 12K
per year miles on a car (In 4 years I only put 40k on my maxima).
I want to pay LESS then what I pay now. closer to 300$ + tax.

The biggest thing that seems to contribute to what you pay for
month is the rate factor (which on the camry seems to be 6.5%,
but I dont know on any of the other cars), and how much you
can get the cap cost to (the residual seems about the % on most
cars).

The only features that i want are.. at least 155hp, auto, CD,
keyless entry, power driver seat. side airbags are nice feature
as well.

I have ruled out the mazda (even v6 is underpowered) and the honda. (too blah for my tastes) I am willing to look
at other cars in the same "class". not sure about the infiniti.
The toyota dealers have all been coming back around $350.
This seems high..

Any advice.? what are the rate factors for mitsubichi (sp?) and
nissan. Any other brands?

Thanks!

fgrethel · October 2001

For some reason not all of my post was included. The term I need for a 2002 Highlander lease is 36 months and the mileage 12K and 15K. Thanks in advance for your help!

silvercrown · October 2001

Hi Car_Man,

I test drove the new 2002 Camry SE-V6 the other day and I was pretty impressed. It handled very well and I saw some overall improvements compared to my 2000 LE-V6 that I have now. What is the money factor and residuals for a 36 or 39 month lease with 12K and 15K miles? I'm still leaning more toward the Passat, but I'd like to see how my payments with the Camry SE would compare.

Thanks a bunch!

SilverCrown

CarMan@Edmunds · October 2001

Thanks for the additional information, fuzzywuzzy. You're in luck, Acura is offering special lease money factors on the 2002 CL right now. If you were to lease any 2002 CL (non-Navigation) through American Honda Finance Corp. for three years with 15,000 miles per your money factor and residual value should presently be .00187 and 53%, respectively. Unfortunately, Acura is not providing any sort of lease money factor support on the 2002 TL at this time. At least, AHFC's standard money factors are pretty reasonable. The current lease money factor and residual value for a any non-Navigation 2002 TL leased through AHFC should be .00250 and 60%, respectively. I hope that this information helps you out. Please feel free to give me a holler if you think of any other questions.

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CarMan@Edmunds · October 2001

Hi fgrethel. I am sorry to say in all of the regions that I have seen the incentives programs for, Toyota is not providing any sort of lease money factor support on the Highlander. So if you were to lease one through Toyota Financial Services right now, you would have to use their standard money factors. The last time that I saw TFS' base standard factor it was around .00300 for all terms. If you let me know how long you plan on leasing this truck for and how many miles per year you want I would be more than happy to let you know what its residual value should be like.

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tylman · October 2001

I have a 99' Merc. Mountaineer whose lease I'm considering terminating early. It is 23 months old, 37600 miles, new tires, minor blemish on passenger door from a gate hook (est $250 repair/repaint), dual power seats, side air bags, center computer console, overhead console w/compass & temp, auto-dimming mirror, dual power mirrors, leather seats, tow package with the larger of the two rear axles offered, V8 automatic (not AWD or 4WD), rear air, premium audio with tape and cd and rear seat controls, garage door openers with digital recorder, premium 15" wheels, steering wheel remote controls for climate, stereo, & cruise control, and climate control. Can you provide me any info on the wholesale value?

gwarren · October 2001

Car_Man
I am still waiting ofr an answer on prior post regarding the new or additional incentives that might be offered on both the LXI and Limited models for 2001 leftovers and the 2002's.
I am sure that they are offering the dealers something after the 10/2 changes, but it does not yet show up.

I will have to make a decision this weekend, and not have to rethink it later. I am aware that I can only get the best deal at the time of purchase based on the programs available "at that time". The dealers know today what is offered but I do not yet have all of the information, on the 2001's which are still available. I may be able to get into a 2001 for a more reasonable price.

Gary W

fuzzywuzzy · October 2001

Thanks alot!
Are those numbers good on the type S versions, or only the base CL, & TL versions?

dgraves1 · October 2001

I'm thinking about leasing my next car, which I have never done before. I have a good understanding of how leases work. The one thing that has me a litle worried is the "wear and tear" charges at the end. I have seen people recommend that you check the wording in the contract carefully. What specifically are you looking for here? Is there specific wording to stay away from or are there phrases that you want to see? Can someone provide an example of a good wear and tear clause vs. a bad one?
Thanks.

dgraves1 · October 2001

I just thought of another one. If you use substantially less than the allowable miles, do you get anything back at lease end?

garyking · October 2001

Car_Man,

I need some of your helpful information.

I heard a rumor that MBCC has or will be lowering their rates. Is this true?

I'm also looking for the current money factor & residual on a 02 ML320, 15K-36 Mo.

I also have one other question, is the residual figured on base MSRP or base+options?

meagvg · October 2001

Thanks Car_Man for the info on the LS430 resid and MF. If you get a chance to check the October numbers please let me know. I'll check back later.

Mike

maxwella111 · October 2001

Hi Car_Man: one last question to add to my TT post above. is there any kind of lease support being offered right now on the 2001 roadsters? i'm interested in 225 hp. also, what is the residual on those?

thanks!

CarMan@Edmunds · October 2001

Hi Kkramer25, you didn't ask a specific question in your post however it looks as though you would like someone to calculate a sample lease payment for you on the new car that you are interested in. That's what I am going to do for now, but please don't hesitate to ask if you have any other questions. According to my calculations, if you were to lease a 2001 BMW 325i (MSRP - $34,060 & negotiated price $33,060) through BMW Financial Services for 3 years with 15,000 miles per during the month of October you should have a zero down pre-tax monthly lease payment of right around $519. I provided you with the zero down payment, because I personally feel as though it is in consumers' best interest to lease vehicles with as little money down as possible. I say this for two main reasons. One is that if your leased car or truck is stolen and never recovered or totaled in an accident, your down payment essentially disappears. Also, down payments on leases to nothing to establish equity in the vehicle that they are getting. They only reduce the amount of interest that you have to pay over the length of your term. Your lease-end purchase price will be the same whether you put no money down on a lease or make a $10,000 down payment. Still, if you would like to put $2,500 down on this car, it would reduce its monthly lease payment to around $474.

Although you probably will not be able to negotiate an identical price on a 2002 version of this car as you would on a 2001, if you were to lease the newer model through BMW Financial Services with an identical MSRP and purchase price your monthly payments would actually be lower because of the '02's stronger residual values. The zero down 36 month 15k payment for an '02 325i Sedan would be around $493 and the $2,500 down payment would be around $447.

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CarMan@Edmunds · October 2001

Gary, DaimlerChrysler recently introduced revised incentives programs on the vast majority of its vehicles late on October 3rd. As I have mentioned in the past it usually takes a few days for me to be able to take a look at the new programs and absorb all of the changes. DaimlerChrysler did away with all of their normal incentives on the majority of their 2001 models and converted them into Dealer Cash. Now the only incentives on 2001 Sebrings are $2,500 Dealer Cash on Coupes and Sedans and $2,000 on Convertibles. On the 2002 Sebrings, there is 0.0% special financing for up to 36 months and 2.9% for 48 to 60 months. In lieu of the special interest rates, there is $1,000 Consumer Cash on Coupes and Sedans only. In addition, all 2002 Sebrings have $500 Dealer Cash on them that can be used to purchase or lease one. As far as leasing goes, there is $1,000 Lease Cash on 2002 Sebring Coupes and Sedans and $1,500 on Convertibles. As I mentioned in an earlier post to you, they only have special money factors on this car in the Detroit and New York areas. DaimlerChrysler did recently lower its standard lease money factor to .00315, but it still isn't anything to write home about. One last thing, if you are a returning DaimlerChrysler vehicle owner or lessee you will likely be eligible for $1,000 Owner Loyalty Cash on this car as well.

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gwarren · October 2001

Car_Man

Much Thanks I was just about to leave to the dealer to complete the deal. I took onje last look at the site to see if there was an answer form you.
And as I was getting in it came in front of me.
Will let you know the outcome.
Gary W

CarMan@Edmunds · October 2001

Thanks for the compliments, mannymoe. Leasing is a funny animal, one that is difficult to generalize about. In answer to your first question, no, lease residual values are usually not based upon what sort of options a car or truck has. However, vehicles with extremely expensive options packages like "Ultra Luxury" Lexus models or vehicles equipped with Navigation systems are often the exception. These expensive packages often serve to pull down a car or truck's residual values a point or two. Furthermore, even though the vast majority of options may be included in your vehicle's price when its residual value is calculated in certain cases some manufacturers to not allow certain options to be residualized. So if a consumer wants a non-residualized option added to their leased vehicle, they must pay for the entire option over the length of their lease. For instance, let's say that you want a set of $2,000 custom wheels on a vehicle that you are going to lease. Unfortunately, the bank that you are leasing your new car through will not allow you to residualize them. So if you were to get them anyways, you would have to take your lease term, for now we'll say that it is a 3 year lease, and divide the cost of the wheels by the number of payments. So these wheels would end up increasing your lease payment by almost $56/month, ouch.

I still haven't seen the lease program for the 2002 Lexus ES 300. I suspect that they will be available soon though. I actually am going to an introduction party for the '02 ES 300 mid next week and would be more than happy to let you know what I think of it when I have an opportunity to check it out up close.

Interestingly enough, Jaguar Credit is offering some lease support on X-Type leases. I think that they are doing so in an effort to put some distance between its lease payments and those for the S-Type. Their best money factors for this car unfortunately are for 10,000 miles per year leases (Jaguar Credit is one of the only banks out there which has different money factors depending upon lease mileage) and for shorter lease terms. Their 36 month, 15,000 miles per money factor for a 2002 X-Type 2.5 is .00275, which isn't too bad (around 6.6%).

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CarMan@Edmunds · October 2001

Thanks for the kind works, Mark. I am glad that you visited the Finance, Warranty, and Insurance Message Board prior to entering into your first lease contract. Leasing can be very confusing if one doesn't take the time to find out exactly how it works. You never mentioned in your post what the full MSRP of this car is. Even if your salesperson didn't provide that number to you, you should take the time to figure out exactly what this car's (including all of its options) full MSRP and dealer invoice price are prior to agreeing to purchase or lease it. You can look up that information right here at Edmunds.com in our new vehicle pricing section. Here is a link to the 2002 Ford pricing page: New Ford Vehicle Pricing. Once you have these numbers, you will be able to see exactly what sort of deal you're getting on this car. Now I don't know exactly what the market for the 2002 Taurus is like in your area, but if I had to guess I would say that you should be able to lease one at a price that is very close to dealer invoice. The Town Hall Sedans Message Board would be a great place for you to pay a visit to, in an effort to find out what sort of prices other consumers have been getting this car for. You may use the following link to go to that section of this site: Sedans Message Board.

Don't let whether or not you are going to move have any sort of effect upon your new vehicle purchase/lease decision. If you lease a new new vehicle in Florida and move, you should be able to return it to any dealership that sells the same make in the state that you move to without any difficulty.

If you exceed your leased vehicle's mileage limit and decide to exercise your lease-end purchase option you definitely will not be assessed any sort of penalty for excess mileage. In fact, consumers who leased vehicles with very low mileage limits often end up having to purchase their leased car or truck at the end of their lease terms, rather than face thousands of dollars in penalties. Also, you should be able to buy-out your lease contract in the middle of your lease term. The your purchase price for your car or truck at that time will be determined by the bank that you are leasing it through. Some banks are very good about this sort of thing and will allow consumers to buy-out their vehicles for reasonable prices, while others are not as reasonable and may end up charging you more money that your vehicle would be worth on the open market at that given time.

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CarMan@Edmunds · October 2001

Hi again maxwella11. Yes I have had an opportunity to check out the new Audi Financial Services Lease Program for the car that you are interested in. If you were to lease a 2002 Audi TT roadster with the 225 hp. engine through them during the month of October, you should be able to use their base lease money factor of .00295 for both 3 and 4 year lease terms. The 3 and 4 year 12,000 miles per residual values for this car should be 67% and 61%, respectively.

I know that there are tons of TTs sitting on dealer lots in certain regions of the country. However, when I checked into this further there does not seem to be nearly as many leftover 2001 TTs nationally as there are 2001 A6s, allroads, and A8s. I know that you are interested in a 2002 TT, so the availability of the 2001s probably doesn't matter much to you. Overall, I have a feeling that you should be able to negotiate a fairly aggressive deal on a 2002 TT, but I don't know how close to dealer invoice you can get. You may want to pay a visit to the Town Hall Coupes, Convertibles, & Sports Cars Message Board prior to hitting dealerships to see what sort of prices others have been able to negotiate on this car.

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CarMan@Edmunds · October 2001

Felix, there were some very attractive leases out there at the time that you leased your current car, especially on Nissans. I am sorry to say that you are going to have a hard time leasing any of the cars that you are interested in, with the possible exception of the Mitsubishi, for less than your current Nissan Maxima lease payment. I can almost guarantee you off of the top of my head without looking at any of the numbers that the new Nissan Altima and the redesigned Toyota Camry will cost you significantly more than $300 per month to lease using the parameters that you stated.

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CarMan@Edmunds · October 2001

Fgrethel and SilverCrown, I haven't seen the latest residual values for Toyota yet. Please check back with me in a couple of days and I should have the information that you are looking for. Talk to you two then.

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CarMan@Edmunds · October 2001

Tylman, there is a great discussion over on the Smart Shoppers Message Board where a couple of generous individuals who work in the industry provide consumers with an idea of what their current vehicles are worth. I shggest that you pay a visit to that area and ask them what they think the value of your Mountaineer is. Please feel free to use the following link to go to that section of this site: brentwoodvolvo "Real-World Trade-In Values" Jul 9, 2000 1:00am .

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tgif888 · October 2001

Car_man,

Can you tell me the residual value and money factor on a 2002 530i for 3 years/36k miles lease?

And also the 2001 or 2002 Acura MDX w/navigation with 4 years/48k miles?

Thanks.

CarMan@Edmunds · October 2001

Fuzzywuzzy, American Honda Finance Corp. had identical lease programs for the base and "Type S" versions of the CL and TL, so the only difference between leasing a base model and an "Type S" should be the price.

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jpatrick4 · October 2001

Hi all,
Looking for Residual values and Rates %'s
for Camry XLE v4, auto, no options. For 48 month lease with 15,000 miles per year. In the Western New York Area.
Also what is the current lease factor or rate for this vehicle.
Thanks for the help,
Patrick

CarMan@Edmunds · October 2001

Dgraves1, unfortunately consumers who drive significantly fewer miles than are allowed under their lease contracts get no bonus for returning their vehicles under mileage. Of course, individuals who have very low mileage leased vehicles may choose to purchase them at lease-end and try to sell them on their own for more than they paid for them. How few miles per year do you drive? I ask because most lending institutions offer lease contracts with as little as 10,000 miles per year. Few people drive less than this.

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CarMan@Edmunds · October 2001

Gary, given the fact that interest rates in general have been headed lower I definitely would not be surprised if Mercedes-Benz Credit Corporation had recently lowered or will lower their lease money factors in the near future. I have not had a chance to take a look at the MBCC lease program for the month of October yet, but should have had a chance to do so by mid week. Please feel free to check back with me then and I would be more than happy to share what I have been able to find out with you. Vehicles' residual values usually include their base price plus any options that you add, provided that the bank that you are leasing through allows the specific options that you are getting to be residualized.

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CarMan@Edmunds · October 2001

Tgif888, if you were to lease a 2002 BMW 530i through BMW Financial Services right now for 3 years with 12,000 miles per the base lease money factor and residual value should be .00265 and 62%. I haven't seen the lease parameters for the 2002 Acura MDX yet, but if you were to lease a 2001 Acura MDX w/navigation through American Honda Finance Corp. for 4 years with 12,000 miles per the base lease money factor and residual value should currently be .00245 and 55%.

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tgif888 · October 2001

Thanks. You are fast.

CarMan@Edmunds · October 2001

You're welcome, tgif888. I aim to please

.

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tgif888 · October 2001

What about the 4 years/48K on a 2002 BMW 530i and 540i?

maxwella111 · October 2001

Thanks for the info, Car_Man. Just for comparison's sake, what's the money factor/residual on a 2001 TTR, 225 hp? I'm getting awfully tired of waiting to drive my car...

lotus18 · October 2001

Car_man,
I am just checking back to see if you have any info about the new Infiniti I35 yet. In the mean time, can you check for me the info on 01' BMW 325i sedan and the 02' 325i sedan?
Still based on 36 mon/12k.
Thanks.

gwarren · October 2001

Car_Man
Well my quest is finally over as thanks to your assistance and guidance, I received a deal that is very good at the least and exceptional I think.

Bottom Line I leased a 2001 Sebring Limited (could not get as good a deal on 2002) and they are the same car.
MSRP was $29,540.00
48 Month Lease with 12,000 miles a year, and I
Took the extended Service Contract for the extra year.

Monthly payments are $365.45 including Tax
Total out of pocket at signing $1,421.37:
includes Bank Fee, First Month, Taxes Tag and Title.
There is a $300.00 Disposition fee and the lease is through Members Preferred Credit Union. The reference to Excess wear and tear is really undefined, so I will assume a fight at the end.
Unless you know how they have been in the past.

Again much thanks for your help.
Gary W

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