Lease Questions - Ask Here

CarMan@Edmunds · March 2002

Hi again, Gregg. Let's see if we can help your friend out. Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp.'s most attractive lease money factors are for their 39 month term so that is the information that I will provide you with. If they were to lease a 2002 Pathfinder SE 4WD through NMAC for 39 months with 12,000 miles per year in March, their base lease money factor and residual value should be .00133 and 52%, respectively. The numbers for an identical lease of a 2002 Nissan Pathfinder LE 4WD should currently be .00175 and 52%.

Toyota is not providing any sort of lease support on the 2002 Highlander that I am aware of. So if your friend were to lease a base (non-Limited) 2002 Toyota Highlander 4WD through Toyota Financial Services this month for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, the base lease money factor and residual value should be .00280 and 62%, respectively.

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CarMan@Edmunds · March 2002

Hi dsinsocal. Here is the information that you are looking for. If you were to lease a 2002 BMW 330Ci through BMW Financial Services for 3 years with 12,000 miles per this month, their base lease money factor and residual value should be .00210 and 61%, respectively.

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CarMan@Edmunds · March 2002

Hi johnsayd. The only way that you can get out of your current leased vehicle early is to purchase it and sell it on your own or trade it in on another vehicle. If you are only two years into a four year lease of a Saab 9-3, there is a very good chance that you are upside down on your current car, meaning that you owe more money on it than it is actually worth on the open market right now. In order to find out exactly how much money it will cost you to get out of your current car at this time, you need to contact the bank that you are leasing it through, most likely Saab Financial Services, and ask them what it will cost to buy it at this point. The purchase prices of leased vehicles are often negotiable, so it doesn't hurt to see if they would be willing to lower their initial price quote. One often has to go a few steps up the corporate ladder before they find anyone who is willing to work with them on their vehicles' purchase price. Of course, there certainly is no guarantee that they will be willing to lower their initial price quote, but it definitely does not hurt to ask. Once you have this figure, you need to compare it to what you can realistically expect to be able to sell or trade your car for at this time. The difference between your payoff and the amount that you can sell your car for is the amount of money that you will make, or more likely the amount of money that you will have to pay out of your own pocket or roll over into your next new vehicle loan, if you decide to end your lease this early.

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km99cobra · March 2002

Car_Man,

I've been seeing advertised lease specials in the Cleveland Ohio area for a Lincoln LS V8 for $499 per mo., 3/36 (Red Carpet Lease), with $0 down, $0 sec dep, $0 first payment, $0 due at signing. This sounds like a very good deal. Do you have any of the specifics, like MF/RV or how long this will be offered, etc. Thanks.

Ken

CarMan@Edmunds · March 2002

Ken, I am not familiar with the specific advertised lease payment for the Lincoln LS that you mentioned in your post. The only lease for this car that I have seen advertised touts a 2002 Lincoln LS V8 for $399 per month with $1,750 down over 36 months with 12,000 miles per year. To arrive at this particular lease payment, Ford is using $2,000 dealer cash and a lease rate of 1.75%. I believe that the residual value associated with this particular deal is 50%. This specific lease is being advertised on the East Coast and may not be available in your neck of the woods.

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bobbob911 · March 2002

I intend to do a 3 or 4 year lease with the nearly-guaranteed intention to buy the car out at the end of the lease. Effectively, I'm using the Lease as a Balloon Loan.

Why am I doing this? 2 reasons:

1)My financial situation is nearly guaranteed to be better 3/4 years from now then it is today (including Stock Options maturing)

2)Even excepting that, I would prefer the flexibility of having a 'minimum monthly payment' (ie. the lease payment) while being able to save for the buyout amount in a more flexible fashion (not to mention being able to use this money to invest with in the interim)

So, I'm wondering if there are any hidden gotchas with my reasoning here?

lonestar98 · March 2002

are the rates similar to the amount quoted above for a 1.8? i want a 3 year 15K/yr lease.
should i expect a mf of .002? how about the residual %? have folks been getting much off the msrp? anything else i should look out for?

many thanks

km99cobra · March 2002

Car_Man,

Thanks for the feedback on the LS. The deal I mentioned ($499 per mo. for 3/36 and $0 out-of-pocket) is available in the Cleveland area. Assuming it is for the "base" V8 LS model at an MSRP of $38,130. Not sure how long it's in effect, but I'll probably check it out.

Someone asked about lease numbers on the new Infiniti G35. I received the following information from the Internet Sales Manager of a local Infiniti dealer; 39 months/36K miles/0.00265 MF/57% Residual, 48 months/48K miles/0.00265 MF/52% Residual. At an MSRP for Luxury Leather model (with premium pkg, moonroof, xenons, wood) of $33,560 I calculated monthly payments of $509/39 mo. and $470/48 mo. By the way, the car looks like a winner for Infiniti.

Ken

CarMan@Edmunds · March 2002

Good morning lonestar98. I would be more than happy to give you an idea of what Audi's current lease program is like for this car, however I am going to need to know what state you live in first (Texas perhaps). I need this piece of information, because this month Audi has six different regional lease programs on its vehicles each of which has different lease money factors. Once you tell me where you are I will be able to help you out. Talk to you soon.

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CarMan@Edmunds · March 2002

You're welcome, Ken. Thank you for the additional information on the G35 lease program. I have been hearing very positive things about this car, but haven't had a chance to check it out in person yet. I will make a point to check one out thoroughly during the NY Auto Show press days next week.

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hammer_down23 · March 2002

Hey to the group. I'm looking for money factor and residual value information for an 02 Dodge Stratus R/T in Ohio. Also, has anyone else heard of a law in Ohio that requires the tax to be paid in full up front on leases? Thanks...

lonestar98 · March 2002

hi,

i'm in northern california. thanks car_man!

km99cobra · March 2002

Yeah, the new tax law really stinks! It was hidden under the smoke screen of the new lottery bill that allows Ohio to be part of the Big Game or one of those (I don't think it's the Powerball), so nobody heard about it to do any squawking (not that it would have helped). Anyway, not only do you have to pay all the taxes up front, you don't get anything back if you end your lease early. Pretty sweet huh!? The only recourse we have is to vote the clowns out that passed the bill, but will it be better with the next ones??? The only two sure things, death and taxes.

Ken

jgcguy1 · March 2002

I am planning to buy a Chrysler vehicle.Since Chrysler is offering more incentives for a lease (in my case about $750 more)than if I purchase the car. To take advantage of this extra $750 I am planning lease this car using a baloon loan (also known as LPO - last payment option) like Chrysler Financial's Gold Key Plus, and then refinance (early prepayment) it within a week or so with my credit union's low interest conventional financing. The baloon loan contract
mentions that there is no early payment penalty.
Is there a chance that I will be charged a lease acquisition fee? Also do you see any other catch on the deal?

Thanks

manny17 · March 2002

A dealership in Conn is offering the 2002 premium package 36m, 15k, $2112 at signing, $372/m. Is this a good deal or I can do better?

mvcjones · March 2002

I live in Los Angeles and have the following offer on the table.

2002 9-5 Arc with silver metallic paint, List at $41,000
36 month lease
12k/year
Turn in my leased 1999 9-3 SE which is a $3,000 loss based on buy out vs. market
value
Dealer will take care of my remaining 9-3 SE payments, amounting to about $3,250
$1,495 down
$498/month taxes included.

MF - .00110 (MF on certain terms went as low as .00005, about .1%!)
Residual - about 20k

Any advice on whether this is a good deal or if it is better to wait until my 9-3 SE lease is up and negotiate without that lease in the deal?

Thanks in advance

MVC Jones

footie · March 2002

I know Car_Man will give you his guideance on this question, but I was looking to lease earlier this month and found that Saab had a national lease on 9-3's. If you go to the Saab web site you will find out that Saab has a national lease program on 2002 9-3SE's for $269/mo 36 mos. 12K per year. The Edmund's incentive section on the 9-3 indicates that their is around $3000 due at signing.
The terms of the Saab national lease deal basically discount the car substantially from MSRP. The initial 3k, plus all the lease payments plus the residual is 3,000 under MSRP! The money factor on the lease appears to be ZERO!
You can compare that to the deal in Conn.

p0key · March 2002

I am looking to ink a lease this week on an X5 in Northern NJ. Anyone have good luck with a particular dealer here?

What is a reasonable residual percentage and money factor for:

50K sticker including options
36 Months
12K miles/year

How will 15k Miles/year affect the residual?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

beowulf7 · March 2002

I remember reading about some Web site that specializes in transferring one person's lease to another person anywhere in the USA. Could someone please jog my memory and enlighten me of this company who acts as the middle man? I believe the process is called "lease assumption"? I know it was discussed about a month ago, but I'm hoping it would save me the trouble of reading this discussion board's archived messages. My friend will be temporarily moving from NJ to CA and only needs a car for 6-12 months. Thanks.

parnola · March 2002

There are at least two sites that I know of - SwapaLease.com and LeaseTrading.com

CarMan@Edmunds · March 2002

Hi hammer_down23. I do not believe that Chrysler is offering any special lease money factors on this vehicle in your area right now. If you were to lease a 2002 Dodge Stratus R/T in Ohio for 36 months with 15,000 miles per year, you should be able to use Chrysler Financial's base lease money factor and residual value of .00295 and 43%, respectively. Keep in mind though that Chrysler is providing $1,500 lease cash on this car.

Unfortunately, you are right about Ohio's new tax laws. A few months ago I actually started a new discussion on this particular subject on this message board. Please feel free to use the following link to check it out: Car_man "Ohio Sales & Use Tax Changes" Feb 5, 2002 5:03am.

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CarMan@Edmunds · March 2002

Thanks for the additional information, lonestar98. If you were to lease a 2002 Audi A4 Avant 3.0 quattro through Audi Financial Services in the state of California this month for 3 years with 15,000 miles per, their base lease money factor and residual value should be .00200 and 55%, respectively.

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CarMan@Edmunds · March 2002

Jgcguy1, interestingly enough, even though Chrysler Financial charges all of its customers a $550 acquisition fee on all of its traditional lease contracts they do not charge any sort of acquisition fee on balloon note contracts.

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CarMan@Edmunds · March 2002

Hi manny17. Saab is currently advertising a sample lease payment on the exact model that you are interested in. This offer should serve as a good reference point for you to use in your negotiations. The following information comes directly from Saab's Web site (www.saabusa.com):

"Lease a 2002 Saab 9-3 SE 5-door
$269 mo./36 mo.*
$3,037.82 due at lease inception
(includes down pmt., sec. dep., acq. fee & first mo. pmt.)

Subject to credit approval. Delivery must be taken out of participating dealer inventory by April 1, 2002. Dealer financial participation may affect consumer cost.

Terms apply to a new 2002 Saab 9-3 SE 5-door with manual transmission and heated front seats based on MSRP of $29,095.00 (including destination charge). *Lease payment for the 9-3 SE 5-door is $268.82 for 36 months totaling $9,677.52. Option to purchase at lease end for $13,383.70 (plus taxes, insurance, title and registration fees). The customer is allowed 36,000 miles during the term of this lease. The customer is liable for a mileage charge of $.20 per mile over 36,000 miles and for excess wear and tear. Call 1 800 SAAB USA for program details and limitations. SEE YOUR PARTICIPATING SAAB DEALER FOR COMPLETE DETAILS ON THESE AND OTHER LEASE AND FINANCE PROGRAMS. © 2002 SAAB CARS USA, INC."

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CarMan@Edmunds · March 2002

Good morning, MVC Jones. To be honest with you, you are almost always much much better off waiting for your current lease to end, or come close to ending, before signing a lease on a new vehicle. If you still have to make lease payments totaling $3,250 on your current car, the dealership is going to have to pay that money off for you. So in essence, you are going to end up paying over $3,000 more for your new car than you would have had to had you not tried to get out of your current lease so early. I personally would wait to lease a new car until much closer to my scheduled termination date if I was in your situation. You will save yourself a lot of money by doing so. Besides, Saab always provides a ton of support on its vehicles so I highly doubt that you have to worry about their deals on the car that you are interested in disappearing.

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CarMan@Edmunds · March 2002

Hello p0key. I should be able to give you an idea of what sort of lease money factor and residual value you can expect to find if you were to lease a 2002 BMW X5 3.0 this month. Right now, BMW Financial Services has a 3 year 12,000 miles per base lease money factor and residual value of .00220 and 63% on this truck. The 15,000 miles per year residual value for this truck would be 2% lower than the one that I just mentioned.

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CarMan@Edmunds · March 2002

Thanks for providing beowulf7 with those two links, parnola. For those of you who are interested in more information on LeaseTrading.com, Edmunds.com did an article on them a while ago. Here's a link to it: Lease Trading.

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p0key · March 2002

Thanks Car_Man. I've had those numbers quoted to me and recently someone at a BMW dealership said they were February's numbers. Of course, they said, the March numbers were not as favorable. What do you think? Also, do you think it is possible to negotiate higher milage with the same residual (63%)?

im_brentwood · March 2002

Chrysler doesnt charge an acquisition fee on Balloon contracts as they're technically Loans... Not leases.

Its illegal to do that on a loan!

Bill

annmd · March 2002

Hello again Car-Man,

You helped me before with some numbers on a VW Jetta 1.8T I'm leasing. I just received a call from the dealer that my car is ready to pick up (yea!), and I'm hoping you can give me the new numbers. The MSRP is $24,575--Cap cost 23,500. I'm probably going to go with a 36mo/15,000 lease. Would you please give me the residual, money factor & monthly payment? Thanks so much!

beowulf7 · March 2002

Thanks, parnola and Car_man, for the lease trading info. I read that Edmunds article, which mentioned another company that specializes with this stuff is LeaseTrader.com.

Are lease transferring and lease assumption two terms for the same thing or are there technical differences? I'll pass this info. along to my buddy moving to the West Coast.

notacon · March 2002

Car_man, anyone... anyone know what the residual values for this car is? 3/4/5 yr values would be great help.
Thanks!!!

CarMan@Edmunds · March 2002

You're welcome, p0key. The lease information that I provided you with is from BMW's current program. This program is scheduled to run from March 1st through April 30th, but BMW does reserve the right to change it midstream without any advance notice. Individual dealerships do not have any authority to alter a vehicle's residual value on their own. These numbers are set by the bank that you are leasing through. The only numbers that you as a consumer will really be able to negotiate on this vehicle are its selling price and its lease money factor (only if they are attempting to mark it up).

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CarMan@Edmunds · March 2002

That makes sense, Bill. Even though they are very lease-like balloon notes are technically loans I suppose. Thanks.

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CarMan@Edmunds · March 2002

Hi again, annmd. I would be more than happy to give you an idea of what this car's current lease program is like. If you were to lease a 2002 Volkswagen Jetta Sedan GLS 1.8T through VW Credit this month for 3 years with 15,000 miles per, their base lease money factor and residual value should be .00157 and 54%, respectively. Using the prices that you provided me with, MSRP: $24,575 and Cap Cost: $23,500, your zero down pre-tax monthly lease payment for this car should be around $342 or so. I actually have another piece of information that you may find helpful. Volkswagen is providing $600 dealer cash on this car that may only be used in conjunction with VW Credit's lease, financing, or balloon note programs. You should see if you can get your dealership to take this money off of your car's capitalized cost. If they do, it would reduce your monthly lease payment to around $325.

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CarMan@Edmunds · March 2002

Hi notacon. Are you talking about the BMW M3?

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notacon · March 2002

yes, the '01 -'02 BMW M3... any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

cynic · March 2002

Hi Car_man,

Sorry for bothering you so often, but I promise to buy a car within the next two weeks

I am just not sure if I should buy this weekend or wait for more incentives in April ...
Could you please let me know the residual values and the lease rates for 2002 Accord EX and EX V6 both for 3 years/45k miles.

Thanks!

CarMan@Edmunds · March 2002

OK, notacon, here is the information that you are looking for. If you were to lease a 2002 BMW M3 Coupe through BMW Financial Services this month for 3 years with 15,000 miles per, their base lease money factor and residual value should be .00260 and 58%. The numbers for an otherwise identical 4 year lease of this car should be .00280 and 51%. I believe that this answers your question, but if you think of any others, please don't hesitate to ask.

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CarMan@Edmunds · March 2002

It's no bother at all, cynic. As far as I am concerned, the more posts on this message board, the better

. If you are definitely getting a Honda, I personally don't think that there is any reason to wait until April. Their current lease program is scheduled to continue unchanged through April 30th. Of course, manufacturers do make unscheduled changes to their incentives programs from time to time, but I don't anticipate Honda doing anything with the current Accord program for the next couple of weeks. In fact, there may actually be an advantage to purchasing or leasing an Accord at the end of this month, because salespeople and dealerships will be trying to sell as many as they can before the new month begins. If you were to lease a 2002 Honda Accord EX through American Honda Finance Corp. under their current program for 3 years with 15,000 miles per, their base lease money factor and residual value should be .00125 and 56%, respectively.

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cynic · March 2002

Hi Car_man,

Thank you very much for the info! The reason I am thinking about waiting until April is because I haven't decided whether to be practical and get an Accord or to enjoy myself and get a Maxima.
Also, does your message mean that both Accord 4 cylinder and 6 cylinder EX models have the same lease rates?

CarMan@Edmunds · March 2002

Ahhh I see, it is more about trying to decide between two vehicles then waiting to see if you can get a better deal. That makes sense. One should always think very carefully about what they want to get when they are making a $20,000+ purchase

. If you are interested in the new Maxima, I personally think that it would be worth taking a look at the new 6-cylinder Altima as well. I think that the redesigned Altima looks fantastic and have heard lots of good things about it. In answer to your question, both the 4-cylinder and 6-cylinder Accord EX models have the same lease program.

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cynic · March 2002

I do like how the new Altima looks and I might take a test drive, however ... I am worried about the potential first year of production issues ...
May be if I were not a programmer, it would have been easier not to pay attention to those things

Thanks again!

km99cobra · March 2002

Car_Man,

A friend of mine who sells at a local Chrysler dealership called me and said DC had a special deal going where they will make up to the last four payments on a Chrysler Financial Services lease. It's supposedly good only for leases that are scheduled to terminate before August 31, 2002 and is supposedly only being offered until Monday (4/1/02). Have you heard about this, and do you think it will continue? I'm not ready to do it yet, but I'm still thinking of a 300M Special prior to the end of the 2002 model year run (my current 1999 300M lease terminates in September). Thanks.

Ken

CarMan@Edmunds · March 2002

Ken, your friend was correct. Much like General Motors and a few other manufacturers have done lately, DaimlerChrysler recently introduced an early lease termination program. Through this particular program, Chrysler Financial lessees may get out of their current lease contracts up to 4 months prior to their scheduled termination date for free as long as they purchase a new Chrysler, Dodge, or Jeep product. It is very difficult to say what manufacturers will do with their future incentives programs with 100% accuracy. If I had to guess, I would say that it is possible that DaimlerChrysler would continue running their early termination program for another month or so. However, I highly doubt that this is going to be a very long term promotion. Again, this is just an educated guess though.

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dayers · March 2002

Hello, can anyone tell me the current residual and money factors for a 2002 BMW 325i? I used the numbers that were posted in January (resid 60% and MF .0023) and came up about $20 off (me = 398, them = 416) the quote on the BMW website (they use $2500 down). Also, would all of that $2500 down go to cap cost reduction? Thanks

rxke · March 2002

Hi Car Man

You were very helpful in supplying me with numbers that got me a great lease on a Mercedes 320E 4matic in Dec. with no money down. Now I am looking to get either a Subaru WRX awd 4dr sedan, Subaru Legacy GT Limited awd sedan, Audi A4 quattro sedan, Pontiac Vibe awd, or a BMW 325xi 4dr sedan. I am looking to lease one of these cars for 36 or 39 months with 12,000 miles per year. What are the money factor rates, residuals, and any incentives for these cars?

Thanks in advance for your help. You are providing consumers with a very powerful service.

bretfraz · March 2002

Hi Car Man,

Would you give me the latest info on residuals and MF's for the DCM minivans, specifically the Town & Country and Caravan? My folks are looking at these closely with the current lease offers out there. They're in AL if it makes a diff.

Any others details they need to know about current DCM lease offers? They've already heard about the eliminations of final payments if a new DCM vehicle is leased.

Thanks a million.

- - Bret - -

im_brentwood · March 2002

YO!

Gimme a call.. I couldnt open yer mail...

Ifn ya cant find my #.. Is on me eBay listings..

Bill

km99cobra · April 2002

Thanks for the confirmation. I am still interested in the 300M Special and was concerned that if I wait until September when my current lease expires there won't be one around since it is a limited production 2002 model. (My friend is having a difficult time locating one right now as a matter of fact). If you could let me know if Chrysler is extending the early lease termination deal through April (for leases expiring before end of September), that would help me tremendously. Thanks again.

Ken

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