Lease Questions - Ask Here

worcester1 · January 2003

Hi Car Man -

I'd like to know the residual and money factor for a 36mo / 12k mile lease on a 2003 Mercury Marauder.

Thanks

bottgers · January 2003

We had touched on this briefly before, but I was wondering if you could give me some clarification on this. My lease on my '98 base Intrepid will end in June. You had mentioned that these cars were only bringing in roughly $3K-$5K at auctions. I would just like to turn the car in without having to pay anything to do so. Because I'm over my allowed mileage, the car would have to be valued at around $5500 or less because the residule is $7700. This car books for $7K-$8K, so who do I take it to to get it valued at what it's actually worth at the auctions? Thanks.

clpurnell · January 2003

Terry hangs out in real world trade in values. Anyway they will not reduce what it is valued at unless you will buy the car. You contracted the buyout price on lease there is no way to reduce this amount unless you are willing to buy the car. the only way out of this is say you can get the payoff reduced to $5500 and find somebody like carmax or an individual to pay you $5500 for it. But you cannot renegotiate the price down and turn it back in. You must in essence buy it and sell it or trade it in. No other way out I'm afraid that I can see.

bottgers · January 2003

He said when you go to turn your car in at the end of the lease, the ACTUAL value of the vehicle is determined, and compared to the residule value listed in the lease agreement. This has to be done in order to find out if the lease company will break even, or lose money at the time of turn-in. It also plays a role in determining if the person turning in the vehicle will owe money or not. Residule value is not the only number used at lease's end.

footie · January 2003

I understand that most leases are closed end, meaning that the value of the residual is fixed. If it's not, then it's an open-end lease and a bad deal for the consumer.

Leasing companies assume the risk of the value of the car appreciating or depreciating more than average. For a given car model, color, option suite, and geography, the valuation statistics are a great guide for them. If they are worried about the 'downside' they build it into lower residuals up front - so we get to pay if they are right and they get the extra money from a better disposal sales price if they are wrong. They win-win but they don't play with the residual in the contract at the end of most leases.

I picked the following quote up from a leasing site:

In January 1998, the Federal Consumer Leasing Act, Regulation M, was revised to require that certain key information and figures are in every lease contract. It required that Capitalized Cost, Capitalized Cost Reduction, Residual Value, Lease Charges, Monthly Payments, and other amounts be clearly spelled out. It also required that this information be displayed in a uniform way, and using standard terminology (although still not always simple English).

Whether your residual is fixed or not should be clearly spelled out in your leasing contract and not a matter of opinion.

good luck

CarMan@Edmunds · January 2003

Hey Gregg. Congratulations on your new G35. Good luck with it. You certainly are a car shopping maniac if you are in the market for another new ride

. I have seen the lease programs for the vehicles that you are interested in and would be more than happy to help you out.

If you were to lease a 2003 Acura TL without Navigation through American Honda Finance Corp. this month for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, their base lease money factor and residual value should be .00220 and 61%, respectively.

If you were to lease a 2003 Nissan Maxima GLE through Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. this month for 36 months with 12,000 miles per year, their base lease money factor and residual value should be .00204 and 54%, respectively. Their lease money factors for 39 and 42 months would be exactly the same, but the residual values would fall to 53% and 51%, respectively. Their base factor and residual for a 4 year 12k lease would be .00232 and 46%. Nissan also has $500 lease cash on the 2003 Maxima that may be used to reduce its capitalized cost.

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CarMan@Edmunds · January 2003

Thanks for reminding me about your earlier post, massappeal106. Here is the info that you're looking for. If you were to lease a 2003 Audi A4 1.8T Sedan with quattro through Audi Financial Services this month for 36 months with 15,000 miles per year, their base lease money factor and residual value should be .00195 and 58%, respectively. Their 39 month factor should be exactly the same, but the residual value would fall to 56%.

If you were to lease a 2003 Volkswagen Passat GLS 1.8T Sedan through Volkswagen Credit this month for 36 months with 15,000 miles per, their base lease money factor and residual value should be .00140 and 55%, respectively. Their numbers for a 39 months 15k lease of this car should currently be .00175 and 53%.

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CarMan@Edmunds · January 2003

Hello delrick. If you were to lease a 2003 Acura MDX (Non-Touring and without Navigation and the Rear Entertainment System) through American Honda Finance Corp. this month for 3 years with 15,000 miles per their base lease money factor and residual value should be .00220 and 60%, respectively. Their 48 month 15,000 miles per year numbers for this truck should be .00205 and 53%. AHFC's 12,000 miles per year residual values would be 2% higher than the ones that I just mentioned. They do not publish residual values for vehicles leased with 18,000 miles per year. If you need that many miles, you most likely would have to purchase them on a pre-mile basis at the beginning of your lease. Doing so will provide you with a discount over what you would be charged for these miles at the end of your lease.

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CarMan@Edmunds · January 2003

Thanks for calling my attention to your message, dal71. Sometimes messages that slip in when I am in the middle of a posting frenzy slip through the cracks

. Here is the information that you are looking for. If you were to lease a 2003 Audi A4 3.0 Sedan with quattro through Audi Financial Services for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, their base lease money factor and residual value should currently be .00165 and 56%, respectively. Their 4 year numbers for an otherwise identical lease should be .00175 and 49%. AFS' 10,000 miles per year residual values would be 1% higher than their 12,000 miles per numbers.

I am hesitant to comment on how taxes are calculated on leased vehicles because taxation policies vary from state to state. Your local Department of Motor vehicles may be able to shed a little more light on this issue.

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ral2167 · January 2003

hi car man-- i'd like to know the residual and money factor for a 36mo / 12k mile lease on a 2003 Toyota Camry 4 cylinder LE automatic. not a lot of bells and whistles. toledo ohio here.

if you can only get 39 month numbers, thats fine. thanks

gperr · January 2003

Car_man,

No- I am not that crazy, buy another new car after just purchasing a G35 Sedan- this info is for a friend. But I did goof. I meant to ask for the longer term info on the Acura, not the Maxima, so-

Acura TL (non-nav/non-type s) 39, 42, & 48 mos, 12K/miles/year.

Sorry for the goof. and thanks again.
Also- do you happen to know Acura & Nissan Bank fees for leases?

Gregg

iamaddman · January 2003

Carman,

Could you please give me an update on what the current residuals and money factors are for a 2003 Envoy 4WD SLE. I live in the Chicago area and am looking for 36/48 month with 12K/yr. Thanks in advance.

dal71 · January 2003

Hi Car Man,

I'm back again with one last (I hope) question about the A4 lease. The good news is that the finance manager and I were able to get our spreadsheets to agree on lease payments under various assumptions, so he's not including any hidden charges.

The bad news is that he is including a $575.00 lease fee that I wasn't previously aware of. He claims that this is charged by Audi financial. Is this true? If it really is an out of pocket expense for him, then I have no problem paying it. But I want to make sure that he isn't lying and pocketing the fee.

Thanks again for your help. It really levels the playing field to have access to the sort of information you provide.

Regards,

David

CarMan@Edmunds · January 2003

Greetings worcester1. Please keep in mind that Ford Motor Company's lease rates for vehicles often vary depending upon what part of the country one is in. Having said that, I will try to provide you with information on the most commonly available program for this car. If you were to lease a 2003 Mercury Marauder through Ford Motor Credit right now for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, their base lease rate and residual value should be an extremely unattractive 9.00% and 48%, respectively. At least they are providing $2,000 lease cash on this car that may be used to reduce its capitalized cost.

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CarMan@Edmunds · January 2003

Hi ral2167. Toyota is providing supported lease money factors on the Camry in many parts of the country this month. They divide the U.S. into many different regions, each having a different program. Unfortunately, I have not seen their lease program for your area. Sorry that I could not be of more help.

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CarMan@Edmunds · January 2003

No provlem, Gregg. I was wondering if you had won the lottery or something

. Here is the rest of the info that you need. If you were to lease a 2003 Acura TL without Navigation through AHFC for 39 months with 12,000 miles per year, their base lease money factor and residual value should be .00220 and 60%, respectively. Their numbers for an otherwise identical 48 month lease should be .00205 and 54%. I haven't seen any info on AHFC's 42 month term so I didn't include that data.

As far as acquisition fees go, AHFC's base lease acquisition fee should currently be $550 and Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp.'s base acquisition fee should be $495.

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CarMan@Edmunds · January 2003

Good morning iamaddman. General Motors is currently running two different lease programs on the 2003 GMC Envoy. In certain parts of the country their base lease rate on this truck is 6.5%, while in other regions they have enhanced their lease rate to 3.5%. It shouldn't be difficult to figure out if you are in one of the areas that is eligible for the lower rates if you comparison shop at a couple of dealerships. Both of these rates are good on GMAC leases up to 48 months in length. GMAC's supported 12,000 miles per year residual values for the 2003 GMC Envoy should currently be 51% for 36 months and 45% for 48 months in regions with the 6.5% rate and 54% / 46% in the 3.5% areas.

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CarMan@Edmunds · January 2003

I am glad to hear that you have gotten your calculations to agree with what the dealership is coming up with, David. The $575 fee that you are referring to is called a lease acquisition fee, or a bank fee. Audi Financial Services, like all banks that lease vehicles, charges consumers an acquisition fee on every vehicle that they lease and there is no way around paying it. Sometimes dealerships are allowed to mark-up a bank's base lease acquisition fee in order to add a little extra profit to deals, but $575 is AFS' base fee so your dealer is being very straightforward with you.

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g17 · January 2003

Hello CarMan...

I am a new member here, and this seems like the forum best suited for my technical questions.

I am looking for the residuals, for a '03 Acura TL Type S for 36 or 39 months, with 12K or 15k mi/year. If you have the dollar figures that would be great but percentages are good too.

Also what money factor should I expect with a credit score of greater than 750?

This car should not go for more than 200 over invoice, correct?

Of course I emailed the dealer with this request, and they suggested that 'I come in' to look at the numbers as 'they can be very confusing'

Thanks in advance....this is a great forum...

gqcal · January 2003

Car Man,

Thanks for the info on the liberty. They are adjusting 1% off the residual of 45% for the 15,000 miles. I'm told this is not unusual. Is it?

Anyway, this message is to see if I could get the same info for the Rav4: 36 mo. and 39mo. for 15,000 miles in California. I would get the upgrade package with antilock and the anti-theft system. Thanks again.
&nbs- p; &n- bsp; Gavin

innerloop · January 2003

Hi Carman - Every weekend when I plan to go buy a car, I forget to check in BEFORE the weekend so I'll have the numbers in hand while shopping.. so THIS time - I'll be ready:

I am looking for comparisons between a couple possible makes -- all 12k / 36 month terms in the Nor. Cal region please!

BMW 330Ci Coupe
BMW M3 Coupe
MB CLK320 Coupe
Infiniti G35C 6MT

Hey - at least I narrowed it down to just coupes, right?

Thanks again!

hicaira · January 2003

but it looks like another weekend of car shopping.

Looking at either:
325iT, 36 mo, 15k. Does it make a difference if it is a manual tranny? And are the factors the same for sedan and wagon?

Also on the block: Audi Avant 3.0 Quattro. Same 36/15k.

Thanks again!

HiC

mfullmer · January 2003

Car_Man, you quoted me a residual of 62% the other day for a 2WD Tahoe LT in the southeast. I'm getting a quote of 54% from the dealer. (GMAC lease) Is the 62% maybe a subsidized lease? He is telling me that I do get the $2,000 rebate with the lease.

Thanks for your help.

spatulaman · January 2003

Car_man, I'd like to know what MFs and residuals you show for a 2002 Lexus SC 430 with 11600 miles on it, through LFS. It is certified pre owned, and I'm looking for 15k/36mo. Also, do you know if Mercedes does leases on pre owned cars? Thanks!

PS One more thing...residuals on used cars are a percent of MSRP, just like new cars, right?

landru2 · January 2003

Residuals on used cars are not based on a percentage of MSRP like new cars. There is no MSRP for a used car. They are set at absolute dollar amounts based on their year, equipment and options, and mileage.

aprilsocci · January 2003

I woke up the other morning I live in New York to find Sheriff towing my 2000 BMW 323 for 2 tickets that weren’t paid. Both these tickets were for lack of a registration sticker, which I knew about the tickets since Oct and sent in the paperwork w/ proof of my registration stick to motor vehicle. I was doing a hearing by mail, which the sheriff informed me that it was the total wrong route to go in the first place b/c a lot of times paperwork gets put aside. I asked if I was able to pay the fines then and there so they can release my car. They said after punching in my plates it came up that my registration and license was suspended and that I would need to deal w/ Motor vehicle and then go to the sheriff’s building to pay the fines.
I spent the day back and forth finding out that I was dropped my by insurance carrier in Aug 02. Thus my license is suspended until April 03 and my registration is suspended till June, leaving me no insurance on the car. They said I might be able to have the car towed to my house but I would have to go before the administrative attorney to get the approval.
After spending another day there today I found out that I would need a letter from the lease company giving me the permission to tow the car. So I called the lease company telling them I needed the letter b/c the car was towed. They told me I would have the letter faxed in a few hrs.here I am 6 hrs and 10 phone calls later. I feel they themselves are going to go and tow the car. I’m at my wits end and don’t know where to go with this and I’m not getting straight answers from anyone.
Can someone please tell me if there is someone, an agency or lawyer who can help me?
Can the lease company take the car back and leave me responsible?
What are my options at this point so I know what my morning will en-tail.
I just want my car in my driveway and I’ll do my time w/ DMV

gperr · January 2003

Car_man,

No lottery win for me- just still helping friends. This way it is like I am buying a new car every couple of months- but with other people's money.

Anyway- now my friends are considering the TL-S not just the TL- so- can you share the TL-S MF & res for 36, 39 and 48 months 12K miles. I saw a few posts back someone asked for the TL-S rates- so if you covered part of it @12K miles- cool, no need to repeat what you posted for them- I will see your response to his- just fill in the gaps for me. Thanks

Gregg

indysabre · January 2003

Just saw a lease commercial for 399 a month for Type S last night on TV here in Indiana.

Almost sounds to good to be true. I didn't catch the down payment part. Anyone else see this?

CarMan@Edmunds · January 2003

Welcome aboard, g17. If you are looking for information on leasing you definitely have come to the right place. Let's take a look at the car that you are interested in. If you were to lease a 2003 Acura TL Type S without Navigation through American Honda Finance Corp. right now for 36 months with 15,000 miles per year their base lease money factor and residual value should be .00220 and 59%, respectively. The numbers for an otherwise identical 39 month lease should be .00220 and 58%. AHFC's 12,000 miles per year residual values should be 2% higher than the ones that I mentioned. In order to figure out this car's residual value in terms of dollar values, multiply these percentages times its full MSRP, including destination.

As far as price goes, the Acura TL has been relatively popular since its redesign a few years ago. Only recently have its prices started to drop. It is difficult to say exactly how low dealers in your area will be willing to go on its price, but I have seen posts from individuals who claim to have gotten a TL for a couple hundred over invoice. It certainly will be a lot easier to negotiate on this car than it has been in the past.

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CarMan@Edmunds · January 2003

You're welcome, Gavin. If you were to lease through Chrysler Financial with 15,000 miles per year instead of 12,000 miles per, then your residual value would fall 1% for 24 to 30 month terms. As far as the RAV4 goes, unfortunately I have not seen Toyota's lease program for this vehicle in your area. Sorry I could have not been of more help.

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CarMan@Edmunds · January 2003

Hey innerloop. It looks like I got to your post just in time. Here is the info that you are looking for. If you were to lease a 2003 BMW 330Ci through BMW Financial Services this month for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, their base lease money factor and residual value should be .00150 and 62%, respectively. They are not currently providing any sort of lease support on the 2003 BMW M3, so if you were to lease one through BMW FS right now you would have to use their base standard lease money factor, which I believe is around .00255 for this term and a 3 year, 12,000 miles per residual value of 59%. As far as the Benz goes, if you were to lease a CLK320 Coupe through Mercedes-Benz Credit Corp. right now for 3 years with 12,000 miles per, their base lease money factor and residual value should be .00285 and 65%, respectively. Unfortunately, I can not help you out with the numbers for the Infiniti G35 Coupe because I haven't had an opportunity to take a look at its lease program yet. Infiniti has not been providing any sort of lease support on this car, so I would assume that their lease program on it is not that great. The best deal, lease wise out of all of the cars that you are interested in is probably the 330Ci.

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CarMan@Edmunds · January 2003

Don't worry about it, HiC. You aren't bothering me at all. I'm here to help. Let's take care of your post before the weekend arrives. If you were to lease a 2003 BMW 325iT through BMW Financial Services this month for 3 years with 15,000 miles per, their base lease money factor and residual value should be .00215 and 60%, respectively.

As far as the Audi goes, if you were to lease a 2003 Audi A6 Avant 3.0 through Audi Financial Services this month for 3 years with 15,000 miles per, their base lease money factor and residual value should be .00075 and 51%, respectively.

Good luck shopping this weekend.

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jxlxr · January 2003

Thought this was interesting. This was on the local NBC website. For those of you in NY and CT, lease while you can...

Car Leasing May Become Thing Of Past
N.Y., Conn. Stiffening Laws For Car Manufacturers

POSTED: 2:51 p.m. EST January 16, 2003

NEW YORK -- No more car leasing in New York? The reason?

It has to do with liability. New York, and Connecticut too, have laws providing for "vicarious liability." This means the owner of the vehicle is still liable for damages in an accident, regardless of who was driving the car.

When you lease a car, the manufacturer or the lender is the owner of the vehicle.

Even with zero money down and zero percent financing to buy a car, leasing remains an attractive alternative to many. At its peak, almost one out of two vehicles in the new york metropolitan area, was a lease.

You may drive the vehicle and you pay to insure it, but the leasing company still holds title and owns it. And in New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, the company is liable for damages in case of an accident.

Sot--mark schienberg, greater new york auto dealers assoc. 01:15

"Right now there is about $1.6 billion in potential claims against manufacturers and that's a big concern financially," said Mark Schienberg of the Greater New York Auto Dealers Association.

According to industry trades, a $28 million judgment in Rhode Island against Chase Auto Finance convinced the company to stop writing leases there.

If you've tried to lease a car in New York lately, you may have felt the shockwaves. Chase has almost doubled its acquisition fees, what you pay for administrative costs, to $1,000. And GMAC has just sent this notice to its New York and Connecticut dealers.

It states that it too is effectively doubling acquisition fees beginning March 1. And that it could stop writing leases in New York as soon as May 1.

And Ford may not be far behind.

"We could possibly end leasing in New York because we can no longer afford this unlimited liability which the antiquated law puts on us," said Muzette Hill of Ford Financial.

So where does this leave consumers?

Right now, some lenders are substituting balloon sales agreements for leases. This gives the consumer ownership, but still allows for lower monthly payments until the balloon is due.

However, it also means the consumer pays more in sales tax. A bill to change the law was submitted to the state assembly just this week.

mfullmer · January 2003

CAR_MAN - I got the answer to the difference in residuals on the Tahoe. The 62% is, like you said, without the $2,000 rebate. The 54% was with the $2,000 rebate. When I do the numbers, the difference on the MSRP of this Tahoe ($45,030), between 54 and 62%, is $3,602.40 - much higher than the 2k. I just e-mailed my sales guy and told him I'd be taking the 62% residual instead of the 2k rebate.

Now if only GMAC would process my old Bravada lease transfer faster. It's crazy - it's all approved, the new lessee is happy with the terms but now we're waiting for them [GMAC] to FedEx us the paperwork to sign. Of course they keep reminding me that "they have up to 7 days from the time that the new lessee received the approval letter (Wednesday) to send out the package". I can't imagine telling an employee anything other than "As soon as you get xx, then you send xx" instead of this "you have x days..." crap.

Oh well, other than their indifference to time, I can definitely recommend GMAC and their transfer process to anyone who has a person interested in taking it over.

Thanks again for your help.

iamaddman · January 2003

Car Man,

I spoke to GMAC regarding my smart buy, and was told by the rep that there are rumors of the pull ahead program coming back in mid Feb. Do you have any info on this. If so do you happen to know what lease end date they would be using to determine if someone qualifies. As always, thanks for your help.

njcarguy · January 2003

Car_man,

I am interested in leasing a new Cadillac CTS. I am interested in 24 & 36 month leases with 12K a year in miles. Would like to know he residuals and money factors for both 24/36 months. I am interested in a loaded CTS with Navigation (~40K MSRP). I currently lease a BMW and think that there is some sort of "conquest rebate" available on this car to current lease owners of luxury cars. Have you heard of this?

Thanks in advance for your help.

ncdream · January 2003

Car Man....

The local Lexus dealer gave me the following on a 36 mo/12K mile lease...

residual - 21093
money factor - .00215

What I want to know is where can I go to find lower money factors??? I looked at Toyota and they had money on a Highlander for .0011...that's half...or is .00215 a good rate for today's market. I leased three years ago from the same dealer and the rate then was .0026...it seems to me that money is much cheaper these days!!

Thanks..

innerloop · January 2003

I'm not an expert. but I've been following the rates for a bit, and .00215 is not bad for a popular vehicle rate. It seems most manufacturer rates for non-subsidized vehicles is like 0.0022 - 0.0028.

It seems that three years ago leases were more heavily and universally subsidized by the manufacturers than they are now. These days it seems that you only see really below-market rates if its a car that is not moving or is being replaced (or is a previous model year).

Sounds to me like the dealer isn't gouging you on that, or at least not by much.

nelleke · January 2003

Hi Car man,

I have a question about trading in a leased car early for another lease.

My husband and I want to trade in his Ford Focus 2001 early, the lease ends in January 2004, for the Nissan 350Z. The dealer said it was no problem for them to take over the lease. My question is, how does that work exactly because to me it doesn't seem right if we pay what is left on the lease (about $3000) to them so they can sell the car a year early when its paid for till 2004...I understand that the dealership has costs for taking over the lease and having to sell it but shouldn't they meet us halfway? We're new to this so we have no clue what is "normal" in this situation. I hope you can give us some info.
Thanks!

Nelleke

daviddamore · January 2003

I would like some information on calculating lease prices on an 03' Sequoia Ltd. and a 03' Lincoln Navigator Ultimate. Assuming 36-39 mo., 12K miles.

Thanks

CarMan@Edmunds · January 2003

Jxlxr, the leasing issues in New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island are indeed very troubling. In fact, I started an entire discussion on this subject on this Message Board a week or two ago. It's called "Acquisition Fees in NY & CT" if you would like to check it out.

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CarMan@Edmunds · January 2003

That makes sense, mfullmer. If you lease through GMAC you receive their supported residual value but can not use the consumer cash that is available on the Tahoe. If you lease through an outside lending institution, you do not get the benefit of General Motors' lease support, but can use their consumer cash. If some unaffiliated bank has a competitive enough lease program then it definitely makes sense to lease through them and use the consumer cash. Generally speaking though, more often than not, manufacturers' captive finance companies offer the best lease programs on vehicles.

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CarMan@Edmunds · January 2003

Hey spatulaman. The residual values used to calculate used vehicle lease payments are actually dollar values rather than percentages. These programs are set up this way, because used vehicles do not have any set MSRPs to base percentages on like new vehicles do.

Like Lexus, Mercedes-Benz definitely does offer leases on certified pre-owned vehicles. Unfortunately there is a ton of data to track when keeping tabs on used vehicle lease programs. Instead of just looking at one or two model years worth of vehicles like one has to do with new car lease programs, one has to look at four or five. Plus all of the used vehicles have different mileage and options, making even more variations to track. So I do not keep close tabs on used vehicle lease programs and unfortunately will not be able to give you any numbers for the car that you are interested in. Sorry that I couldn't be of more help.

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CarMan@Edmunds · January 2003

Hey iamaddman. As I have mentioned before, it is difficult to predict what manufacturers will do with their future incentives programs. Having said this, it definitely would not surprise me if General Motors did roll out an early lease termination program next month. Ford is running one on certain models right now and GM had one in November of last year. I will not be able to fill you in on specific details of their program until it is officially announced, but I believe that the last one that they ran let consumers out of their leases up to five months early if they entered into a new GMAC lease.

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CarMan@Edmunds · January 2003

Greetings njcarguy. Let's take a look at the lease program for the car that you are interested in. If you were to lease a 2003 Cadillac CTS through General Motors Acceptance Corp. this month for 2 or 3 years, their base lease rate should be 4.95%. Their 12,000 miles per year residual values for this car should be 64% for 24 month and 54% for 36 month terms. I have not personally heard about any sort of conquest program on the CTS but it certainly would not surprise me if General Motors was running this sort of promotion on it.

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CarMan@Edmunds · January 2003

Hello ncdream. It looks to me as though the Lexus dealer that you are currently working with may be trying to mark-up Lexus Financial Services' base lease money factor for the RX 300 in an effort to add a little additional profit to your deal without you knowing. According to the information that I have seen, LFS' 36 month base lease money factor for the 2003 RX 300 is currently .00200. A factor of .00200 is considered supported and is equivalent to an interest rate of right around 4.8%, which is pretty good for Lexus. The money factors that you have seen for the Toyota Highlander are receiving even more support from Toyota and are significantly lower than what one can expect on most models. If you are able to get your dealer to run your lease of this truck through Lexus Financial Services using their base lease money factor then I would say that you are getting the best available deal on it.

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CarMan@Edmunds · January 2003

Hi Nelleke. Let me begin by saying that if you attempt to get out of your Ford Focus lease a year prior to your scheduled termination date you arel ikely going to end up spending a lot more money than if you had waited until much closer to the end of your lease. Even though the Nissan dealer that you are working with told you that getting out of your current lease would not be a problem, in order for them to do so, they are either going to have to purchase your leased Focus and sell it on their lot or at auction or pay the bank that you are leasing through your remaining lease payments. Unfortunately, they do not have some sort of magic way to get you out of your car for free. As a result, breaking your lease a year early will significantly hurt your bargaining position on the new car that you are interested in and may even force you to roll some negative equity into your next vehicle loan or lease. It is difficult to say exactly how much of your negative equity your dealer will be willing to absorb, but don't expect them to cut you a thinner deal than they would for an average consumer who did not have any negative equity. If I was in your position, I personally would wait until I was closer to my scheduled lease termination date to get a new vehicle.

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ncdream · January 2003

Car man...

Thanks for your response...great stuff.

To follow up on my question...is it possible to get better money factors outside the manufacturers lease people??? If so, do you have any suggestions....in my situation, since Lexus and Toyota are the "same"...I guess it is not possible for Lexus to get the cheaper Toyota money???

Also, I am using a lease calculator that I found on the net, for some reason, my numbers and the dealers numbers aren't even close...I've used these calculators in the past and have hit the number right to the penny..do you have a calculator that you recommend.

Thanks...

ral2167 · January 2003

am confused about leasing...i saw two ads...

lease a camry for 51 months, $0 down, for $269/month

or

lease a camry for 39 months, $0 down, for $259/month...

my confusion is..assuming both camry's have the same MSRP...and everything else pretty much the same, why would someone lease a car for the longer term, at a higher monthly cost??

mfullmer · January 2003

Actually I would never even consider leasing a vehicle through anyone but the manufacturer. I've heard horror stories about how these outside leasing companies really nail you at lease end. I've been very happy with GMAC and they are, relatively, very liberal when it comes to small dings, windshield dings, etc. at lease end.

Worked up the deal on Saturday and pick up the car today. Here's what it worked out to:

2003 Tahoe LT 2WD - 2 Year Lease @ 12k per year.
MSRP: 45,030
Sales Price: 40,507 ($300 over invoice)
Residual: 27,918.60 (62%)
Money Factor: .0026865 (6.5% +/-)
GM Card Money: $1,500 + 1,000 Extra offer that came in mail!!! = $2,500
GM Lease Loyalty money: $500
Additional Cap Cost Reduction: $1,000 (I know, this is frowned upon but it's just a thing I like to do.)
Dealer Fee: $299 - I fought this tooth and nail because when I leased my '02 Bravada and '01 STS in April, 2001 the dealer fees were $185 & 190, respectively. I called both of those dealers while I was in there and talked to each of my salesman and now those same dealers are $285 and $340, respecively!!!!!

Payment = 530.93 + tax. I think I worked a great deal!

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