Questions on Leasing a vehicle.

[Karkov]

I know there was a thread a while back on this but I figured everyone's situation is different so I would make my own thread.

Pros and cons please. Go

When they say x,xxx is due at signing does that go towards the monthly payment or is that straight up just money gone/wasted?! If so that kind of pisses me off because that's dumb.

What types of peoples have you seen normally do leasing? Without stereo-typing too much I mean like, people with lots of money? Business's? Business professionals? traveling salesman? Am I just wrong for thinking that certain people lease over others?

I have a couple vehicles (down from 5) and they are getting older and needing fixes so I am thinking about leasing something brand new, keeping it 100% stock, using it as my daily (I am about a mile from my job), not have it nickle and dime me, etc.

I think I fit into the category some what because I don't rack up too many miles, I plan on leaving it 100% stock, and I make decent money (70k-100k a year depending on how much OT I work) I am excluding my estranged wife's income out of this, lol, she has a Master's degree and has worked at the same place in her field for 8 years and makes a whole lot more than me.

Anything else I should be looking at or thinking about? I was thinking something like a 4 door medium grade Silverado or something along those lines (MN winters)

[meade916]

i would never lease a vehicle unless i DIDN'T like it and just needed a good car....because if you do like it and get attached to it, trust me, that lease comes back QUICK. When that time comes you are left with a choice. Leave it at the dealer, buy it from them, or buy a new car so you can get home. (or call for a ride).

we leased our F150 (TWO F150's ago) and even though i didn't care that much about that truck, it still sucked to see it go and it sucked to be put in a position to do something about it now, or catch a bus home. There may be a few positives for just the right type of people but for me it was mostly negatives...especially when the lease was up.

First and last car i will ever lease. I would rather buy a bucket that is MINE than go through that again.

[gckless]

I think leasing is good if you do NOT want to modify, will drive under the mileage limit, and want a new car every couple years. If you don't care about getting a new car every two or three years, then why not just buy, and then sell in 4-5? Or trade up for a new one. Would probably be paying close to the same, and that money is generally working towards you (of course minus depreciation and all that bullshit. I gets kinda complicated.)

[ILuvJDM]

Just remember that when the lease is up and you give them back the keys, you get nothing in return. I always recommend buying a car if you can afford it, because at least if you decide to sell you have some money in the game. Same with buying a house.

[_paralyzed_]

My Dad started and ran quite a few Napa stores over the years. He's always said that he sold just as many new car parts as old car parts. Shit happens, routine maintenance is more important than miles or age.

Putting any money into an older vehicle can feel like it's nickel and diming you, but is it really $200+ a month in nickels and dimes, or whatever the lease payment would be?

If you want something new, go for it, you work hard and deserve it.

It is something that people with lots of disposable income tend to do.

Most working class folks buy, or buy used.

Yes, that initial down payment is just gone.

[Skullz]

I have never been a fan of leasing, regardless if you walk out every few years with a new car. The biggest problem with that is that you never own one and your always making a payment to the bank on someone else's property, as was stated earlier, i would rather own a pos car that is mine free and clear than something someone else owns, which is why i took out a loan for a car to have the title in my name instead of a banks.

Think of it this way, regardless if it is new or old, you'll always make a car payment, new cars are known payments and old cars are when something needs to be replaced or repaired.

EDIT: Avoid the lease and either buy new or buy old.

[Deeznutz]

If you do not put a lot of miles on a vehicle than you can lease it you want. Drive what you want for 50-60% off the regular car payment.

When I was married. my ex wife received a raise. Came out to $525/month raise! Lucky.........(word removed, nah, she's still a nice person). So we leased a 05 BMW 525. Car was freakin' sweet. It cost nothing out of pocket for the payment, except the dreaded "due at lease signing". I think it was $3500. Free money for the dealership! It's like points when buying a house.

Some leased vehicles come with a maintenance program. We opted for the extended mileage for a few hundred more. The payment started about at around $425, but with the options and mileage, I think it was up to 46k mile limit, the monthly payment quickly rose to $525/ month. Ironically, it was the price of the raise. So that shows there's wiggle room if you negotiate right. We negotiated wrong.

Walking away from a leased vehicle is easy. It's the privilege of driving a bad ass car for pennies on the dollar. If you keep the car nice, it should not cost you anything. I returned the Bimmer with 37k. Still the original tires, and they did not ding me for anything which was odd. I just walked away. So for me it was a good experience.

-Frank

[Karkov]

Thanks all for the input. I think I have decided against it. the money due at lease signing if Effing dumb if you get nothing back. It's like depreciation that you are paying for a car that isn't yours I guess. Also, like said earlier making payments on someone else's property. I just know these MN winters destroy vehicles so I figured if I could let it destroy someone else's vehicle, lol. I would keep a secondary vehicle that was paid off, maybe for stereo or what have you and just lease a daily that could stay stock, drive in shitty weather, park outside the garage, hopefully not fix anything on, drive to work etc. etc. But throwing money away does seem right to me.

Not gonna have the thread locked but the discussion is over, lol. Thanks

Frank, so 525/month plus the 3500 down, figure 2 years? so add another 145.83 onto each month basically so it's more like $670+ monthly if you figure in the 3500 and then you had to give it away.

It's cool that dealerships offer it as an option and I'm sure certain circumstances it's best for people but I think it's a limited crowd.

[Broke_Audio_Addict]

If you have really good credit you can get a good deal on one pay leases which is exactly what it sounds like, you make one total payment and have the car for whatever set amount of time.

My parents got a 3 year lease on a loaded jeep liberty that way for around $5k.

Still unless you buy the car out at the end it's just money gone.

[kirill007]

Most people I see leasing are either business people (tax benefit here) or people that think it's cheaper to lease a car (not the smartest ones) or the third group who likes to change up cars ever 2-3 years and don't care for their car.

Unless you are willing to pay more for a car that should always work with "free" maintenance and "free" exchange of car when it breaks down, I suggest against leasing.

It's like renting a house, you pay for all those years, but when you want to get another house you never see any of that money back.