I'm currently financing my 97 max for something like $375 a month. Now of course a 2000 or 2001 would be in the mid $400 range I couldnt afford. He said I could lease a fully loaded 2000 SE for under 400 a month. SO my question is.. If I plan on buying the car is leasing still a decent option? I mean after the lease is up at least I can buy it, and it will have good mileage

 

Im leasing mine now, I usually get a new car every 2 or 3 years though. If you want to buy it when your lease is up, you will know its a good car. Or you can sell it out-right before the end of the lease. I had a BMW Z3 before my Max, it was a lease also. I had over 36K miles after 2 years, and it was a 3 year lease with only 12K miles per year. I knew I didnt want to buy the car, and I would have had to pay huge fines for the over milage, so I just sold it for the payoff.

If you lease it, if you can keep within the milage, you have 3 options at the end. Thats what I like about it. And I only pay $375/month for my SE totally loaded.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by JMax2K

Quote:

If you lease it, if you can keep within the milage, you have 3 options at the end. Thats what I like about it. And I only pay $375/month for my SE totally loaded.

Ditto here JMax2k...Ive got a loaded 2000 SE for which I pay the unprincely sum of $374.69 a month including tax! Dirt cheap for a car of this value. I agree...if you want new car every few years (like I do) leasing is perfect. I usually take 3 year leases, and trade it in after 2. There will always be a dealer around who will buy the lease out t sell a new car. Provided, of course, there arent 100,000 miles on the car after 2 years! My car on a buy, with the same amount of money down (only about $1200!), would have been way over $500 a month for 60 months. Leasing wins for me!

 

Great, thanks for the replies. Now that I know 2 people leased fully loadeds for $375.. I could easily sell my car and lease a new one because its the same monthly price. I only drive about 12k a year anyway, school and work are very close. But.. lets say I decided to BUY the car after the 3 year lease, is that going to be really expensive? Or fairly a good price considering I made 3 years payment on it.

 

up here in Canada they charge provincial as well as federal sales taxes even on used vehicles purchased from a dealer. So whatever the buy-out price is, I or whoever bought the car would have to add another 15% in sales tax on top of that. the one thing I really liked about my Subaru lease I just finished off was that, other than oil changes, I never went in for those "major" servicings. You know, the kind where they keep your car in for 4 hours and charge you an arm and a leg. When I gave the car up,they never bothered to look at the service record. THAT was a good deal. Dropping off the car and winding up the paper work was sooooo easy that I kicked myself for buying my new Maxima, rather than leasing it..then again, maybe Nissan leases are more particular. Read the fine print

 

Leasing should work well if you plan to purchase you vehicle at the end of the lease - essentially you are paying the payments on ~ a six year loan.

On the other hand, there are some negatives to leasing. If you make any modifications to your car, you will have to remove them and restore the vehicle to its original condition prior to turning it in on the lease.

 

When you lease a car, the purchase price at the end of the lease is determined upfront as part of the lease agreement. It is determined by the residual value of the car (percentage) based on the lease term and the MSRP. You might do some studying on leases before you try to lease a car (edmunds.com) or they can really stick you!

 

[/I][/QUOTE]

When you lease a car, the purchase price at the end of the lease is determined upfront as part of the lease agreement. It is determined by the residual value of the car (percentage) based on the lease term and the MSRP. You might do some studying on leases before you try to lease a car (edmunds.com) or they can really stick you! [/I][/QUOTE]

I agree 100%.....If you know what you are doing, leasing is a great deal. Just gotta know the games the dealers try to play. Ive been through it enough times to be able to play right along with em...hehehehehehhe. Sometimes, they really are funny! Its strange how the same car can start out at $600 a month with $5000 down and end up at $375 a month with $100 down! Youve just gotta play the game, get the dealer to the point where they will let you walk out the door. Then, you know they are at rock bottom. Repeat this at a few dealers, and then you will know where things really stand. Assuming all prices are comparable, give the deal to the nicest guy!

 

When you lease a car, you are paying the difference between the sale price and the residual value plus interest on the sale price. For example:
<ul>
<li>sale price = $10,000
<li>Residual value = $6000
<li>Interest rate = 10%
<li>Lease term = 24 months<br>
<li>10,000-6000 = 4000
<li>4000 + (10,000 * .10 ) = 5000
<li>5000 / 24 = $208 per month (not including tax and title)
</ul>

This is a basic example. In real life, you have to re-calculate interest as the amount you've paid off increases.

Now, the benefit of leasing is that you usually don't have to worry about maintenance costs and you get to drive a new car more often.

The down sides are:

<ul>
<li> you can lower your residual value if you exceed your mileage allowance, thus increasing the amount you owe</li>
<li> if you re-finance you pay interest on the residual value twice</li>
<li>no trade-in $ to use towards next car</li>
<li>the dealer can assess additional "excessive wear" penalties</li>
</ul>

<br>
Obviously, I'm not a big fan of leasing.

Bob Graff.

 

Leasing can make a lot of sense for a number of people

1) If you want to buy the car after the lease, leasing and then purchasing will essentially allow you to finance over a long period (potentially up to 10 years). This will permit you to buy a car for which you could not otherwise afford the payments.

2) If you always want a new car every 2-3 years, leasing can make the process easier (not cheaper, just easier).

However, manufacturers and dealers love leasing, because few consumers understand them well. This allows them to charge higher prices (i.e. rip you off) than you would otherwise pay.

In order to get a fair deal on a lease, you have to negotiate the price of the vehicle independently (i.e., without letting the dealer know if you are buying or leasing). You then have to negotiate the financing - looking at both manufacturer lease programs and 3rd party lessors. In order to evaluate the deals, you have to compare both the interest rate charged and the residual offered. In order to do this properly, an MBA in finance and a good quality financial calculator (or experience setting up financial models in Excel) are necessary.

I have both leased (at a favorable deal) and purchased vehicles. But, unless you have the time and the expertise to properly evaluate the lease terms, you are less likely to get screwed by simply purchasing the car.

 

If you plan on buying it, and you can negotiate a good "rate" -- be careful, in leases these are hidden -- leasing can be excellent. Low down, and if you really are going to buy it, there are no mileage restrictions.

The new "smartbuy" plans they have now are simply modified leases. This is what I did with my i30. I am paying low payments now, and I have a mother-payment due the 60th month. Then I own the car. The finance rate works out to 6.8%. No way I'd put a dollar more than I had to down on a contract with a rate that low.

Later,
/aac

 

I have to disagree with MI2KSE.

<br>

<br>

Loan vs. Lease calculator

<i>Financially speaking</i>, leasing is not a good idea. Yes you can drive a car that you can't afford, but that's the point. <b>You can't afford it</b>. <br>

On a $20,000 car, financed over 5 years:


(rate = 7%, tax = 5.75, residual = 12,000, term = 60 )<br>
Lease payment = $264 * 60 = 15,811<br>
Loan payment = $419 * 60 = 25,128<br>

Now, let's say you decide to sell the loan car:<br>

25,128 - 12,000 = 13,128<br>

That's a $2683 difference.<br>

What if you decide to re-finance the lease car:

(rate = 7%, tax = %5.75, term = 36 )<br>
Loan Payment = $392 * 36 = 14,106<br>

<b>Total output (trade/turn in car after 60 months):</b><br>

Loan = $13,128
Lease = $15,811
Difference = $2683<br>

<b>Total output (keep/re-finance car after 60 months):</b><br>

Loan = $25,128
Lease = $29,917
Difference = $4889

 

If you ever wanted to cheat with mileage I don't condone this type of behavior but I'm sure someone as asked before. Also what you do with this information is up to you not me. What you do is disconnect your speed sensor if your over mileage. You will have to reset the ECU so get a service manual and find out how. Then once the next year comes by you can reconnect it and erase the error code. Again this is very illegal and if the dealer finds out you did this intentionally you could be taken to court for fraud. Other than that there are cheaters and losers, just don't be the latter hehe.

 

if i lease and intend to buy the car when the lease is up, is there a mileage penalty? Or does the penalty only come into affect when you turn the car back in?

 

If you decide to buy it, they never see the car. So don't worry about mileage.

/aac

 

My last car was a brand new 1998 Z3. I leased it for 3 years, 12K miles/year. After 2 years I already had 36K miles so I sold the car for the payoff. No money out of my pockets except for my monthly payment of $375/month.

After that I got my new loaded 2K Max SE, no money down, 3 year lease. $375/month. I will either drive it until the lease is up, turn it in, or sell it for the payoff...

 

keep in mind that in two years if your financial situation were to change for the worse with a lease you'd be tied into at least 12 more rent payments, with a purchase you could duck out and sell the thing for more than you owe.

yes the lease payment is lower the whole time, but then again if you can't afford the purchase payments, maybe you should look for a less expensive car...

 

Obviously you are one of the many people that dont realize that you can sell a leased car outright just as you can with a car you are purchasing.

 

hah yea, I wanna thank you guys for hooking me up with this info. Everyone thinks im crazy because I just got my 97 less than a year ago and its fully loading and mint condition, but im so in love with the 5th gen, and the only way I could get one, was to keep payments under $400 a month. And I dont think I could do this via a finance, I could probably put like 2 g's down though.