And I want the payment low....like 250-300 a month. Can I just walk in there and throw them a bunch of cash up front? OR does nissan not like to do that? I mean most people get 0 down total or really low like under 2k for fully loaded max's and there payment is under 400. SO if I put say 5-6K up front can I get a low lease payment.

ps-don't tell me to buy it.

Mike S.

 

Someone can correct me if I am wrong. The benefits of leasing is that one can change cars every so often, and part of the lease can be written off. Therefore, I would think it is better to put in less cash, and have a higher payment so you can write off. Otherwise, better off doing a straight finance instead of leasing.

 

I sold cars for 3 years before my current profession, and I can tell you that leasing is the absolute BEST way to obtain a new vehicle. It is a popular misconception that if you want to own the car until it dies, or if you drive more than the alotted miles (12K-15K per year, depending on the lease structure) that you are better off financing the vehicle.

The truth is that leasing a vehicle IS financing the vehicle. However, with leasing, you are only financing the portion of the car that you are using versus financing the entire vehicle, hence the lower monthly payments.

Keep in mind that leasing a vehicle IS NOT anywhere near the same as, say, leasing an apartment. When you lease an apartment, at the end of the lease, you just hand the keys back in. You are not given the option to purchase that apartment for a specified amount at the beginning of the lease, nor are you allowed to sell the apartment privately for more than your residual to recoup some of the equity you have in the vehicle at the end of the lease.

To answer you question, Mike, yes, you can put more money down (in leasing terms, called a capitalized cost reduction) and reduce your monthly payments. In fact, most dealerships and leasing companies PREFER this since it lessens the financial risk with the leasing company and ensures a higher percentage of approval rates with the leasing companies. You can even go as far as doing a pre-paid lease. This is somewhat akin to prepaid cellular where you would pay the entire leasing fees up front and then drive the vehicle, payment-free for a specified time (usually 36 months) before owing the residual, selling the vehicle and paying off your balance or returning the vehicle to the leasing company.

Either way, good luck with your new vehicle lease. If you have any further questions, feel free to post here.

Jim

 

Mike, what's up? and what's this all about? (besides the obvious... )

-Randy

 

but I pretty much know nothing. What do you negotiate with the dealer? Do you essentially base it off of MSRP or do you negotiate that too? I would like to know the BEST way to go about this....if you've seen my thread, I lost my Maxima in a major accident, but she saved my life. I'm either looking for a new Maxima or something like a 98....depending on costs and what I get in insurance.

Any and all help is very much appreciated.

 

No, you negotiate the price, and I have seen people getting some good deals. With a 3 year lease here in Canada the residual is 58% on the Maxima SE. A longer lease will have a smaller residual.

Get as low a price you can, and they you can figure out how long of a lease, and how much you want to put as downpayment.

Go to www.Edmunds.com and see if they have some tips
there regarding leases

 

I want to lease a new Maxima...

 

You haven't even turned 100k inyour '93!
In your own words, Mike: "You
know what......I like my car again.....I wanna keep it for a while
longer....like 2-3 years.....keep modding etc....why **** away my
savings(which is more than 25bucks ) on a car.....i've good a good one
right here.

Mike S."

Make up your mind!

 

Mike S.,

If it helps, I was looking into leasing a 02 Maxima, a base model with just HLSD. I could buy the car at invoice, with a 48 month lease, 15k per year, $500 down the payment was in the $325-330 per month range. However, recent economic conditions have taken a downturn, and so have resale values...the last time I checked on the same lease was $348 a month (a 51-month would be $332). Leasecompare.com is a good lease financing source.. this is where these numbers came from. With recent changes, the lease-through dealer may be just as cheap now.

Ryan