Saturday I received a new payment book in the mail and a letter from the bank on my lease. Recentley our State sales tax increased 1%, therefore the tax on the payment increased also. It only made the payment go up $5, but that still sucks! I really like my car but was stupid to lease it, you live and learn.

 

I did the calculations, Lease only makes sense if you want to keep your car for 4 or more years.

It all depends on your life-style, if you plan changing cars every 2-3 year lease is better than buying, but if you plan to drive the same car for 4+ years you are better off buying it.

 

__________________________________________________ _
OK, here's my take on leasing. I've leased a couple of times in the past.

Leasing is an alternative way of financing a vehicle. But, when you pay for it each month, you're paying for someone elses car.
When you wash it or wax it, your'e cleaning someone elses car.
When you spend money to fix it, you're fixing someone elses car.
When you drive it, your'e driving someone elses car.
When you pay for insurance, you're insuring someone elses car.
...and be careful about dings, you'll get charged when you return it. Oh, and don't forget the "return fee" or "extra mileage fee" which could run into hundred of dollars.

I would prefer to get a cheaper car than put up with this bullshit!

It is good if you can write it off as an expense.
Ken

 

The Acura salesman really pushed me to lease my car. I just had to flat out tell him "Look... If you wanna make a sale, you better lay off with the lease crap. I'm NOT interested!!!"

Leasing is for some people, it's just not my cup of tea.

 

Well, I'll stick up for a lease. For some it's a better way to get a new car. Yeah so It's not "really" mine.(big deal) I don't have to worry about warranties, or excessive maintance(book says change oil every 7500 miles) I dont have to worry about resale, & since I got 15K miles a year, I don't have to worry about excess milage. Not everyone can afford, or has good enough credit to fiance a new car. I didn't have the $$ for a downpayment. I didn't want a car payment of more then $400/month. For me I been though the fianced car route. I fianced a 300M. Even with 6K down, I was still paying close to $600/month, with my non credit history, on a car with a heavly declining resale rate Just didn't make sense. So I tried leasing. This is my first lease, so far I have no complaints, & it will help my credit in the process.

 

As I said, if you plan to keep the car for 2-3 years lease is better ( you save more $ ).
Do the math, and you will see. When you sell 2 year old car the depreciation is so big that you will lose more money. You also have to consider your downpayment and interest rate... but over all, 2-3 years is definatly better to lease!

 

The depreciation is figured into your lease. Part of your monthly payment is based on the value of the car at turn in.

I'm not saying leasing a car is a bad thing. It's just not for some people as leasing it is good for others. You have to weigh the pros and cons and make sure you READ YOUR CONTRACT BEFORE YOU SIGN.

 

cars are by nature a very very bad investment....worse than the friggn stock market lately!!! hahaha, seriously though, cars are a horrible investment, the cost of a new one is inflated, they lose value incredibly fast, and require additional money to operate and maintain...the only saving grace with a car is if you keep it for a long time....if i sell my CL-S now, i will be lucky to break even....if i sell my CL-S in 4 years, i will have paid a total of about 31,000 with tax, finance charge from the loan.....in 4 years my car will only have 50-60k miles on it...at that point, the car should be worth (im hoping) at least 14-15 thousand dollars...now that 14-15 thousand will be MY money to play with, not money i still owe to a honda finance....that 14-15k will be a kick ass down payment on a new car, and i wont even have to have a CASH downpayment...or lets say i keep the car for an additional year...so in 5 years...my 2002 CL-S with 65k miles should be worth about 13-14 thousand dollars, but because i kept it for an additional year after paying it off, i can save my car payment amount (502.55) every month for that year so in the end of that one year after its paid off, i will have $6030.60 in cash PLUS the 13-14 thousand that my car is still worth...so now i have about 20 thousand dollars toward a new car!!!! just because i kept my car for a total of 6 years!! damn, 20,000 is a hell of a down payment. and if you keep the car an ADDITIONAL year after the payoff it jsut gets better, lets say the car is only worth 10,000 bucks with 75,000 miles on it, but at this point, i was able to save an additional 6,030 dollars, plus the intrest on that money in the bank for 2 years, i should have about 12,500-13,000 bucks plus the 10,000 CL-S....thats friggin 23,000 bucks of my cold hard cash waiting to be spent on the next car....this alone is the perfect example of why buying a car is so much more smart if you plan to keep it for awhile....

 

Hey Ken Schwartz,,
when you brought the car it's still the banks car so there is no difference if you want to keep the car then buy it at the end of youe lease. if you drive alot of miles then a lease is not for some people unless you pay for extra miles!!!!

 

65K miles in 5 years? I could never keep it that low.

 

my .02. I agree, if you are going to keep the car definately finance. If you think after three years you are going to want the next model, seriously consider leasing. You are paying for the depreciation and the rent cahrge when leasing. You do not have the burdon of decreasing depreciation. If you sign a lease and the residual is %59 and the car after three years is worth %51 you just turn it in. With financing you have the burdon of the losing %49 of the value. If now you want to trade it in. You take that hit. You have to know what you are signing when you lease.
Residual value, term, money factor, cap cost. You need to understand all of this so you do not get ripped. One Acura dealer quoted me a residual of %51 and money factor of .003. Another quoted me a %57 residual and .00255. Big difference in monthly payment. Also in the case that you car is worth more at the end, although unllikely, you can buy and trade it in for extra cash. I leased an s4 before the CLS and was given a %52 residual at the end it was worth about %55. With leasing you can defer your option to own. Maybe you will love your car in threee years or maybe you will not? Anyway hope this helps.

 

Yes, "if you plan to keep it for awhile". But you know, people have different life styles... someone may want to drive new car every 2-3 years, and there is nothing wrong with that, its a matter of preference.

You will be better off leasing for short period rather than buying new car and few years latter selling it and getting riped off.

 

For my tastes, leasing is the way to go. I have never won with purchasing a car, although admittedly, I don't have the time to deal with selling it outright, so using as dealer trade, I always seem to get hosed. I also get bored with cars and seems like after a few years there is something newer, and more exciting out there. To date, I haven't had a problem with lease returns, body dings, etc... I have even turned in a car over mileage and made out. I'm sure they (dealer) is hiding the cost somewhere, it just seems that they play with whatever it is you are focusing on, then manipulate some other figure behind the scenes...

In my mind, I always figured I would have a car payment, just like having a credit card payment, so if I know I am not going to keep the car, why even bother?? My car payment is lower and I'm able to drive a car that would normally be above my budget, I don't worry about maintenance or costly breakdowns, and I'm always in a fresh car. Might not be the best way to go, but works for me! I envy you guys who can sit in the same car for years and years... I just can't do it..

 

u lease a car..u need to return it finally and u pay a bit more by financing it..u get the keep the car at the end of your term..so what do u say...
besides people leasing cars for business use..i mean for real business purpose.such as construction work..or commercial use..that will not take care of the cars well.as they are going to be return at the end..so..especially do not buy any cars from car rental companies..u will be amazed by how customers treat the cars..

 

Yes, that's true...you can buy it back from the lease company. The problem is those slick shits will usually figure it to be worth more the actual value. They will sca-rewwww you! At least when you get through paying off the bank, the car is yours. Keep at for a couple of more years with no payments. I would hate to pay all those extra charges when it comes time to turn it in. Read your contract.

 

the basis of the complaint is sales tax..........even though the tax went up, you are still paying less tax on the vehicle by leasing it