Did you guys lease or buy? And can you tell me why you made your decision.

What do you guys think is the better route to go as far as buying or leasing the TLS?

 

Bought!

Don't really believe in leasing unless it's for a really expensive car that I KNOW I won't end up buying after 3 - 4 yrs.

I suggest you buy the TL-S because that way you can mod the hell out of it and not worry about anything!! Just my $.02

 

I personally probably will not lease a car for several reasons.

1) I like owning the car myself
2) I mod my cars too much to lease
3) I drive too much
4) I keep my cars in tip top shape, so theres no reason to trade in evey 3 years
5) Personally I feel like leasing is a rip off, you pay so much and in the end you have nothing to show for it. If you want a new ride every 3 years, buy the car and then sell or trade it in, you'll probably come out way ahead.
6) My car is bought and paid for, so in two years I dont have to worry about a major expense of getting another car like leasees do.


Leasing is good for a few reasons also
1)You want a new car every 2-3 years
2)You dont drive that much (you wont pass the mileage limits leases have)
3) Many get cars they may not have been able to afford otherwise
4) Some can write off leases as business expenses


My friend leased his CL-S a few years ago, he hates it. Makes him every mad that whenever he puts money into maintenance and upkeep, that hes not going to see the benefits of it. His car also has a few dings and dents in it from parking in Manhattan, and hes gonna have to spend a bit to fix it up just to give it back. Plus the hastle of trying to get a replacement car already. He's definitely buying his next car.

 

I bought. I think of it this way..........if I'm used to finance payments on a $30k TL, then in 5 yrs when it's paid off, it'll still be worth $20k+.......so since i'm already used to the payments, if I wanted to, I could buy a car for $50k! I like my way of thinking!

 

I leased... or "Creative Financed" the vehicle. My basic idea was I change cars like underwear. I don't drive more than 700-800 miles a month. Granted at the end of the 3 year term I have a high residual ($20K), but If I want out I can still sell privately. I also was able to trade my old car E36 M3 (95) for 17K take 10K home and down 7 for the car. My monthly payments on the car aren't bad at 340 a month for 3 years with a 20K residual at the end due. I did that so I would have some money to take care of bills and to mod the car with. Granted if I get stuck or want to keep the car after he term I need 20K to pay it off or finance it and I probably would pay alot more than buying it out right. I think my deal to buy out right would have been 17K down 400 a month on a 60 month deal so total payment would be 41K. I agreed to a 32500 price. I would look at your situation. Do you need money now or do you have a lot to down. Do you think in 3 years you will want something else. Or do you drive a ton over 1000-1500 miles a month consistently. I personaly would like to buy the car but in the situation I was in I needed to have some money now and it was hard to turn down $10K cash. Also now after 3 months of driving the car stock I have the stock body kit and Apexi WS Coilovers going on the car this weekend and trying to pick which rim I will buy.

 

Acura TL ha a very high residual which makes it very attractive to lease. I leased mine.

 

i highly recommend leasing this car because for one the warranty will cover it for the term of the lease ....second if u get a car with a tranny problem you can give it back and not get stuck tryin to unload it to a private buyer. three if you want to buy it at the end of the lease it almost works out to the same cost as if u were to finance it ....the only advantage i can see in buyin it ...is if you had the 30g's and did not wanna pay the interest on the note other wise to me its the same damm thing. Just go down to the dealer and ask him to work out all the figures on paper for a lease as opposed to loan.

 

I leased because the job I'm going to get is going to provide a company car, so it didn't make much since for me to pay an extra couple hundred of dollars a month for a car that will primarily be driven on the evenings and weekends. Plus I enjoy getting something new every 2 - 3 years, anyways. I only had to pay first months payment down; with a buy I would of had to put $3k - $4k down just to get a reasonable payment - just didn't make much sense to me.

 

I lease because I sell the car 6 mos to 2 yrs before the term is up, solving to issues...1. getting out of the lease early and not having to worry about mileage limitiations. and 2. having a much lower monthly payment.....for me, it's the best solution and has worked before very nicely....

 

I have in the past leased cars. But purchased, rather than leased, wife's Acura 2001 MDX (purchased July 2001), and my 2003 TL-S/Navi (purchased May 1, 2002). The reasons are that my wife puts only about 7,000 miles per year on the MDX and I'll put maybe 10,000 miles per year on the TL-S. We plan on keeping these cars a long time, at least 10 years -- maybe forever! Amortizing the purchase price over a long period of time is more cost effective. With a lease you have less money tied up in the car initially and for monthly payments, but if you just compare leasing a car every 39 months over a 10 year period to owning the same type of car over that same time period, you will spend less money on a purchase. Of course, you give up that new car high every 3 years or so. It just really boils down to what is important to and at what cost. One advantage of a lease, other than lower initial costs, is not having to sell the car at the end of the lease. And if you having a new car every 3 years of so is really important and don't mind paying for that, then lease. Another little hidden cost on leases is that most of them, including Acura, have 39 month terms, which means you are into paying a new annual registration fee for the fourth year before the lease ends. I think they do this to encourage people to turn them in before lease end and hopefully for a new Acura.

But for us, keeping the cars longer and saving money for kids education, retirement and other things, are more important than the feel-good pleasure of a new car every 3 years or so.

But there is no right or wrong answer. You just have to decide what factors are more important to you and your family. You might want to just list the pros and cons on a piece of paper to help you make an informed decision.

 

I don't lease for several reasons, the main one being that I don't like to have to get a new car on a set schedule. Besides, I put a lot of miles on that sucker because of my job.

lawman

 

How long are you going to have this vehicle?

If the answer is 5 or more years, then buying is the way to go. Put down about $8K and you will have around a $500 per month payment. After 5 years, you own the car with about 60K miles on it. You can still enjoy the car for another 4 or 5 years with no payments.

If the answer is less than 5 years, lease is the answer. Put a little down and just keep making the monthly payment.



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I leased my CL-S beacuse....


1- I didn't have that much $ for a downpayment
2- My credit isn't that great(it's too new) so I would have had a high intreast rate.
3- I pay less per month.
4- I got a great lease deal with 15K miles/year.

I haven't sank, or plan to sink any money for maintance in the car. I'm going by the book. I have 10K miles, the only maintance I have done is 1 oil change. Total car cost....$11.48

 

Don't you need higher credit rating to lease than to buy?

 

I imagine that in order to get a loan for financing you also need to have a good credit rating.

 

The total credit risk for leasing is less then buying. The lease/finacing company doesn't need to give you as much to lease as to buy. The car isn't yours. I know when I fianced my 300M. Even with $6k down, & a co signer, I was still paying close to $700/month! That was just the car not insurance. If I kept it & dragged it out the 5 years I would have paid $42K on a $31K car, & had a car worth less then $10K. I'd rather lease. I also heard when your lease cars each 3-4 years, it's way better for your credit then fianceing a new car every 5-7 years.

 

Just buy it - leases allow the dealer to screw with numbers, interest rates, residual values, fees, etc. And they just talk forever.

Plus you will have more ownership "pride" if it is yours and not "theirs." As for selling it later - If you were buying a used vehicle (never a great option) would you want one coming off a lease - where the previous driver knew he was giving it up - that is like buying a used rental car from Hertz.

 

The dealer only screws with the numbers if you let them. My buddy used to be a car sales man for years and he knows all the dirty tricks they pull so if I lease I'll be bringing him along so they don't even attempt to screw me.

 

How much did you put down and how much are you paying a month?

 

I leased too, but did I read you right that you leased and modded it BIG NO NO there bro!! IF the service folks find out, your waranty is voided and your stuck with a modded car that has a weak as$ tranny!! TAKE OFF THOSE MODS ASAP!! even different tires are considered a mod!

 

here's another modded leased car!! :wow: Its an epidemic I tell ya! Are you aware of the fact that you are modding american honda finances car?? what do you think they'll think about that? If the dealer finds out your toast!

 

Totally untrue!

I asked before hand, & had 1 oil change with no problems. The warranty can not be voided unless there a problem with the car that is proven to be caused by the mod. It's the Law. As far as modding a leased car goes, as long as it's back to stock when it's gets turned in, there's no problem. Like my CL-S. My AEM, sways, & strut bar are removable. I have all the stock parts, Including the stock tires & can put them back on.