There was a previous topic about the lease deals on the Type S - but there were a few questions left un answered. Could any of you who know answer them:

1. What is the residual value % the lease has been based on?

2. What has been the money factor for the lease?

And if you would feel comfortable telling us:

3. What are your payments, time period (24,36,39, etc...), miles per year, money down, accessories included?

Basically, what are the details of the lease deals those of you who leased? I am just comparing the lease/buy.

Thank you ahead!

 

1. Residual values are generally very good on the TLS. The percentage depends on the length of the lease and whether or not you get the navi. I did a 48 month lease on a TLS with the navi, and the residual value was 53%.

2. This is where Acura sucks. The money factors are not very good. I ended up getting .00345, which seems to be about the going rate. I saw someone on this board that managed to get something like .00275, but I couldn't find anything close to that (maybe it was some local bank or leasing company that was making the deal). Anyway, the big problem is that Acura does not subsidize their leases like a lot of the other luxury brands (most notably BMW, which is why you can usually lease a comparably equipped 330i for about the same payment as a TLS, even though the bimmer costs $5000 more).

3. I did a 48 month/15k mile lease. I paid a total of $1135 at signing - security deposit plus first month's payment. My payments are $560/month. I could have lowered the payments a lot by putting a couple thousand down, but I really don't see the advantage to doing a cap reduction on a lease. Also, for comparison, that payment is only slightly higher than what I was paying to buy my '00 TL on a 48 month note at 7.25% - big difference was that car costs $5000 less, and I put $10,000 down to get the payment to that level. So, for the same monthly payment, I am saving about $15,000 in up-front costs.

Here's how the numbers work out, if I keep the car for 60,000 miles:

Leasing - total paid for vehicle is $26,880 over the 4 years.

Purchase - the drive out on the car was $36,400. Assuming I put nothing down (same as the lease) and finance for 4 years at 7% , I would pay a total of $41,838. Assuming the same residual value as the lease - I could trade it in for $17,900. So, my theoretical cost over 4 years is $23,938.

According to these numbers, you come out about $750 a year better of buying, but you have to also consider:

1. We assumed you could trade-in the vehicle for $17,900 after 4 years. There is no way in hell you will get that from a dealer. You might get it from a private party sale, but you have to go through the hassle of selling the car yourself.

2. To come out ahead, you are relying on a higher resale value. What happens if something occurs to hurt the resale value? What about '98 TL owners, who say a new improved model come out the next year that costs $5000 less than what they paid for their vehicles. Do you think that hurt their resale value? Sure did.

3. What happens if you have a wreck during that 4 years? Even if the damage is repaired, it will hurt your resale value. If you are leasing, as long as you repair the vehicle, it's the lease company's problem if they have to knock a couple thousand off the price because it's been wrecked before.

4. What if the economy is really soft when you try to sell your vehicle, or there is a glut of used cars on the market (which is more of a problem now, with 35% of new cars being leased, there is a flood of 2-4 year old cars hitting the used market every year). Again, that's the leasing company's problem.

5) Let's say that things go really well and the car is worth $19,000 at the end of the lease. I can buy it for the residual value ($17,900) and turn around and sell it to make a profit.

On the other hand, if I am going to keep the car longer, then I would be better off buying it.

Just food for thought!

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">[This message has been edited by mikester on April 16, 2001 @ ]</font>

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">[This message has been edited by mikester on April 16, 2001 @ ]</font>

 

Thanks a lot for all of the info!
Those were the numbers and factors I was looking at too.
Acura seems to really get you on the money factor, like you said. Residule high should mean low lease, but then they slap a high money factor on that. Again thanks for you thoughts and info!

 

No problem. Let us know what you end up doing.

 

Mikester, you left off one other big advantage. If your car is stolen, you just lease another. All you are out is your bank fees. (that's the reason one should never put any money down on a lease, you don't get it back). No worry about the depreciation that the insurance company deducts from your claim if you owned.