Hi all,

Just curious how many of you bought vs. leased your RDX? I just leased a 21' RDX Aspec. I really like the vehicle a lot. The reason I leased this time around is because I always find myself trading my cars in every few years for the latest and greatest. I know, not financially smart, but it's what I do. My wife, however, has already mentioned buying this vehicle out after the lease, so who knows.

Anyway, just curious

 

After buying something like 17 cars in 50 years of driving, I finally started leasing a few years ago. I guess it dawned on me that I was never going to drive a car into the ground… 🥴 First, a 2018 CR-V, and now my 2020 RDX Advance SH-AWD. IMO, leasing is a better option for higher value cars. Residual value tends to be higher, finance costs can be low (if you know the right questions to ask), and monthly lease payments can be significantly lower than loan payments. Trading in to the same manufacturer also gets you a decent deal on lease-end cost waivers. Or even if you trade up mid-lease, as I did with the CR-V. Getting the latest tech every three years is more than a luxury, as I’m not getting any younger. My thoughts to use or lose…

 

I'm in the same boat as bbstenor. Recently retired and drive less than 10K per year. Wife drives a 17 RDX and I have had my eye on the 21 TLX. When I started to have some issues with my 18 Accord, I test drove the 21 TLX and was hooked as soon as the test drive was over. Purchasing a 50K vehicle did not seem very prudent, and I realized I want to get a new vehicle every 3 years, so I pulled the trigger and leased. NO regrets what so ever. Leasing allows you to drive a car that provides all the bells and whistles you would want in a vehicle. As long as you can keep the miles within the limits provided by the lease, you should be OK.

 

Just out of curiosity, what did it cost you penalty wise to upgrade mid-lease from the CR-V to the RDX?

 

Nothing. The Acura dealer took it in trade at about $1,000 above NADA (it was low mileage and pristine), minus the current lease buyout price, and gave me the appropriate residual value, money factor and sticker discounts on the RDX.

 

Nice! So, I could potentially trade my 21’ RDX into Acura early for a new one? How does that work on a lease?

 

We always buy, or at least always have bought. We also always owned two cars with one payment.

Yes, it is less expensive to buy and keep compared to an ongoing, never ending lease payment.

However, my other car is a 2014 without the driving aids, and had I leased it, I would have replaced it, and the replacement too, by now. We are only putting 5-6K a year on it, and it is paid off. I have done the math a million times, and about now, sometime during the beginning of the third lease, I would have paid out the entire price of the car, counting the initial lump sum, the monthly payments, and other fees, taxes, etc., And the car currently has a trade-in value of ~$12,000.

I do think that when we go down to one car, though, we may start to lease, just for the convenience of always driving new.

 

it all depends on the market. Last summer when I upgraded, they were looking to get rid of new cars that had been on the lot six months or longer. Now, lightly used cars are golden, since new production is hampered by the computer chip shortage. Next year, or two years from now, it’ll likely be a totally different market scenario. Or back to “normal” whatever that is.

 

The key words are “and keep.” If you turn over cars every three years or so, as I have, you’d have a constant loan or lease payment either way. Buying also makes your trade-in subject to the whims of the used car pricing market when you do want to upgrade. You just walk away at the end of a lease if the trade-in discussion doesn’t benefit you.

 

I live in Michigan. Between bad roads, salt & snow, extreme weather changes (intense heat then cold, shrinking and expanding all parts, not to mention cold morning starts), buying doesn’t make sense. I’m surprised we aren’t specially penalized on residual value. I had a 2002 civic that i had for 8 years. I did the math on repairs and I ended up paying $300 a month for the 8 years. Tires, brakes, ball joints, shocks/struts, not to mention cleaning products which were not factored into my math. Then I sold it to my brother and he had to put a new cam in it then it eventually just died.
Again with michigan, you cannot keep the vehicle nice enough (forgot high mileage because everything in this stats is based upon driving your car) to stay ahead on the value unless you dont drive the thing. So at least with leasing you aren’t putting money into repairs and you are guaranteed a value at the end of the lease.

 

Just like on a loan, a lease always has a real-time payoff amount. It might be on the website of the leasing company when logged into your account but you can for sure get it by calling them. Basically, the concept is, if the market value of the car is higher than the current payoff amount then you just trade it in and the dealer pays off the lease. It's much harder to do with a lease because you're not paying off as much of the car with each payment. But in a hot used market, it's possible.
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If you are trying to sell it in the private market then you either have to use something like Escrow.com with their title transfer service, or you have to pay it off yourself first and then reimburse yourself with the sale proceeds. The leasing company will demand the money in full before releasing title and the buyer will expect the title when paying you. Escrow.com is a 3rd party service that "holds" everything in escrow until the full transaction is complete so I've found buyers willing to put up the money before having the title available due to the safety of using Escrow.com

 

I think the last time I got rid of a car that was less than 10 years old was a 1985 car that had its transmission replaced at 45K.

 

Financially, that is the way to do it. However, I get bored with my vehicle after a few years. Plus, I always like the newest technology.

 

Depends on your life style and how much money you are willing to spend on cars.
if you must have new car every 3 years, lease is certainly better

 

Bought ours. Wife’s car. Will probably keep for 8-10 years. Acuras are very reliable and last a long time. As for the old lease v. buy question, the total cost should be extremely close. Here is a current lease on a base, FWD RDX, 10,000 miles per year, 3 years. You pay $3,000 upfront and have a $409/m lease payment for 36 payments. Total cost of $17,724.

Or you by the same RDX for $40,000 and trade it in three years later with 30,000 miles on it. If the car depreciates 17% per year (which may be high based on only 10,000 miles per year), it will be worth about $22,871. That $17,128 of depreciation is the total cost and is essentially the same as the total cost to lease. The main benefit to leasing is the convenience of just returning the car keys and moving on. There is also more certainty. But the cost to lease should be about the same as the cost to buy and trade-in. 6 of one, ½ dozen of another.

 

My wife’s Accord EX-L is 7+ years old. I want to upgrade to a 2021 Accord Touring in order to get all the new driving aids and conveniences. She is not interested.

 

Sounds familiar....

 

Same here, except my wife likes the upgrades, but is more financially conscious then I am

 

My wife had a '99 Accord EX-L and traded it for a '08 Accord EX-L. In 2017, she traded that for a 2017 RAV4 which she inexplicably liked more than a CR-V. I don’t think she’ll keep it for 8-9 years though. We’re starting to consider going down to one car, probably in a year or two.

 

our problem is that we are both financially conscious. I think it is worth it, she does not. Numbers are immaterial.

 

Sounds like my wife! Her 2013 (purchased in 2012) Accord EX-L Coupe has 48,000 miles on it, is in perfect condition, and there is no way she would give it up. When I purchased the RDX, I asked her if she wanted the new car. “No” was all I got! I was a little disappointed, as I really wanted a 2-door (was not interested in a CUV either) but 2 coupes in the family wasn’t going to work.

The Accord has long been paid off and owes us nothing. For me, even with putting on far fewer miles than we used to, buying is the way to go. I hate car payments!

 

We've purchased and leased; however, our last 12 cars we're leased (to start). If we like the vehicle, we'll buy at the end of the lease. I always tell my family and friends the following...leasing is not for everyone and it can be very costly if you don't know what you're doing. If you play the game right, it can be very advantageous. The tax advantage is huge (again, if you know what you're doing).

Lease

• If you drive 10k - 15k miles a year
• If you plan to trade in your cars every 3 - 5 years
• You value the latest technology
• You're not sure you can trust the brand or vehicle (that's why I leased my Jeep Gladiator - I'm not sure how it'll hold up)
• You prefer your vehicle be under warranty or prefer free maintenance (if applicable)
• If you're willing to wait for the right time to lease (when the money factor is low and the residual is high)

Purchase

• If you consistently drive less than 10k miles a year (you won't get your money's worth)
• If you drive more than 15k miles a year (most leases are $0.25 for every mile over - it adds up)
• If you plan to keep your vehicle 5+ years
• You're not concerned with the latest technology
• After your warranty expires you have a trusted mechanic or prefer to do maintenance yourself

I've leased a lot of brands/manufacturers and IMO, Acura is the best leasing agent. There are a lot of options and the lease forgiveness (miles, damage) is one of the best in the industry. They're very good at keeping their customers in the Acura fold.

 

Everyone has their own take on lease vrs. purchase. One size does not fit all. My take on it is simple:
If you own a business or use the vehicle for business in a way where you can write off the expense a lease makes it much easier. You can depreciate a purchased vehicle but its on a different schedule and is more complex.
If you drive over the allowed mileage per year you pay. This can add up.
If you decide to buy the vehicle at the end of the lease you may be paying more (over all) than if you had just bought the vehicle new. (That figure can vary due to market factors so you need to do the math for yourself on each deal)
If the car has any damage, even a small dent, you will likely being paying (at a high rate) for the repairs.
Car makers lease cars to make money, not lose it.
Consumer Reports did a good write up on leasing vrs. buying and I have to agree 100% with what they had to say. (facts are facts so if you are open minded you see the numbers don't lie)
Lease or buy

 

I hear ya Hans. Keep in mind that the factors that you mention: high mileage, dents, etc. would affect the trade-in or resale value of your vehicle if you owned it as well. The dealer hits you either way.

One thing I'll mention is that in my experience, Acura is quite forgiving when it comes to repairs and mileage. They give you up to 7500 miles over the contract miles if you lease another Acura. They also give you $1500 repair forgiveness. They realize it is cheaper to keep an existing customer than to attract a new one.

That being said, as the CR article states, the best vehicular "value" is to drive a paid-off vehicle as long as possible. We sold our trusty 2006 MDX last year with 210K miles. It still looked great and was still going strong mechanically, but the interior was really showing its age. And while it had navigation and Bluetooth, phone integration was well behind the times (I bought a kit but it was a band-aid at best).

 

I have a different thing to add.

Personally, I tend to fall in love with most of my cars, and it sometimes takes almost half a year for the car to break in and for me to really get to know it.

At three years, a good car is still a baby, and it doesn’t suit my temperament to be almost always looking for a replacement of a new car and what the timing should be.

Yes, leasing is more expensive, but it is not that much more expensive that if always driving new cars are your thing, doing so will not cost you more than a good restaurant meal each month.

 

That CR article missed a very critical warning for potential leasers, which is to put as little money down as possible on the down payment (cap cost reduction). If you give a huge down payment on a lease, drive the car off the lot, and get into an accident where the car is declared a total loss, you've lost every penny of that down payment!

 

I agree with this. We are almost at 3 years on our 2019 Advance. While it may be nice to always have the latest, having the latest 3 years ago meant I had to endure some of the bugs and get several TSBs done. But now I feel all the bugs are worked out, and we still love the car. Plus my wife takes a long time to get comfortable with all the new features of a car, and the thought of starting her on a new learning curve is not something I look forward to. We have tended to keep our main vehicle for about 6 years, and my Tacoma is approaching 10 trouble-free years.

 

Again, everyone's situation and tastes are different. I spent my life in the auto industry and base many of my feelings on decades of personal experience gained during my career. But I am human and this rational decision process is tempered by my own emotions about cars. The longest I ever kept a vehicle was my 2001 Nissan Xterra. Loved that car and spent less than $100 on repairs (other than normal service..tires, oil changes and such) in the eleven years I owned it. Wanted to keep it longer but the wife said she wanted something "smaller". The shortest I ever kept a new car was two years. Oddly enough that was my 2017 CR-V touring, a car that I loved but the new RDX caught my eye when the new generation 2019 came out. ( And the dealer really gave me a wonderful trade deal....). On average we keep a car five to eight years unless something really great comes out that catches my eye. So, leasing would not appeal to me as for us we would lose money.
I put a lot of thought and research into the cars I do buy and seldom do I make a mistake and buy a vehicle that I want to get rid of in a few years. But, it has happened! All I can say is, "no more GM cars!".

 

I am about two months out from owning the car for three gears.

I would have to be looking for its replacement now, and I’m glad I don’t have to.

 

My lease is up in 3 months. I have a offer from CarMax for 34k for my ASpec. The lease payoff is 28K. Since I am not going to be getting another Acura product anytime soon think I will sell it and just wait until the inventories start improving. We can get by with our 2010 RX350 for a good while.

 

Take it.

IMO, however, it is going to take many months for inventories to pick up. I’ve been looking to replace my wife’s 2014 Accord, which she doesn’t want replaced, and I can’t find a supply of the cars I might replace it with.

 

This is one of the reasons why we lease. If the bugs hadn't got worked out and you didn't love your car, you basically just turn it in and move on.

Like I mentioned, leasing isn't for everyone. It's worked for us for over 20 years and I wouldn't go any other route. If we love the car, we'll buy it. This happens on occasion. It's basically like buying a used car where I know the history and that it's been well taken care of...and having a credit union means often times you can beat the dealer rates. I highly value that flexibility.

 

I've never leased, and with 2 exceptions I've kept my cars for at least 10 years (I traded a '95 Integra for a '99 TL, which I traded after a year for a CL-S). I kept my '86 Accord for about 10 years, and the 2001 CL-S for 21 years (sold it last weekend with a cracked windshield, bad tires, failing HVAC motor, ripped leather, etc. for $2,100). Our 2019 RDX was the first of two replacement vehicles: for the 2001 CL-S and my wife's 2004 Saab. We financed the RDX with about a 17K downpayment and paid it off 2 months ago. We recently got a good price on our new 2021 TLX + $2,500 loyalty discount + 0% financing. Unless I get the bug for a TLX Type-S, we won't be car shopping for a while.

For me it's psychological. I just like knowing the car is mine, even if the bank holds a lien on it for a while.

 

I have never leased, although I do tend to change cars frequently. I typically put a lot of miles on my cars, so I always figured leasing was not an option. I understand that I pay for the miles either way, either in reduced resale value, or "by the mile", upfront... or at a higher rate at the end of the lease. I am not always brand loyal, so the Acura lease benefits that have been mentioned probably would not apply to me. I do see the benefit, of being able to just turn the car in at the end of the lease. Basically my uncertainty of how many miles I will use is the biggest deterrent for me. I am a cash buyer, so monthly car payments would be a reminder of my younger days.

 

I do not like the idea of being on their schedule. I would have to shop for a replacement now, and, frankly, the current RDX is no different from mine, cars are in short supply all over, and I don’t think that now is a great time to change cars. Buying off the lease is possible, but more costly than just buying it from the get-go. In around 50 years of buying cars, I have only sold two cars after a short ownership. I upgraded from a Corolla S5 to a Celica GT because I could, and got rid of a Buick that was crap. Other than that, all the other cars went 8+ years and 100,000+ miles.

 

Good points. This was my first time leasing a vehicle, so we will see what happens at the end of it. If the RDX holds-up and is trouble-free, I will probably drive it for awhile after I buy it out. If it is a headache, I will turn it in and lease a different brand vehicle most likely.

 

Excellent point! If one had leased, and now is the "turn in" time, it is not a good time to buy or lease...I understand, however, that Acura allows one to extend the current lease on the same terms...? (I was told this by my brother-in-law...no personal verifiable information)

 

I think most do. I wonder if they adjust the residual in your favor, though.

The lease monthly payment includes the agreed depreciation (reduction of principal) and the interest involved. If you still pay the same amount, how is the reduction of principal affected? Are additional miles granted?

As a simple example, say the car is $45,000 and the end of term residual is $25000. Your lease payment includes interest payments on the $45,000, and payments to depreciation of $20,000. At the end of the lease term, how does all this math work out? A $25,000 car (the residual) should lease for a lot less than a $45,000 car.

 

I am curious about this as well.

 

I bought mine. I have not spent enough time to try and understand how leases work.