I am leasing a 2007 Base TL. I have leased before and purchased that car out of the lease (99 Honda Prelude) I was very young at the time.

I was reading the fine print on the back of the lease. I knew about the charges for excess wear and tear and 20 cents a mile past my mileage allowance.

What does this mean, this is listed on the back of the lease agreement:

"If I am in compliance with all terms and conditions of this Lease at the scheduled lease end, Lessor agrees to waive Excessive Wear and Use Charges caused by one or more single events, each of which total less than $500 to repair, up to a maximum of $1500 waived."

What does this mean, does this mean I have an allowance if I go over my mileage?

Also, is it a bad idea, financially to purchase a car at the lease end. I probably will just lease another new car, but just wondering if we get screwed over it we buy the car.

 

What that means is that if you do damage to the vehicle 1- 3 times during the time that you have it, with each one of those damage estimates being less than $500, they can ignore it and not charge you for it - up to $1500 worth of damage = 3 incidents (see the math?). So you get a scratch which takes $300 to repair, that's 1, Dent for $250 - 2, Bumper scuffed/scratched for $480 - 3. All less than $500 each, but total less than $1500 collectively. Got it?

As for the buying it part, I think someone said it is better to buy it after the lease, but doesn't that defeat the purpose of leasing it in the first place? Just lease another one. Besides, newer and better stuff will be out for our car in a year or two!

Hope this helps!

 

So, at the lease end inspection are they doing to try to charge me for every little thing, or just excessive wear and tear? Like I said, the last time I bought the car so I never went through the inspection before turning the car in. Of course, I'm going to have some paint chips in the bumper, theres no way to avoid that from daily driving ( I already have one). I take very good care of my cars, my 03 Accord had one scratch, no dings, and 20K when I traded it last year.

 

Those were just examples. There could also be parts like a brake job or clutch. Just because you didn't know or weren't present for it doesn't mean there was no inspection. They don't charge for ticky-tack stuff like you mentioned. Excessive is the operative word here. You can always call them and ask them what they mean by that. I would've thought that the agreement would list examples. Just call and ask.

 

I've never leased before, but I've heard that if you turn it in and lease another vehicle of same make they are more likely to overlook certain things. I don't know if that is true, but it's what I've heard.

 

My dealer will overlook things like minor scratches, dents and mileage if you lease with them again

 

The lessor will not count 3 separate instances of dents, dings, broken parts or overly worn-out tires that each cost less than $500 to fix/replace.

However, it doesn't seem that the excess wear waiver has anything to do with your mileage. Check the definition of "Excessive Wear and Use Charges" in your agreement- unless stated otherwise, it likely excludes miles driven.

 

quick question, on a lease, how well do they inspect it when returning it? I want to put some dynomat in there but not if they are gonna pull up the spare tire and look at all that...

 

Nothing to do with Mileage is correct. Only applies to actual wear/damage, just like darksome explained (with some excellent examples )

Acura has an independent service do your lease end inspection. They come to you ~ 4 - 6 weeks before turn in. You get a formal report of what charges (if any) you are responsible for. This can help you decide whether you want to turn in or purchase.

Whether you can negotiate this with a dealer on a new lease and still get a good new lease deal -

Basically, if you take reasonably good care of the vehicle you will be fine.


Where you get screwed on a lease turn-in is going over the alloted mileage.

There are alot of 10k per year lease deals out there right now and for us that is not enough miles. We've had leases for the past 7 1/2 years and I know we use 12k per year. If I agree to 10k, I might just as well write Acura a check right now. I did the math, I am better off paying an extra $15 a month in payments for the reduced residual.

A big enough difference over a long enough lease period and you have no choice but to buy the car when the lease expires.


Regarding purchase at lease end: it all depends on the residual (purchase amount) and the market value. In general, TL's have held their value really well. As long as the lease end purchase amount is similar to what you'd pay for the same car on the used market, you are getting a decent deal.

 

My residual is $20500, payments are $435 per month on the lease for 36 months. I did a 10K per year lease because I work 4 miles from home and hardly drive much more than that except on the weekends. I only put 20K on my Accord in three years. Odds are I'll want to lease another Acura, if I like them as much as I like this one. I may even see what the TSX offers at that time as well! Thanks!

 

Yes, if you are leasing a new car from the dealer, they will overlook most things, even mileage, atleast from my experiences.

Although, I had a friend who was trying to return a leased BMW and they were trying to charge him almost $4,000 for damages so he was basically forced to buy the car.

 

I love my TL, I just always start wanting something new after a few years so a 435 payment to drive a TL didn't really seem bad to me. I didn't really see the sense in paying a huge payment, only to trade the car after 2 or 3 years. I guess thats why I am a good candidate for a lease.
I can't wait to see what is out when my lease ends, it will end April 2010! Thanks for the help!

 

^^^

Assuming your residual ($20,500) is set pretty close to what will happen in the market ove the next 3 years, you might come out in really good shape.

What I mean is, if you only put 20k miles on, you are going to have an ultra low mileage car at 36 months. It is possible that the market value will be $2,000 or $3,000 higher than the residual.

In which case, you buy the vehicle and sell it for a profit.

 

It's not an allowance for overage on miles. Honda does this neat thing in their leases where they'll give you $1,500 allowance for things like minor dings and scratches. If the damage doesn't amount to more than $1,500, they'll let it go. My last AHFC lease even allowed me $1,500 credit towards a new lease if I brought the car back pristine. They called it some kind of loyalty bonus.