BobbyBud

I have decided to go with the TL over the G35. I am now currious as to what everyone is paying for their lease. I will be getting the Anthracite TL 6spd with NAV. :tflamer: G35

Dkrudop

No lease here.......that baby is mine!

cM3go

Lease? are you nuts, this car is worth OWNING

BobbyBud

no way, lease is soo much better. Yeah you dont get to own the car, but you get a brand spakin new car in a few years!!!

Dkrudop

True...but you're also stuck with eternal car payments! I like having a few years of freedom!

roadman

Years of freedom ?

You can lease 2 TL's (each for 3 1/2 yrs) for less that it is costing you to own one outright. It will never be cost free, depreciation, repair's, and mileage will all take their toll.

Sure some will claim that they are limited to the amount of mileage that they can drive or pay .15 cents over mileage charges. An owned car depreciates much faster with excess mileage, acording to Blue Book it is .17 cents per mile if you are over 12k per year.

Each scenario is obviusly different, but just about everyone I know leases or did the AHFC balloon deal.

My vote, lease (or Balloon) one for 3 -4 yrs , turn it in, get a new one for another 3 -4 years and skip the maintenence repairs that you would have with an owned car.

CRUNCH

"You can lease 2 TL's (each for 3 1/2 yrs) for less that it is costing you to own one outright. It will never be cost free, depreciation, repair's, and mileage will all take their toll." OKAY LETS LOOK AT THIS, at the end of your seven year lease (between 2 cars) what do you have? at the end of seven years i got about six grand to trade in.

TLGator

Leasing is not financially as sound as owning.

A TL is also not financially as sound as an Accord.

To each his own.

To answer the original poster's question, though, you should first tell us what terms you are looking for. How many months, how many miles, how much down. The residual also drops each month, so lease payments go up as the model year goes by.

You should get yourself a good lease calculator. Check out www.carbuyingtips.com/lease.htm or similar sites.

kefler

This site is excellent:

http://www.leaseguide.com/calc.htm

Vffr1

I owned my 2003 TL outright. I decided to lease the 2004 TL even though I could afford to buy one cash; instead I opted to invest the money from the 2003 TL which is earning me about $5,000 in real estate value per month. And I get to drive a new car that cost about %10 of the money I'm make each month. To each their own.

Another reason I leased is that I'm planning on buying a real nice car in 4 years like a Aston Martin or something along those lines. And if I choose, I can always sell the car at end of lease and put a few thousand in my pocket. I did that with my wife's Rav 4 and we made $4,000.

Mike Smeezy,

It's easy to make money, it's hard to teach someone how...

cdmotor

I just leased an '04 TL auto w/o nav (base model, I guess you'd call it). If you're leasing, you MUST go to www.leasewizard.com and download a copy of their program ($34.99 and well worth it). It'll give you a complete leasing calculator, and all you have to do is enter the info that your dealer will give you if you demand it. Then, you'll be able to tell if the payment they're quoting you is really based on the mathematical calculation of a lease, or if they're adding $$ to the payment for themselves.

TLGator

Gotta disagree with ya, cdmotor. The links provided in the other posts in this thread lead to FREE leasing calculators that are every bit as good as the one at Lease Wizard. IMO, Lease Wizard is rip-off software - it provides a service that can be had for nothing with a tiny bit more effort. Funny that they advertise a service to save people money on leases, in other words to keep them from getting ripped off, when the product they offer is, IMO, a rip-off itself.

roadman

At the end of 7 years I will have had (compared to owning the same vehicle)

1) No repair costs
2) No worries about trading in a car
3) More cash

Of course leasing has some definite negatives with it but, it is not always best to buy a vehicle outright. Depreciation occurs so fast, it is wiser to avoid paying for money to depreciate altogether.

For example, my father in law has a 7yr old ES300, perhaps one of the more reliable cars on the road. So here we are 7 yrs later and he has paid $35k in purchase price and interest, plus approx $3k for 2 sets of tires, brakes, exhaust, etc and guess what, he went to trade it in and they offered him $2,500. I leased 2 TL's over that time and spent no-where near $38k on both those cars. Yes I did not have a $2,500 trade in though.

cdmotor

Don't know about rip-off software, TLGator. I don't call paying $34.99 for something that saves me $75 per month x 48 months getting ripped off, I'd call it a worthwhile investment.

TLover

I think the point he was trying to make is you can get FREE lease calculators. Calculating a lease isn't that hard as long as you know the money factor and the residual.

340HP

Don't forget that if you're a contractor you can write off:

100% of the lease payments
100% of gas payments
100% of insurance payments
100% of toll payments
100% of parking payments
100% of maintenance payments (if any)

That said, you save a TON of money each year. And get to drive a new car in 2-4 years (depending how long your lease is).

You can't do that when you buy.

PetesTL

Yes, all good points but one BAD thing about leasing......you CAN"T mod

cdmotor

Not true, either. I leased a '97 Taurus SHO and added wheels and PIAA's to the front end. And my '04 TL will have PIAA's in the grill shortly, and 18 or 19" chrome wheels on very shortly.

PetesTL

....OK, but why pay for something to put on a car that's not technically yours in the first place? At the end of the lease, you're stuck with those accessories (or give them up with the car) and have to go through the trouble of selling them for a very low price.......makes no sense to me.

caball88

there was a report(i lost the link) where they evaluated buying and leasing a car. it ended up being cheaper to buy the car instead of leasing every 3 years for a 10 year period. i wasn't sure about the exact detail of the comparison. for some people leasing is the more attractive choice. you are basically renting a car. its the same as renting an apartment or buying a place. you either pay rent or motage. the difference is at the end of the mortage the place is yours while renting you own nothing. give that property value goes up and car goes down the fact is simple you own something. if you just evaluate two 3 year leases like the person above mentioned you would have paid 30K+ in lease payments and own nothing. while the person who buys the car owns the vehicle. although it is true that you will avoid some of the responsibities of owning a car. ultimately its up to you to decide what you want to do.

340HP

Yeah, the difference between owning realestate and owning cars is that cars depreciate and break-down. Homes only go up in price.

gregory28

20 Posts and not one person answered BobbyBud's question. I'll be the first:

42 month lease
$453/month including 6% NJ Sales Tax
no money down: one month's lease upfront, motor vehicle fees, some other small clerical and administrative fees.
Freebies: wheel locks, trunk tray, splash guards, extra master key

I decided to lease this time around because I wanted a new car in 3 1/2 years. If one plans to hang on to the car for a while, it's absolutely inrefutable that buying the car makes more sense. This is even more true when buying a trouble free product like the Honda/Acuras.

NOX 3.2

doing 120 miles/day, I opted for buying.
I think I can sleep better, not worring about mileage.
plus I can modify the car anyway I want to. which is a plus in my view.

comdoctor

5AT no NAVI 12,000 miles/year- 42 monthe deal.

Out of Pocket: $1,200 includes first month, 500 cap reduction, and DMV fee.

$417/month including 6% NJ Sales Tax
Includes: All season mat (4pcs), Wheel locks, Trunk tray, splash guards and 2 ice scrapper .

I also leased 03 TL on June 03, 36 month 12,000 miles only for $322/mo . I like that price

Oswald Vater

$441 per month for 51 months, 12k miles, $2000 down. (WDP/parch/5AT/nonav). Prices will vary according to supply/demand in area and credit rating.

roadman

120miles a sday, that's like 40k a yr. After 3 yrs your car will have over 120k miles on it and be worth , well not much.

You definately would be better off leasing and buying the mileage up front at .08 cents per mile. An owned car depreciates at .17 cents per mile.

For example 120k miles is about 80k miles over the Blue books 36k allowance for mileage. That comes out to $13,600 (80k x .17) penalty just for mileage alone. Leasing those 80k miles would have cost you $6,400 (80k x.08).

roadman

To Answer the posters question (not a lease, Balloon)

AHFC Balloon
No money down (nothing, not even $1)
All taxes, DMV, Doc fees included
2004 5AT w/protection package
48months $425/mo

jdl75

Check the Acura website. From any models' home page (I did the TL), you can select a payment calculator. Plug in your purchase price (or what you think you can get), and it will search a variety of lease vehicles (Honda, US Bank, to name 2).

I did this for my MDX I'm getting this month (wife's car), and it had the EXACT rate that my dealer quoted me. I'm also getting $2300 off sticker on the MDX, so I put the reduced price in and the calculator factored that in as well.

MyJohnson

Leasing and buying all depend on how long you keep the car. If you can stand to keep a vehicle more than 4-6 years, then you're better off leasing. If you can keep a vehicle for 10-12 years, owning is definitely the way to go. I have a 10 y.o. SHO and an 8 y.o. eddie bauer. I have a '02 Odyssey for the wife and kids. I plan on a TL. I've paid very little to maintain these vehicles over the years and have had no payments for the first two for over 4 years. Granted, they are worth very little in resale, but as long as they're running well, I'll keep them.

Just my 2 cents.

cdmotor

That's very similar to my deal - My $$ Down included 1st month, $595 Bank Fee, and DMV Fees - 48 months, 15,000 miles per year, $396.82 per month

Splash Guards and Wood Trim knob thrown in....

tonyg24

automatic...with navi..42 months...12k a year...2500 out of pocket...468 a month

Vffr1

Gulp, Man I'm paying too much!

Mike Smeezy,

comdoctor

Yes, it is.
I found out $500 bank fee is actually Cap Reduction when I checked my account in the AHFC site. I think (correct me if I'm wrong) if we lease through AHFC, there is no bank fee, but they (or salesperson) want $500 for Cap Reduction.

Did you check your account at Acura Owner link?

ndabunka

Hmmm, Lease vs. purchase discussion huh? Well, once you realize that leases were designed to offer tax benefits, then you have the right concept. Here's the plain and simple...If you can write off YOUR lease to a LEGIMATE business, then leasing may be a good option for you. If the vehicle depreciates FASTER than the market thinks it will, then you win (Kinda like buying a Corvair just before Nader's comments). If the vehicle depreciates SLOWER, then you loose. The lease companies are in this to make money. The way they do this is OUT OF THE BUYERS POCKET. I've got a business that I could write off a car too (if I really wanted too) but I have purchased EVERY car I have ever owned and will most likely continue to do so. Today's Leases are really targeted at getting people who cannot afford (or should not be buying) an expensive car into more than they could otherwise afford. I see FAR too many "kids" (i.e. 22 years old and less) driving cars they (usually) cannot afford on what they make. Kids working on technical support teams barely making $30K/year and buying a $30K+ car is STUPID!!! A good rule of thumb is that your car should annually cost you less than your home. Since a home is supposed to be a max of 30% of your monthly check, you car (obviously) should be considerably less. Therefore, in order to buy a $35K car, you should be making a MINIMUM of $85K/year. As far as investing...A car is NOT an investment. It IS an asset, but not a legitimate investment (with a few exceptions). Not many people can do much with the $63/month they might save on a lease payment as far as investing goes. Of course, $23 of the lease payment NEVER comes back to the leasee whereas 100% of the $63/month comes back to the purchaser. This is an endless debate. Each situation is different though. Ask your own financial advisor about the best method for you...

ndabunka

Here are my last 4 cars and the asset value when I sold them ('95 Honda accord - $19K new; $6,500 when sold 8 years later), (2001 CLK55 - $42,400 USED in 2002; $40,500 when I sold it Dec 2003), ('97 BMW 740iL - $32K USED; $17,500 sold 3 years later), ('95 Ford Explorer $26,500 NEW; $12,800 when Sold in 2000). Average cost to run these cars per month = Accord ($130.20), Benz ($118.75/month), BMW ($402.77... ...OK, so this one didn't work out that well but this car new was an $85K car and the cost for me to drive it was still FAR less than what you guys are planning on spending on this $32K '04TL), Ford Explorer ($285.42). As you are all aware, maintenance, insurance, etc is all the same on these so this is just straight $'s for $'s. The Accord was BY FAR the least expensive car over the years. That is one of the reasons I bought a new TL. They do hold their value well over time.

ndabunka

You can STILL take the std mileage deduction if the company you work for pays for std mileage. Most are around .36/ mile right now.

TLGator

AHFC does charge an acquisition or bank fee. It's $595 and I know of no one who has successfully negotiated it out of the deal. When I leased my '01 CL I got the dealer to drop the price further to make up the difference (man, there is something to be said for negotiating on a slow-selling model) but the bank fee itself did not go away. I think that sometimes the bank fee is really the only profit in the whole lease deal for AHFC. In my case at least, both leases have been at really low MF's and with residuals that seemed too high, so I can't imagine they made money except on the bank fee. But I'm no expert at these things.

Dkrudop

I KEEP my cars for a number of years.....and this one will be paid off in less than 36 months......so yes......years of freedom!

KingsX

I put down approx $800 (They "gave" me $866 to pay off my existing lease) and I'm paying $423 for 36 months.

rynpamn21

why not? it's so easy to take things off after your lease ends. i've leased a couple cars before the TL and i put in rims and a filter...i think you call those mods right?...and before imy lease ended i just took them out and put the stock ones back in...