mrgold35

I don't see you gaining much switching a 4-door sedan for a 4-door sedan? Unless you are going to do something with the savings during the 3 year lease like home improvement, education, travel, kid(s), etc... You might end up spending the same amount $$$ in the long run with another purchase/lease in 3yrs (plus the danger of getting use to the extra $$ and upping your monthly expenses). You can save just as much $$$ by changing your cell phone plan, internet service, cable, entertainment, grocery/eating out, etc... I see a vehicle either as an appliance (like a fridge or stove) or something that supports your life style as an extension of you. If the TL is an appliance (A to B errand/grocery car), then you can almost lease anything with 4-doors with a trunk/hatch a lot cheaper (Civic lease for $180 for 36 mths). I am willing to spend a little more if I can get more value and long term reliability after the last car payment from a vehicle (traveling, outdoor activities, side business, hobbies, all weather capabilities, home improvement, fun to drive, etc...).

The 11 TL will last you another 5-8 yrs with just routine maint and the occasional alternator, suspension part, or battery if you just need an appliance. You would never think about changing your fridge every 3-5 years just to keep you eggs cold. I would only change vehicles if it supported my lifestyle better.

Joseph Park

Really interesting topic. People in general don't save as much as they can. I will admit I probably could get by without a car. I drive about 7k-9k miles a year at most. I first tried buying a used CPO 2010 Accord Coupe EX-L years back but I kept on having minor go wrong and for a car I drove so little this made me go crazy so I decided to lease. Cars are depreciating assets so $30k is $30k no matter if you buy with cash, finance, or even lease then buyback.

Okay we are on an Acura forum so obviously there is a standard of car we all drive or hope to drive, so the argument of saying go get a $2k beater car just doesn't make sense. I am 29 and again I don't drive that much so owning a car for 5-10 years might not be in my future or what I need from a car might change at a whim. Not being on a 4-6 year car loan but a 2-3 year car cycle with a lease makes more sense. What if I change jobs? Move? Have a kid? Again, buying what I need and not what I want is key but I think that is a larger discussion that everyone including myself doesn't quite grasp because again we are on a luxury car site forum.

Point being I never got the point when people say just pay cash, even if I had $30k to drop on my ILX why would I waste $30k on a car? For what a pink slip? $30k is a house downpayment for most markets or a way to pay off college loans. And I think that is a generational gap in buying and ownership. So you own your ILX and you can drive it for 200,000 miles, okay so can I. I will be paying slightly more to do that but when done right leasing makes sense:

Just leased a 2016 ILX Premium with all TTL and fees and 1st months wrapped in my monthly was $354 nothing down 24 months 12k a year. Price of car was $26,260 and had several rebates from Acura for leasing
That's $8,142 ($354) of 23 payments
Buyback of $17,500, 8.8% tax, 2% APR loan 36 months $19,632 + $8,142= $27,774

Buying the car for $26,260 + $500 dealer and fees= $26,760
60 months
1.9% APR
20% down = $5352 cash downpayment
8.8% tax
$415 a month or 60 payments of $24,900 + $5252 = $30,252

Okay let say I bought with cash $26,760 with fees. No car monthly and I get the slip but now I am almost $27k in the hole.


Now this is a rough example, but this just shows you how there is such thing as a good lease where it's cheaper than financing and slightly higher than paying cash. The biggest thing is making sure you get a car with extreme rebates and incentives

Joseph Park

Really interesting topic. People in general don't save as much as they can. I will admit I probably could get by without a car. I drive about 7k-9k miles a year at most. I first tried buying a used CPO 2010 Accord Coupe EX-L years back but I kept on having minor things go wrong and for a car I drove so little this made me go crazy so I decided to lease. Cars are depreciating assets so $30k is $30k no matter if you buy with cash, finance, or even lease then buyback.

Okay we are on an Acura forum so obviously there is a standard of car we all drive or hope to drive, so the argument of saying go get a $2k beater car just doesn't make sense. I am 29 and again I don't drive that much so owning a car for 5-10 years might not be in my future or what I need from a car might change at a whim. Not being on a 4-6 year car loan but a 2-3 year car cycle with a lease makes more sense. What if I change jobs? Move? Have a kid? Again, buying what I need and not what I want is key but I think that is a larger discussion that everyone including myself doesn't quite grasp because again we are on a luxury car site forum.

Point being I never got the point when people say just pay cash, even if I had $30k to drop on my ILX why would I waste $30k on a car? For what a pink slip? $30k is a house downpayment for most markets or a way to pay off college loans. And I think this is a generational ideology gap in buying and ownership. So you own your ILX and you can drive it for 200,000 miles, okay so can I. I will be paying slightly more to do in some case* but when done right leasing makes sense:

Just leased a 2016 ILX Premium with all TTL and fees and 1st months wrapped in my monthly is $354 nothing down 24 months 12k a year. Price of car was $26,260 and had several rebates from Acura for leasing
That's $8,142 ($354) of 23 payments
Buyback of $17,500, 8.8% tax, 2% APR loan 36 months $19,632 + $8,142= $27,774

Buying the car for $26,260 + $500 dealer and fees= $26,760
60 months
1.9% APR
20% down = $5352 cash downpayment
8.8% tax
$415 a month or 60 payments of $24,900 + $5252 (down payment) = $30,252

Okay let say I bought with cash $26,760 with fees. Plus 8.8% tax thats comes to $29,135. No car monthly and I get the slip but now I am $29k in the hole.


Now this is a rough example, but this just shows you how there is such thing as a good lease where it's cheaper than financing and paying cash. The biggest thing is making sure you get a car with extreme rebates and incentives. Leasing gives me the option to simply walk away after two years if the car is trashed or I hate it or I can purchase the car for an already set buyback. Compared to buying again I can just walk away after two years of only spending $8152 If i hate the car or don't need it, but with buying I would have already dropped $29, which is still more than if I leased and than bought back in a 5 year span

CTNYC

Not arguing with you, but your numbers here are skewed. In the prices paid forum, you outlined that you rolled $1372 of equity (essentially you made a $1372 downpayment) from your RDX into your ILX lease plus you had the $1k loyalty rebate. Without your "downpayment" your lease would be $411, and if you didnt have the Acura loyalty, you'd be at $452.

If you put so few miles on your car, why not opt for a 10k mile lease instead of 12k? Ultimately, regardless of which way you slice it and dice it, a lease is more expensive in the long run in nearly all cases (unless Chevy decides to dole out Chevy Cruze's for $60/month w/ $0 due at signing). However, the additional expense is a lot lower than one may believe once you factor in the pricier maintenance and repairs that come up in 3-4 years, which you save when leasing. Also for those living/commuting in a city, there is a lot more wear and tear related repairs (ie engine/tranny mounts, various suspension parts, etc) that start to go bad around 100k. If you can afford it, I do believe leasing is a smart move, as long as you have good negotiating skills and you are financially stable. You get a new car every year with new safety features at a (relatively) small premium. The only thing that really sucks about this is if you live in a state with car property tax... For example, I calculated Arlington county, VA property taxes to be around $1400 for a new TLX V6 Tech... My ILX was around $625 and my TL is probably around $650 (we have a discount for hybrids and charge up the ass for cars over $20k in value).

For others, like me, we drive far too much for a lease. Since March 2016, when I made my TL my DD, I put over 15k miles on my TL... I'm on track to doing 50k miles on my TL this year.

Joseph Park

Correct I don't know how I managed to leave this out since I wrote such a long 1st reply. Being able to get out of a lease only after 12 months is very rare. But yes with my equity ($1375 and $1000 loyalty lease cash) The 1st month, taxes, and fees were all paid for. Which left me with about $1300 or so to put against the lease and that's why I am getting $354 for 23 months. Getting the care for $26,240 before TTL didn't hurt especially since there was $3000 dollar dealer incentive.

I could of maybe got away with a 7,500 mile lease, but this being the only car for my fiance and myself I wanted to have a little extra wiggle room if we wanted to take an extra road trip or my work situation changed where I had to drive.

BUT NO financing in this case is still more expensive than leasing even when you take into account my equity of $1375 over 5 years. I may or may not been able to get the same car for $26,260 if I financed because the $3000 rebate is dealer lease cash rebates. I know the $1000 loyalty lease cash would not be available. With this being said let's say I did get the same car for $26,260 + $500 fees - $1375 equity + 8.875 tax, 1.9% APR over 60 months you are at $485 or $29,100, while leasing and than buying under similar terms for 36 months would be a total of $28k about.

There are leases that do 20k-25k but if you are doing 50k leasing shouldn't even be mentioned. I'll admit I got lucky on getting out of the RDX, 2 getting some equity at all even after 12 months, 3 getting such a good deal on a short term lease. Again I plan to but the car out after 23 months depending how the car holds up. Hopefully after that I will have it for many years to come