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My wife just totaled her car. She wants to do a lease! We're thinking a Honda CRV or Hyaundai Santa Fe. I was raised to stay the heck away from leases.

Anyone on here do it? Good experiences/bad experiences????

I added up the dollars we'd pay on a lease & buyout versus a loan & buyout after 3 years and it looks to be about 8% cheaper to go with the buy. We probably won't have a problem on staying under the limit on the miles.

Also, their purchase price at the end of the lease...how often is that under what you could actually sell the vehicle for on the open market????

What have your experiences been?

I lease and my experience has been pretty good. I got into doing a lease once I realized I drive my cars into the ground. After adding on my repair bills onto my purchased cars after a few years, it came out pretty close to being even.

I like the fact that I get a new car every three years and the only thing I do to it during those years is change the oil every 3000 to 5000 miles and just and just take care of it.

I never purchased my vehilce after a lease.

There are some online web sites that will ask you questions and then figure out if its better for you to lease or buy.

The basicas questions are:

Questions to Ask Yourself Before Buying or Leasing a Car
A car lease might be best if:
You prefer to drive a new car or truck every two or three years

You want to drive a vehicle that you can afford to lease, but cannot afford to buy

You don't put more than 12,000 to 15,000 miles on your vehicle each year

You don't use the vehicle in a way that causes excess wear and tear

You can't or don't want to make a large downpayment

You use the vehicle for business purposes and can write-off your lease expenses (ask a tax professional for advice)

Buying might be best if:
You plan to pay off the vehicle, keep it and avoid loan payments for awhile

You don't mind paying for repairs after the warranty period has passed

You put significantly more than 15,000 miles a year on a vehicle

You have credit issues--it's sometimes easier for people with credit problems to buy than to lease

You might want to trade it in for another vehicle in less than two years

You want to customize the vehicle

I've leased before, and it actually wasn't quite the right choie for me. But that was my fault for not negotiating a better deal than I did.

Anyway, if you plan on keeping the car and purchasing it anyway, buying the car is the better option in the long run. Leases are great for people who always want a new car. Not for people who plan on keeping their cars.

When I turned in my lease, I got NOTHING, no cash, nothing to use towards my next car, just a good history with the dealership. And that didn't help me since I now have a company car and do not need to lease/buy anything on my own.

Personally I'll never lease again. The last car I leased turned out to not be a car I'd want to purchase when the lease was up. So when I went to turn it in (about 20,00 BELOW my allowable miles btw) they claimed the rims had scratches above & beyond normal wear and tear so they charged me $150.00 each plus tax for those - plus I had a $300.00 turn in fee which I completely forgot was in the original paperwork. So basically I owed almost $1000 to turn in a car I couldn't wait to turn in!!

I was able to negotiate with Huntington Bank (that's who my lease financing was with) on the rims. They reduced that $600 by 20% which at least helped some.

I then bought a used vehicle with low miles that I love.

Oh and I won't go into details...but I'd never give my business to Classic in Mentor again.

My girlfriend leased her last car.

at the end of the least she was charged for everything under the sun...So read your contract before signing, I dont know alot about leasing but when she turned her car in, she owed the leasing company $2,500 for small items, I told her to fight it but it was in her contract, she did get it down to $1,800 with talking to the dealer, but after it was all said & done, The buyout as highway robbery, She still needed a car, didnt have anything to trade in on a used car, and any money she had saved for a down payment on a new used car went towards pay-off of her lease.

With that I'm sure there good leases & bad leases, this was a bad lease, with osme being her own fault, but I did find alot of little things they dont tell ya in her contract, so read it before you agree, I mean read everything, ask questions....

Having spent almost 12 years in the car sales business I can say leases can be great, so - so, or terrible for each individual.

In all honesty, if you're thinking of leasing it and buying it at the end, just buy it now - if you know you're going to buy it at the end of the lease, you're just defeating the purpose of a lease, in my opinion.

One thing to watch out for is: if you have a trade in, it will greatly lower your lease payment (you don't, since your car was totaled - but for others - a $5000 or $10000 trade in will put you in a lease real cheap, payment wise. However, you have to understand that at the end of the lease, that's all gone - your next lease or purchase will be made with no trade in value - which means higher payments.

Also, most times it is best to lease through the manufacturer - Gmac, Ford Motor Credit, Chrysler, etc........(or honda's lease program, or toyota's - whoever makes the car). Why? In my experience, they tend to be a little more realistic on "damage" i.e. scratches etc.

Leases are based on a "residual value" of the car you lease. Say the car stickers for $30,000, and has a residual value of 50% for a 3 year lease - what that means is the lease company expects the value of the vehicle to be 50% of the sticker at the end of the lease. In this situation, you would be "buying" the selling price (not the sticker price, unless you agree to lease it at the sticker price - don't!!!!!!!),.......but you are "buying" the difference between the lease price and $15000. Say you negotiate the price to $28000. You are paying for $13000 of the car over 3 years, plus interest - that make sense?

Ah, my personal opinion is IF you lease, don't expect to buy it at the end. If you do, say, a 3 year lease, and buy it at the end, you will probably take out a 3 or 4 year loan in order to have your payments anywhere near what they were during the lease. That means, in essence, you are paying on a car for 6 to 7 years - and that's crazy.

Also, know the mileage limits. Know what you drive. Then compare the 2. If you drive 20,000 a year, but you get in a lease that allows you 12000 a year, then charges $.20 per mile over that, you will get hit with a big bill at the end of the lease. Let's do the math: you put 60K on, you were allowed 36K.....you owe $.20 per mile over. You are 24K over. 24000 times .20 comes out to.............tada $4,800 if you turn the lease in. Now, granted, if you buy the car at the end of the lease, you don't have to pay that $4800 - but you also are paying the residual price to buy the car (based on it being a low mileage car), and it won't be worth any where near what you pay for it.

Leasing can be great, and it can be terrible. KNOW THE INS AND OUTS BEFORE YOU DO IT! Know how many miles are allowed, know how many you drive. If you want to buy it at the end, why "play games" for the first 3 years by leasing it? Oh, cause it will be cheaper monthly payments for 3 years, right? Factor in getting a loan after 3 years..........

Just know what you're doing BEFORE you do it. Leasing might be for you, or it might not. Sorry about the length of this post.

My wife has leased her last few cars and loves it. She always wants a new car every 3 years or so. So purchasing always left her with a payoff more than the trade-in. She switched to leases, and basically just goes in and gets a new car.

They often call her a few months before the lease is up to make a deal, and pay off her existing lease. In fact she is turning in her Nissam Altima SE-R this month, we signed papers for the new one, that she ordered. It is supposed to be in around November 13, her current lease doesn't truly expire til February, but we got the new car for $20 less a month than the previous, and it has all the same options and more.

I tried leasing once, it didn't work for me, I drive too many miles. Luckily I managed to curb my driving ALOT the final year and only went over by 1k miles.

I used to be against it, but an ex convinced me to do it...

pro:
Its easy for sure.
I haven't paid for a repair to my car since I started leasing in the late 90s.
Lower payments
you can upgrade (car or amenities) if you want and it costs less than if you purchased

con:
I'll always have a car payment
hard to figure out in advance what you should be paying (they don't use interest rate) though the calculations are available on the net if you wish to do research

misc:
I take care of my car and I get it detailed before turning it in - so no problems on the return so far.
You can just get 10,000 miles instead of the standard 12 or possible more - will reduce your payment a little and increase your residual.

Great reply.

The only other thing I'd add is to try to live below your means when it comes to cars. I've owned a $50k car and a $5000 car and everything in between. For most people cars are the worst consistant investment that people make. If you can get by with a nice inexpensive car do it.

Sometimes you need to spend a little money on a car depending on your profession. The nicest car I'll buy these days is an A4. You don't need anything better IMO unless you are really a car afecianado or you feel compelled to impress other people.

Put your money into other investments....investments that appreciate instead of depreciate.

I have leased for years.....as it worked for me.

But as some said....you have to take a realistic look at the type of driving you do.... where you drive, how much you drive, where you will be parking....


But....I am probably in my last lease and will just buy a car next go since my driving patterns have changed.

I would never lease. I rather own the vehicle. Gas was $3.14 cents today,whatever you buy you should look at mpg. It easily could be $3.50-$4.00 by Christmas

I would add something to this thread but you covered it all Arch

If you like a new car every three years, go ahead and lease. If you like keeping your cars longer don't lease. If you do lease just keep in mind, that you want to lease thru the captives (GMAC, Ford, etc,etc) Be prepared to pay wear and tear at the end of the lease unless you keep your cars in spotless condition.

Some people don't was or clean their cars more than once a year, and they treat them like trash cans.

There really isn't a whole lotta difference in either method..

If your going to buy out the lease at the end and keep the car,,, then just buy it now..

If you want to get a new car every 2 to 3 years,, lease it because you will always have a car payment anyway...might as well drive a new car in that case.

I'd also check with whoever does your taxes... both leasing and buying can have a different effect on you tax wise.. so depending on your situation, one or the other may be of bigger benefit for you,.,,,