soetekouw

lease a corvette instead of buying it?

I normally get the itch to buy a new sports car every 2-4 years. But the depriaciation on these vehicles is horrible. Bought a 2005 BMW Z4 for $42K, traded it in for $20K in 2007. Bought a 2007 Porsche Boxster S for $72K and the dealer wants to give me only $24K, today. I am not taking that hit. So I'll hold onto the Porsche, for now, but would like to try a 2011 GS corvette. The thought of leasing it may be the way to go so that I can give it back in 3-years (when the warranty runs out). Anyu thoughts on leasing?

RLove

Leasing companies are in it for the money. You're going to take the hit for the depreciation whether you buy it or lease it.

rchbn

Why not find a good 1-2 year old car where that person took the hit and you don't? I don't think I will ever buy a new car again for exactly the reasons you stated. But that's me.

RicK T

Not generally a good buy for personal use car that you can't write off. Leases are very different from each company but in all cases I know of, the fine print over protects the leasor and sticks it to you. When you turn the car back they nickel and dime you for every little thing, from replacing tires, cleaning interior, repairing body and paint damage and mechanical issues, for a premium price. I tried leasing once, back in '89. After 3 years I was preparing to turn the car in. I learned they were going to charge me for new OEM tires because the ones on the car were less than 3/32 and they were going to charge way above MSRP. Fortunately I found some cheap, off brand, correct size tires to put on at about 1/3 the cost. Since I'm so **** about taking care of my cars the only thing they hit me with was repainting the front valance, under the radiator, due to a few dozen stone chips. They charged $150 for that, so I got back $250 of my deposit. Had I not done the tires myself I would have owed more than $1000 above my deposit. And I didn't even come close to the mileage limit.

I will not do that again.

AORoads

I agree almost totally with Rick.

Daredevil95

Mercedes has the only good lease program that I know of.....all costs are shown up front and VERY reasonable. I attached the Mercedes lease page as an example....then go look at GM and all the other manufactures and you will see what I mean.

http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/special_offers/current

Don't confuse the purchase with lease options.

operationblackwater

Thats wjat happens when you buy brand new cars. My FIL has owned a few car dealers and one thing I will never do is buyin a brand new car. Not that I cant afford it but I lime to switch up my DD every couple of years.

cmonkey713

You buy Corvettes and lease BMW's. Not too many modded up Bimmers out there.

operationblackwater

By the way as far as leasing, i leased a 99 cobra back in '99 and I will never ever do it again. Too much small print.(rules and contracts stink)

carnutsx2

Buy a used car, mines still worth what I paid for it a year ago.

JWell

what he said

vettelover69

If you get a stripped down 1lt you can lease for about 500. Not too bad but it's a 1lt.

I asked about a lease price on my 2010 GS with a sticker of 69,075 and a purchase price of 58,000. The salesman quoted me at just over 1200 a month.

Wayne O

I know leasing a vehicle could be a viable option for business purposes but I've never felt renting anything made sense for me personally. I will, however, often keep a new car for up to ten years.

I'm guessing you haven't been to a race track lately. There are many modded-up 'street' BMW's running road courses as well as the usual cast of (gutted) 'full-race' Bimmers. A trend I've seen lately are BMWs running Chevy V8 powerplants.

not08crmanymore

Leasing is a personal preferance.If your situation deems it good for you to lease,then lease.It sounds from what you said about wanting a new toy every 2-4 years you may be a prime candidate to lease.Yes,you will pay a "rental fee,depreciation fee and some other stuff,but in the end you're only paying for 1/2 or less then half of that car during the time you use it.Just be aware,you can't mod it,you'll need to fix any dents or dings and stuff like that before the lease is up.Make sure you get enough miles for you up front because it's cheaper.Check on the disposition fee if there is one at the end too.I say if it works for you,do it.The best you're ever going to do on trade is is somewhere around 50% of original cost,plus your tax savings if your state allows that.

FortMorganAl

They aren't in the leasing business for their health. They make more leasing than selling and walking away. With a sale they make their money up front and have no further commitment. With a lease they have to continue to support the lease for the term, dispose of the car at the end, as well as getting their money more slowly. Leasing is only cost effective if you can deduct the entire lease payment from your taxes. Companies can do this - individuals can not. Both, however, are going to pay the total cost of the use of the car including depreciation, profit for the seller, and interest on the total cost of the vehicle.

But the dealerships have found there is a market in individuals who see only the monthly payment and not the total cost. You can get a lease for a monthly payment less than the interest if you are buying more car than you can afford. A lot of people aren't that good at math and will go for it.

davidtcpa

Do you own your business where you can deduct lease payments (assuming you would use it in the business, of course).

Check out the lease vs buy calculator. If it is not you DD and you will keep it longer then the 3 years, it would probably be better to buy. There are some good low interest programs out there today.

Here is a calculator for you to use... https://www.twacpa.com/pages/Calculators

cclive

If you lease the car and can write off the payments with a business, then it makes sense, otherwise it doesn't.

davidtcpa

Well you can also depreciate the car in a buy situation, there is no "general" rule to this, which is why I gave him a link to a calculator to get the dollars and cents. Also, there is the "after tax" aspect to it.
Most of the time, in business (subject to mileage allowance with the lease) it is usually better to lease for the simplicity of writing off the payment, rather than depreciation, and the potential recapture at the end. Anyway, there are several factors to consider other than the lower payment from leasing.....

slief

My 2007 vert was leased. At the time, the lease options were not to bad. When my lease was up (May 2010), I considered buying it outright but the lease company gave me the run around on the purchase price and pissed me off. I could have bought it for a fair price but that wasnt the number they had originally told me.

I searched around for new and used vettes and checked lease options but the leases were no where near the price they were back in 07. It ended up that I found an 09 Z06 with 3700 miles and the financing was much less then the current lease rates.

soetekouw

Thanks for the replies.

The general consensus is to buy, and then buy used. Makes sense.