It really is a shame. I really would have considered Chevy or Ford. They have some really nice cars, but sadly they don't have any decent lease incentives right now because of the anticipated low residual value of their cars. I had an Impala as a company car a few years back and I loved it. It was very comfortable and tight. My friend who manages the Chevy dealership drives a Malibu and loves it. I would have considered either one, or both in this case, if the deals were competitive.

 

That seems like a pretty cut and dry way of leasing a car... My girlfriends car is comming off lease in December and we are looking for a good deal on another car...

 

I gotta tell you, a great customer experience is so rare now-adays that when I have one I like to spread the word.

I had a fantastic experience with them, they are great to deal with.

 

It has been stated in several posts that a potential desire exists to purchase the vehicle at the end of the lease by negotiating a selling price off of residual. It is good to try and find out what the postion is of the leasing company for such a situation. Several years ago I had a lease expire on an Audi A8 which had an agressive residual. I was not interested in the car at that inflated price and tried to get VW Credit to negotiate. They would not take one cent less. I had offered a number $3,000 less than residual which was very fair and they said no, they would just wholesale it. They wouldn't budge so I walked away. I started watching the A8s on Ebay and sure enough two months later there was my old car listed by a dealer two states away with a Buy It Now price $12,000 less than the residual. It was nice to see VW Credit took a bath of around $15,000. With the way the economy is now though I would hope they are more willing to deal . Something to look out for none the less.

 

Well, I dove back in to leasing and picked up two lease cars last night. It just made sense to me right now, and I too had a great customer service experience at the dealership. I don't want to own my daily drivers more than three years, or out of warranty, anymore. I went with Japanese cars because there just aren't any decent lease programs available on American models anymore. It's a shame because IMHO the quality of the American cars has really come a long way in the last decade.

 

As one who leases, I'll throw in another advantage: sales taxes. In many states (mine included, and CA when I lived there), you only pay sales tax on the "rent" portion of the lease. If you're getting a new car every couple of years, the tax savings is significant ($ thousands).

A lot of people who "buy" their cars on a five-year note pump themselves up about "owning" their car, when in reality many are upside down until about year four. Same thing as paying "rent" imho, unless you plan on keeping it for a long time, which I rarely do.

In any case, this issue has pretty much been beat to death on this Forum ever since I've been here (9 years). I don't believe there's a "right" answer - too much has to do with personal circumstances. To those who say leasing is irresponsible, I'll just say: you don't know me, or my financial circumstances, so don't pass judgement.

To the OP: check out leasecompare.com, as mentioned in a previous post - I've done four deals through them, and they are good to work with.

 

New York has the same policy. You only pay the sales tax on the portion of the car's value that you are paying for, or in other words, your payments.

 

Exactly....being a NY'er, thats a great benefit to my lease as well.

 

I leased my 07 Avalanche for business write off purposes.

I bought the vette since it was 0% and in 4 years it will be paid off and I wont "owe" money if I decide to keep it.

If the avalanche was at 0% a year ago I would have bought it instead of leased it. My accountant recommended the lease though.

 

I just leased my 09 , and the lease program got MUCH better than my 07 was ( over 1K per month ) - It would have been cheaper to buy an 07 , but I hate to keep a car for more than 2-3 years , and I primarily use it for business travel .

US Bank (the bank I used ) has good programs on the Vette's now , but you have to have an over 700 FICO score

 

There are so many misconception about leasing that many people don't understand. Everybody's situation is different and for some leasing makes perfect sense although the current economic climate leasing may be more difficult.

Take the money factor times 2400 that equals appoximately what the lending interest rate would be. The second factor is the residual or buy back which is around 50% depending on the length of the lease and mileage per year. One of the misconception is that I will never own the car which can be decided at the end of the lease.

My last car which was a 06 Infinti G35 coupe which I leased. It had a MSRP of $40K, which I leased for 35K and the residual was 24K for a 3 year lease. The money factor worked out to be about 4.5% and my mileage was 12K per year. I had to pay off $11k plus sales tax and interest over 3 years. I modded my Infiniti like at owned it although if at the termination of the lease I would have to make a decision whether to buy, sell, or turn the car in. The financial situation would dictate which direction I would take. If the residual is more than the car is worth than I would take all my aftermarket parts off, put all my OEM parts back on and turn the car in but I could still buy the car. If the residual is less than the car is worth than I have the option to purchase or sell.

My lease comes due in January of 09 although I sold the car in July 08, for $29,400. The buyer had to pay the used car tax for $29,400, I only paid sales tax on the original $11K and the Infinti dealership charged $150 for the transfer since I went through Infinit Financial and I received a check for about $5,400.

Couple of things to consider in leasing is that you pay sales tax only on the lease amount and why tie up money to a huge down payment or even some people purchase a car outright to a decreasing asset, when the money could be invested to help defer the payments. Also, buying made more sense when the interest could be deducted off your income tax. If you're not sure of keeping the car for the long term why pay sales tax on the whole amount when by leasing you pay sales tax only the portion of the amount of the lease but you still have the option to purchase at the end of the lease.

This is just the beginning although leasing can be an good option.

 

No way! You are WAY OFF on your figuring. A 50K car, using 50K as the cost basis, for 24 mos. with nothing down will cost you over 2K a month.

 

I leased my '04 G35 Coupe 6mt for a 3 year term, but sold it 1 1/2 years into the lease and sold it for more than the residual or I owed at the time and ended up with money in pocket. That was a great car to lease b/c it held it's value real well.

 

What'd you end up getting and for how much? (If you don't mind sharing). My dad is looking for a new DD and I've been trying to find him a good deal for a reliable vehicle.

 

He was talking about leasing for 2 years, not paying off 50k in 2 years.

As a side note, GMAC definitely doesn't have any good leasing options on vettes right now so you'd definitely have to go with a third party. My lease which is $645/month (vs. 1,000+/month had I bought it) would now be $1,100 with GMAC. Crazy.