okaythen

Hi everyone:

I never leased a car before, but I saw some lease deals on slickdeals that a lot of people gave it thumbs up. I was wondering if it is really that great of deal.

So I was wondering if you guys can help me understand leasing better. So if the car is 60k, residual value is 40k after 3 years lets say. Now when you buy it the residual value is also 40k. So for that 3 years you didn't lose/gain anything in either case did I get that right? you are pay for the 20k in either case. So maybe lease is more flexible as at the end you can decide to buy or move on. (no equity in either case )(in this case I am talking about C7 but I would like to know about the leasing in general also)

Now the residual value set from the leasing company is it usually fair and accurate?

interest rate for leasing vs buying are they similar?

Is insurance higher for leased cars? vs you owning the car (all paid off) and financing to own it.

Other fees or charges that's higher/lower for leasing?

When do they have great leasing deals? is it also near the end of the year, or when new models are coming out. dealer are getting rid of old year model etc.

Need good credit score to lease right and depend on how much the car is. Does your credit score get lower a little bit after leasing the car?

I guess leasing is good if the car doesn't depreciate much so you dont' pay much for the lease term. And if a car depreciates a lot then it's better to wait and buy it after 3 years or however long it losses max value.

So if you can afford the monthly payment of a 60k car (leasing) but if you buy you can only afford the payment of a 30 to 40k car. So leasing you can afford a nicer car but at the end you don't own the car. Buying you own at the end but in another 4 years it will depreciate another 50% again.

RicK T

It isn't that easy. Leasing has become a big profit business. And YOU are not the one getting the profit. Leases vary by company/bank but one thing they have in common, they over protect the lessor and stick it to you in every way conceivable. You have to take an attorney with you to read and understand all the fine print (kidding but close).

If you're interested, here's a discussion from a few years ago in C6 that still applies:

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ny-of-you.html

John Ulrich

Leasing then buying never made sense to me. (I've never leased) What am I missing why this would not cost more overall?

Corgidog1

Here's the scoop as I see it--

Leasing is made up of 2 components-depreciation and time value of money-Cap cost ( acquisition price) less residual equals depreciation. Plus money factor which is the time value of money. Take the money factor and multiply it by 2400 to get the actual interest rate used.

With that said-leasing works best if you drive 10-15K annually and want a new car every 3 or so years. Actually works better than buying in these situations because after 3 yrs try getting the residual from a private buyer and the dealer will just give you wholesale.

Buying works best when you plan on keeping a car for a long period of time or put on high mileage.

Leasing then buying at the end of the lease is the most expensive option because the cap cost (acquisition cost) the dealer will figure the lease rate upon will not equal the 10-11% of MSRP you could get if you buy. Plus the residual is probably high on a Corvette. Lease it for 10K miles and drive it 10K a year and you have 30K after 3 yrs. Why buy it when you could get a low mileage garage queen for the same price as the residual. Drive it only 4000 miles a year then buy it and you have overpaid for depreciation.

In my opinion either buy a corvette or lease it and drive the heck out of it and turn it in.

mksz51

THIS. Finally someone who fully understands the concept of leasing. Also why we continue to lease our daily driver that we drive to the max of the lease terms and replace every 36 months yet purchase everything else (which are long term vehicles).