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Leases are easy to get out of, it's just like any financed car. I just got out of a 9 month old lease ('11 Kia Optima) and only had to pay a $400 acquisition fee. I had $1,250 of equity after the dealer paid the buyout balance, which went towards my cap cost.
I negotiate leases based on monthly payment and free services (free oil changes). I obviouslly do the math to know how much under MSRP I need to get to this number.
FYI, I just leased a new Sonata Limited 2.0T ($29,150 MSRP) with 15k miles a year, 36 months, free oil changes, full tint job for $350 month. $0 down and 35 months left to pay. It included $1,500 in rebates, my $1,250 of equity, and a couple grand discount. I believe the total cap cost was around $25,000 54% residual and a .00186 MF. My tax rate is 4.9%.
If I would have financed $27,000 at 2.5% for 60 months, payment would have been $480.
Basically tell them what I want to pay and how much down and they can figure out which numbers they want to mess with?
Yes. It is a lease. Payment is all that matters.
Quote:
Originally Posted by motordavid
Not unless you want to pay way more than you should, imo...that kind of approach is exactly what every/any car person is looking to hear.
For a purchase, with a trade in, you are right. But a lease is all about the payment. How can I pay "too much" if I walk in to the M-B dealership and tell them I want $200 a month for 36 months? Am I still paying too much or am I just being unrealistic?
Most manufacturers will run a target lease special on a particular car they are tring hard to move, and all the fluff is generally cut out of these. That'll give you a good idea of where to start -especially if you don't want THAT particular car.
For a purchase, with a trade in, you are right. But a lease is all about the payment. How can I pay "too much" if I walk in to the M-B dealership and tell them I want $200 a month for 36 months? Am I still paying too much or am I just being unrealistic?
My point was that for many novice 'lease shoppers', or even the average car buyer, 'admitting' to a monthly payment number allows lots of hidden/funny arithmetic to take place on the part of the car sales guy and the 'finance guy', imo. Often little attention is paid to the loan time, or in the case of a lease, the push for a down payment, the MF pumped up, and the add on crap most try to stuff into a lease or, sale.
Most manufacturers will run a target lease special on a particular car they are trying hard to move, and all the fluff is generally cut out of these. That'll give you a good idea of where to start -especially if you don't want THAT particular car.
I agree with the method you posted above, esp if the brand(s)/model(s) one is interested in, are being humped and targeted, true cost-wise...I couldn't discern the OP's interest in brand or model.
GL, mD
PS: sorry...my multi-quote/frag quote deal isn't working on this site...
There are a lot of factors in a lease, and if you're not familiar with them all and how they interact its easy to get tunnel vision focusing on the wrong thing. As a consumer, you should be ultimately concerned about 4 things:
The monthly payment
The down payment
The term
The miles/year of the lease
Decide before you go in what down payment (usually none but you should expect to pay at least a first payment and possibly a security deposit that's roughly to that payment), term, and miles per year you need. Then negotiate the payment. If you are unsure at all about whether you are getting a good deal, get a couple more quotes on a like vehicle from other dealers. Dealers are to eager to cut each other off at the knees and will generally get to the bottom line if they know you're getting bids from their competitors. Just make it a blind bid process; never tell anyone what another dealer offered.
You used to have to be concerned about closed vs open ended leases, but I don't think any banks are doing open ended leases for non-commercial customers. I've been in the business for almost 20 years and have yet to see an open ended lease.
dont put anything down, and never negotiate by adding to a downpayment.
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