Car Leasing (Phoenix: sales, credit card, loan)

[ddmedman]

Does anyone know of a financial institution that offers leasing a vehicle vs financing
Other than a new car dealer.I'm in scottsdale az

[BigEinAz]

Are you a credit union member or have the ability to join one?

[Ponderosa]

I leased a car one time through Centennial Leasing in Phoenix. I never set foot on a dealer lot. They did all the hunting for one I liked, the paperwork, and delivered it to my house. Pretty slick.

[LBTRS]

Pentagon Federal Credit Union has a lease like program called Payment Saver Auto Loan.

https://www.penfed.org/auto/payment-saver

It was a mistake and I wish I would have just purchased the car as I would have rather paid a bit more and paid off the car instead of only working off of the residual value.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by LBTRS

Pentagon Federal Credit Union has a lease like program called Payment Saver Auto Loan.

https://www.penfed.org/auto/payment-saver

It was a mistake and I wish I would have just purchased the car as I would have rather paid a bit more and paid off the car instead of only working off of the residual value.

Yeah,that was my feeling too after leasing. If one does change cars frequently and takes good care of them, though, it can be an attractive option to just being paying depreciation. It also makes sense if you want a car that has high resale like a Jeep, but a Jeep without a few scratches is an unnecessary Jeep.

[Colt AZ]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

Yeah,that was my feeling too after leasing. If one does change cars frequently and takes good care of them, though, it can be an attractive option to just being paying depreciation. It also makes sense if you want a car that has high resale like a Jeep, but a Jeep without a few scratches is an unnecessary Jeep.

I've always felt that way about trucks.

[Bummer]

As I have posted a few times before . . .

Years ago, a wise ole CPA told me that, except for a very few "tax" type exceptions, Leasing a Vehicle is nothing more than a feeble attempt to drive more vehicle than one can actually afford.

However, it must be a huge "money maker" since TV ads rarely reveal the price of the vehicle . . . only the MONTHLY PAYMENTS.

SUPER SAD, isn't it?

[DetroitN8V]

Originally Posted by Bummer

As I have posted a few times before . . .

Years ago, a wise ole CPA told me that, except for a very few "tax" type exceptions, Leasing a Vehicle is nothing more than a feeble attempt to drive more vehicle than one can actually afford.

However, it must be a huge "money maker" since TV ads rarely reveal the price of the vehicle . . . only the MONTHLY PAYMENTS.

SUPER SAD, isn't it?

I don’t lease, but your old advice is just that. What does this CPA say for himself when one is left with no equity after say three years of making finance payments? How is that any better?

[wase4711]

I leased many cars over the years, when the IRS rules for business useage/travel were ALOT different than they are now. Those new rules made leasing a lot less favorable tax wise for many, so the rate of leasing has dropped quite a bit since those changes.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by Bummer

As I have posted a few times before . . .

Years ago, a wise ole CPA told me that, except for a very few "tax" type exceptions, Leasing a Vehicle is nothing more than a feeble attempt to drive more vehicle than one can actually afford.

However, it must be a huge "money maker" since TV ads rarely reveal the price of the vehicle . . . only the MONTHLY PAYMENTS.

SUPER SAD, isn't it?

There are exceptions to the rules. For instance, sometimes a manufactures wants to buy your business and they give you an artificially high residual value.

I will buy new cars, used cars, or lease cars. New or used I pay cash. I attempt to figure out what is the least amount of $$'s it will cost me per year to drive. Sometimes, leasing makes the most sense. For a fast depreciating vehicle that I want, I buy a late model used car under warranty. If the lease terms are bad and the vehicle still has high resale, I'll buy it outright. But, I need to buy it below what everyone else is paying. If the lease value is attractive (high residual and great incentives) I'll negotiate my best deal. I pick the last day of the month at around 6PM by calling around every dealer. I set the stage that I'm looking to steal a car and ask if they need ONE more deal to hit their numbers. If they don't, I go to the next dealership.

I'll give you one example. My daughter graduated from dental school here in PHX and she needed a car. It had to be reliable and "cheap" because she is just starting out. I got her a 2017 Chevy Malibu LT on the last day of the month and signed it at 7 PM. The dealership was ecstatic to lose $$'s on OUR deal in order to hit their 2nd band of incentives. Meaning, we were the last deal of the day and management was literally giving each other high fives. So by them losing a Grand or more, they got 100x more by hitting their numbers (I was told it was 350 car sales that month). One deal short==no 2nd band of massive holdback $$'s.

In order to benchmark the deal, I made it simple. Zero down, 36 months and 36 thousand miles. Dealers love to change up the numbers to made it hard to compare. She paid $178/ a month for a Chevy Malibu LT ($29K retail). Even after prepping them, they tried for $229/mo, then $199. I said "we are wasting both of our time" and he lowered it to $178. So people who pay a posted price are not good at negotiating. In order to pull that $178 per month, I co-signed so we could apply my $1500 Asian conquest lease (GM was targeting Asian car lease holders). That's because I was turning in a Honda lease later in the year and this would be the only way to attach that unusually large $1500 credit. Meaning, GM was trying to buy business by giving a higher than usual incentive in combination with a few others (normally they do not stack incentives). I then applied $1250 GM Credit Card reward points. Finally, I negotiated a little loss for the dealership.

Putting it another way, she is paying $6400 ($178 a month) for THREE YEARS, (all in) for a brand new car. Psst. That's a great deal. From memory, the lease turn-in residual value is over $16K. No way in Hell will GMAC get that amount in 3 years. GM and the dealership "bought" the business. Cut, paste, repeat on other lease deals over the years. So yea, we bought "payments" but at a heck of a lot less than what was posted. Most people are paying over $3xx for the same lease.

If your accountant is decent with math, he would approve. I've bought over 40 cars for myself over the years. I could teach classes to many of the car sales staff. I learned my lesson on the 1st car I bought at age 18. Ouch. That's called "tuition". I actually enjoy buying cars.