civicdude

iTrader: (2)

Hey,
I was thinking of leasing a car and getting rid of my civic. The reason being, that I want a lower car payment. I was thinking of leasing an Altima 2.5s. I found a deal that I can get the car for $3,000 down $159 a month for 2 years. Is that a good deal? Is it worth it to lease? I dont plan on modding the car, I just want to drive it. Its either leasing or im going to buy an older car...that doesnt have a payment.

If you guys have any benefits or negatives about leasing a car, please post them here.
Thanks

krayziebonet4l

iTrader: (2)

I was doing some math and it looks like you'll be dropping close to 7,000 bones PLUS insurance (correct me if I'm wrong, but isnt insurance on a leased vehicle higher then normal???) on a car that you wont even own. I dont think its worth it. Also, sometimes dealerships have a certain number of miles you can drive on a leased vehicle, sometimes 10k or 12k a year, if you go over, then you get penalized. I know I drive more then 12k a year. Honestly, I say buy a used car and modify the shi_t out of it.

civicdude

iTrader: (2)

Im not going to mod my next car....I actually recently stripped my car of all the mods and went back to stock. Im just looking for a daily driver...Im not into modding anymore.

I didnt know that they charge more for insurance on a lease car. I still owe money on my car now. If I trade it in, its only worth $10,000. I found that out yesterday, then I owe $8000 on my loan. I will be left with $2,000, so I guess its not worth it now. Maybe I will just stick with my civic for now....Unless i can find a car with no money down and a low payment.

XxSoVeReiGNxX

iTrader: (10)

don't you end up paying much more than the car's sticker price when you lease? How can you even drive a car acting like it's your 'own car'. The dealership will 'own' you if you mess up their car before your lease is up.


what you gotta do is: take out a loan from the bank, and pay the dealership in full. Banks have better deals when lending money. A friend from school with a Mustang did that. I think his parents took out a house loan and paid the car with it! (I think it was a house)

civicdude

iTrader: (2)

My car now.....I did that same thing. I paid off the dealer with a bank loan. I actually get the money taken out of my account each month. I dont have to do a thing, except make sure there is money in there...lol.

Giuseppe

iTrader: (1)

Leasing a good option if you want a new cars with low payments and you know you'll want to keep that car for the duration of the lease. if you get tired of cars easily, leasing may not be the best option for you due to the difficulty involved with getting out of leased vehicles.

Insurance is not higher on a leased car, they simply require full coverage. personally I don't see why you wouldn't want full coverage on a car you're driving.

All leases have a preset number miles you're allowed to drive during the lease term. usually it's 12,000 a year. If you go over that amount, you're charged anywhere from 5 cents to 25 cents depending on the lease. All these details are worked out when you sign on the lease.

Someone mentioned the "dealer being pissed if you mess up their car". if you mess up the car in an accident then you have your insurance fix it. Simple as that. The car isn't your car, but it isn't the dealers car either. it's Honda's or Nissan's, etc. If you buy and finance, the car isn't your's until you pay off the loan either.

Ifyou lease a car and then decide to buy it at the end of the lease, the car gernerally costs more than if you were to finance the car from the begining and buy it. Not in all cases though. Saab recently had a lease offer on the new 9-3 in which you paid $12k over 3 years for the lease. The buyout at the end of the lease was $12k also. With the starting value of the car being $26k.

Also, you have to understand how a lease price is generated. If you lease you pay for the amount the car loses in value over the course of the lease. So you take that amount plus tax, title, and registration fees and then you add interest, this interest amount varies from lease to lease, and divide it by the number of months to get your monthly payment. That's how you get your lease rates.

End of lesson

civicdude

iTrader: (2)

Thanks, Giuseppe. Very Helpful information.

Mbow

I think he covered everything but I'll ad my .02..

I would never put anything down on a lease. I wouldn't lease longer than 3 yrs. You'll most likely never have to replace the tires, brakes, etc., and everything will be under warranty for the duration of ownership. Put gas in it, change the oil, and drive it.

The biggest negatives im my eyes are always having a car payment and being limited to a set amt of yearly mileage (it's expensive if you go over).

Personally, I feel like leasing should only be done by those in strong financial positions. You get a new car every few yrs and always have a payment.

I financed my vic for 3 yrs and I plan on keeping it for 5. I get 2 yrs with a reliable car and no payment. I'm not one to want a big car to showoff and a big payment to loose sleep over. I'd rather drive a decent car and not have a payment.

Enough of my unorganized rambling...Civicdude, I have seen you post numerous times concerning the sale of your vic. IMO, from what I have gathered from your posts, I would recommend that you get an older honda and buy it for cash.

FALKEN

iTrader: (55)

when i leased my s10...the owner (gmac) required insurance coverage of 100K/300K and a minimum of 50K-property...also had to include the 'gap' coverage...so the insurance was a little higher (not too much though)


i was allowed 15K miles/year...i had to get out of that because after driving the truck for 20 months, i had 32K on it...so i cut my losses short and traded it...that way i was not going to owe a ****-load of money just for the mileage...plus it would have been out of warranty by the time it was only 2 years old...


the only advantage that i see is that the leased vehicles are usually loaded and you can get in with little or no money...and they have a smaller monthly payment...





good luck!!

civicdude

iTrader: (2)

Mbow....Thanks for the advice. I think i may just try to find some thing for alot less money or just keep my car and deal with the payment. I guess tis not worth the added stress of looking for a car to buy and praying its not a bomb.

pbfoot

iTrader: (2)

well, im leasing the civic now and i think its a not so bad option.
i needed the car when i didnt have a secure job, so i needed a low payment. this is primarilly why i got the civic. i wasnt into moddinb, so that wasnt an issue then either. plus i knew that if i got a good job (which i did, and have now) i would be able to afford a better car later on. so leasing a car was perfect since i have that option of just returning it and getting a better car w/o the hassle of having to sell a used car. i dont drive that far, and my lease agreement gives me 12000/year (which is the lower option). you can go for 15000/year, but that costs more obviously.
the way i see it, im paying less for a car now than i would be if i bought it. i have no intention of buying the car after the lease is up, so i wont be paying more than someone who financed it. when im done in 2 years ill be able to get a better car since i can save money now w/ lower payments, and where someone who bought the car will have a 4 year old car (i leased for 4 years), ill have a brand new car after my lease is up.
so yeah, if youre just looking for a daily driver (as long as you dont drive long distances) leasing is a great option i think. i didnt put any money down, and my payments are still pretty low, so im happy.

however, i plan on buying my next car as im sure ill be modding it. plus since im planning on a wrx (or STi if i can afford it), ill be a bit more happy w/ that car than i am w/ the civic....so i probably wont be so eager to trade it.

good luck.

civicdude

iTrader: (2)

What are you paying for the lease?

pbfoot

iTrader: (2)

225/month...2001 LX sedan, 5spd.

Validus

Heres the deal with leasing (I just "leased" a car saturday)

The way leasing used to work, the loaner (a finacial institution, sometimes a bank, sometimes a finace department of the manufacturer) is the owner of the car. Therefor in an accident, you could sue not only the guy who drove the car, but the loaner. Therefor ford would be sued, and they litigants won alot of money. Now when you lease a car (leasing is being "phased" out, and in most areas of the country its gone, but still called leasing) You become the owner of the car. Its just like financing until the length of the 'lease' term is up. For example, i "leased" my mustang for 3 years. 35 months from now I can either sell my car back to the dealership for the buyout price settled on at the beginning of the lease, or make my last payment and agree to somehow pay off the buyout (finance it, or straight out pay it). On my leased mustang I am the owner of it, so if i get into an accident, I am sued, not me and ford.


On leasing advantages, look at it this way. You can often get a better car than you otherwise could, and can often have it for 3-4 years. Many people in secure positions get rid of their cars around that time, so its nice in a way because you have an agreed upon price when you sell it back to the dealer (ex. 13,459 for my mustang when the lease is up). If you decide to buy it out, you wont be paying anymore for it than you would if you finance it, because when you lease its just like financing and is the msrp with interest added. Thats why putting more money down lowers the payments, because the more money down the less you 'owe' and therfore the less interest tacked on to your payments. Milage is flexible, but you have to agree on it at the beginning of the lease. Naturally, if you want more milage per year it will tack on extra costs on to the lease. The average person with a commute around 20 miles a day will be fine the the standard 12k miles per year. Any live-in college students would be fine with 12k, and so would anyone in the military. If you have a very long commute (i have an 80 mile commute till next year, where I will be living in and wont have a long commute) and still want to lease, you may want to get 15 or 18k. My family has leased everycar for hte past 12 years, and they;'ve been doing fine. When you get into an accident its exactly the same as when you get into an accident with a purchased or financed car.

Hope that helps, since I just leased if you have any questions feel free to contact me.

spookini

Buy a good-looking 6G for $6-7K and get off your car payment/lease payment habit for good. Drive the 6G into the ground and use the money you save for something meaningful.

ViNRoCk8

iTrader: (2)

Leasing is good if you don't have the money to put down on a car.

Also it is good because you could just get rid of the car when the lease is up.....hassle free

The only thing that does suck is if you go over the mileage.

But since we have a digital speedometer.......hmmmmmmmm

civicdude

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for all the information. I know where I live, in NY I heard that they were trying to get rid of leasing, but they still have it now. I dont know what im going to do. Right now I have 3 years left to pay off my 2001 civic. I took it out for a five year loan. I put down $6500, and pay $230.64 a month. I want to be able to put that money in the bank for future use. I feel it is such a waste to be putting it into a car that im really not happy with.
If I dont lease, I will prolly pick up a 5th gen civic or a 6th gen civic or maybe an accord, or a camry. I dont know, I have to start looking.

Giuseppe

iTrader: (1)

Good luck Civicdude, I know how you feel about not being happy with the car.

civicdude

iTrader: (2)

Youre not happy either?

Giuseppe

iTrader: (1)

I'm not happy either. At first I liked the car. However, over time I've started to like the car less and less. I have another 22 months left on my lease at $202.75 a month. I'm just going to keep it for the summer and then go about looking for a new car that I'll keep long term. Prior to the Civic I drove an '01 Lexus IS300. I felt spoiled driving it so I sold it to get something more affordable, now I'm regretting it.

civicdude

iTrader: (2)

Wow why did you go from an is300 to the civic....I would of kept the Is.

Giuseppe

iTrader: (1)

You're the 1000th person to ask me that question. Like I said, I felt spoiled. I loved the car... I was borderline obsessed with it and all my friends loved the car, and understood that I paid for it. However, new people I would meet just looked at the car and assumed I was spoiled or were simply interested in the car. So I sold it, and decided to get the Civic until I could find something I wanted to definitely keep for a long time. About the same time I realized I wanted the 5-speed IS, rather than my e-shift, which also played a part in selling the IS. It was a dumba** move on my part. One of the cars I'm considering to replace the Civic is in fact a 5-speed IS, so I may yet be reunited with my baby.

pbfoot

iTrader: (2)

yeah, im in the same boat as you guys are. only reason i got the civic is cause it was the most affordable option at the time. it was never my first choice, but i liked it the best out of the others in its class. now that i have a job i can afford something better...so hopefully i can save up like 9k to put down on something ill be more happy with.
muhahahahahahahaha

good luck civicdude

civicdude

iTrader: (2)

Thanks, PBFoot.