Vehicle lease (and loan) questions

SebringMGB · Jun 9, 2004

Let me be the first to say, if your a Civic si type of person, and you like it, the wrangler will drive you nuts. Im not bashing wranglers, if just find them adsurd for normal use, if you dont take it off road all the time. no luggage space, rough, handle piss poor on road, and ever driven on in snow? short wheel base = bad. Id drive my the old integra in the snow anyday over my old jeep. i dont know what you intend on using it for, or how much youve driven wrangler, but i just though id throw that out there

SebringMGB · Jun 9, 2004

one thing i might mention, is check out the new long wheel base version that looks like the old scrambler. more room, and probably more likely to stay pointing foreward in the snow.

BurlyShirley · Jun 9, 2004

I drive a wrangler and I've gotta say, for a wifemobile...it probably aint the best choice. Honestly I think a liberty or something would be a bit better, as that is at least comfortable and wifely...yet still enough to get through the snow. As far as that goes, lease and let go of a liberty, but keep the wrangler if you lease it, because you can mod it out and all. Make it a fun vehicle.

MMike · Jun 9, 2004

Yeah I don't know about a TJ as a primary vehicle. You wouldn't rather consider a Liberty or something? They run about the same price.

I've had a CJ-7 and my wife had a '97 TJ when we first met...awful for road trips. The soft top can really get on your nerves. And anyone with a pocket knife can jack your sh!t. Great on nice sunny days though....

And as for buying after you lease, you're going to pay through the ass for the vehicle. If you plan on keeping it, then just buy it. The vehicle is rarely worth what the buy-out ends up being. (I can't speak with great authority as I've only ever leased 1 car....but after 30 mos, the buy out was like $8k or something, and the car was only worth about $5k on the used market). You will end up paying way too much for it. The big attraction to leasing is that you get a new car every few years.

BurlyShirley · Jun 9, 2004

what about if you gave the wife your 4 runner and you got a new F-150 eh? eh? eh? sounds good dont it?

sorry man, cant help on the money thing. the most i ever paid for a car was 3 grand.

MMike · Jun 9, 2004

BrokenChain said:
My major concern is our financial situation. If we lease, will we be able to adjust our loan payments? Again, thanks for th input.

likely depends on the bank and your credit. But more than likely you would be able to refinance your loan if you needed to. But really you'd have to ask the lender.

SebringMGB · Jun 9, 2004

BrokenChain said:
She riddicules my truck on what seems to be a daily basis.

well, seems like the perfect moment to teach her some appeciation.... I say go Titan! let her find out if the 4 runner is as bad as she thinks

Brian HCM#1 · Jun 9, 2004

What ever you do don't lease. All you're doing is renting the car, just buy the car & make payments.

SebringMGB · Jun 9, 2004

Brian HCM#1 said:
What ever you do don't lease. All you're doing is renting the car, just buy the car & make payments.

i steered clear of this... but true. i doubt ill ever buy a car i cant afford. i love having a fully paid car, and hearing my friends bitch about $300 car payments... mind you, when all is said and done, ive paid, averaged over 5 years, ~$250 a month for maintenence and upgrades for my car :think:

jonahrei · Jun 9, 2004

I totally agree w/ Brian, I've been stuck in a lease and it freakin SUCKED!!! Lease is only good if you work around the corner from your house. The payments are cheap, but in the long run you will be paying a few more thousand than what the car is worth at the end of the lease to purchase it.

narlus · Jun 9, 2004

i think leases make sense if you are not sure you'll have the car for a while, or if you really need a car and are short $ up front...we've typically bought cars instead, but i did do a lease w/ my last car and it worked out pretty well. as it stands now, we don't have any cars (the lease car was up, and we sold our other one before we moved; got a company car over here) and we'll have to sort the car situation out when we get back. i think we're gonna lease one car for the wife (to see what we'd realistically need w/ a couple of kids) and i plan on buying a used car in good shape (1-2 year old, low mileage is what i'm looking for).

i think bang-for-buck, the used car route is the best. but, you are obviously a bit more limited. depends on what you are looking for i suppose.

KaTooMer · Jun 9, 2004

The mileage limitations on leased vehicles would be the biggest drawback for me. I don't ever want to own a vehicle that I have to think about how many miles I'm putting on it, every time I drive the thing. And I like to think of myself as reasonably edumacated, but I don't understand jack shiite about those goofy buyout clauses. I figure if I can't understand it, they're screwing me somehow, some way.

Brian HCM#1 · Jun 9, 2004

narlus said:
i think leases make sense if you are not sure you'll have the car for a while, or if you really need a car and are short $ up front...we've typically bought cars instead, but i did do a lease w/ my last car and it worked out pretty well. as it stands now, we don't have any cars (the lease car was up, and we sold our other one before we moved; got a company car over here) and we'll have to sort the car situation out when we get back. i think we're gonna lease one car for the wife (to see what we'd realistically need w/ a couple of kids) and i plan on buying a used car in good shape (1-2 year old, low mileage is what i'm looking for).

i think bang-for-buck, the used car route is the best. but, you are obviously a bit more limited. depends on what you are looking for i suppose.

Nope its a bad move, the only time its okay is if you use it strickly for business and you keep the miles very low. The best thing to do is buy a 1-3 year old lease return. The only thing a lease does is benifit the dealer, not you. Car purchases are the worst investment anyone will ever make since they loose value the second it's driven off the lot.

binary visions · Jun 9, 2004

Brian HCM#1 said:
The best thing to do is buy a 1-3 year old lease return.

You can get a really good deal on a lease return. They usually have enough miles on them so that they go for not a lot of money, but most of the time they're well cared for.

My Tacoma was a 3-year lease return, just under 45k miles, for 11k off the retail of a new one. Got it for $2k less than blue book. The truck was spotless, not a mark on the interior or the exterior.

SkaredShtles · Jun 9, 2004

Brian HCM#1 said:
<snip> Car purchases are the worst investment anyone will ever make since they loose value the second it's driven off the lot.

The first big mistake is when people see an automobile as an "investment" - it's an expense, plain and simple. Unless, of course, you collect old Ferrari's. Then it *might* be an investment. Of course, those guys just use the "investment" card so their wives don't kill 'em.

-S.S.-

Brian HCM#1 · Jun 9, 2004

binary visions said:
You can get a really good deal on a lease return. They usually have enough miles on them so that they go for not a lot of money, but most of the time they're well cared for.

My Tacoma was a 3-year lease return, just under 45k miles, for 11k off the retail of a new one. Got it for $2k less than blue book. The truck was spotless, not a mark on the interior or the exterior.

Yep, same here I bought a 1 1/2 year old 2001 Chevy Z71 LT, fully loaded with leather, on-star etc for only 25K and it only had 13K miles on it.

MMike · Jun 9, 2004

Brian HCM#1 said:
Nope its a bad move, the only time its okay is if you use it strickly for business and you keep the miles very low. The best thing to do is buy a 1-3 year old lease return. The only thing a lease does is benifit the dealer, not you. Car purchases are the worst investment anyone will ever make since they loose value the second it's driven off the lot.

No. A downhill bike is the worst investment ever.

My friend (with the MBA...the degree...not the mag) ran some numbers a couple of years ago, and it turned out that leasing isn't quite that evil anymore. I forget the details but (in Canada anyway), they've changed some of the rules so that leasing is not quite the reaming it once was. He ended up leasing. It's obviously still not THE smartest finacial move ever. But if you are willing to pay a premium, then you get to drive a shiny new car every few years.

But buying the car after leasing it...that really is an horrible idea. If you want to keep the car, then just buy it. But if you lease, then just give it back at the end and get a new one.

Brian HCM#1 · Jun 9, 2004

MMike said:
No. A downhill bike is the worst investment ever.

My friend (with the MBA...the degree...not the mag) ran some numbers a couple of years ago, and it turned out that leasing isn't quite that evil anymore. I forget the details but (in Canada anyway), they've changed some of the rules so that leasing is not quite the reaming it once was. He ended up leasing. It's obviously still not THE smartest finacial move ever. But if you are willing to pay a premium, then you get to drive a shiny new car every few years.

But buying the car after leasing it...that really is an horrible idea. If you want to keep the car, then just buy it. But if you lease, then just give it back at the end and get a new one.

Yes a DH bike is a bad investment, but the biggest loss in value on a car is within the first few years, let someone else take the hit, then you get it for less. I never said to buy a car after YOU lease it, I'm saying buy a car that someone else leased.

MMike · Jun 9, 2004

Brian HCM#1 said:
Yes a DH bike is a bad investment, but the biggest loss in value on a car is within the first few years, let someone else take the hit, then you get it for less. I never said to buy a car after YOU lease it, I'm saying buy a car that someone else leased.

Like anyone is going to take the advice of someone whose judgement is so poor, he rides a Karpiel...

Brian HCM#1 · Jun 9, 2004

MMike said:
Like anyone is going to take the advice of someone whose judgement is so poor, he rides a Karpiel...

Thats ture, however I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night :thumb:

Cursor · Jun 9, 2004

if you're the type that likes to drive a new car every couple years, leasing is not such a bad idea.
i leased my car with the intentions of returning it at the end of the lease. my wife and i have one car paid off and figured we wanted our second car to always be 'new'. when the lease was about to end, i received a letter from bank of america that they lowered the buyout by about $3000. so i ended up buying the car.

Ian F · Jun 9, 2004

This is really hard to say without knowing more specifc numbers. Leasing in general is a bad idea if you plan to buy the car anyway. If you can't afford to buy the car new, then you should probably consider a used car.

For one, how much do you still owe on the Civic? Do you owe more than it's worth? If so, then the additional money you owe on the Civic can get tacked on to the lease for the Jeep. I knew a guy who traded one car for another until he finally ended up in a 5 year lease on a Hyundai for $350/month. Then he blew through the first year's mileage allotment in a few months and had to buy a used car to commute to work. Then he was making payments on a car he couldn't drive. Yeah, this was an extreme situation, but it can happen easier than you think.

Every situation is different and there are no hard and fast rules. I swore up and down I'd never buy a new car until I decided I wanted a Jetta TDI Wagon with specific options. Buying new turned out to be the only way to go. I drive waaaay too much to even think about leasing.

narlus · Jun 9, 2004

the lease i had was for 15K miles a year, and after 3 years i would have been fine w/ the standard 12K per (i think i put about 30K on it).

Archslater · Jun 9, 2004

In general leasing a vehicle with the plan to buy it at the end is a bad idea. I lease my integra GS-R for 4 years, then got lucky when I bought it, because it was worth more than the buyout amount. Still I had to get a 3-year loan to buy out the lease and keep the monthly payments the same. This is really the equivalent of taking 7 years to pay off the car. In the end including interest, I will have payed over $30,000 for a car that stickered for around $22G, all because I just thought I had to have a new car when I got out of college, and could't affor the loan payments.

You answered your own question when you said that you were poor. Buying or leasing a new Jeep is a bad idea, no matter how much you think you need it. Go out and find a good used Jeep for 12-16K.

Vehicle lease (and loan) questions

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