We are leasing civic. Zero down and payments are low. I did not negotiate lease. They offered 200/mo and said residual is XX but we did not even consider buying it at end. But now I am thinking maybe we should buy it and get off lease merry go round. How do I proceed money wise? Check residual at end of lease and buy it or see if an identical car can be purchased for less?
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I’d go with the second option, which is actually a great way to buy a nearly-new car. You should certainly know how much off-lease cars are going for so that you can tell the dealership “look, I can get one for this much all day long, and it’s gonna cost you money to get this car ready for sale, which you will save if you give me an incentive not to buy something else.”
There is no simple answer to this question. You should read this book and decide for yourself. Considering its length, it’s more of a pamphlet than a book.
Have read your lease agreement from beginning to end? It spells out all your obligations and the options you have (if any) to get out of the lease. You didn’t say how much longer your lease is.
You may have an option to purchase the car prior to the end of the lease. Best thing too do is to try to negotiate an end to the lease and a buy-out price for the car. Apparently you like it, so there is no need to find an identical car.
we have1 yr to go so I am probably thinking way ahead. I assume our route is most expensive vs buying it at day 1 and trying to negotiate purchase price down.
Why ? In a year these things could happen ( stolen-wrecked-develop problems you don’t like-decide you like something else-used values of similar vehicles could be lower or higher ). It seems like a decision like this would need two weeks at most before lease end date.
If you buy your car, you’ll know the service history. That’s worth some amount of money.
I tried to negotiate with GMAC at the end of the lease on a SuburbandI leased for stupid low money. The residual was higher than book value on the car. I said I’d buy it outright for a good price. They didn’t even want to talk to me if I didn’t want to pay the residual. It didn’t hurt me at all to try. It hurt them to wholesale it to my local GMC dealer. Their loss, not mine.
Six of one half a dozen of the other. Essentially look at the buyout cost and compare it to what similar are selling for used is all. True there are advantages to buying a car you already know about. On the other hand, you have sunk money in it for a rental for four years so why sink more money into it to buy it a second time. Before doing that, I would seriously price what a new one would be and maybe just start out fresh with a new car. Easy for me to say, but anytime I looked at it, the total 7-8 years before the car is actually paid off can be a long time, especially for a lower cost vehicle.
Our leased car got rear ended, would probably hurt the resale value. Our last car an 03 windstar bought new cost $218 a month after 11 years of ownership before multiple issues made getting rid of it a wise choice. So we did the $200 a month lease, as my wife needs a dependable car for road trips to see her mom, will probably do a new lease for her in Sept.
Getting lazy I guess, a few oil changes then start over. No Mileage problem, no brake jobs, no fluid changes, no new tires, no worries about transmission or GDI issues and no repair bills as every thing is under warranty. My car will probably buy a used something or other, currently mine is 14 years old and going on 190k.
I have bought leased cars multiple times and passed on one that I leased. The question comes down to two things: 1) Do you love the car? If yes, 2) When you compare what you need to spend to buy the lease at its end (never buy one out early) is it a good deal compared to that same car advertised on dealer lots or via private sales. BestRide is a good place to quickly see what a given model is selling for (BestRide is a CarTalk Partner). As the owner of that car, you know how it was maintained and its accident history. You never know a used car that well. Great post.
our 2010 camry was 200/mo. wish I would have bought that car. little softer ride. bit more room. it would be paid for by now. and have 50k miles.
It depends on the financial situation with buying your car vs. another one but you should definitely take into account the service history as well. I think oil changes and such are included in leases now which is probably a good thing. I knew of some people who leased cars as a way to avoid doing routine maintenance the way they should have. Oil changes were done whenever it was convenient and the car was overall not cared for the way you would have it you had a long term interest in it. Basically this is a long term rental car. We all know how some people treat those. If you have treated the one you have well and the financial stuff is in your favor at the end of the lease, then get that car.