There are a lot of great "sign and drive" car lease deals out there to move the cars on the lots - especially the 2009 cars.

How flexible are the "lease" prices - If the advertised lease price is $499/mth, is $425/$450 going to be laughed at (Infiniti)? Or $399/mth advertised down to $325/$350 (Acura)? Is it flexible at all?

Great credit score btw, if that still matters. Anyone with auto sales experience?!

5/3/2009 3:38:02 PM

do you have any money to put down? do you have a trade-in? those are pretty much the 2 factors that will help in negotiating a lease price.

Also, are you a recent college graduate? Most major dealerships offer discounts/rebates for recent grads.

[Edited on May 3, 2009 at 3:46 PM. Reason : a]

5/3/2009 3:45:33 PM

^good points

I have money to put down - but I'm looking at a lease so I wouldn't have to.

I have a trade-in, but we all know you can get more for it selling it on your own...

I graduated a few years ago, I have heard of a few of those advertisments that come out around May. I'll keep a lookout

5/3/2009 3:49:25 PM

^ even if you are looking to lease, you can still put money down in order to lower your monthly payment.

and as for the trade-in philosophy, I wouldn't be so sure about that. Since you are trading it in on a lease, they are going to be making money at both ends. They might give you a pretty good price for it, and you don't have to go through the hassle of selling it on your own.

Dealerships LOVE to lease because they make more money on it, so they are more apt to "make a deal". You just need to go in there knowing what to expect. They WILL as you if you have any money to put down and they WILL ask you if you have anything to trade. If the answer to BOTH of those questions is no, then you don't really have anything to bargain with.

[Edited on May 3, 2009 at 3:55 PM. Reason : a]

5/3/2009 3:51:17 PM

buy a car. don't lease.

5/3/2009 4:24:41 PM

and also, make sure you pay attention to the mileage they will allow on the lease and how much they charge per mile for overage. That's another way they can fuck you.

5/3/2009 4:34:50 PM

why would you lease?

5/3/2009 4:44:28 PM

Quote :

"buy a car. don't lease. "

if you are going to pay an idiots price to an idiot and have nothing to show for it in the end, then go ahead and lease.

5/3/2009 4:46:37 PM

One more addition.

Buy a car you can actually afford.

5/3/2009 5:03:59 PM

Quote :

"One more addition. Buy a car you can actually afford"

Which would be one that doesn't involve a loan.

5/3/2009 8:15:08 PM

craigslist

5/3/2009 8:20:51 PM

I don't see the huge flaw in leasing for someone who has a car habit. If you're going to sell the car in 3 years anyways it's not a HUGE difference. I think BMW has recently been found for being upside down on some of their leases.

5/3/2009 8:29:45 PM

Quote :

"buy a car. don't lease."

I have to echo this. There really isn't much incentive to lease anymore. You can own for WAY cheaper than $399-$499 per month. Mine is only $188 (I had a good size down payment).

5/3/2009 9:05:36 PM

or you could save for a little while, buy the used basic transportation you need, and buy other fun shit

[Edited on May 3, 2009 at 9:09 PM. Reason : just an option. i'll never buy new or lease.]

5/3/2009 9:09:30 PM

Quote :

"buy a car. don't lease."

Quote :

"One more addition. Buy a car you can actually afford."

Exactly.

Quote :

"I don't see the huge flaw in leasing for someone who has a car habit. If you're going to sell the car in 3 years anyways it's not a HUGE difference. "

I don't buy it. I certainly have a car habit, and I make money on them on average. Most people probably won't, but if they're smart, they won't lose much. A lease is guaranteed to be financially bad. The only reason I can think of to do it is possibly for tax advantages for a business owner or something.

For the rest of us--buy, don't lease...and probably buy something significantly less expensive than you're currently thinking about. Once you break the debt cycle, you suddenly have options. I don't even fall into the "no debt, ever" camp--I think that financing big purchases like a car is OK sometimes, but instead of getting a $20k loan for a $20k car, start with (for example) getting a $7k loan for a $10k car, and put the difference in the loan payments in the bank.

Eventually, you pay cash for everything, and your standard of living goes back to where it was when you were financing everything, except you can start to really move forward and get ahead financially.

5/3/2009 9:24:33 PM

don't

5/3/2009 9:28:42 PM

pay cash n00b

5/3/2009 10:16:55 PM

Yea - but the whole point is to calculate which you would be better off at if you were to a) lease a car and surrender the car in 3 years or b) sell the car you purchase after 3 years. The difference in savings makes both options the same (loads of calculators online). IF thats the case, why the deal with the liability of 60/72 months of payments?

If the residual value of the car is the same - it doesn't matter what option you choose. The plan is to get a $300/mnth payment vs a $575/mnth payment....and put the excess cash from the sale of your original car, and the money you can be saving with the difference of the payments into blue chip stocks. And before everyone rants about the "risk" and that shit...I don't care about your uneducated opinion of where you think the stock market is going. I personally feel it will go up, and a stock such as GE, Bank of America, etc will be WAY higher in three years....everyone drastically underestimates the current timing of the stock market and using it to their advantage

5/3/2009 10:30:36 PM