If I get an 04-150 it will be an 4x4 Lariat and will be getting it at invoice which will be about 35,000. I will be putting nothing down.

Since I have been driving (17 years) I have kept a vehicle for an average of 3-4 years.

What are the forum's thoughts on leasing?

The two major auto leasing componies advertise a savings of 40-50 over out-right buying.

Thanks!
David

 

3 to 4 years means leasing is worth considering.
Remember to factor in the annual mileage you now drive with what is allowed in the lease.

Lease is a four letter word for me.

I buy a new vehicle every five years and keep it for 10 years.
My wife is due up next.

 

I would start at the dealer and find out the residual value of the leas at 3 and 4 years. I bought my 99 Lariat and sold it at trade-in price to my in-laws. Almost zero down at the time, 525/mo payments for 5 years. After 4.25 years at 69k miles, I had 8k equity (worth vs. owe) at when I was offered my trade-in price to the dealer. Net was under $350/mo. If I had sold it on my own, it would have been closer to $300/mo. I could not have leased it for that much. Do your own math for your situation. I would guess that it works out very close at that length of ownership. It just depends if you want to spend the money per month and get equity or just pay per use.

 

Read the fine print VERY carefully on the lease agreement. A lot of people have been burned on leases. Most people avoid them, unless they are using them for a business.

 

Leases are a lot better now than they were 15 years ago. Back then they only made sense for companies. Now I think leasing is a good alternative to financing. Your best deal will be with cash, of course. If you typically have high mileage per year then leases are NOT a good deal, but for moderate mileage the attractive thing is you always drive a vehicle that's under warranty.

When my '04 gets here it will be a lease. The '00 that it's replacing was a lease; Ford extended the lease on it till the '04 gets here. That will be my 4th leased vehicle in a row.

My Lightning I financed, 'cause that's different.

 

If you had said 2 – 3 years for getting a new vehicle I would say to look into a lease because it may break even. However with you saying 3 – 4 years that is a hard one to say. I would “think” you would be better off buying it rather then leasing.

From what I read about 5 years ago it was mentioned that if someone only keeps a vehicle for 2 – 3 then you would make out better to lease rather then buy. It stated anything over 3 years you would make out better buying.

Do some research on the web, maybe talk to a few banks or better yet a finance expert to get some sound advice…

EDIT:

Here are a few websites to start with:

https://www.creditexpert.com/credite...m_leasebuy.jsp

http://www.leaseguide.com/

http://www.adquest3d.com/content.cfm?BRD=418&PAG=34

 

I think it is a bad idea. At the end of the lease you have NOTHING to show for it. I have some friends that have been car salesmen and they say hat the dealerships love leases. That should tell you something.

 

Mods are a waste, unless you can pull 'em at the end and reuse/sell.

 

Ford pushes leases, for the obvious reason that they turn over new sales at the end. Many people forget that the downpayment on a lease will never be recovered - (2400 down on a 36 month lease = $66 a month over your payment). But, the lease that got us was that we leased a 96 Explorer for 24 months, and when it came up, the 98's did not have ANY color, trim styles that we liked, and we were forced to buy a replacement Explorer that we did not like. So, we had to buy a new Explorer we didnt really want. Think about it - what if you don't like the choices you have in 2-3 years? You're screwed. (Economics aside)...

 

Not sure what you mean by "recovering" your down payment - on a lease, your down payment just gets divided up and credited to each of your monthly payments. You could pay your $2400 up front, or pay 36x$66=$2400 as you go, but you pay the same.

As for what to do if the lease is over and you don't like any of the new vehicles, just buy yours out. That's the route I was going to take with my 2000 since I didn't want to lease an '03, I wanted to wait for the '04's. But then the talk of lease extension came up and that turned out to be the best option. I don't put excessive mileage on my vehicles so the buy-out value has never been out of line for what it's really worth at the end. As said before, if you put on high mileage, stay away from leasing.

And agreed about mods. I wouldn't even consider leasing a Lightning.

 

What would be the payments on a two and three year lease on a FX4 with X plan costing about 32500?

 

Dealerships do love leases.