My take on leasing..

I traded in my '99 Ram 1500 on my '04 FX4. I was 25 at the time I leased the '99 Ram, not so good credit and was coming out of a 3yr lease form a '97 Ram 1500. I leased the '99 for 5yrs and was paying only $350 month. I really didn't have a choice. Once you lease you always lease unless you can afford to by your way out.

After 5yrs and 80,000 miles I still owed $18,000 on the dodge. The total cost of the dodge would have been $39,000 if I bought out the lease for $18,000. The sticker price was only $34,000 whe I bought it. Go figure. It apprecited $5,000 over five years!! LOL!! No, this is just an example of how much a lease is really going to cost you.

I wasn't worth that much. So now what do you do. The lease is up and now you have a few options. Buy out the lease, Sell it and hope you can get enough to cover the residual, refinance the residual for another few years (now you have a vehicle that is 8-10yrs old with little value), give it back and pay for any damage and overage in miles, trade it in, take the loss and add the difference to the new vehicle (whether a purchase or lease).

When the loss is added to the cost of a new vehicle your payments will go up and the only way to get them back down is to put up extra cash or lease again. If you lease again you just start the loop over again. It is extremely difficult to get out of a lease once you're in the loop.

If you do lease and can stay within the alotted miles and take of it relatively well, you can give it back and wash your hands of the whole deal. But now you have no vehilce, no trad-in and no equity in anything after a few years of payments. You just might as well take 3 years of payments and burn the cash, same thing.

It took me 8yrs and two screwings to get it, so I want to help by sharing my stupidity.

Moral of the story: Don't lease. The numbers may look good up front but you really get screwed in the end.

-Just My Opinion-

 

522.00 2004 FX4 SCAB put 6K down on a 32,000 loan (after they added GAP insurance and the 5 year 100,000 mile warranty)with 1.9%

 

With 6 grand down and only 1.9% did you really need gap insurance?

 

Here is my $0.02 worth. I have been the college student, with serious new truck fever. I have now been out of college for 6 years and now own a 99 F150 (ordered it from the factory, been paid off for a year).

The best thing that you can do is to find a mid priced or cheap vehicle to buy and take out a loan on it. Make easy payments for a few years until you turn 25 and get married (big discounts on insurance). Put the extra money that you have saved into a "brand new truck fund". In about 4-5 years, you will be able to buy whatever truck you want, put down a sizable down payment and get a reasonable monthly payment along with decent insurance costs.

 

I've been told that the best thing you can do when you're young and fresh out of college is to buy a used car, work for a few years, get your finances in tact, and then buy a new car if you want one. Some of the big time managers at the refinery that i will work at starting this august won;'t buy a new car if they had to. they say that the amount of depreciation that i new vehicle acquires is enough to deter them. anyways, i guess i should listen to myself and not buy a new truck when i graduate next month, but i just gotta have the new FX4.

 

If things are that tight then you should wait a little bit and save some cash for a heathly down payment. Never go into the dealer and tell him are looking for a certain payment. You will regret it every time.

 

i was just about to turn 24 when I got my truck. Happy bday to me =). The truck was about 33,000 but after tow package,bedliner,upgraded 17 inch wheels,sliding back window,electric seats, and some other junk I probably didn't need. after x plan and 2,000 down I had to finance about 29,000 at 1.9% made my payments to be about 523 a month for 5 years. what is killing me is car insurance about 220 a month with a clean record. I can't wait untill I turn 25!!! so it lowers my cost.

 

Wait til this time next year and pick up a used FX4. You should be able to pick one up with more options than you can afford to get now. By then you could have more saved up for a down payment by then......just a thought.

 

Some good advice above - mostly from your peers that are in your boat too.

Why strap yourself into a truck you really can't afford and will have to work a part time job to pay for while trying to go to school also?

Buy a beater, concentrate on school and after you graduate and get a decent job you can go out and buy what you want.

If you are struggling to pay for it, the fun of owning a brand new vehicle is going to go away real quick if all you do is work, sleep and study.

As far as the leasing? I leased one car in my life about 15 years ago and would never even consider it again. No way.

 

I have been wanting a truck for over a year and a half and I have been driving my 02 cavalier that will be going to my wife. I saved over 9k for a downpayment so i could get the truck i wanted. Buy what you want when you are financialy ready. You probably will want to stay away from leasing, you will probably regret it 2 years down the road.