Pretty cool little car. I like it for what it is. It's a little commuter/econobox and at least now she can go places without me being there. It's a 2006 Focus ZX4 SE. Power windows and locks, moonroof, AM/FM/CD/MP3, etc..

Not too bad of a price either considering I get D-plan. MSRP is $17825, I paid $14,678 plus tax, license and doc. I didnt get any stupid warranties or anything. Leased it for 2 years, and the payment is like $303 a month or something like that with minimal down.

I think she's happy with it, at least she seemed that way when I went home to drop off my truck and show her the car. Things are lookin up guys... :santa:

 

way to stick with ford

 

Congrats on the wise choice!! Tell her about Focus Fanatics ... http://focusfanatics.com/ message boards for her too. Where's the pics??

 

or focaljet.com

Damn, I started a trend almost a year ago!

 

Yeah, I stuck with Ford. Mostly because I get D-plan and with my below-average credit (600 FICO), I'm almost guaranteed to get financed through them (Ford Credit).

That, and if I buy Fords, I keep the company that I work for in business.

The difference here Joe, is that I didnt trade in my F-150 for the Focus. I still have both, and $754.61 in car payments once a month. Not too bad though, she needed some wheels.

 

 

I got Mom to buy a Focus; I'd get one myself if I were the type of guy who buys new cars.

 

$303/month for a lease? How long is the lease for? You could have bought it for less. Even at 7% for 60 months you would be paying around $265. That's almost $40/month in mod $ for your truck!

What was the residual amount that they used? I found an article online that had the Focus listed as a "10 worst residual value" car in 2005. They used 31.4% after 5 years! A lease works best when the residual value is the highest because that is what you are paying for.

http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/list/...8/article.html

If you take 31.4% of $14,678 you are left with $4609 but at least you have that in your pocket in 5 years.

Even if you get rid of it after 3 years you could still sell it and not lose the extra $1368 ($38/mo x 36 mo) you are making in payments.

My wife leased an Accord once and we eneded up trading it in at a different Honda dealer. They gave us $1500 more than the residual value.

 

I like buying a car for the wife -- almost as much as I like buying them for myself!

Of course, my wife is a "car idiot" which makes it somewhat easier for me. She pretty much allows me to choose the make and model, and about all she really cares about is the interior and exterior colors!

It's kind of fun having the wife with a car that's something different to take out once a week or so and buzz around just to see how things are running!

 

Believe me, I know ALLLLL about leasing. I work as a sales manager at a large Ford/Linc/Merc dealer. To be exact, the payment over 60 months, even using your interest rate of 7% would have been $291.53. That includes GAP coverage (which automatically comes with every Ford RCL), and a service contract, since the factory warranty WILL run out at 36mos/36k miles. So, to have all the same benefits as a lease, ona purchase program, it would be $12 less a month. But, I would be stuck with a payment for 60 months (thats FIVE YEARS!) and when I'm all done paying it off and the car's mine, it's a pile of ****. Thats just something I'm not willing to do. By the way, leasing gives the customer an opportunity to use a car for the best time of its life cycle (first couple years) and then get a new one. By the way, the residual was 53.00% after 24 months with 12,000 miles alotted per year. Oh yeah, the leases also come with WearCare, which covers up to $2500 in wear and tear charges at the end of a lease (including bald tires, small dents and digns, etc..). For me, since I dont mind always having a payment, it makes sense. At least the wife gets a new car every 2 years, which makes her happy.

 

Sounds good. I will never lease a vehicle because I keep mine for at least 7 years. If it keeps the wife happy then that's always first on the list of what to do!

I don't know about the car being a pile of you-know-what at the end of 5 years, though. My old truck had 72,000 miles after 7 years and I sold it to my brother for $8,500. He is a sales rep for a golf company and has since put another 20,000 miles on it. If you take care of your vehicles then they will last. Of course, I also will never buy another Ford car, unless it is a Mustang GT again some day. My wife had a '95 Contour and the engine had a problem with the "timing slipping" 1 month out of warranty and ford said tough luck. $3800 later and we wnet to get her an Accord. We leased it for 3 yeard and did not have one problem with it so she bought a Honda Odyssey. Her Odyssey is 4 years old and has 55,000 miles on it and still runs like new!