is it possible to lease a nice car for $250/month or less?

[murphy55d]

?

Lately I've been thinking about buying/leasing a car, once I get my CC paid off and I finally get off my arse to get my license. I saw a commercial on TV for a Chrysler Sebring for $229 a month for returning Chrysler customers, which I am not, but the price got me thinking, maybe a lease would be the best route to go. I think 250 or so would be my limit, because I'd still have to pay for insurance, gas, etc, I don't want to spend a TON of money every month.

Conversely, does it make sense to lease? What are the advantages of doing this... and are there any major DISadvantages to doing it?

So basically, what, if anything, could I get for 250 or so a month? Has to be an automatic, prefer 4 doors, and room enough to haul around a couple hockey sticks and an equipment bag. (this doesn't have to be limited to cars, could be SUV, but trucks are out of the question unless you tell me I could get a SportTrac for 250 a month )

Any thoughts?

 

[iamwiz82]

dont lease.

 

[murphy55d]

Originally posted by: iamwiz82
dont lease.

Care to elaborate on that?

 

[iamwiz82]

sorry, i was looking for the link.

linky

 

[Doggiedog]

Of course. You can put alot down and reduce your monthly lease price. But that would be stupid.

 

[LostHiWay]

I leased my previous vehicle..a 99 Jeep Wrangler SE (sticker was $20k) for 3 years with zero down and my payments were $247 a month.

Right now I'm leasing a Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 4WD (sticker $30k) for 3 years, zero down and $369 a month. Both with 36,000 miles allowed over the 3 years

 

[RossMAN]

Don't lease, if you can't afford new car payments then buy a good used car.

It's possible to lease a car for under $250 a month but it's going to have 2 downfalls:
1) It's a lease.
2) It's probably going to require a large down payment of around $800 - $2,000

 

[vi edit]

I've seen Toyota Matrix XR leases going for ~$209 a month, 36 months, 12,000 miles a year. $1800 down.

 

[bonk102]

define "nice car"

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: bonk102
define "nice car"

Yeah we need more examples of what you'd like to lease/buy other than a Sebring.

 

[Rob9874]

Don't listen to the lease-bashers. I'm leasing a Dodge Durango right now. I would get a Toyota now, but it's too late.

Leasing is good if one of the following applies to you:
You want a lower monthly payment
You don't have a large down payment
You want to drive a new car every 3 years or so
You want to drive a better car than you could afford to buy

On paper, it is better financially to buy a car, if you plan on owning it for a while. I'll admit that. But if you're like me, and figure to have a car payment for the rest of your life, it's not so bad. Why would you want to buy a car, and have to sell or trade it in 5 years when you get a new one, and take the loss on the investment? Cars are bad investments, so I really don't see why people prefer buying instead of leasing.

Consider my scenario: Granted, the numbers would be better with lower interest rates, but this was '99, and I was right out of college with lots of debt. I also got talked into too long of a lease, you want a 3 year. I leased a $32,000 Durango for 5 years for $499/month. My lease payments will be $30,000 after 5 years, and I have the option of buying it outright for $16,000. That's $46,000 total. If I bought the car, interest over 5 years (or 7 years, to keep the payments the same) makes the final buy price similar to the $46K lease buy-out price (assuming I got a similar interest rate). I don't have my financial calculator with me, or I'd give an exact number. But the advantage to leasing is that I can decide after the lease term whether or not to buy it outright. If it's only worth $12,000, I'm not paying $16,000 to buy it. So I'm only out the $30,000 I paid to lease it. However, the guy who bought it (assuming he doesn't pay it off sooner than 5 years) is out the total price plus interest.

My point is this: the price you pay to lease a car for 3 years is not much more than what you pay to buy a car and drive it for 3 years. Sure, if you bought it, you can always sell it, but who knows if you'll be "upside down" when you sell it. I like the freedom of knowing I'm done with the old car, and in a new one after 3 years. (I'll do 3 years next time.) Plus, to buy with a 5 year loan, payments would be around $750.

 

[UberDave]

eh, i saw advertised somewhere that you can lease a CIVIC for like 179 a month and a Ford RANGER for under 200

good luck

 

[FelixDeCat]

I used to be a bigtime lease hater, as I was violently opposed to buying new cars. But the cars I wanted were too damn expensive to buy. So I just got a balloon note, 15k miles (I do about 12k). Turn it in when you are done and go get ANOTHER NEW CAR!

 

[PsychoAndy]

i perfer equity. leases are for those who want kind of a "no headache" car ownership experience, as in if anything breaks its ususally covered under warrantyl

as in you have a 3 yr 36k mi warranty with your 3 yr 36k mile lease. also, people tend to lease cars with a higher value, ie BMW. i read once that youre paying for the depreciation with a lease, therefore it works better with a brand of car that has a high residual value (value left after you turn it back in)

 

[RossMAN]

The only time I would ever consider leasing is for a luxury car or SUV so I could afford the monthly payments.

There are 0% for 12 months, 1.9%, 2.9%, 3.9%, 4.9% deals all the time which makes buying a little more affordable.

 

[vi edit]

as in you have a 3 yr 36k mi warranty with your 3 yr 36k mile lease. also, people tend to lease cars with a higher value, ie BMW. i read once that youre paying for the depreciation with a lease, therefore it works better with a brand of car that has a high residual value (value left after you turn it back in)

Pretty much. That's why Honda and Toyota have such good lease specials.

It's all about the residual at the end of the lease. Say you lease a honda accord that stickers for $20,000. In 3 years, 36,000 miles, that car will have a 55% residual and be worth $11,000. Your lease is based on that depreciation of $9,000, and you only pay sales tax on the monthly payments.

At that rate, your monthly payments work out to be a little under $280 a month, for 36 months, plus tax.

A GM or Ford car on the other hand may cost you $20,000 sticker price, but only have a residual of 40%, or $8,000 residual at the end, a depriciation of $12,000. You'd make payments on $12,000, or about $370 a month, plus tax.