| vendsit |
I want to lease a 2003 MDX Touring Edition and have contacted a leasing company and a local dealer. The leasing company quoted me a sales price of 38695-2500 cap cost reduction to = 36195. A money factor of .227(5.45%) and residual of 22504. The 39 month payment is 518.20 including tax. This includes gap insurance and a 250 dispo fee. They arrange delivery at a local dealer or house.
The dealer wants MSRP + 795 for the running boards. With the same money down, the money factor is .215 and residual is 23000, but the payment is over 550/month. The dealer is suggesting a 48 month lease at 499/month. Is a 36 or 48 month lease better, because they have a 4 year 50k warranty.
Has anyone used a leasing company or am I better off going through the dealer?
Is either one a good deal? My wife was upset with me walking out of the dealership without the car. |
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| JeffK |
First welcome to the Board!
I have listed do and don'ts about leasing on several different threads.
To see my prior postings go to subject and put in "JeffK'" and then go to the threads about leasing.
When you go there you will see my postings. You will understand why you should never, I repeat never, ever put any money down in a lease.
Basically, if the car is stolen, destroyed or totaled in an accident any and all money put down is lost.
In NY State where I live, Gap insurance has been mandatory for the past 5 years. I suspect the same is true in Florida.
So all the outside leasing company is doing, is complying with existing law.
Good luck. |
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| zubinh |
Check this URL out. He has a good deal on the base model so I suggest you ask about the touring. PLEASE LET ME KNOW your experience with this guy.
http://www.shakerautolease.com/index.asp
Also, I would get the 48 month since you would still be under warranty. Your wife should understand you're making the second biggest financial decision of your life and she should be patient.
good luck |
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| kleeny |
To give you a comparison, I recently got an MDX base model and pay $493.73/month for 36 months and get 15,000 miles/year. Money factor was .0019 through Chase Auto Finance.
I paid up front some $2769 which was for NY state sales, tax, acquisition fee, first month's payment, tags, registration and inspection fees.
Even though my money factor was pretty decent, I chose 36 months because Acura will be re-designing the MDX in 2005-06. Hopefully by the time my 2003 is turned in, the new design will have had 1 year into fixing its bugs.
Also I drive fairly high miles and just recently paid dearly for going over by some 6,000 miles on my last lease - a minivan - so I needed a 15,000 mile plan but the 48 month lease would have put me at 60,000 miles - well past the warranty. I could've had a 39 month lease but didn't do it. 36 months worked well for me. I figure the less time I spend paying finance charges the better off I am. But 3 months difference is barely a backbreaker. I've also heard there are 42 month leases out there as well. But again, you are financing those extra months even though the lower monthly amount makes it not appear that way.
Try digesting all this: the longer your lease, the lower your residual...which translates into your financing for a higher dollar amount of money. and vice versa.
For example, the residual on my 36 month lease ended up being 62% which means I am financing 38% of the depreciation. A 48 month lease means the car is worth even less after 4 years and therefore has lower residual maybe 53%(?? just a guess) and means you finance 47% of the depreciation.
Last, I didn't mind paying some money up front because if you can manage to pay it up front then you've at least paid true face value for those fees-sales tax, etc. However, if you roll the sales tax, fees, etc. into your monthly payments you are paying interest or, put another way: financing all that. You're in effect paying interest charges on sales tax - like being taxed twice!
Jeffk has a good point though about losing all that up front money if your car does get stolen or wrecked but if I can make it safely through the first 18 months without any incidents I will consider that I got my money's worth paying up front. |
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| TheWorm |
Good discussion and advice in here.
Two basic tenets that IMO bear repeating:
- Put nothing down to reduce cap cost
- Never lease beyond the warranty
kleeny's comments re: financing sales tax hold true in states that charge the sales tax at the front end. Not all do (CA among them) - the sales tax is added to the monthly payment(s).
We always buy one of our cars and lease the other (I tend to get bored of them, whereas MrsWorm doesn't). Always a ZERO cap cost reduction (from me; but you can and should negotiate the price of the car, just like you're buying it) but there are still out-the-door costs, typically a security deposit, license/dmv/tags, and first month's payment. There's sometimes a "processing fee" of a couple hundred, too, but that depends on the bank writing the lease (as does the existence/amount of the security deposit).
www.leasecompare.com is a good site to check ballpark figures. www.carsdirect.com sometimes has leaserates/payments, too. |
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| zubinh |
Kleeny,
I'll be in the market to lease an X later this year. May I ask which dealer and salesman you leased from?
Many Thanks |
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| JeffK |
I leased my MDX from Rallye Acura, Roslyn New York. Salesmen was Dick Wilson. Recommend.
I leased in November at MSRP, $36,200, residual 59%, $21,358, money factor .00225, 5.4%. Lease was from Honda, 48 months, 48,000 miles.
I wrapped all New York State taxes and acquisition fee, $550 into the lease.
Due at signing was security deposit, $500, transfer and document fees $38.75 and first months lease payment. Nothing else.
My monthly payment to Honda Financial is $497.87.
Good luck! |
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| rjritz |
Hey, which dealer did u talk to in Orlando. I just leased mine Touring/nav 3 weeks ago. Shopped everywhere, called dealers in Orlando and Tampa bay and leased instead from Buchanan Acura in Ocala.
I have 2 leased cars in our family all the time and have learned not to lease from third party lease co. Some r just too strict when it comes to end of lease inspections.
We just came off a 2000 Audi A6 2.7t and a 2000 Honda odyssey lease. Both were inspected by ITS, and were very lenient. The Audi was clean , needed tires but was never written up by ITS. The Odyssey (wifes car) was pretty bad, dings, bug stains, scratches (hit by garage door), cracked rear lens, but was inspected clean except that tires was needed.
Our other leases from Wells and B of A were bad because of the surprise bill we got at the end of lease.
Depending on how u care for your car, Honda financial pluses are their .15 per mile overages, $1500 waived excess wear & tear, no gap, no disposition and no deposit |
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| vendsit |
I got mine through Courtesy Acura in Lake Mary. Phil Thomas is the internet salesman and would highly recommend him to anyone looking at the MDX. I was working him against two other dealers and a leasing company and he kept beating their deals. I finally agreed on a 48 month lease at 500 below MSRP with running boards and wheel locks. He got me .0020 money and a 21115 residual which gave me a payment of 538 a month with only 685 out of pocket.
The clincher was when I told him I couldn't pick it up until Monday, he brought it, and the paperwork, to my house last night at 4:30 to drop it off, even programed the Homelink for me. |
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