Buy or Lease

[Inspector1]

What is you preference on new cars

[anysia]

buy. i like the having the equity.

however, i *should* lease since i trade 'em in so often! ;) but i put too many miles on for leasing!

[princess]

I try to not have payments either....didn't on the Pilot, & the '02.....but traded too soon for the '03 & didn't have enough pennies saved!;)

Buying feels more like it's MINE. Leasing feels like borrowing it. Just me. I know there's benefits to both.

[Inspector1]

I'm also the buying kind have leased before but for out situation buying works better.. Me= to many miles Her= to few.

I'm just asking to get a feel for what car oriented people do.

If you lease and are close to turn-in give me a shout if you have any ?'s about wear and tear items. That's what I do for a living and would be glad to help out fellow DA members:thmsup:
I inspect lease turn in vehicles for numerous finance companies.
:cool:

I1:)

[princess]

It's cool to have an insider on stuff!!

That's also a reason we just can bring ourselves to lease.....I don't put many miles on & he'd be sweatin' it....

I'm one of the few that treat a rental carefully instead of rough. It's not mine, so I'm gentle. I think I'd be the same with a lease. It wouldn't feel like all mine. We never eat in cars, no smoking allowed, & have never stained anything...but I'd be paranoid about it!:rolleyes:

[anysia]

same here, no eating, drinking, or smoking in my cars! (well, the exception being my water!! it goes with me everywhere, but it's just water! ;) )

i'm paranoid about what can happen to the cars i buy.... and i've heard horror stories about turn-ins on leases, but i stilll think i might try it if i wasn't driving so many miles! (something about trading my car in so often just makes leasing sound like a better idea. if i could "control" myself and stick with one car for awhile longer, then i'd DEFNITELY buy over lease!!)

[Coil99]

Another vote for "buy" in the poll.

[Dave]

buy

i drive too much to lease a car.
a couple of cars ago, i looked into a lease on a new Saturn. (the GF had one at the time and we were at the dealer so i thought i'd ask) the lease would have cost about $150/month more than what i ended up paying for a brand new Mustang GT.

[according2me]

Buy. Like others, I was doing too many miles. Anyone know of a 50K mile/yr lease?:eek:

I1...I for one would like to know how the return process occurs with leased vehicles. I would guess that dealers use this procedure to extract more revenue even if you stay under the miles allowed per year and have documented all normal maintenance. Please educate us on this matter.

[princess]

50K a year??? sheesh!:eek:

[Inspector1]

Actually it has nothing to do with the dealers!!! They get their money either way, Buy or lease!!
It's the finance companies, whether it is attached to a Manufacturer or a large Finance Co. (Chase, Bank of America etc)
I contract to numerous companies and they are all different...
Of course the more you use one the more kickback the dealer can get. If you go to lease most dealers can give you multiple finance companies, terms, rates and so on.
You will always find a manufacturers finance company will be more lenient due to the fact that the Manufacturers name is attached to it..
And finance companies vary from good to ruthless(One chip on the hood) = repaint entire hood at least they try and charge that.
It also depends on the residual gap insurance they have attached to the vehicle but this is a blanket policy that is attached to numerous vehicles within one finance companies leases.
For example you lease a Ford Expedition that of course has one of the worst residual values out there as well as any domestic SUV.. The lease figure say's it will be worth 25k at end of term and it's auction value is 18k. The finance co. will apply for residual gap return from the bank which is tied to fair market value on said vehicle... and lets say there are 25 vehicles in that said policy and 10 of them are Honda's or Toyotas which will tend to sell at a premium+. So you resid policy is for 25k.. well since you have 10 premium + vehicles on said policy that are coming back at resid+1k you lose 10k off your policy and you now have 15k left. for the remaining 15 vehicles. Now you have say 4 Suv's on that same policy and you claim 3.5k on each one you now have what 1k left for the remaining 9 vehicles so you have to sell them at auction at a loss... Hope this is making sense to you..
and you lose that 1k because of over that amount in wear and tear charges you have to show to insurance co. And I'm just scraping the surface here..
From 1996-2001 leasing industry was at a boom and vehicle values plummeted and Insurance companies had to pay out all gap policies and lost money on all..
IMO that is why insurance premiums went threw the ceiling and not Terrorist attacks as they would like the public to believe.
Several finance companies have actually gotten out of the leasing business because insurance companies hiked premiums on residual gap policies to the point that the banks would not break even... So it basically comes down to the Banks and Insurance Companies have become so greedy over the years and now that their profit margins are falling the have to stick it to us in another way.. Insurance co raise premiums to everyone and Banks offer 0% financing to get you to buy vehicle and you take the residual loss..
Ok off my soapbox..... this is enough for now!!

I could burn up some major bandwidth with stories that would make your head spin.

I1 :)

[Coil99]

Originally posted by Inspector1
I contract to numerous companies and they are all
different...


Do you work for a company or are you an independent contractor?



Originally posted by Inspector1
I could burn up some major bandwidth with stories that would make your head spin.

Please do! Interesting stuff. :yes:


Which car companies are the worst? (If you can talk about it without causing problems for yourself.)

[anysia]

now my head is spinning because i sat here and tried ot figure it all out... (and i'm supposed to be an accountant/finance person?? lol!!!!)

ended up with one question for you i1, what is your opinion on leasing a honda through honda?? i don't know if you ever do anything for american honda leasees or not, but thought you might have some opinion on it anyway! (IF i ever found a way to lease that worked for me, i'd most likely do it through american honda, notone of the other random banks.):confused:

[Inspector1]

Originally posted by Coil99
Do you work for a company or are you an independent contractor?


Please do! Interesting stuff. :yes:


Which car companies are the worst? (If you can talk about it without causing problems for yourself.)

I'm an Independant Sub contractor that contracts to 1 company that contracts to numerous companies... I do more inspections other than lease return also..

Naming companies could create an issue if someone would happen to work for the company and took issue with my opinion of them and they probably would!!! Because the truth hurts!:D

If your in a lease and your concerned just PM me.


I1:)

[Inspector1]

Originally posted by anysia
now my head is spinning because i sat here and tried ot figure it all out... (and i'm supposed to be an accountant/finance person?? lol!!!!)

ended up with one question for you i1, what is your opinion on leasing a honda through honda?? i don't know if you ever do anything for american honda leasees or not, but thought you might have some opinion on it anyway! (IF i ever found a way to lease that worked for me, i'd most likely do it through american honda, notone of the other random banks.):confused:

American Honda as I stated before is a Manufacturers finance Co.
Of course their policies can change at the drop of a hat....

As you stated before buying might be the best scenario for you if mileage concerns are an issue.... Unless your in business or have so much money that you need write offs.... leasing is not a good option..

In my personal experience at this present time buying a used vehicle is one of the best courses of action for the private individual..
Cars are a loss leader and no matter how you look at it people buy with emotions not necessity.. But that's another story..

I1:)

[according2me]

Your description above seemed to be from the banker/insurance angle. How does this impact the leasee returning the vehicle. What are their costs and should they purchase gap insurance when leasing. What are the typical (yeah I know they're all different) expenses imposed on a self-maintained/well maintained vehicle if kept under the contract mileage.

I've never leased and doubt I ever will. I'd always be wondering what the hidden costs will be at turn-in.

[Inspector1]

Well from the turn in angle, 1st consideration has to go by the term
24,36,39,48,60 and yes even up to 84 months. The longer the term the more damage the will allow..
For damage most are anything over 2 occurrences per panel other than chips and 10(untouched up) is usually the max for
hood,2- 1inch dings per panel is usually the most allowed. A scratch larger than 3 inches would usually be deemed excess. 1 -2 inch dent would be excess.
Any scratches on wheels or wheel covers is excess.
Tires under 4/32" are replacement as well as mismatched.. brands
Any cracks over 1/2" in w/shield require replacement.
Any lights with cracks or breakage would be replacement.
Any cuts,tears, burns on seats, carpet, mats, and interior trim panels would be excess.
Any broken interior items IE cup holders, glove box hinges(VW #1 culprit) center console lids would be considered excess.
and the list could go on, but alot of manufacturers finance co's would deem these as Normal wear except for glass,lights, interior and tires.. they still are sticklers on these items and in my opinion they should be!! You would be amazed at what some people feel should be normal wear..
Just think about if you loaned your car to a stranger and they basically never cleaned the interior for 3 years, spilled coffee on the seats and floors and never cleaned up. Thats the sort of thing they charge for.. Hail damage that you don't have fixed because you cash the insurance check.. Change the oil ever 15k if that often. Some people don't have a clue..
Another example 2000 Mercedes SL500 convertible w/AMG wheel package , all 4 wheels had been scratched all the way around from curbs(those wheels are about 1800 a set wholesale) the guy wanted to argue about being charged for damage... I asked him.. I you where buying this car used for 50-60k would you buy with these wheels and he was like heck no.. my point exactly!!!

But it basically boils down to common sense of what excess is.

I even have people with black vehicles touch up chips with a Sharpie??:confused:
As far as gap insurance if you lease anything other than a Honda or Toyota it is very wise..
Self maint is not an issue if you keep records

Every lease has a disposition fee of 250-500 bucks if you turn in also.
I1:)

[anysia]

lol!!! i think i've been passengers in some of those people's cars!!! :D one time my husband's dealership gave him a loaner that had just been returned by someone else. they didn't clean it out at all and it had a week's worth of fast food containers all through it and coffee spills in the cup holders and other nasty stuff!! i can't believe what some people do to their cars! (heck, i can't even believe how dirty my husband let's his get and it's really not that bad! it's one thing we don't see eye to eye on. he has a blanket on his back seat (no one ever sits there!!!) he has dirt from a plant that spilled sometime last summer on the floor in the back. and i have no idea what is in his trunk anymore.... thankfully, i haven't had to deal with it much for the last couple of weeks since he isn't here! ;)

my car has a few pieces of grass on my floor mat, a container of window wipes and a serving tray in the cargo net that i have to drop off at a relatives house this weekend, and well, that's it. no containers, no blankets, nothing.... maybe i'm a bit too obsessive about my car's condition though! :D oh wait, there is my little bear that sits in my one cup holder, but that's my mod to my car!

so, my car would be one of the cars they'd love to get back at the end of a lease aesthetically speaking. BUT i bet they wouldn't like the wear and tear on the mechanical parts thanks to learning how to drive a stick!! :lmao:

[Inspector1]

The ones I really get a kick out of are the dings(dents) anything 1" and above is how I classify them. The people are like "you know some people just don't care and slam their doors into you"
Then I look at their door edges and they are all scratched,chipped and have paint transfer from where"they" have slammed their door into others!! I bite my tongue and say yes you are sooooo correct(With stupid written on my forehead)!!!!! :D :D

I1 :)

[feferic]

Buy ¡V all the way. Driving all over this state racks the miles up.

Oh, and in interest of full disclosure, I should say 'buy with payments' bank still owns most of the car. :)

[anysia]

i can picture them saying "but I slammed it carefully!!!" :lmao:

i'm holding my breath for the first time someone slams their door into my car!!! :censored: that's why the one place where i have to park by other cars (for work), i try to park by the same ones daily. (i lost all of the hondas i had been parking between though! :( ) anyone hits my car there, and i'll have a good idea of "whodunit"!!!! ;)

i find it odd how people treat their cars compared to their houses too! my best friend is one with tons of wrappers and coats and shoes and what not in her backseat of her 01 accord coupe, yet her house is always spotless!!! :roll eyes: go figure. if you go anywhere with her, you usually have to push crap out of the way to find the seat!

some people have no respect for anything! kind of why i stay away from used cars too. i never know who was driving it before and how they were driving it!

[anysia]

feferic-haha, me too! i don't own the car quite yet!!! ;)

[Inspector1]

bump

[mrjtree]

Another vote for buying.

How else could I justify all of the time and money spent on preventative maintenance, cleaning and walking to/from the car parked in the corner of the lot far away from I1's "dingy" people?