sorry, i checked the FAQ but didn't see anything...

anyway, is leasing a good/bad option for these cars? how are residuals? do you save very much over financing? if you've leased yours, please share your experiences in terms of money down, payments, term, payoff, etc. tanx!



p.s. how much is insurance relative to other cars? i drive a type R right now and pay out the a$$. do you think the s2k will be more or less?

 

I'm no CPA but it seems to me that you always get screwed when leasing a car that is in demand. I leased our Xterra that we picked up the first month that they were being sold. I'm not sure how they did it, but to lease cost only about $50 less than it would cost to buy. Needless to say, I took out a loan to pay for my stook.

As far as insurance goes, it's costing me about $64 per month.

 

You have to consider your usage for the S2K. I see you live in Denver, which means you will probably park the car for 4-5 months in the winter. If that's the case, you'll probably only put on 6000-10000 miles, in which case, DON'T LEASE! You are just doing the dealer a big favor (the dealer makes money off the car twice - you paying off the brunt of the depreciation, and then getting a car worth more then it should be to sell used). Also if you intend to modify anything down the road, that's another consideration. While most mods are bolt-on/bolt-off, you may lose out on that.

As for insurance, I'd expect the S2000 to be comparable to your ITR - the S2000 is a bit more expensive and sportier, but the Integra is a residual resident on the "most stolen" lists...

 

I'm leasing my S2K. I'll probably buy it at the end for less than it's worth. I enjoy getting new vehicles every 3 years so leasing makes sense for my needs. The residual is higher than most, right now it's at 65% with AHFC & the current AHFC money factor (interest rate in lease terms) is .00260. I'm a return AHFC customer so AHFC is making my first payment & waiving my security deposit. All that said, with $0 down my payment is $541.46 including taxes. Try finding a loan for 60 months for within a $100 a month of that. Not going to happen without a good chunk of change as a down payment. BTW, if you do lease the rule of thumb is put as little money down as possible. Same rules apply to a lease like a purchase. The higher your credit score the better the money factor (interest rate). The payment I quoted is based on $34,400. That includes $32,740 + $575 Rear Spoiler + $585 Front Spoiler +$550 Aquisition fee everyone has to pay + 7% of monthly payment tax. The front spoiler is NOT residualized only the rear. Dealers will try to bump up the money factor for even more profit. The only reason mine is not is I have a friend that owns an Infiniti dealership & offered me access to his lease link which tells me what the residual & money factors are for any leasing company including AHFC so of course I made it known that they better not try to bump it up because I knew what it was supposed to be. Sorry for being so long.

 

well, i went for the lease, despite the naysayers here. it was just too good a deal for me. it will cost less than the finance payments on my ITR! here's the deal:

vehicle price $33.3k including delivery from south dakota (tanx Zoran!);
36 month lease, 12k mi., no security deposit
6.5%, ~63% residual
$2500 down incl. 1st month;
~$410/month (+ Denver tax)


much better (for me) than financing:

60 months, 6.99%
$2500 down
~$675/month

p.s. trust me billy, i'll use all my miles before lease end

p.p.s. insurance was slightly cheaper than ITR

 

2600 down
498/month/39(includes all taxes and all fees plus the side strakes and rear spoiler)
$20,145 buy out at lease end

 

I am leasing and think that this is the way to go if you are going to change cars every few years and dont want to out money down. Instead of putting $15k or whatever down I invested the money.. It works out so much better IMO.. PLUS I have only had it 6 weeks and been in 2 accidents (not my fault) - that would make life selling the car so difficult - with leasing I just hand it back..

 

I'm leasing also; I decided to put absolutely $0 down (meaning nada - not one cent; I rolled the 1st month, acquisition fee, deposit etc. into the lease). It makes the monthly payments higher but I also saved some cash for the short term. Besides, at the end of the three years, the difference was about $300 (for which I'd rather have the money in hand). I think my money factor was .00265 (which equates to approx. 6.36%), and my residual was 64% (much higher than other cars I was looking at).

Watch out for fees for turning the car in or buying it at the end. Mine are fairly low, but they snuck one in on me (buying = $150 fee) that they said wasn't there. I missed it

 

The resid on this car rocks, I'm leasing. I'll spend thousands less than the peeps with a loan, and get a new one when the warranty runs out!

PS I used to work for a Honda dealer, so I considered all the options first, one can get royally screwed when leasing...careful.

Andrew

 

There are good reasons to lease or to buy but the total dollars have to come about the same (all parties). If you are spending thousands less that has to mean the dealer got screwed. Bottom line is someone has to buy the car, pay for the funds, and carry the depreciation.. and a dealer would want a bit of profit in the deal as well. Am I missing something?