Lowest Monthly Lease Payment
01-19-2002, 05:11 AM
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You should check the honda website and do their Lease Calculator. I got a quote from their site in the LOW $300's with just a few $K down for a 3 year lease. Cars like this are great for leases because they have nearly an 80% retention rate after 3 years...
01-20-2002, 01:42 PM
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You need to be VERY CAREFUL if you lease this car.
Remember: leases are more complex purchases than regular financing, and they include not just a guesstimate of the car's value at the end of the lease, but also a finance rate for the portion of the value you pay for as well as contractual terms concerning "wear and tear" a dealer can use to screw you royally. And that's precisely what most of them will gladly do in leasing you a sports car.
As to the basic concept, retained value, I believe the market for S2000s is in transition to lower pricing. People who bought MY00 and MY01 have a real shock coming, esp. if they paid over MSRP. In New England today, there's a glut of '01s on dealer lots and ads in the paper list '01s for $29K. (And there's the occasional misbegotten seller who thinks they can get $30 for an '00 with 10K on it. These are the first to get a dose of market reality.)
But Nissan is introducing the 350Z. I know, it's a Maxima engine, but still, it's competition. And there are plenty of others people in this market consider, from the Miata to MR2 Spyder (the latter being poor competition, IMHO).
The froth is coming off the market as a result. I ordered an '02 for $29995 from a fixed price dealer (they are usually more expensive than negotiating dealers).
So, you should consider an S2000 lease very carefully. If you allow a dealer to stick you with MSRP as the "capitalized cost," you will pay more for the use of the car (and in interest payments on the use of the car) than it's worth. Plus, if you want to keep it at the end your buy-out price will be based on the rosy assumptions of now about the car's worth in three or four years. Imagine being stuck at the end of the lease with a dealer whacking you for excessive wear and tear and having to pay more than the car is worth to buy it to avoid thousands of dollars of charges, the sole purpose of which is to extract more profit from you.
I expect that S2000s will lose value much more rapidly than people think. Honda is producing more, there's more competition, the economy is in recession and who wants a used S2000 (c'mon, we all know that people buy them to drive them hard. This common knowledge will affect the resale value). The best hope for high resale value is that the car becomes as cult-like as Miatas have become and Honda cancels the program, or better, cuts production back.
In any case, leasing this car is a BAD BAD BAD financial move. Buy it outright, preferably for cash, or, if not, for a conventional loan.
Unless this is your daily driver, I can't think of a worse financial way to be in the car than to lease it. You are asking to be taken.
Remember: leases are more complex purchases than regular financing, and they include not just a guesstimate of the car's value at the end of the lease, but also a finance rate for the portion of the value you pay for as well as contractual terms concerning "wear and tear" a dealer can use to screw you royally. And that's precisely what most of them will gladly do in leasing you a sports car.
As to the basic concept, retained value, I believe the market for S2000s is in transition to lower pricing. People who bought MY00 and MY01 have a real shock coming, esp. if they paid over MSRP. In New England today, there's a glut of '01s on dealer lots and ads in the paper list '01s for $29K. (And there's the occasional misbegotten seller who thinks they can get $30 for an '00 with 10K on it. These are the first to get a dose of market reality.)
But Nissan is introducing the 350Z. I know, it's a Maxima engine, but still, it's competition. And there are plenty of others people in this market consider, from the Miata to MR2 Spyder (the latter being poor competition, IMHO).
The froth is coming off the market as a result. I ordered an '02 for $29995 from a fixed price dealer (they are usually more expensive than negotiating dealers).
So, you should consider an S2000 lease very carefully. If you allow a dealer to stick you with MSRP as the "capitalized cost," you will pay more for the use of the car (and in interest payments on the use of the car) than it's worth. Plus, if you want to keep it at the end your buy-out price will be based on the rosy assumptions of now about the car's worth in three or four years. Imagine being stuck at the end of the lease with a dealer whacking you for excessive wear and tear and having to pay more than the car is worth to buy it to avoid thousands of dollars of charges, the sole purpose of which is to extract more profit from you.
I expect that S2000s will lose value much more rapidly than people think. Honda is producing more, there's more competition, the economy is in recession and who wants a used S2000 (c'mon, we all know that people buy them to drive them hard. This common knowledge will affect the resale value). The best hope for high resale value is that the car becomes as cult-like as Miatas have become and Honda cancels the program, or better, cuts production back.
In any case, leasing this car is a BAD BAD BAD financial move. Buy it outright, preferably for cash, or, if not, for a conventional loan.
Unless this is your daily driver, I can't think of a worse financial way to be in the car than to lease it. You are asking to be taken.
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01-21-2002, 12:49 AM
#9
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i wanted to lease just because its a high performance car. i wanna give it back before it gets bad. i know dealers can mess with you. is there anyway to prevent it, protect yourself? plus i see the hp and the torque going up soon, like how they tweaked the nsx. do you guys see anyway to get zero down near 400 a month?
i really appreciate the help, guys.
TOYBOY, i agree with your market assessment. i can't afford to buy or finance. is there anyway a lease could be ok in your opinion?
thankx
i really appreciate the help, guys.
TOYBOY, i agree with your market assessment. i can't afford to buy or finance. is there anyway a lease could be ok in your opinion?
thankx
01-21-2002, 05:04 AM
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is there anyway a lease could be ok in your opinion?
If most dealers will only sell today at list, there's no incentive for them to lower the price to you now to make a lease less costly (remember: the price of the car is MORE important than ever in a lease.) Just pay attention to how happy you will make the salesperson when you tell him you are going to go for an MSRP-based lease. This is a sure sign you are paying too much.
One thing going for you is interest rates are currently low. I'd look for a leasing company that offers a good rate on the finance charges for the lease. Ask the dealer if they deal with more than Honda's finance arm. Or, you could shop for a lease with good terms and have the leasing company buy the car from the dealer and lease it to you.
But I'd be REALLY sure about the clauses for wear & tear. Most dealers use these clauses as a way to keep people in perpetual leases: "Hey, dude, you can either pay me $3K for damages as specified in your lease because this little bird dropping here will cost me $2750 to wipe off or I can get you in this '04 S2010 for just $550 a month."
You end up paying and paying and never owning a (depreciating) asset. It's a form of car indentured servitude.