You can get a loan to pay off the rest, but in the long run, that may end up costing you more. The point of a lease is to give the car back. Basically, you are renting it for a long period of time.

My plan when I got the car was to get rid of it after 3 1/2 years. I get in the mood for a new car about every three years so it would work out perfectly. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), I decided to keep the car so I had to buy it out right.

 

'07. $500 down. $465/mo for 48 months.

 

for god's sake never lease, why would you ever do that? you are renting the car over a period of time. don't take advantage of your good credit standing in order to by something you can't afford for a lower monthly payment. get a used certified s, never take the lease route, always buy used and pay it off as quick as you can. i'm learning that now from experience. i bought a used 02 s2000 in perfect condition, i'm replacing the tranny now, but that's my fault. my payments are 358 a month with only 1500 down. i financed for 5 years to get a lower payment making it easier to pay it off quick, the lower the initial payment, the easier it is to throw more at the principal, i plan to have mine payed off in two years. save money first, pay off debt, then use cash and get what ever you want.

 

2007 S2000

$1000 total drive off.

$550 mo.

 

i bought a new one for less in monthly payments than some of these leases.

 

[QUOTE=gomarlins3,Oct 18 2007, 08:19 AM] You can get a loan to pay off the rest, but in the long run, that may end up costing you more.

 

1. Leasing allows you to drive "more" car at a lower monthly cost. In some cases, quality cars (BMW, Mercedes, Honda) can be leased for lower monthly payments than cheaper cars which quickly lose their value.
2. Leasing provides a tax break for those that use their cars for business. This is important since interest on car loans is no longer tax deductible.
3. Leasing increases flexibility. There is no trade-in at the end of the lease term. And the leased car can be purchased at a predetermined price at the end of the lease.
4. Leasing makes car shopping easier. Most of the shopping can be done over the phone by getting competitive rates from independent leasing companies and banks.
5. Most people think that everytime they buy a new car, it's gonna be their last one. But it's not true. You will always tend to want to get a new car after 3-4 years when the new models come out.

 

I wonder if I can get rid of my 2001 and lease a CR

 

in numerical response to your numbered points...

1. leasing allows you to drive more car than you could otherwise afford, common sense says this is a bad idea. only spend what you have, or what can easily be paid off. think milionaires lease? no.

2. does the tax break equal the car payments plus interest paid? no. tax breaks are overall percentages, buy a house, it's a tax break. leasing creates unnecessary debt.

3. at the end of the lease term, you might end up paying three more car payments, plus the buy out amount financed with an interest rate. 10 to 14 cents per overage mile, every scratch nick or ding in or out is added, plus dealer fluff fees. mathematically speaking if your pay off is 17000 plus charges of say 1300 that's 18300 financed at 5% interest that's 21,045 dollars. this is all after the car has depriciated 40%. hope you enjoy buying the car 1.75 times.

4. leasing makes car buying easy because banks make 90% of their total profit on interest alone. banks are aloud under FDIC regs. to loan ten times their worth in liquid cash. if you knew you could make one milion dollars extra a month, wouldn't you make screwing people easy?

5.people are trained to be ignorant. i am, i love cars. but what i love more is knowing that i can be smarter than the sales pitches, i drive an s2000 just like you. mine will be paid for in two years, you will still have car payments, i'll be investing the equivilant of the car payment for returns, you'll be investing for a loss. it is trully mathematically stupid. cars are status symbols. we picked one we trully enjoy. but status symbols none the less, a car is never a wise investment, only necessity. buy used, let the person that bought it new get screwed.

 

How many of you that answered this are in the car business? No one with a lot of money buys a car they all lease so you are wrong. Second by leasing it allows these people with money to use their money in other ways. They spend less per month on a very expensive car and put less down and use their money for investments and other things that can make money for them. When you buy a car you are throwing money away. Depreciation kills it no matter if it is used or new. What about when your car is out of warranty? Now you have reapirs to pay for versus leasing the car is under warranty the entire time and you pay nothing. So leasing is the better way to go if you are looking to switch cars frequently and not put out a lot of money and not lose a lot of money. If you are the type to buy a car and keep it 10 years then by all means buy a car. Yes I know because I work for the number 3 Cadillac dealer in the country and I am currently the number 1 salesman in the country for Cadillac, Yes I have a 2007 S2000 for my weekend fun and yes I lease it. I got a great deal by the way. $1900 out of pocket and $440 month for 36 months with all the factory spoilers included in the deal. Go ahead and start the flames but I know my job guys.