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Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Honda S2000 Lease Questions
270 messages, Last post on Dec 01, 2008 at 5:20 AM
You are in the Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Forum. Your Hosts are car_man & kyfdx
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Dennis- your deal sounds pretty good. I'm really thinking about doing another test drive.  the pricing right now is very attractive. I'm basically torn between the boxster or boxster S and the S2k. the boxster is the car i honestly like better - but to get a NEW boxster would be way way way out of my price range. I'd be looking at 2000-2002 models at most...and buying a used one in the 20k range. I've seen nice base AND S models in that price range with 30-50k on the car and some with extended warranties that would buy me a couple years of peace of mind. the big downside to the porsche is that it's got to be more expensive to keep running. I could basically get a NEW S2k and have a payment of about $400/mnth with no out of pocket money. for a used porsche to have that total cost of ownershp...I'd probably have to stick with a used, higher mileage car... the one apples/orange part of the comparo though, is that if I bought a used boxster, at the end of the loan term, say I went 4-6 years - i coudl keep the payment low by stretching it out a while, and at the end of the term, id' own it. say I did a 4 year loan on a car that cost me $20k and had roughly 50k on the car. assuming 10-12k/year driving - the car would have 90-100k on it at the end of the loan, and i honestly don't know what it woudl be worth then, but i'm guessing in the 10-12k range or so. so say it's wroth 10k....i'd spend 20-23k in total cost + financing fees, plus say another 4-5k in repairs/mainteneance...which puts my total cost at 28k worst case scenario...minus the 10k ti's wroth when the loan is over and my net cost is 18k. the S2000 is less than that - and while it's "not a porsche", i'd have ZERO reliability/repair issues and my only "job" woudl be to make my payment, and drive the stink out of the car and enjoy it. it's very hard to compare loans to leases. I guess I always could consider a used S2k...like an 05 or 06 and try to get a sweet one for artound 20k. then i coudl do an apples/apples comparo to the boxster... you know the s2k will cost me less to maintain. not sure which would have a better residual in 4-5 years. for 20k i'd be getting a slightly newer lower mileage s2k....for sure. 05 or 06 model vs a 00-02 model porsche. both cars have their pros/cons. my heart wants the boxster but my pocketbook likes the s2k.
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Replying to: 23109vc (Jun 11, 2008 4:27 pm) Check insurance rates as well, a used boxster may cost more to insure than even a new S2000. As a point of reference, my 05 S2000 with 12k on it and a 7 yr (4 left), 75k, $0 deductible HondaCare warranty on it would be about $21.5k or a bit less as it sits. Like I said before, the boxster is a nice car and the s is a great car but they are a lot of money new or used and when they break  . Dennis |
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Replying to: 23109vc (Jun 11, 2008 4:27 pm) The eternal dilemma.. In my experience, buying a used Porsche will only save you on depreciation.. it will be as expensive to maintain as a new one (or more), and then you have the repair issues.. Even a used Boxster in the $20K-$25K range will be more expensive over 3 years than the S2000 lease.. The usual advice on buying used Porsches is to get the newest, lowest mileage model that you can afford, as that will be cheaper in the long run.. I think that is telling advice about how expensive owning a Porsche can be.. But, no point in dropping over $400/mo. on an S2000, if you regret it every time you see a Boxster drive by.. regards, kyfdx (done the Porsche thing)
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Replying to: kyfdx (Jun 12, 2008 3:48 am) i drove the s2000 twice. once with the top up and once with the top down. the top down trip - was a much longer test drive, on twisty roads,a nd i absolutely loved it. the only thing i HATE is the tach. that digital thing is so nasty. the boxster has a nice huge center tach which i like. i'll keep you all posted!! |
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when I first started looking at a small sporty car, I was really drawn to the RX8. i looked at both the rx8 and s2k. each has pros/cons. i would have liked either car - the s2k for being more performance for themoney and top down fun. the rx8 had more practicality/usability and was more comfortable. the only rx8s i liked were more heavily optioned and at that price level the s2k was a better buy. now mazda has released the 09s and they have an r3 trim level. stiffer suspension, cool body kit, awesome seats... differetn rear end ratio on all new 8s supposedly make it quicker off the line and accelerate better at lower speeds. i have yet to test drvie one, but with this newer suspension, i wonder fi the new rx8 will have that "soft" feeling gone and feel more like the s2k - stiff and sportier feeling. the new r3 version looks very cool too. anyone test drive the r3 yet and compare it to an s2k?
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Replying to: 23109vc (Jun 20, 2008 9:32 am) Now, pardon me while I go look at the '09 RX8 to see what exactly you are talking about! I'll have to see it in person but not too bad. 
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i wonder if it makes more sense to do the lease of a new 08 or find a leftover 07? i would think an 07 could be had for 28k or so...at most. mylocal dealer said they woudl sell their leftover 07s for 28k and that was just off the phone. if i was there, willing to sign up and take it away, they might go even lower. how cheap can you buy an 07 for now? would it make more financial sense to buy at the cheaper price for an 07 or lease an 08? even wiht a great APR, I would think the monthly payment for a purchase is goig n to be quite a bit higher unless you do some sort of crazy long payment plan... i think the lease is the way to go. anyone disagree? i would assume the cost of a 36 month least, double it and then compare that to financing the 07 over 72 months. although hard to say you could lease the same car for the same price in 3 years. but to make an apples/apples comparison in terms of total costs... i would think that the lease would be better as the monthly payment on a 6 year loan woudl be close to the lease payments...and the lease would never really need much repairs..while the s2k will start costing to repair in years 4-5-6. although in the end of the loan you own something, vs own nothign on the lease. anyone care to figure that one out??
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Replying to: 23109vc (Jun 20, 2008 9:32 am) I had an 05 RX-8 GT 6mt w/Nav and while I like the car, it drank gas like a Hummer (15-16 mpg commuting) and drank a good bit of oil. On a trip, all Interstate, to pick up my daughter's new Civic I got about 19 mpg and that was fill, Interstate, fill. Truly terrible miles for a car with not much power and not large or heavy. Resale value was as bad as a Suzuki or Kia. Smooth motor, but no torque. Classy looking interior, but crummy Bose stereo that can't be easily upgraded. Way out of date Nav (my 05 came with an 03 disc) with non-existent upgrades. Nice handling without a stiff ride. I returned it lease end as I could not find a buyer and did not want to over pay for it buying it out and didn't want to own something with such a sharp decline in value. Long term worries about the motor as well, but this has been eased somewhat by the new long rotary powertrain warranty from Mazda. It would cover by 05 retroactively, if I still had it. I replaced the 8 some months later with a G37. More power, gobs more torque, better everything (except weight). Gets 17 mpg around town and well into the 20's on the road. I am now on my 3rd S2000, a new 08 after the 05 and 01 cars I had previously. I get 23-24 mpg commuting and around 28 mpg on the highway - all with the top down. With the $1k lease incentive I got mine "real cheap" and the lease rate is low as well. I little more sparse in the sound deadening and luxury appointments, but that is OK. Stereo is pretty good and uses normal DIN head unit and standard size speakers so upgrades are easy. Not much room, not much space. True sports car handling and (to me) not that rough of a ride. Staggered tire sizes front and rear mean no rotating possible and super soft tires mean 12k to 16k and you will be buying new rear tires (unless you just poke along). Resale value, once very, very strong for S2000s is more normal now and is on the decline. I have not driven the r3 and probably will not. The differences might make a little difference, but it looks like if you get the package you miss out on things (like heated seats) you would get if you got the GT model. Is it a limited production model? If so, then no deals. Even if not, they just launched so probably no deals or incentives for quite some time. If I were looking for a coupe today, I might wander down to the BMW dealer and test drive the 135 . If I wanted a convertible, I would find a Honda dealer willing to price a new 08 down into the hold back (as I did) . Dennis |
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Replying to: 23109vc (Jun 20, 2008 3:50 pm) MSRP: $34,935 Invoice: $31,689 My price for the car, destination, and dealer fee: $30,247.37 and that is with a cheap lease too. If you buy, the price would be higher by $1k but you could do the 2.9% financing for 60 months. Run the numbers for yourself and see how it looks. $31,300 at 2.9% for 60 would be $561 per month. $28k at 5.29% is $532. If your credit union has a lower rate, then you could get a lower payment. That is ASSUMING they will give you new car rate money on a left over 2007 car - many banks will not. You will be upside down on the loan no matter if you do an 08 or 07, but will stay upside down a lot longer (and for more money) on the 07. You will not be able to get a good lease on a left over car, so that is out. If you lease an 08 then the $1k dealer incentive applies but you have to add the $595 bank fee. Still, the net is $405 CHEAPER in cost if you lease. Since the lease MF has a low interest rate (1.75%) you should come out just fine leasing the car, then buying it in 3 years if you decide to keep it. You start out at a cheaper price and pay less interest now - but you will likely have to pay more interest to buy it out (again depending on your bank or credit union's rate at that time). If you decide it is time for something else, no worries about the eroding resale value if you lease - just turn it in at lease end and walk away. Dennis
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