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Automotive News & Views The End of Leasing? And do you care?
95 messages, Last post on Sep 03, 2008 at 4:58 PM
You are in the Automotive News & Views Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & claires
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Replying to: 1stpik (Jul 26, 2008 5:54 pm) The trouble in leasing is in Trucks and SUVs. Automakers are in trouble because they need to write down book values due to the gas prices and SUV residuals falling off a cliff. On the other side, companies leasing the Toyota Prius are making a ton of money since they are selling for more than their residuals. Chryslers mistake was writing leases on a brand that has depreciation issues. Since they are so truck/SUV dependent, they are getting killed. Those who have leases on SUVs are making out like bandits if they decide to purchase them. Leasing companies are offering large discounts on residuals to get leasers to purchase their trucks/SUVs at end of lease. |
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Jul 25, 2008 4:49 pm) |
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Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Jul 25, 2008 4:49 pm) If anything, Chrysler sales will drop as a result of this. |
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There are hundreds if not thousands of companies and banks who will lease you a vehicle without any manufacturer support so I don't think it will change anything. I'm fairly sure that most current leases are arranged by the dealer though these independent companies or by the purchaser anyway . Here's just one. http://www.leasecompare.com/ |
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One of the funniest justifications for leases is the perpetual claim that "leasing is for people who like to drive a new car every 2-3 years." Like you can't do that if you buy a car. I guess we should all lease our houses, too. Those darn 30 year mortgages just keep people stuck in homes they'd much rather trade in for new ones. Another amusing part of the scam is the "tax savings" lie. People "save" hundreds of dollars per year in taxes by spending thousands of dollars to rent a car. Sheer genius. Then there's the idea that leasing allows people to drive nicer cars than they could afford to buy. So what? You can rent anything in this country from a luxury apartment on Park Avenue, to a Lamborghini, to a yacht. That doesn't make them yours. And with cars, it doesn't fool anyone. Everybody knows about leasing cars. The secret's already out. When people see a guy pull up in a $60,000 car, they don't think, "Gee, that guy must be rich." They think, "Gee, another sucker thinks he's fooling us by leasing a car that he can't really afford." And unless you're driving a Bentley or a Maybach, why bother? Everything else is just another mass-marketed box-on-wheels that purports to convey an image of "success" or "youth" or whatever to a bunch of strangers. It's pointless. The only person you'll ever really impress by leasing a car is a car dealer. He'll be your friend for life. That's good, because you'll need a friend like him every few years, when the lease ends and you're stuck with no car and no equity for all the money you spent. Call leasing what it is: renting. You're renting a car, renting an image, renting the illusion that you're moving up in life, while you're really stuck in a downward spiral on the highway to hell.
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Replying to: 1stpik (Jul 27, 2008 3:27 am) I work for a company that offers financial assistance at a health club to obtain services/membership. I got the scholarship paper work from a young woman of about perhaps 23yrs old or so.. But she pulled up in a Brand Spankin new 2008 Volkswagon Jetta Wolfsburg Edition, RED, MSRP $23,000! The crazy part was, that we were commented back and forth about her car, while she hands me the papers in which factors her approval for assistance. Her income was was quite low a month, and her insurance and payment totaled to nearly $450. Now tell me, does she really need to have the new car!? I am sure someone is helping her out, but was that the greatest move for her? I was like WOW! Just goes to show you, that person driving that brand new Escallade, is borderline bankrupt, how can anyone live like that? But, reality is, most people are, and truly cannot afford to front that image. The escallade is certainly about image.But some do have the money, thats fine, but realize how much more money you would have sitting their if it was not tied up in a lost asset. The auto industry is blood thirst industry, and even more so now, you have to watch your back, all they want is your signature, and get you out, then your stuck, well for atleast 3 or so years. You better want that car. I still think that they put way to many rules on the lease, I think they should atleast give you the option to get out of the lease at a certain point in the lease, atleast if you are going to stay with the same company. But, then you could always sell it after a time period. Problem is, some cars depreciate too much. Just like Chrysler, and my opinion is, they have never really offered a quality product. I seriously think they have gone down hill, big time, other than there vans, and truck, they have really sunk low. You don't see too many of them on the road. The whole line up looks cheap, thrown together. Seriously look how fast they drop in value. Sit inside a Chrysler sedan, then sit in a camry, Accord, Jetta, even nissan, your see my points. I love your statement though, much truth to it. |
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I have always taken an unfavorable view of leasing. It is in some ways the car equivalent of subprime mortgages, especially when the manufacturer inflates the residual value at the end of the lease to get payments down. It's another case of using a financial trick to get something you really can't afford, with the effect being that the overall cost is higher. I've never leased a car, and I probably never will. I own my current car outright. |
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| ...say they offer you 15K miles a year without penalty. You say, "Fine! I only drive 9K miles a year, so I'll be well under the limit." Your boss at work then says the company is giving you a raise but transferring you to another office which is 50 miles away from your home instead of the 10 miles you've been doing for the past 10 years. Uh-oh! You only have your leased vehicle. Do you risk running up all the miles on your lease or do you end up spending more money buying a hooptie so you don't run out the miles on your lease? You're darned if you do and darned if you don't! | |
that when I see some of these leases like $199 a month for an Altima or $219 a month for an Accord, I get tempted, especially since I don't do that much driving these days. I never really looked into them that closely though. I'm sure the up-front fees are still enough to remind me of the joys of driving a paid-off Intrepid.
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Replying to: andre1969 (Jul 27, 2008 2:13 pm) It's been busy in here since I last posted but a couple of things caught my eye when thinking back to dad and his leasing. The one was teh comment that after getting hosed on the one lease he went into another. The comment was that after getting hosed he had to. Craziest thing - he didn't have to. For maybe four consecutive cars he leased DeVilles. At any time he could have bought one outright. He never did. The comments about writing it off as business. This is something he did. I don't know the numbers in it but it made him happy so I guess I can't complain. Heck, he had enough on the ball that he could have bought any of them for cash if he wanted which makes him smarter than me on that count. He was still working up to the age of 87. Basically once he couldn't drive anymore he was done. He's still around at 90 but not going anywhere. |
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