Leasing a vehicle

UTfball68

UTfball68

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 18, 2008
Location
Granite Quarry
I've been close to pulling the trigger on buying a new(ish) family hauler for about a year now. We've been renting and using various makes and models over that time, we have our short list of what we like. I always liked the idea of leasing, for the simple fact of my ass won't have to hang over the fender to fix something. Payments are about the same for a new lease or a 2-3 old used, and yes I understand once the car is paid off vs continuing lease payments, I'll be throwing money away...I'm ok with that for a new, headache free family hauler for the wife. The mileage thing killed the idea though...I commuted upwards of 120miles round trip daily and the wife was 100 miles. Now she'll be working at my church 2 days a week and 5 miles each way, and I'm 5 miles the other direction. So mileage is no longer an issue. However, what I'm getting hung up on now are the wear and tear (excessive) clauses and verbiage. Seems kinda interpretive to me, and I don't wanna get hit with an extra bill, half of the vehicles value when the lease is over. I'm a big boy, so whatever seat I sit in, will more than likely see excessive wear. I have 2 kids under 2yo and probably a 3rd before the lease is up...kids cause excessive wear. I have a dog, again, a point for excessive wear.

So my question is...am I building a lease up in my head to be worse than it is, or am I thinking right and avoid leasing until I'm 60 with no kids.
 
The key with a lease is getting a vehicle that will have good value at the end of the lease that way you actually have some wiggle room for things that’s are damaged like stains and such I have a 4 door taco we lease for work and I’m not to worried about it because I know it will be worth plenty when I take it back


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We have been leasing vehicles for my wife for as long as I can remember as she seems to get a new vehicle every few years. The key like said above is to get something with good resale value. We are on our 3rd Grand Cherokee now and each time we actually trade them in instead of turning them in. We have always had positive equity so it has worked out in our favor. I'd say we really only had one flop in the many years and that was a Chevy Traverse. We ended up having to wait until there were some extra incentives with Jeep before we could get her in her first Grand Cherokee without taking a small loss.
 
Have you considered buying a 2-year old vehicle from a dealer, and paying extra for the dealer to extend the dealer warranty? Not one of the shady ass 3rd party warranties. Typically they are around $1500 or so. Of course it isn't a "good deal", by definition it never is, like any insurance, but it buys you that same piece of mind. IMO a car you own w/ a full warranty is functionally identical to a leased car. Of course it will cost you more but you get the equity and more control overt he resale issue, and the piece of mind of not having to worry about bending your fat ass over the fender.

Young kids are hard on cars. This can be mitigated by being a strict parent, curbing eating in the car, watching for muddy shoes, trying to teach them to puke in a bucket you keep in the car, cleaning it regularly etc... but lets face it shit happens.
I still remember the day we picked up one of my son's friends in our new van (he was probably 4-5), was maybe 6 months old, he goes to climb into the back-row seat and first steps in a giant goopy mud puddle, then instead of waiting for me to move the middle seat just yells "I can get it" and jumps up steps on the middle seat with his muddy shoe then over to the back, spreading it everywhere. After taking a deep breath to calm down I realized, keeping this clean is gonna be futile.
Our son was a car puker and it was pretty much impossible lol.
 
Certified Pre-Owned (CPO). Its pretty much what @RatLabGuy described...some dealers do 7 year/100k mile warranty from the manufacture date.
 
I’ve always been scared of leases. Watched my stepdad get hosed on a couple. The mileage is what killed him every time, and like you, he only worked a few miles from home. The miles stacked up quick with vacations, eating out, errands..... It bit him in the ass on both cars.
 
Do the math, figure out what works for you, and then temper that with what you want to do. A lease has never made sense to me, but neither has a new car. It really is very dependent on your personal choices. If you buy new, dont negotiate well, and then trade in for another new car, then a lease is probably a smart move. If youre patient, jewish, and dont care about a warranty, their is a lot of value in the 4-6 year old car market. A warranty is nothing more than component failure insurance. Whether you pay for it up front and the dealer fixes it, or you save the money and shade tree Joe fixes it, the end result is that your car broke down and someone fixed it. Loaners and roadside assistance arent that different than a 3rd vehicle and a tow truck. But Im from the same part of Israel as @Ron so YMMV
 
My DD is an ex-lease vehicle. It is a 2010 Toyota Sienna that we paid $21,000 cash for in the late summer of 2011. It had 36,000 miles on, and now has about 140,000. It has NEVER broken down or left me stranded. We take it on almost every trip we go on. I have only done routine maintenance on it. I figure I will sell it for about $3,000 when it hits 150-160k miles. Assuming I sell it with 155,000 miles on it, then I will have driven it 119,000 miles and that mileage will have cost me $18,000. Therefore it will have cost me about $0.15/mile over about 9 years of ownership. What does the cost of a lease work out to per mile?

I will also echo the comments of having kids and the vehicle ending up getting at least half trashed inside.
 
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jeepinmatt said:
Do the math, figure out what works for you, and then temper that with what you want to do. A lease has never made sense to me, but neither has a new car. It really is very dependent on your personal choices. If you buy new, dont negotiate well, and then trade in for another new car, then a lease is probably a smart move. If youre patient, jewish, and dont care about a warranty, their is a lot of value in the 4-6 year old car market. A warranty is nothing more than component failure insurance. Whether you pay for it up front and the dealer fixes it, or you save the money and shade tree Joe fixes it, the end result is that your car broke down and someone fixed it. Loaners and roadside assistance arent that different than a 3rd vehicle and a tow truck. But Im from the same part of Israel as @Ron so YMMV
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And if we're talking Toyota's, Honda's, diesel anything, or JK/JLs, then your best bet is to buy new, because a used one with low miles costs as much as a new one.
 
drkelly said:
My DD is an ex-lease vehicle. It is a 2010 Toyota Sienna that we paid $21,000 cash for in the late summer of 2011. It had 36,000 miles on, and now has about 140,000. It has NEVER broken down or left me stranded. We take it on almost every trip we go on. I have only done routine maintenance on it. I figure I will sell it for about $3,000 when it hits 150-160k miles. Assuming I sell it with 155,000 miles on it, then I will have driven it 119,000 miles and that mileage will have cost me $18,000. Therefore it will have cost me about $0.15/mile over about 9 years of ownership. What does the cost of a lease work out to per mile?

I will also echo the comments of having kids and the vehicle ending up getting at least half trashed inside.
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I wouldn't sell it with 155k. That thing will run forever. I have a buddy with over 300k on the one they drive:eek: Mine has 177k and runs like a top.
 
justjeepin86 said:
I wouldn't sell it with 155k. That thing will run forever. I have a buddy with over 300k on the one they drive:eek: Mine has 177k and runs like a top.
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Wow! Maybe I will just keep driving it!
 
Thanks for the info guys. Pretty much confirmed where my head was at, but I've never leased, and wasn't sure if it was as bad as I was making it out to be. As for vehicle value, I'm in the Expedition/Yukon/Tahoe market...after 2-3 years seems those drop to half of new prices. Not sure how or what that translates to when it comes to the end of the lease, but really don't think that's an option at this point.

RatLabGuy said:
Have you considered buying a 2-year old vehicle from a dealer, and paying extra for the dealer to extend the dealer warranty? Not one of the shady ass 3rd party warranties. Typically they are around $1500 or so. Of course it isn't a "good deal", by definition it never is, like any insurance, but it buys you that same piece of mind. IMO a car you own w/ a full warranty is functionally identical to a leased car. Of course it will cost you more but you get the equity and more control overt he resale issue, and the piece of mind of not having to worry about bending your fat ass over the fender..
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This is ultimately the route I usually go. Buy something 2-3 years old, extend the warranty until payments are done...then drive it until 200k and start the process over. Only reason I deviated this go round is, doing what I usually do is the same price as leasing (on the surface) and mileage should have been well within the parameters. At this point, I'll probably keep buying 2-3 year old vehicles with extended warranties, but instead of waiting to go 200k, I'll just do it again when it's paid off. Peace of mind that my wife and kids are safe and in a reliable vehicle, and not having to spend a late night diagnosing a CEL or looking for the tool I just had 2 seconds ago or a 45 minute job turning into an 8 hour job...a payment is worth it to me.

RatLabGuy said:
Young kids are hard on cars. This can be mitigated by being a strict parent, curbing eating in the car, watching for muddy shoes, trying to teach them to puke in a bucket you keep in the car, cleaning it regularly etc... but lets face it shit happens.
I still remember the day we picked up one of my son's friends in our new van (he was probably 4-5), was maybe 6 months old, he goes to climb into the back-row seat and first steps in a giant goopy mud puddle, then instead of waiting for me to move the middle seat just yells "I can get it" and jumps up steps on the middle seat with his muddy shoe then over to the back, spreading it everywhere. After taking a deep breath to calm down I realized, keeping this clean is gonna be futile.
Our son was a car puker and it was pretty much impossible lol.
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That, and my wife seems to be able to get random Chic Fil A bits/sauces on the headliner and have no idea where she picked up those fancy new scratches or door dings.
 
UTfball68 said:
That, and my wife seems to be able to get random Chic Fil A bits/sauces on the headliner and have no idea where she picked up those fancy new scratches or door dings.
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I can drive my truck for six months working out of it, errands, picking up kids, groceries, you name it. It’ll still look presentable inside and out without doing anything to it. I can clean my wife’s car and within a week it’s trashed. Straw wrappers, kids leaving shit everywhere, makeup on all the handles, and receipts for days. She has a habit of tossing all receipts into the console. Don’t know why, but I’ve thrown out hundreds. I’ve given up. I just embrace the filth and roll with it.
 
Wes said:
I can drive my truck for six months working out of it, errands, picking up kids, groceries, you name it. It’ll still look presentable inside and out without doing anything to it. I can clean my wife’s car and within a week it’s trashed. Straw wrappers, kids leaving shit everywhere, makeup on all the handles, and receipts for days. She has a habit of tossing all receipts into the console. Don’t know why, but I’ve thrown out hundreds. I’ve given up. I just embrace the filth and roll with it.
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When I started working in town again, I swapped rides with my wife, because she then had the longer commute. In 8 months, she f*cked up my Lincoln significantly more than I did the prior 8 years. I didn't burn her house, but I did the next best thing and wrecked her car.
 
UTfball68 said:
When I started working in town again, I swapped rides with my wife, because she then had the longer commute. In 8 months, she f*cked up my Lincoln significantly more than I did the prior 8 years. I didn't burn her house, but I did the next best thing and wrecked her car.
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Hahaha! That’ll teach her to be gross. My wife drives a 275,000 mile Honda Pilot. Wrecking it won’t teach much of a lesson.
 
Wes said:
I can drive my truck for six months working out of it, errands, picking up kids, groceries, you name it. It’ll still look presentable inside and out without doing anything to it. I can clean my wife’s car and within a week it’s trashed. Straw wrappers, kids leaving shit everywhere, makeup on all the handles, and receipts for days. She has a habit of tossing all receipts into the console. Don’t know why, but I’ve thrown out hundreds. I’ve given up. I just embrace the filth and roll with it.
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I didn’t know my wife had a twin??!!
 
I’d much prefer to buy a few years old after someone else took the hit. Get it paid for quick, always have a fund for repairs and AAA or something like it. Save money when it’s paid for a year or so, buy another one and repeat the cycle.

drkelly said:
My DD is an ex-lease vehicle. It is a 2010 Toyota Sienna that we paid $21,000 cash for in the late summer of 2011. It had 36,000 miles on, and now has about 140,000. It has NEVER broken down or left me stranded. We take it on almost every trip we go on. I have only done routine maintenance on it. I figure I will sell it for about $3,000 when it hits 150-160k miles. Assuming I sell it with 155,000 miles on it, then I will have driven it 119,000 miles and that mileage will have cost me $18,000. Therefore it will have cost me about $0.15/mile over about 9 years of ownership. What does the cost of a lease work out to per mile?

I will also echo the comments of having kids and the vehicle ending up getting at least half trashed inside.
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Dude that thing is JUST getting broke in, why in the world would you sell it? You’re just now starting to really get your monies worth. These days it’s nothing to get 200k+ out of a vehicle well cared for. My Toyota has 275k, gonna ride that thing till it doesn’t make sense to fix it!
 
The only lease that truly makes sense to me is if you know someone who works for BMW or Volvo.
They have employee program leases. Employees can give so many away per year. The lease payment includes EVERYTHING...including insurance. Well everything but gas. All maintenance and repairs all mileage everything.
And the payments are pretty amazing.
 
Ron said:
The only lease that truly makes sense to me is if you know someone who works for BMW or Volvo.
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And with the money saved, you can buy yourself a new set of platform shoes to help learn to learn how to walk with that special kind of gait and smell things differently with your nose a little higher in the air, b/c you're now the driver of a new BMW or Volvo. :D

(plus more importantly I don't think either has a "big boy" car like Ben wants)
 
Wes said:
I can drive my truck for six months working out of it, errands, picking up kids, groceries, you name it. It’ll still look presentable inside and out without doing anything to it. I can clean my wife’s car and within a week it’s trashed. Straw wrappers, kids leaving shit everywhere, makeup on all the handles, and receipts for days. She has a habit of tossing all receipts into the console. Don’t know why, but I’ve thrown out hundreds. I’ve given up. I just embrace the filth and roll with it.
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Sounds like our wives are related....
 
RatLabGuy said:
(plus more importantly I don't think either has a "big boy" car like Ben wants)
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Not for this purpose...but I remember in one of my first gigs, one of our top dog sales guys bought a brand spanking new 7series. He was the living embodiment of the douchenozzle BMW owner. I was too broke to even understand what one had to do to be able to afford a car like that, $100k+ at the time. For a long time, I looked at that car as the 'I made it' car. 10 years later, I wouldn't turn down the keys to a 7 series and think it could replace the Lincoln just fine, but the beamer infatuation has subsided.
 
UTfball68 said:
Not for this purpose...but I remember in one of my first gigs, one of our top dog sales guys bought a brand spanking new 7series. He was the living embodiment of the douchenozzle BMW owner. I was too broke to even understand what one had to do to be able to afford a car like that, $100k+ at the time. For a long time, I looked at that car as the 'I made it' car. 10 years later, I wouldn't turn down the keys to a 7 series and think it could replace the Lincoln just fine, but the beamer infatuation has subsided.
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Ha, shows how much you know - you think the 7 series uses a key. lol.
Keys are sooo last generation. Nobody who is anybody uses one of those, come on.
 
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