What are your lease terms?

[LEAFer]

Also remember you are paying $1,999 down. That includes one monthly payment, 1st year DMV fees (CA: around $485), sales tax (CA: 8.75%: around $700) on the cap reduction, etc. And don't forget to add sales tax to the residual; it's due when/if you buy out the lease.

In general ... the $379 versus $440 discrepancy: for CA: at 8.75%, sales tax alone is $33/month.

 

[Gonewild]

Also remember you are paying $1,999 down. That includes one monthly payment, 1st year DMV fees (CA: around $485), sales tax (CA: 8.75%: around $700) on the cap reduction, etc. And don't forget to add sales tax to the residual; it's due when/if you buy out the lease.

In general ... the $379 versus $440 discrepancy: for CA: at 8.75%, sales tax alone is $33/month.

If I am buying out of state there is not a DMV tax I will pay the DMV tax in AZ then is that deducted from the $1999 or we pay that anyway?


I just reread the lease $1999 does not include DMV or state tax etc.

 

[LEAFer]

Gonewild: you need to ask the dealer. I don't know if handling registration at the dealer is a requirement of the lease. Probably not, but check. In that case an extra $485 can go towards a) your pocket (temporarily); or b) reduce the Net Cap on the deal, which lowers your monthly payment.

Edit: remember my example is based on CA numbers; don't know the WA dealer calculations.

 

[turbo2ltr]

Not quite sure who sent me this but here it is..

Lease Decision Spreadsheet
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B-DGAXnbchK0NTI1NGJlZWMtNGFkYS00NGNhLWJmZTEtMGNkZDJhMjQ4YzVk&hl=en&authkey=CKztusUN

Specific for California, but someone could use it create their own.

I'd create a google spreadsheet, but it does not handle the circular reference so you have to use excel.

 

[LEAFer]

I am getting page or doc not available ...

 

[evnow]

...Seems actual terms are quite a bit more than from the advertised.

+1

Call me unrealistic, out-of-touch and old fashioned, but I really don't want a $400+ car payment each month.

Checkout the Lease sticky. In that I've a link to the financial calculations for lease vs buy comparisons.

Lease is just one way to finance the car (and reduce risk).

 

[HIOJim]

Checkout the Lease sticky. In that I've a link to the financial calculations for lease vs buy comparisons.

Lease is just one way to finance the car (and reduce risk).

Thanks, and I will check out that thread.

I've never leased a car in the 40-odd years that I've been driving so this is new to me. It doesn't help that I've been hearing horror stories from the Volt sites as to what GM is doing with their leases (rolling the fed tax credit into the residual).

The last car I financed I worked the numbers so my monthly payment came to exactly $300. And I paid that off early, too. I understand that consumer debt is a fact of life but I try to minimize it whenever I can

 

[evnow]

I've never leased a car in the 40-odd years that I've been driving so this is new to me. It doesn't help that I've been hearing horror stories from the Volt sites as to what GM is doing with their leases (rolling the fed tax credit into the residual).

Yes - US Bank lease for Volt is really weird. Anyway it is ending tomorrow. Not sure what GM will replace it with.

 

[HIOJim]

Yes - US Bank lease for Volt is really weird. Anyway it is ending tomorrow. Not sure what GM will replace it with.

When I first wondered aloud to a friend about how GM could match the Leaf's $350 lease figure on the Volt, he murmured something about how they must be inflating the residual somehow. Now we know how. :roll:

 

[evnow]

When I first wondered aloud to a friend about how GM could match the Leaf's $350 lease figure on the Volt, he murmured something about how they must be inflating the residual somehow. Now we know how. :roll:

Yes - inflating the residual is the normal way to decrease lease payments. That was one of the reasons GM & Chrysler were in big trouble in 2008. Because of inflated residual the leased SUVs got returned and they couldn't sell them without a big loss. Just a way to make the present seem better than it is.

But in this case US Bank is almost fraudulantly adding back the tax credit. They are going to keep the 7,500 and pretend they never got it.

The way they reduced the lease price of Volt was to give an extremely low interest rate (something like 0.69%) - and a 2K price deduction.Residual % is actually similat to Leaf's.

 

[turbo2ltr]

I am getting page or doc not available ...

fixed

 

[LakeLeaf]

Has anyone seen if you can lower the total lease payments and by how much if you pre-pay the lease? Is that something that a dealer would do, or does it go to the leasing company to make a decision? Writing off the lease in one year as a business expense might just be enough to drop into a lower tax bracket and net some real savings.

 

[LEAFer]

I am getting page or doc not available ...

fixed

Interesting spreadsheet. Allows me to duplicate Omkar's payment to the dime if I put the right figures in for MSRP and #months/miles. Except that it looks like the spreadsheet has the Doc Fee and the BankFee moved around a little ... and Omkar's DMV fee is higher ... and his MSRP seems to include the $820 Destination Fee.

 

[omkar]

Has anyone seen if you can lower the total lease payments and by how much if you pre-pay the lease? Is that something that a dealer would do, or does it go to the leasing company to make a decision? Writing off the lease in one year as a business expense might just be enough to drop into a lower tax bracket and net some real savings.

Here's a page I found via Google on prepaying a lease:
http://www.leaseguide.com/sn/prepaid-lease.htm

One disadvantage mentioned there (as well as in this forum):

If your car should be stolen or destroyed in an accident, your insurance would pay only the current market value of the vehicle, not the total amount you have invested in your lease. You would stand to lose a large chunk of your up front cash payment, the same loss you would incur if you had paid cash for your car.

 

[omkar]

Interesting spreadsheet. Allows me to duplicate Omkar's payment to the dime if I put the right figures in for MSRP and #months/miles. Except that it looks like the spreadsheet has the Doc Fee and the BankFee moved around a little ... and Omkar's DMV fee is higher ... and his MSRP seems to include the $820 Destination Fee.

Very cool! Things make more sense now

 

[LakeLeaf]

Thanks omkar

 

[Train]

If your car should be stolen or destroyed in an accident, your insurance would pay only the current market value of the vehicle, not the total amount you have invested in your lease. You would stand to lose a large chunk of your up front cash payment, the same loss you would incur if you had paid cash for your car.

You can usually purchase what is the equivalent to GAP insurance through your insurance agent. It's just a couple dollars a month and would cover any shortage of the actual cash value of the vehicle.

It's far cheaper this way then through the GAP coverage they offer at the dealership.

 

[LEAFer]

If your car should be stolen or destroyed in an accident, your insurance would pay only the current market value of the vehicle, not the total amount you have invested in your lease. You would stand to lose a large chunk of your up front cash payment, the same loss you would incur if you had paid cash for your car.

You can usually purchase what is the equivalent to GAP insurance through your insurance agent. It's just a couple dollars a month and would cover any shortage of the actual cash value of the vehicle.

It's far cheaper this way then through the GAP coverage they offer at the dealership.

Good question. Is the GAP automatically included at the dealer with the lease. I think it is. But that would mean it's mandatory and you would not really have a choice in providers for the GAP insurance. And that leads to the question ... WHERE is it included ? Via the MoneyFactor ? Or in the depreciation percentages ? And how much is it (in terms of % of the monthly payment) ?

 

[evnow]

Good question. Is the GAP automatically included at the dealer with the lease. I think it is. But that would mean it's mandatory and you would not really have a choice in providers for the GAP insurance. And that leads to the question ... WHERE is it included ? Via the MoneyFactor ? Or in the depreciation percentages ? And how much is it (in terms of % of the monthly payment) ?

I thought it was included in acquisition cost ... ?

 

[LEAFer]

Good question. Is the GAP automatically included at the dealer with the lease. I think it is. But that would mean it's mandatory and you would not really have a choice in providers for the GAP insurance. And that leads to the question ... WHERE is it included ? Via the MoneyFactor ? Or in the depreciation percentages ? And how much is it (in terms of % of the monthly payment) ?

I thought it was included in acquisition cost ... ?

Could be. Any DEALER able to chime in here ?