Leasing a car in todays world.

[Jerry1]

I used to lease my cars and would flip mine every two years. I was just wondering, for those who lease, what it’s like to lease today. It seems like there’s nothing on the lot so what do you do when the lease is up? I used to just pull in at lease end and get into a new vehicle. I can’t imagine it’s that easy today. Also, how bad is the payment? I used to get some really good deals but I’m thinking there are none to be had these days. In general, has the cost/benefit changed for leasing in the current environment?

 

[marko]

Both our leases are up next July. We plan on starting to look in January and figure out how to play this.

 

[ShokWaveRider]

I leased a new car 2 months ago, for basically the same cost and payment as the one I turned in, mainly as its value had increased substantially and was applied to the lease cap cost.

Money factors are up with interest rates, residual percentages were about the same as always, maybe a little better in the buyer's favour, new car prices are becoming more negotiable than a few months ago.

 

[Qs Laptop]

Was previously a serial leaser. Have leased trucks for business purposes since 1995. The lease on my 2018 Ram 1500 Big Horn was up in May 2021. I tried to get another one similarly equipped, but not only were they about $150 more per month but hard to find. I ended up buying the truck at lease end at the specified amount in the lease documents, $24,000.

I went on Carvana recently and saw several examples of my truck for sale at $37,000+.

My son had leased a 2019 Civic EX; lease was up in January of 2022. He wanted to lease another one just like it but there were only three available in the Phoenix area and the lease cost was $200 more per month. Like me, he ended up buying his vehicle. Bought it for lease buyout amount of $14,000, same car on Carvana is priced around $26,000, which is $3,000 higher than the sticker price on his car in 2019.

Bottom line--expect highly inflated monthly lease payments and difficulty finding a vehicle that fits your wants and needs.

 

[ncbill]

Was previously a serial leaser. Have leased trucks for business purposes since 1995. The lease on my 2018 Ram 1500 Big Horn was up in May 2021. I tried to get another one similarly equipped, but not only were they about $150 more per month but hard to find. I ended up buying the truck at lease end at the specified amount in the lease documents, $24,000.

I went on Carvana recently and saw several examples of my truck for sale at $37,000+.

My son had leased a 2019 Civic EX; lease was up in January of 2022. He wanted to lease another one just like it but there were only three available in the Phoenix area and the lease cost was $200 more per month. Like me, he ended up buying his vehicle. Bought it for lease buyout amount of $14,000, same car on Carvana is priced around $26,000, which is $3,000 higher than the sticker price on his car in 2019.

Bottom line--expect highly inflated monthly lease payments and difficulty finding a vehicle that fits your wants and needs.

I found the same thing summer 2021...new lease, same vehicle, same specs would cost literally 50% more.

Even though I'm a regular reader over at leasehackr [sic] forums.

So I bought it out & ended up with instant equity of several thousand bucks.

Sold it to the kid who was using it.

 

[Bamaman]

I used to teach dealers how to sell leases to customers. And I managed one of the largest lease fleets in the U.S.

Just be aware that most leases today are being done at full MSRP, and it's the lowest payment you're after. Don't hesitate to offer less monthly payment than they quote you. The dealer has the ability to set the payment--up to a point.

But these are some crazy times to buy or lease any vehicle. You can always extend the lease on an existing vehicle if you're not waiting out the availability of vehicles on the retail market to improve.

 

[foxfirev5]

Yeah and I sold service contracts for a number of years. Total rip off.

IMHO leasing was ok when the cars were crap. Now they last forever. (Toyota guy). Our 18 yo Lexus has had one dealer service experience and our 2 yo RAV4 has had no warranty yet. Change the oil and run them into the ground.