I saw the rates on the Saab 9-3 and they're pretty damn good. Thing is my GM card rebates don't work on Saabs or Saturns, IIRC.

So any GM vehicles outside of those two brands?

Can you give me specific money factor and residuals? Most specifically for the 24-36 month 12/15k mile a year range?

Do your part in getting the resident foreign 'nut hugger' into a GM vehicle.

 

Best I found (via leasecompare.com) is Corvette (55% residual) and Solstice GXP (55% residual). Most GM residuals are pathetic. Even the GMC Acadia, which is a fairly hot model, shows a 43% residual on a 36/36,000 lease.

 

Leasecompare.com is bank-backed residuals, though.

A lot of manufacturers have OEM-backed leasing where the residuals are inflated artificially.

For example the Saab 9-3 offers something like 72% residuals on 24 month 12k mile/yr leases, with fairly low money factors, too - I doubt lease compare banks will match that, though.

 

http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/WebX/.ef17997/

 

Not to be a Scrooge, but I do not see the appeal of leasing. You pay the downpayment, a rather large monthly payment, and the buyout at the end of the lease is way more than the value. Probably why I have trouble justifying apartment rent as well.

 

If you honestly want to understand why leasing makes sense in many cases (ends up saving people quite a bit of money, time, and hassle), and in what cases it doesn't make sense... do a bit of reading on it.

I don't feel like going into it, but if you truly understood how leasing works and the basic economics surrounding it, you probably wouldn't feel that way anymore.

You might still say it's 'not for you'... but you wouldn't say you don't see the appeal of leasing to others.

It's one of those "if, then" type situations, though. Of course it's almost always going to be cheaper to buy a beater car and drive it for 15 years. But what if you're the kinda guy who's going to want a new car every few years anyway?...

 

I'll find out the specific money factor and residual tonight, but the GF got a 9-3 for $318/mo for 27 months/15k miles.

 

Threxx is right. Let's say you keep your cars for 3 years. The purchase price is $40,000 and residual after 3 years is $18,000. Those values are the same whether you're leasing or buying. In either case, you have to pay for the $22,000 worth of car you used during those 3 years you were driving it. The only difference is with buying you're paying for the entire thing upfront and getting some back when you sell it; with leasing you're only paying for what you use. But either way, you're still paying $22,000 over 3 years.

I'm somewhat old-fashioned and always liked the thought of owning something rather than renting/leasing. But I've finally learned that with the sh|tty resale value of GM cars, leasing is the way to go. The residual is alway guaranteed and is frequently subsidized (hence why you think your buyout was too high; that's actually a good thing). I now figure that on my current car I would have netted about $100/month savings if I'd leased instead of bought three years ago. On the other hand one of the good things about buying is that you can keep it as long as you want and not have to be rushed into getting a new vehicle at a time when you may not be ready or you can't find the deal you want.

 

I've saved a lot of money by not leasing, but not everyone likes to buy vehicles and hold on to them for a while. (My newest vehicle is 6 years old but still drives like new, and the Z28 is now 10 years old) I bought both of them new. Leases are for those who want to look good being in a vehicle less than a few years old, and take advantage of the latest creature comforts and designs.

Plus, I will always have the GM employee discount, which makes buying a GM vehicle almost a no brainer (approx 15-18% off sticker, plus any incentives, rebates, GM card rewards...). This is especially true when they put out some very good interest rates.

Threxx,
Sadly, you just aren't going to find that great of resale on the GM vehicles right now. I think 3-4 years from now, it will be significantly better with the vehicles that GM is now putting out.

Dan

 

Not to beat a dead horse, but one thing that others haven't touched on - typically with a lease you don't pay the down payment and monthly payments are typically lower than the buy payment for the same vehicle would be (not always, but often). Most leases at most require a security deposit and first month's payment. If you've previously leased from the company before there's usually a "lease loyalty" where you can lease a new car with just the first month's payment.

I posted this to CobaltSS.net a while back and it applies here as well:

For someone who drives a lot of miles and keeps their cars a long time (until they are paid off) or can make a large cash down payment to end up with a low payment and/or short loan buying will usually be a better bet.

But for people who like to trade cars a lot and don't drive a whole lot of miles, you're often better off leasing. There's also the benefit (at least here in Missouri and I would assume other states where you have to pay PPT on vehicles) of having your personal property tax amortized into your payment rather than having to pay it out of pocket.

Leasing isn't exactly like renting an apartment, because an apartment isn't a depreciating asset. When you lease a car, you are actually paying a payment based on the residual value of your vehicle (the value at the end of the lease).

My boss used to get on me about leasing and about how I never "owned" anything. Well, he had a 4-Runner, that he then traded a couple years later on a Tacoma (4- Runner not paid off - negative equity added to the loan), that he then traded like a year later on a VW Passat Wagon (with 4-Runner not paid off, negative equity from both the 4-Runner and Tacoma, ending up with gigantic payments from three vehicles rolled into one and he has never "owned" any of them. If you didn't make the last payment, and traded with negative equity you never owned it.

If you trade every couple of years without paying off the loan, depreciation will eventually eat you alive (unfortunately, this is especially true for those of us who are American car enthusiasts).

 

Yeah - leasing isn't about being able to "afford the payment"

Well.. I take that back. I'm sure it is for some, but those people aren't likely doing it for the right reason.

Leasing is about having a guaranteed rate of depreciation, tax writeoffs, minimized sales taxes, and not having to stress out so much about keeping the car in tip-top shape so that the dealership won't try to screw you on the trade-in or the guy who comes to look at the car won't be turned off to it...

Right now I'm leasing my Audi A4 for 389/month for 24 months, 15k miles a year, zero down, including all taxes and interest.

Remove the taxes (which I'm only paying on the depreciated value, by the way, not the full value), and the interest (which I'm paying the equivalent of about 4%... well under prime rate, which means I'm easily able to invest the money and make money off of what I don't have tied up in the car), and I'm paying about 7500 dollars to drive this car for 30000 miles. Free maintenance and all under warranty.

I know, 100% for a fact, that if I had bought the car, driven it for 30k miles, and traded it in, it would have cost me FAR more than that, plus I'd have been much more preoccupied with the little noises that the car makes or the ding on the door or whatever... I'd spend a lot more time and maybe even spend some money taking it in to make sure it was perfect. But since it's a lease... I don't care. I have absolutely no worries, and to top it all off, I'm spending less this way then if I was to buy.

Again.. It's not about minimizing payments. If it was, then I'd be stupid to even get into a payment that was that tough for me to afford.
I could write a check for this car if I needed to. But why?

 

I understand the math, and can calculate the financials. Mine was more a philosophical objection. One I may have to revisit. Thanks for the info.