rx8wannahave

I always tell everyone thinking about buying a car...

"DONT GET A LEASE!"

But, I now feel like I was making them out to be alot worse than they are. I thought that the money you paid during the lease applied to nothing. Basically...

$25,000 car leased, 2 year lease payments total $7000, leave the car at $18,000 but since it MIGHT be worth more than that you just lost your $7000.

Or, basically that the money you put into the lease ended up in no place...just wasted money. I recently was told that I was wrong about that...so now I'm thinking about a lease?

What do you guys/gals think about a lease...good, bad, or otherwise...

As always, thansk for your help! :D

KaPGuN

if its worth more than 18k, lets say its worth 20k for argument's sake, then buy it out at the end for 18k then sell it for 20k. I see nothing wrong in leasing, unless the purchase incentives are much better than the lease incentives, which in case of the RX-8 is the opposite. Also, if you don't have tons of money in the bank and can't buy the car outright, you're financing anyway, so why not lease.

czr

iTrader: (3)

It depends on the persons' financial situation and their plans in the future. A lease was the choice for me because of the lower monthly and wasn't sure what I was going to do with the car down the road. The 4 year warranty also helps in that decision. In finance class we crunched numbers and depending on the situation, some instances are cheaper leasing to buy than financing outright.

edit: mileage is also very important 10k 12k or 15k check what's suits you if you will lease.

2ks2k

I used to think the same way you do..."Never lease a car". But, when Mazda had all the lease rebates a couple months ago it turned out to be a great deal. Especially if you like to have new cars or you switch cars every few years anyways(which is what we do). I'd say the only thing you need to think of is that getting out of a lease early is expensive...if you had to. Just make sure you're commited, you can make the payments, and you want the car for that long. It's not like buying a car where you can sell it whenever you want. They'll charge you a "pre-payment"(if you buy it early) fee and a "payoff"(no matter when you pay it off) fee. Also, if you plan on moving to another state your taxes paid will change, which could be an increase in payments. Just a few things to think about...

Otherwise, I think a fully loaded RX-8 for $350/mo. is an excellent deal. Good luck!!!

rx8wannahave

Well, the one I'm trying to get to $330 or less to lease is a 6spd, Sport package, with spare tire kit & CD changer (neither of the last two do I care about really)

The price they just gave me was $25,000 which is even better than with the S-Plan. The last question I have is what is the current lease rebate. Mazda told me it was $1,000+ but would not go into specifics. So, I think this is a way for the dealer to get a free $2,000 that should have been applied to the lease???

Look at my other post for the latest!

fredw1

I am assuming that if the price is better than S-plan, then you must be looking at an '04. the lease incentive on these, the last time I checked, was $3500. S-plan pricing would be about $26,600 for the car you mention, so it appears they applying the rebate to the MSRP (approx $29,000-----$29,000-$3500 = $25,500). That suggests that they are getting profit from you (paying $500 under MSRP) AND money back from Mazda NA.

My lease calculator gives a monthly in the neighborhood of $325 (taxes, which are different for every state, affect this but it's close) for a 4-year lease on a cap cost of $25,000.

Mazdax605

I have no idea what the current leases look like on the RX-8,but the Car_Man over at Edmunds.com in the lease forum can answer your questions.I had never even thought of leasing before(mostly due to me having a job that required a lot of driving),but now with my new position,and a company van,I can get away with leasing a car.I originally looked at buying the RX-8,but quickly came to the realization that even the base(which is the one I bought)was way out of my price range(payment wise).I then thought of leasing,and really did my homework,by asking questions,doing a lot of reading,and tons of reaserch here,and on Edmunds.

I found out at the time that Mazda was offering $4250 off on 2 year leases.I went by a local dealer whom I had never dealt with before,because they had a base 6 speed listed on mazdas website in their inventory.I had never seen the Nordic green before in person,so I figured they would 1)be happy to unload a base model,and 2)the green must not be too popular,so maybe they would be happy to unload this one as well.

When I inquired about the lease incentives the salesman for one didn't know a lot about leasing,and two had not heard of those lease incentives.He called me back a few days later,and told me in fact the incentives were real,and that they would sell me the car at invoice without any haggling.So basically I got the car with a sticker of $27200 for around $21xxx after the incentives.

My payment is a managable $300 a month including my sales tax of 5% and an excise tax we have here in Taxachusetts which equals $30 a month.All in all I think I got a great deal,and the lease guru at edmunds thought so as well.Granted this is a 2 year 12K a year lease,so it is short term,but this is perfect for me because I am not sure what is down the road for me as far as more kids and such.The residual is $17680 after 2 years,and I may buy it out at that point ,but who knows.The only bad part of my deal was the money factor which was the best mazda was offering at .00305 or 7.32%,but like I said the incentives made up for it.I had near perfect credit,and that was the best MF mazda was offering on leases.

In contrast we then leased a base auto subaru forester for my wife,and her payment is higher than the RX-8,but it has a lower MF.Also the lease is a 36 month 15K per year,and the residual is much lower.The cars were about equal in cap cost after the large incentive I got on the mazda,and the smaller one we got on the subaru.The thing was the subaru was cheaper before the incentives therefore the amounts were close.


I am getting long winded here,Sorry.All I ca nsay is leasing can be a good deal,but you have to do your homework,and realize like others have said.It is not easy to get out of a lease,and you really have to be the type that watches your mileage,unless you plan to buy the car at the end.Good luck.Check out Edmunds

rx8wannahave

The last offer...so far...what do you think?

If you were to put down $2,700 your payments on the 48 month lease will be $329 and $368 on the 36 month lease. Yes the cap cost is $25,000 your residual value is $13,475.70

Your net price after all incentives is $21,500.


??

fredw1

The net price should be the cap cost. It should be the same as the price at which you could buy the car. For the payments to be as you state, the cap cost is indeed $25,000. How the $21,500 fits in, other than making the deal sound good, I'm not sure. More fish in this stew.

Mazdax605

Never put anymore down than what is required on a lease like 1st payment,security,tags,acquisition fee.Anything above that is a waste of money,and does nothing but lower your payments.It is essentially wasted money.Take any money you have to put down,and put it in the bank to be used as money for your payments.

The reason they say never put money down on a lease is that the money down does nothing to lower the residual(or cost to buy at the end of the lease)therefore it does nothing but lower the cap cost which lowers the monthly payment.

rx8wannahave

Yeah...per my other post, the lease idea is dead. I would waste my down payment (like you said) and then end up paying about $3,500-5,000 more than if I were to buy it outright. So, while lease work for some people...not for me, hopefully I'm going the buying way.

EandGWZ

I got a 2 yr/12000/yr lease @ 295 with down payment of a 2001 corolla s 5 speed with 100000 miles.

Why did I lease? Because I beat the **** out of the car. Until recently (for the last 5 months) I have jammed the pedal to the metal and taken the car to the redline almost every shift.

Would I do that with something I owned? NO. Plus I am guessing these cars will NOT hold there value. 2007 may be interesting for mazda and I'm sure I'll pick up another lease.

c2k4-8

I leased my last car, a 2000 Corvette... was the only way I could afford the car. But after leasing once - I don't think I'll lease again. Makes you feel like you are just renting the car.

Pkskull77

I'll spare you the long speech and just advice you to buy the car. Buying gives you more options. You don't have to worry about mileage, which can be a serious issue, and if you get into financial trouble you can sell the car in the middle of the finance period. If you buy a 2004 model you can get a deal that would put you in the ballpark of a leased 2005 model.

TownDrunk

Though I paid cash for mine since they weren't exactly wheeling and dealing back in July of 2003 (for the '8 anyhow), I would have leased if the numbers made sense. The main reason I lease cars is that I can invest the money I would have saved had I purchased the car and had a higher payment. The compound interest earned over the next many, many years until I retire is worth way more than if I buy a car and sell it in a few years. If, however, you plan on keeping the car more than just a few years, buying it is a much, much better thing to do. I think the trick is, never lease a car you can't afford to purchase. If you do lease, as little out of your pocket on drive off should be your goal, and save the "extra" money you would have spent on car payments. Throw it in a Roth IRA and end up with a cool car and cash in the bank.

2ks2k

I would never put money down on a car whether I lease or buy. But, why not do a lease transfer? Find someone that needs/wants to get out of theirs and take it over. Then you can just look for good deals and someone else has already wasted their down payment or negotiating skills. If I get my new job in California that's what I plan on doing. I'll have a 2004 Black/Black 6spd with the Grand Touring and Appearance Packages, Rear Spoiler, and Rotary Accent for $354/mo. for the remaining 42 months available in February. Only has 2700 miles right now.

Just another option for ya...

rx8wannahave

Thanks for all your help! The dealer that I just broke contact with was trying to make alot of money off of me, at my expense of course. (Nothing new, it's a dealership...I know) but that always ticks me off.

I understand they have a busniess to run but they should not be trying to RAPE me with these deals. Make a profit but don't steal my money either.

I'm talking to a new dealer that recently called me, we will see...

Since I want to keep the car, basically forever (well if I can), I think going the purchase way is the best!

Febuary huh...hummmm