Leasing a SUV...which one makes the most sense?

[1stBig12Champs]

If you are using this vehicle to tow things and haul kids I would not lease it. I would buy a Chevy Tahoe. A nice one can be had for 10k off sticker. They are nice enough, but not too nice. Meaning you won't feel as badly taking it in the woods and scratching it up a bit as you would one of the high priced city clicker type SUV's. Not to mentino how much better Chevy and Ford hold up to towing large trailers.

 

[blueglasshorse]

Make sure you do a three year balloon and not a lease. In a balloon, the sales price and all other numbers must be disclosed. In a lease they don't and you get screwed. They operate similarly in all other respects. Both have a residual value component bu the balloon prevents the dealer from hiding detrimental info from you.

 

[catfishhorn]

The easy answer is don't freaking lease, unless you don't mind being $4k-$9K upside down at the end of your term. Buy something you can actually afford without getting caught in a money making sham for the leasing company. I'm currently paying off about $13K in negative equity from leases that I had to roll into my current purchased vehicles. Never, ever, ever will I get caught in leasing trap again.

 

[BEER4FOOD]

how do you have negative equity from a lease? I thought the purpose was to just pay the rent and give it back with only losing your payments x # of months

 

[catfishhorn]

Try driving it too much without paying in advance for the miles. Assume you want to trade it in on another vehicle. At the end of the lease term you can either cough up the cash to pay off the lease company for the extra mileage, or trade it in. In which case the dealership has to pay off the lease company and they'll just transfer the cost to you which is basically negative equity in your new vehicle that you will own.

Or you can elect to re-lease with the same lease company, which I did, and have that balance owed transfered to the new lease, you will have compounded your situation as I learned the hard way when I was dumb and leased in order to drive something that I couldn't otherwise afford.

So now I get to enjoy a $750 payment, on a 5 yr note at 1.9% interest, on a truck I am buying because there is $9,000 that had to be rolled into the note and paid to the freaking lease company when I traded in the lease vehicle. I've got two more years to go and then I'm free of this mess.

Oh and by the way, because you are already upside down before you ever leave the finance manager's office, you better pay for Gap insurance to cover the difference if the new vehicle is totaled or you'll be SOL there too. Without doing the math, I believe all this added roughly $200 to my monthly payment.

$200 bucks that could be going to weekends with the wife, vacations, kid's college fund, etc. And I haven't even mentioned the other car that I did the same thing with.

 

[Texas007]

The fact that a dealership would rather have you lease the thing from them than buy it tells you all you need to know about who is coming out ahead in that deal. Do not lease a car. Ever. Buy it, and pay for it straight up over 3 years or wait until you can. Unless you have a business and can write down the lease expense never lease a car.