Decisions, Decisions - Lease, Buy, Keep?

Thanks in advance to all of the experts.

Situation - Currently leasing a 2001 RAV4 (eek!) with 36000m and have
13 months to go on a lease. Payoff is 13.5K. Monthly payments are
too high(370), the car has a bit of damage (est. $600), and am looking
to get out.

Car Blue Books at 11K, and both dealerships I've talked to are
offering tradein around that amount (+/- 200). So bottom line is that
I'm upside-down around 2500. Ugh.

We love the 04 Civic, and tonight I received the following offer.
Keep in mind again that low monthly payments are a big priority, as is
a reliable car that won't leave us too far (or at all) in the red at
end of lease term - given the 2500 we're bringing over.

Car: 2004 Civic VP 4 Door
Purchase Price: 13772
Residual: 5513

60 month lease $264/mo with $350 down (includes 1st payment).

I leaned on hard them to drop the down payment, to no avail.

Thoughts? Is a new car the wrong answer?

Thanks again.

 

Situation - Currently leasing a 2001 RAV4 (eek!) with 36000m and have

List at www.swapalease.com

Try to sell it privately.

You can't afford your current lease so you want to get in to yet another
one?????

Civic is just an OK car, definately not worth what they're asking. Might as
well lease the Accord, which is only like $199/36months. Try and find factory
subsidized leases because they are always cheaper.

www.leasecompare.com
www.generalcar.com



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wow, weird, I was just going to post on this subject and I read yours. I
was somewhat in the same boat, except I had another Honda coming off lease,
a cherry '01 Civic EX coupe with (believe it or not) just over 18,000 miles
on it. I considered buying it for $10,000 (would have had to finance), but,
barring going through the hassle of reselling it, I just couldn't see paying
on a car for 6 or 7 years (it was a three-year lease). So I floated a price
at my Honda dealer......if I want to turn it in for, say, a Civic LX sedan,
automatic, could I do this for $250 a month? And activate the alarm? To my
amazement, they said sure. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, but
it never did. I drove out in a brand new LX, Magnesium Metallac, with
alarm, for $255 for 36 months.

the pictures didn't come out too good because of the night shoot, but here
she is http://www.bugner1.org/newbaby.html

Not only did I put nothing down, they ate (or will somehow futz away) my
last two lease payments on the other car. And no security deposit because I
already had a Honda lease.

Obviously, they wanted my EX --- they can probably make several grand on
it.

One thing I will say here about your lease proposal. That's high for a VP,
and leasing for 60 months is senseless. I would do that under no
circumstances. Civics are abundant, there is much competition in that class,
so tell them nothing down and $235 a month for THREE YEARS. (Jeez, the
honda web site estimates $224 for a VP 36-month lease, not including tax and
license on the total purchase.) If they won't bite, go to the Honda dealer
in the next town. My dealer was GLUTTED with cars, I went on the roof and
saw their inventory.

Meanwhile, I love the new car; I went from a 5-speed to an automatic because
my son will soon be learning to drive. Gulp. It rides much smoother than
the three-year-old coup; I attribute this to the Bridgestone tires they are
putting on the new civics. It is as tight as a little drum and MAN it
smells good inside.

 

considering they turned around and probably sold it for $13- $14k, the
dealer isnt going to bitch.

i look at it this way... would you have been able to find a car *that*
nice, with a proven maintenance history for $10k? nope.

i would have kept it, but apparently you didnt like it that much.

 

So instead, you choose to have a car payment every month for the rest of
your life.

Such is leasing.

 

I liked it a lot. Would have kept it if I had ten grand cash. But I don't.

 

I liked it a lot. Would have kept it if I had ten grand cash. But I don't.
This makes no sense. Why didn't you just finance? With $2500 down, you could
have owned that pristine '01 Civic for the same $255/36months.

You do know that banks are more stingier when it comes to leasing than
financing?








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yet, you have the money to make the monthly lease payment on your new
car? and with a lease, you need a higher level of insurance. often, the
HIGHEST level of insurance. plus gap coverage.

how much is your 3 year lease going to cost you?

banks, credit unions, and even honda finanace should have been able to
get you a decent rate... under 7% APR, with halfway decent credit.

$336/mo for 3 years
$252/nmo for 4 years
$202/mo for 5 years.

given that you only put 6k miles/yr on the car, even if youd gone the 5
year route, youd have had a paid off 8 year old honda you loved with
only 48k miles on it. any miles you put on after that are pretty much free.

 

i dont think he wanted to put any money down.

dunno what his personal financial situation is, but i see that thinking
a lot... people leasing cars every 3 years while they live in a shithole
apartment and wondering why theyre broke all the time.

my cars been paid off for 3 years, and i have NO reason to sell it and
no desire to want to owe honda hundreds of dollars a month ad infinitum.

and yes, i was in the same boat. my residual was $6500. during the 3
years i was kicking my ass about leasing, i was saving my money. in feb,
2001 i wrote honda a check for $6500 and had the pink slip a few weeks
later.

and guess what? ive had offers from people that want the car and are
willing to pay $6500 for it. and thats after driving it 3 years for free.

 

Up until a couple of weeks ago, I could have gotten 3.49%. Now it's up
to 3.99%.

 

i dont think he wanted to put any money down.[/QUOTE]

Oh, but he did. He put $2500 down on the new car.

He's making excuses for getting the new car, and the excuses are about
as lame as anyone could ever come up with.

He just wanted a new car, and to hell with how much it ended up costing
him.

I'm about to become a car salesman. With stupid people like that out
there, is it any wonder car salesman have the reputation they do?
They're not taking advantage of anyone; they're simply giving the stupid
people what they want.

And stupid people want to do stupid things. That those stupid things
benefit the car salesman isn't the car salesman's fault. If he weren't
there to take the stupid person's money, someone else would be.

 

Is a new car the wrong answer?

Yep, but I think you knew that. Money must be pretty tight right now to
consider extending your lease payments for 4 extra years, all to get out
of paying $100 more per month for 12 months. Or your desire to dump the
"RAV4 (eek!)" is overwhelming. I suspect the same feeling will occur with
the Civic long before the payments end.

Best bet, imo, is to the buckle down, pay the $370 for 12 months (and repair
the damage), and walk away at lease's end. Then go buy the used car you can
afford. Facing the pain now will pay many benefits in the long run.
Otherwise, you're just postponing things and face perpetual car payments and
debt. What a drag. Good luck.

 

if they take the RAV back to lease or buy another car, the dealer is
just going to add the 12 months worth of lease payments onto the price
of the new car. plus the price to repair the car. so that $14k civic
becomes a $19k civic...

add tax, license, scotchgard, mudflaps, pinstripes, and a sucker
interest rate of 20%?

then youre paying over $40,000 for a civic over 5 years.

 

Try getting the same dealership to cut you a deal on financing a new
Corolla. Also, get the damage fixed up (and the interior cleaned up)
before you return the RAV4, it'll give you some bargaining points.

Pars