Ive been looking to make the switch to a green car. This Altima really looks nice, so I located this leasing company who has a great program for Nissan Leases. The only problem.......Ive never leased before. If anyone with past experience with leasing vs purchasing please chime in asd any info would be greatly appreciated..........cheers

 

Leasing, like renting, is usually a bad idea unless you have no choice.

Depending on the lease terms, you will only be allowed to put so many miles per year and have only so much wear and tear.

At the end of the lease any milage beyond your limit and any damage that exceeds what they think is normal will be held against you.

At the end of the lease you will be offered the opportunity to buy the car at a price much higher then what you would have left to pay if you purchased it, or you will have the option of trading for another lease. The benefit of this is a new car but you also will have a new lease in which terms may not be as good.

You will not qualify for the tax credit if you lease and you can almost never negotiate a better price.

Generally speaking leases are only worth it if you almost never drive a car but sometimes need one and want a lower monthly payment, or if it can be written off as a business expense somehow.

 

Agreed with Ian33. Plus, if you plan to drive greater than 12K - 15K a year, a lease becomes prohibitive as the excess miles will really hurt you.

Funny thing about hybrids is that the financial calculations begin to work in your favor if you drive higher number of miles. So, IMO, from a financial perspective, leases don't look very favorable for hybrid vehicles unless they're heavily subsidized.

Nissan is offering a lease special on the NAH... something like $339 a month (plus tax.) Figure about $360 a month total cash outlay, but you're limited to 12K miles a year, and have to cough up $2,660 as a down payment (capital reduction).

Bob

 

thanks RT and Ian, this is why I came to the forum for answers. Any idea on average what people are paying monthly on a purchase? just a round number.....I really appreciate it

 

Monthly payment depends on a lot of factors such as:

• Selling price of the car (less any trade in)
• Tax and License costs for your state. Figure 9.25% for Orange County, CA - 7.75% tax, 1.5% license
• Credit score
• Down Payment
• Number of Months for the loan (24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 75, 84?)
• Interest rate for loan

Best bet is to go to Capital One Auto Finance and use their auto loan calculator. That will give you a good idea on what the rate might be.

http://www.capitalone.com/autoloans/...calculator.php

Nissan is offering 3.9% financing at 60 months (top tier credit customers) or $500 rebate. If you have strong credit, take the finance rate as you'll save more over the loan term. (Don't put money down on a loan at 3.9%, you can beat that interest rate by putting the money you would have used as a down payment into a CD or other financial vehicle.)

Assuming you get a NAH with Convenience package and don't negotiate, you'll pay $27,750 + TTL. That's $30,316. If you financed the whole amount for 60 months at 3.9%, you'd pay $556.95 per month.

 

RTking.....thanks for all that info...you are by far the most informative member....lol. Thats a pretty cool lil calculator over at capital 1. thanks a lot for all your help.

 

The lease may be advantageous if you drive the vehicle primarily for business - the lease cost should be directly expensable without the depreciation tables. The other advantage if you like to get a new vehicle often is the predictabilty of expenses; the resale risk is assumed by the leasing company. So, the guys who leased the lard-a$$ SUV 3-4 years ago are looking good as they walk away - much better than the folks who own them and find the resale is in the toilet.

That said, if you have primarily private use, leases don't make financial sense - you are quite likely to pay more - sometimes substantially more - over the long run.