My personal opinion here; but I've always held that leases are a rip offs. Leases are gamed so the dealership has all the rights and the you have none.
When I was young (and poor) and needed a good vehicle but my job didn't pay that much I looked into a lease on a 2wd base model Toyota pickup.
99/month. I could afford that. Mind you this was back in the mid 90s. They had the same truck on the lot for sale new for $10k. So I walk in and sit down at the salesman's desk and tell him I'm interested in the lease deal that was advertised. He hands me a agreement to "sign" and exits the office to run my credit. I wasn't about to sign anything until I read it. The terms in the lease were not only unfair but almost criminal. I wondered if the mob ran the dealership. The real kick in the teeth was the buy out option. At the end of the lease you could buy the truck for 12K. At which point it was a 2 year old truck that was selling NEW for 10K.
The salesman came back into the office having completed the credit check and with a big grin on his face thinking he has hooked a big fish. That was until he saw the look in my eye (which was kill him and rid the world of evil)
"does.......Does everything look OK to you?" He stammer
I threw the paperwork on this desk and said "I'm not interested in your rip off scheme" and walked out.
Okay...
As with an outright Purchase, when a person leases a vehicle, their greatest concern is Monthly Payment.
However, with a Lease, it is far easier to hide the true purchase price of the vehicle, vs and outright purchase.
Leaseing will allow one to drive a much nicer, higher priced vehicle than outright purchase, due to the fact that the vehicle is only being kept for a specific amount of time, miles, etc. At the end of the Lease, there is an agreed upon residual price, which is still left on the Lease.
In other words, Lease is Rent. You do not Own. Unlike at the end of an outright Purchase and payment plan through a finacial institution, you do not own anything.
BUT< since the Lease allows the vehicle to have a significant Residual , left at teh end of the lease, then the payments for the lease can be quite a bit less than an outright purhcase.
Residuals tend to set somewhere belw the point that this vehcile, after a set amoutn of time and miles, will bring at an whoelsale auto auction.
Tend to be,
Lie with everything, no one has a crystal ball and past performance is no guaruntee for future performance,
Some vehciles have held their value far better than the Lease residuals, in which case it makes sense for the Leasee to actually buy the vehcile and re-sell it, on his own.
However, there are times that the leased vehcile does not holds its value, nearly so well, and it is best to walk away from teh lease as teh residual is far higher than the cars true actual cash value.
In All instances, with a lease, someone else must inspect the car, upon return or lease end, and determine if there is any damages which must be assessed, beyond normal wear and tear, and that amount must be paid by the orignal Leasee.
That alone is the biggest reason to never get a lease.
the 2nd biggest reason to never get a lease is because a Professional salesmen is already extremely adept at masking or hiding the true sales price, fo teh vehicle, due to the fact that selling his all he does, day in and day out. whiel most people only buy a set number of cars, their entires lives.
Leasing far more readily allows that price to be hidden so it can be infalted far beyond what and actual retail purchase would be.
again, the salesman is seelling the car. the dealership is selling the car, you are buying the car but paying less, each month becasuse you do nto own and, at the end, they get to decide if owe more money.
IRSMart, 88Rook
Take a Chill Pill.
