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  • Car leasing questions

    Question on leasing a car:

    Is the Tire & Wheel and Excess Wear & Tear coverage they try to sell you worth getting? I let them talk me into it and my brother (who has leased cars before; my parents haven't) says it's not worth it, so I'm wondering if I should see if I can cancel them.

    I just got it yesterday, it wasn't exactly planned, but I took my car in for service and discovered it had several serious problems that would have cost more to fix than the car was worth. As it is, I got $1000 on the trade (yesterday's bill would have been $1800, and that was with the service guy giving me $200 off, and I would have had to get the front brakes done in the next couple months, too). So I really didn't have time to sit down and figure out what I could really afford or do any real research. I was planning on looking at getting a new car in the next year or so, anyway. My old car was 10 years old and clearly getting crotchety.

    (The car is a Hyundai Elantra GT, one of the new body types that just came out for 2013; so far I like it. I wanted the regular sedan - my old car was a 2002 Elantra and overall has served me pretty well, and the newer ones have gotten even better ratings, so I was definitely going to consider it when I was ready. I first looked at a certified pre-owned 2011, but the monthly payment with $5K down was more than I was comfortable with, especially not having time to really crunch the numbers. Leasing is cheaper per month and after 3 years I'll have the option of financing the balance if I want to buy it. I was limited to what they had on the lot and they didn't have much in the sedans; then they said they could give me the same deal on the GT which had a few extra features, and as a bonus the hatchback prevents me from resting things on the trunk and scratching it all to hell like I did with the last one.)

    So anyway, opinions?
    I don't go in for ancient wisdom
    I don't believe just 'cause ideas are tenacious
    It means that they're worthy - Tim Minchin, "White Wine in the Sun"

  • #2
    Can't help you; I put so many miles on my vehicles that leasing would be prohibitively expensive.

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    • #3
      I normally wouldn't have considered leasing but like I said, no time to figure it out. My old car was 10 years old and 102,000 miles so I'm not too worried about going over the 12K/year I'm allowed on the lease.
      I don't go in for ancient wisdom
      I don't believe just 'cause ideas are tenacious
      It means that they're worthy - Tim Minchin, "White Wine in the Sun"

      Comment


      • #4
        Honestly I wouldn't lease anything cause its harder to get out of a lease then it is to get out of a regular car loan.

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        • #5
          Quoth Aethian View Post
          Honestly I wouldn't lease anything cause its harder to get out of a lease then it is to get out of a regular car loan.
          Little late for that..
          I don't go in for ancient wisdom
          I don't believe just 'cause ideas are tenacious
          It means that they're worthy - Tim Minchin, "White Wine in the Sun"

          Comment


          • #6
            Start by finding out what you'll be charged for whatever they consider to be excessive wear/damage. (Most leases do allow for normal wear and tear... for example, the fabric of the seats might wear just from sitting on it.)

            Depending on where you live and where you park your car you may find it worth the cost... for example, if you regularly have to park in a place where shopping carts or careless door-openers will ding the car up the coverage might more than pay for itself.

            The other thing to think about: The wear coverage is fixed, known amount that you can budget for (and may even be able to roll into the lease terms) while if you have to cover the extra damage out of pocket the amount could vary from zero to ????. So it depends on how risk tolerant you are.

            Another approach would be to set the wear-and-tear fee aside and have it there in the event there are excess-wear charges... if there are not, it's money in your pocket, and if there are, the pain would only be the additional amount you would only have to cough up that past what the set-aside amount would cover.
            There's no such thing as a stupid question... just stupid people.

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            • #7
              Yeah I was thinking about cancelling and then setting aside that much each month just to have in the bank. If I don't need it, it's a good way to save some money. My car spends most of its time at work or home; I live in a condo complex so there's some risk being that I'm in a communal parking lot but I've yet to see any problem here. At work I'm not worried; I tend to park off to the side anyway just because the central areas are full by the time I get there. There's not a lot of coming and going during the day, either.

              There's also a decent chance I will just buy the car at the end of the lease and if I do that it won't matter anyway.
              I don't go in for ancient wisdom
              I don't believe just 'cause ideas are tenacious
              It means that they're worthy - Tim Minchin, "White Wine in the Sun"

              Comment

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