Leasing a car
 

Guys:

I have been throwing around the idea of selling my Saab and leasing a car. I've effectively decided on a car but I have no experience with leasing and I'm concerned about the return process. Will I be charged for every dent and scratch? Will I be charged for four tires if they are anything less than brand new?

How have your experiences been with leasing?

The car does not need to be returned in perfect condition and the tires essentially do not need to be brand new. Paint chips, minor scratches, etc are all normal wear and tear so they won't get you on that. Big dents, broken items, etc would be something they can try to get you for. Read the lease terms and it should define the return condition of the vehicle.

In general I wouldn't be concerned unless you plan on bringing the car in over the mileage limit, missing a front end and with bald tires.

With that said, what are you picking up?

Looking at a new Cadillac CTS. Nothing crazy, RWD 2.0T and basically one step above the base model that you never really see on dealership lots anyway.

Also, they are more forgiving if you are picking up a new lease. Usually tell customers to wait to repair any damage if its somewhat minor. No sense in fixing a bumper 6 months into the lease when it could be damaged again before turn in. You can usually ask before you turn it in what you will be charged for the tires, brakes, etc and they you decide if its cost effective to turn in as is or slap some cheaper **** on it. I think most are friendly with the turn in process.

So basically the dealer will be more forgiving when I return the car if they can make the money on a second lease?

This is second hand information but yes. Like Brian said, if the car isn't destroyed, you are in relatively good shape. Mileage is where they get you. Just discuss it with whomever you are leasing from. Get it in writing too :wink:

I leased an acura years ago.
When returning you were allowed a few dings or scratches on various panels smaller than a quarter, tires had to have a certain amount of tread, iirc it was 6/32 or something. Normal wear and tear is fine.

Just make sure the yearly mileage allotment is enough for you, if you go over a lot it can get quite expensive.

If you inquire they will probably give you the checklist of turn in requirements if you ask.
The lease made sense for me at the time, but I would probably never lease again. You can buy pretty good new cars for less than most leases.

Always, everything in writing. That's my job ;)

Thanks, guys.

All depends on the leasing company. When my Infiniti went back, I had it inspected. They didn't write anything for the black wrapped trim, the painted grill or the lowering springs... not that you'll do that to this car.

If you'd like, PM me what you need to get in the car and I'll see what they can find you, hopfully at a better price, too.

I am currently leasing my 2014 Camaro, and I leased my 2011 Cruze before this.

I dislike leasing because it is just like renting BUT it gets me in a newer car for less, and keeps it under warranty. Plus I get bored of almost any car after 18-24 months.
I like the shorter commitment of a lease.

About damage at turn-in. There's two ways it could go initially. If you turn in the car and it ends up going back to your bank, the dealership has no say at all about what you get charged in terms of excessive wear. A third party inspects the car and determines if you owe anything. If so, then they first try to send the bill for repairs to your insurance company. However, if you are buying or leasing another car when you turn it in, the dealer can treat it as a trade-in. In that case, the see how much your buyout price is Vs. what it is worth/what they could sell it for. Such as if your buyout is 15k, and the car is worth 22k, they may decide to buy it, and give you 2-3k towards your new car. If they do that, then they are buying it and any wear items are their problem, not yours.

Here is a link to a table showing what is considered normal and excessive wear(from my current leasing company)
https://www.usbank.com/includes/pdfs...-Use-Table.pdf


When I turned in my Cruze, I did it early and the car went back to the bank and then up for auction. Three months later, they sent my insurance a bill for hail damage. I told my insurance to fight it. I had a additional policy when i got the lease that would waive up to 5000 in damages etc. However, it didn't cover one time events that created that much damage. The thing is, it wasn't hail damage and actually dings from acorns falling on my car over a few weeks. So it wasn't a one time event and it should have been waived. I sent the policy to my insurance company and they handled it somehow. Eventually I got a letter that the car had been sold at auction and that was the end of that. Didn't make me very happy with the lease turn-in process.

Now if you turn a lease in early, say you have 4 months left and you pay 400 a month, the dealer will take that 1600 and add it to your new car(you also pay additional fees the bank charges, all depends on lease agreement). its not like you get rid of the lease payments when you trade/turn-in the car. So early turn-ins don't make much sense unless you just want out of it or the dealer will give you enough for it as a trade in that it makes sense to do.

When you sign your lease agreement, you will see exactly how much your car will cost to buy at the end of the lease. But keep in mind there are also fees the banks charges if you do decide to buy it. Those fees could be 500-1000 extra.

When my camaro lease is up in 11 months, I am not sure what I will do yet. If I don't find a used car to buy outright, I will probably end up leasing another cruze. They advertise them currently for as low as 99/month with 0 down. I looked into it and I would qualify for almost that amount, (maybe 120/month). Plus it would only be a 24 month lease with <10k miles a year. (I'm currently driving under 8k/year). I had a large door ding/dent(the other car left its paint on my door) already fixed because I knew I would have been charged for it. Paintless dent removal took care of it for about 250. Now if they would have charged me more or less at turn-in, I don't know, but it was ugly and happened last summer so I wanted it fixed asap. I have another door ding on my fender but its in the range where they consider it normal wear so I wont be fixing that one. Before I turn-in or trade-in the car, I will look that damage table over and self-inspect my car. As for tires, I may have only 24k on the car at turn-in time so I shouldn't need to do anything about them. My cruze went it with original tires and brakes, had 31k miles or so on it, with no problems.


I think that's the basics of leasing. If you have any more questions, just ask.

Paul:

I'm with you on getting bored of cars shortly. I love my Saab, but I really want something new. I did some math too considering the cost of repairs on the Saab and it really makes sense to dump it now before it eclipses 100k and the value plummets. Leasing seems to make sense for me now needing a business deduction, though.

I think I would need to lease directly from GM so I could use my GM card points. What is the advantage from leasing from a bank? Less cost?

My cruze was through Ally, (formerly GMAC). I really don't know the pros and cons of the different banks. I've had Chase for my 01 camaro, (forgot which bank I had with my denali), 5/3rd for my Sky, Lakeland for my bike, Ally for the cruze, and now US bank. I really liked 5th/3rd. best customer service. Ally was the worst(GMAC)

I had Fifth Third with my Saab and they were great. I didn't know third party banks played such an active roll in leasing, though.

Thanks for the insight. I'll see what kind of deal I can get through the dealer and take it from there.

hit up ron mcneal at gold coast cadillac in oakhurst on 35. Hes a good guy got 2 Caddys from him back to back in a couple month period of time.

I have never actually heard anyone leasing from anyone other than the dealer. Any special deals and the like are going to come from each company's respective financing arm.

I also really, really, really like the CTS. A lot. Best of luck to ya, Jake

you could go thru a lease company. But as far as applying the GM card points probably would have to go thru a gm dealer and lease thru ally bank (bank gm uses) think its istill called ally

Every car must come through a dealer. Leasing company or not.

this is true

Thanks, Al. By the way, why is the pricing on the CT6 so close to that of the CTS in similar spec? Seems like it would make sense to wait for the CT6 before pulling the trigger, right?

if the CTS doesnt work out i happen to know some people at Audi...:wink:8-)

The CTS is not going anywhere... the CT6 is the larger car; and replaces the XTS.

The whole line up is a bit of a mess, again. CTS, CT6, and XTS all sit around the same spot. CT6 is bigger but some 100-250lbs lighter than the CTS, and the CTS is already the lightest car in it's class.
You will be able to get a 425hp 3.6TT in the CTS vs a 400hp 3.0TT in CT6, but I don't think you want to go that high up.

CT6 makes the CTS look old and antiquated thanks to its chassis and other tech. I love the look of the CTS better than the CT6, but your perception might be different. CTS's smaller proportions and more athletic stance look better to me.

their line did get pretty screwy lately...
I liked the 3.6 cts but if you drive that then the ats then the cts again the CTS feels like it handles like a much larger car than it actually is

If you spec out a CTS to the Luxury package, its only about $2000 less than a CTS. The pricing doesn't really make sense.

:-?