How many of you take a lease just b/c its a bargain?
I ask b/c I’m considering doing it and am wondering if I’m sane here.
I currently drive a WRX STi, that I own and have a loan on. I love it, and I hate it. not super practical or comfortable. Stick shift is getting annoying as its a very high strung car. But when you want to have fun (and can), its great.
Have been considering getting something more cushy (pretty much everything is), a little bigger, automatic. And possibly a fun little cheap sports car.
GMC Terrain lease at $160 a month seems like a great deal, I haven’t tried getting that, but it seems to be realistic on the site. I never previously considered this car, if I were buying or picking I’d be buying a Mazda CX-5 or Honda CRV or a Mazda 6 with a turbo. However, it seems these are at least almost double…Or getting an old car used for like $5K. So here I am considering leasing a car I never thought I would, mainly for the “deal”
I just wait for the right lease to come along with GM and use my GM credit card points to make it that much sweeter. Granted, you have to have more than one vehicle for this to work. Just got an Encore for $104 per month. Didn’t need it but it will keep 30,000 miles off my Town and County and Dakota truck for the next 2 years.
I would get a cheap lease vs the old beater unless it is a retired crown vic. Trolling people in those would be a blast. I have 3 leases and if
I could find a cruze or something under $100 a month I would get it and just beat the crap out of it on a road course or autocross.
You don’t want to deal with maintenance of the beater those become a pain really quick. There are not that many people who sell their perfectly reliable cars for under $5k for no reason.
I too am in your same shoes. I have a ultra low mile 09 370z that I do not want to get rid of but at the same time do not want to daily drive. I had considered buying a 5-10k car for cash but also dont want to be burdened with unexpected maintenance, and all the routine things that a new car won’t need. I’d drive just about anything for the right price. Like you, the GMC Terrain is of no interest to me otherwise but would totally lease one short term for sub 200/mo.
Yep, that’s me and all of my leases. Didn’t need any of em, but got em cause they were screaming deals and I could comfortably afford them. Sometimes you just gotta scratch the itch when you know you’re getting a deal that can’t be beat.
As long as it’s the correct type of car (sedan, SUV etc) for my needs, i’ll go with the best bang for the buck, especially since standard equipment is so similar across most brands now. Brand loyalty is long gone and i’m not 20 anymore where i’m such a car freak that it really matters which brand/model i drive.
Terrain seems like a great option at a low price. The cheap used car is going to cost you in repairs and headache, i would stay away from a $5k car if you can lease a cheap new car like the Terrain.
I had mentioned that in a post as well. Subjected wife to S400hybrid and E400Hybrid back to back. 4 long years of problems. Sometimes a deal isn’t a deal. Although as previously mentioned, we had really nice loaner cars.
I am going to pick up a Terrain almost solely because it is a good deal. Make’s negotiation and talking to dealers kind of humorous when I tell them I don’t even really like or want the car, I just need the cheapest family hauler available to bridge a couple years and the Terrain currently fits that need.
Once you factor in taxes, registration, insurance, maintenance (free lease is not always equal to free maintenance) and possibly parking space, the cheap lease becomes a tad more onerous… So I would get a cheap lease if it had been a car I had absolutely wanted (like a Maserati for 400 or F-type for 380) at a ridiculous price. But you could not pay me to take a Fiat 500e or 99 Cruze lease
This is a question my wife and I have been talking. Lease v. Purchase.
Having purchase two cars before (and losing most, if not all of its equity with periodic repair such as tire replacement, heater, ac, breaks and other unexpected expenses) and two leases now - we are breaking the bread better with the lease (which is subject to getting a super dandy deal on the lease).
So as others pointed out, I will second those - leasing will be a better option provided you are able to get anywhere from 0.5 - 1% of the MSRP price tag. Anything more if you are paying for a lease, then you may want to think otherwise.
I did this exact thing just recently by closing on a Chevy Equinox. I needed basic transport in CUV format. Would have preferred a CRV or RAV or even a GMC but hey, the price was great and I pulled the trigger. I tend to view leases as long term “rentals” and approach it from a lowest price perspective.
I too was going to purchase (a 2016 Ford Edge) but when I though about starting at 53K, purchasing tires within the year and doing the brakes on a car priced at $25K already, paying taxes on the whole thing up front, eating financing…
The problem starts when you start comparing your rock bottom priced lease basic transport to a car you would have purchased. My cloth seat Equinox is not a leather Edge with pano roof. So, to be fair, I’d have to compare it costs of ownership on a similar vehicle, which I would never consider purchasing. To sum it up, I lease cars I would never consider purchasing outright.
Maybe I’m using Honcker incorrectly, but I feel its a real PITA to use and doesn’t give me the data I want.
If you know what car you want, yeah you can search, but it won’t sort by lease price, you can’t filter by payment, only MSRP and some crappy feature filters.
The “deals of the day” aren’t hot deals, its just scrolling through pages of economy cars that have overpriced leases.
Interesting. I was just going by a review another user had left in the ease of use. I tried downloading the app earlier and after inputting my location it just says it’s unavailable in my area so I am unable to see how it works. Thanks for the feedback.
I think the biggest drawback in using hocker (I tried) was it does not give you any breakdown other than MSRP and the monthly lease payment for months and mileage variability.
People on LH are clearly more savvy IMHO and less likely to close on Honcker without knowing the exact breakdown of msrp, dealer discount, incentives/rebates, MF, RV etc. …
Honcker is a good start up for hassle free buying but for savvy users who understand that there are x number of variables all of which are subject to negotiation, then such automated app becomes less competitive than buyer-dealer negotiation …
may be that’s just my readings so I apologize if I am generalizing to the LH population but that’s the trend I have observed with LH members including myself
I also wonder how the incentives are factored in.
for instance with this GMC, there is a $2500 conquest incentive. is the Honcker pricing it without this incentive or with? what if I don’t have an Asian car and qualify or what if I qualify for additional incentives?
Interesting. I guess you only had the Subi for a short period of time. I view the S4 as the grown up version of the STi. I’m sure I’d love an S4, I’m not sure I want the payment associated with the grown up STI, I’m both simultaneously too grown up for the payment (kids & mortgage limit the toy budget) and not grown up enough to have the income to get me past that.
exactly … like I said who does not understand or want to understand, honcker is good - see one set price, click lease and good to go. But with LH crowd or anyone who is curious enough to know every breakdown, it is a quarter baked app, for now
