So I am looking to pen my name on my first lease and have been shopping around for 2018 Civic Hatchback EX. It seems most dealers in my area would not budge from 250 a month / 2500 down payment minimum. I finally went on truecar and spoke with one dealer who budged on 230 a month / 1500 down payment. I asked multiple times if all fees are included in this and if it is 1500 out the door and he confirmed. Should I have asked some more specific questions or does 1500 out the door actually mean I will only need to bring 1500 with me. It is also not at his dealership but at a sister dealer so I assume it will have to be shipped over. Any help would be appreciated
If I may so Opine ! - That’s a lot for a Civic. For that kind of money you can probably get a better car.
Regarding whether (or not) you can trust what dealers say. Some honor what they say. Others give you a lowball deal just to get you in where they can work you. Every person needs to have the experience at a dealership with “Guido The Closer”. It’s one of those “never again” life lessons.
Have fun but keep your hand on your wallet at all times.
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Thanks, yeah I have been avoiding going in so as to avoid the hustle, but as it stands I am leaning towards this offer as I have my eyes stuck on the EX hatchback… What would be a better car in this range? I have seen nothing but base model civics and others for less than 200 and considered this a steal after a few days of research
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Scan the forum. But for fun take a look at the Trophy Garage photos link here in the forum:
Just some recent examples from there:
poster Pjj recently picked up a 2018 MB C300 loaner for about what you are proposing to pay.
poster K04 recently picked up a 2018 VW Tiguan S for 224/month tax included with $650 driveaway.
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Ah thank you, that is amazing, I will definitely be shopping around a little bit more now
Haha. I had mine right out of college on a Chevy Cavalier. I paid MSRP plus an extra $800 for rust proofing.
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In all fairness that Cavalier probably needed it…
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Unfortunately all my Guido stories involve sales of used cars… About to dump my 4th used car and go for a lease to avoid all the stress of constant breakdowns and repair costs. My current vehicle has 60,000 miles purchased for 2k ( a steal right?) and the transmission is going after 6 months of minimal driving(like 40 miles a week). The worst part is that the owner passed away and the seller was a family friend and even they had no idea the car was in bad shape
What kind of car is it? Rebuilding a transmission might not be that expensive. On a related note, if you don’t drive much, leasing will leave a lot of money on the table. You are paying for X miles but only using a fraction of X. OTOH you could buy a Honda, get a factory extended warranty (which is pretty cheap in the grand scheme of things) and enjoy ~8 years of worry free driving.
Yeah there are also other factors in wanting to lease new, I have been considering purchasing it after 3 years if I enjoy it as well as driving my first foreign car. It was a 2007 caliber and the transmission is just the tip of the iceberg, have paid for new mounts and various bearing repairs and it still constantly pops up with problems. I have a history of being ripped off by mechanics too and simply do not have the time or mind available to constantly repair or learn repairs. Have repaired the AC twice and it is broken again and repaired window motors twice both broken again. Just a huge headache that I would be willing to shell out monthly to forget about… I am also weary on buying outright at the moment as I work in technology and would like to see where safety features and addons go in the next few years before pulling the trigger
Oh JFC…burn that POS into the ground. Don’t spend another cent on it.
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Yeah, buyers remorse from the start of the 2 hour drive home as it shook violently over 70mph. Atleast I know to test drive on the highway before buying a used car next time 
The good thing about leasing is that you (pretty much) never have to worry about the car. Reliability is pretty much always high for a new car.
People on this forum are not loyal to any make or model and go for what deal gives them the best bang for the buck.
The bad part of leasing as I see it. Is that you need to predict a few years ahead how many miles you’ll drive. The other thing is that when the lease expires there may or may-not be another deal at the time you can jump on.
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Thanks for that information, as far as the looking ahead part I am very in tune with this. I plan to stay well under the mileage and have been looking into lease trading options incase I change my mind. However, in 3 years I plan to purchase this vehicle or lease something larger and more luxurious as I should be making considerably more money and have a college degree. ( I already work fulltime while attending school but do not have much bargaining power in my position without my degree)
I feel like the big breakthrough came in 2017-2018 with the proliferation of Toyota TSS, Honda Sensing, Subaru Eyesight, etc.
I wouldn’t expect full autonomy in the next three years, no matter what Elon says…
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Yes it seems so, but it also seems buggy in its current form and creates more points of failure for a cars computer system. I may just be wearing a tinfoil hat but Id like to wait and see how the features pan out over a few years of iteration and testing/paired with the cameras. On a sidenote, does lane assist seem like the most genius marketing ploy for drunk drivers or is it just me?
According to Elon, I should be in riding back and forth in a spaceship by now.
My wife has LKAS on her 2016 MDX. I don’t know about other systems, but it’s good for eating or drinking (non-alcohol) on the highway, or making minor adjustments to your clothes. After a few seconds, it starts to beep at you. It can’t hold a moderately tighter curve (almost flew off the road testing this one). It only engages after 45mph. So as long as you’re going 45mph in a straight away and don’t fall asleep while you’re drunk, it would work. I heard that it’s much better on the Tesla.
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Ah I can see that being very useful in the described situations, however, I have been in so many accidents and a couple near death experiences riding as a passenger in others cars for even less distractions. I have adjusted my own driving, mostly from ptsd to super defensive and if I ever am in a situation like described above I wait until I can find a place to stop. So the whole sensing package is just an extra bell and whistle for a type of driver like me at this point. Unless the technology becomes so good that I can consciously give control to a computer and not feel paranoid that I am taking even a second of focus off the road, I will just wait for the future. Blind spot camera however, is a huge selling point for me, especially after driving with the calibers large blindspots. Also being a Florida driver plays a big role in my paranoia
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Hi vic?
I think you would be able to appreciate this Jalopnik article:
Also, I am the very proud owner of a 2017 Honda Civic Hatchback EX in Aegean Blue and I posted about my lease here:
Sad to say that the residuals have dropped 3% to 59% (as of May) and the MF is also up from .00080 to .00105 since I got mine a year ago. Using the Leasehackr calculator and assuming your tax rate is 9% that $230/month and $1,500 up front is actually a pretty good deal.
For what it’s worth I love my car. I have no interest in driving a MB C300 or a VW Tiguan. I could have gotten a Chevy Trax for $60/month or a Chevy Colorado for $150/month, but I wanted the Civic Hatchback. I enjoy the roughly 1.5-2 hours I spend in it every day. If you want it go for it. You could probably whittle that $230/month down a bit more, but I think you are already getting a pretty hefty discount. Any questions about the car, lemme know.
Good Luck
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Oh god that article hit all the worst points of my caliber experience, minus the biggest one: maintenance. If only I had read this a year ago. I don’t fancy driving a benz or VW for long term purchase potential either, but I can imagine it would be a nice 3 years sitting behind the wheels of one. The EX hatchback has almost everything I am looking for in a vehicle and more so I am pretty dead set on it. I think if I can squeeze out even 1k tradein for this caliber I should be able to lower the monthly a bit - its estimated I will get 2600 for the tradein which I think is rediculous as I can’t imagine anyone buying it for more than 2k from a personal sale. One thing I am curious about, which is probably more of a dealershipp question, but do you know if tinting this cars window a shade above illegal will cost me at turn in time?