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?
I tinted my windows and I’m not worried about it at turn-in. It’s a value-add so I don’t think they would make a stink about it. Well worth the $240.
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I’m the guy who leased that benz. I also have a '16 Civic EXT which I was dead set on getting (1 yr left on the lease). Civic is a great everyman’s car and the hatchback only made it better. All the tech/design just makes sense, from the keyfob to right side camera to storage spots. At this point though i’ve gone through a handful of hard to lease cars and i’m done being loyal after seeing some of these crazy leases. Now I’m just trying for the best deal possible on nicer cars (won’t be caught dead in a traxx, even for $60 - i’m eyeing the QX60 for under $300).
Things prolly changed but my Civic is $220/mo after 9% tax and I paid zero up front. I rolled all taxes/fees, everything into the lease. Dealer even paid first month for me. That’s with 12k mi/yr. Civic sedan and hatch are selling like hotcakes as everyone’s driving them so it will be hard to get a slick deal on it. BUT to increase the odds, ask about 5-10 dealers in driving/short flight distance, and negotiate near the end of quarter/half year. I signed mine on 6/29 and had to drive a couple hours away but was totally worth it. Build a spreadsheet so you know exactly how leases work and can do calculations on the spot if you have to. And don’t get emotionally attached to the car - or you will wind up paying. Good luck.
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I didn’t look through other brand leases and was pretty surprised that MB has a few starting at 339 a month. Very good to know for the future. And yeah something has changed about civic leases, I looked into the history for 2017 leases and all the information online and here points to much cheaper leases for that year. I actually have hit 5-10 dealers in a 2 hour radius ( surprised there werent more honda dealers around here) and this is the best I have come up with so far. I have a test drive today at another dealership and am walking in armed with this deal. I’m doubtful it will get beaten but am still gonna try to haggle the hustlers. Great information on the spreadsheet though am definitely going to do this. Is your name based on brazilian jiu jitsu?
Update: They sent me a lease worksheet which includes estimated title fee, msrp, dealer price, tax, final price, dealer service fee, balance due… then at the bottom it has cash due (1500) and the monthly payment for 36 months. Could there be any hidden fees in this that I will not see until finalizing the deal?
If the worksheet is a printout from their system and the line says total cash due at lease signing/delivery, then that’s what you will pay before leaving. However i’ve heard of some shady stuff. I even had a dealer swap out the car at the last minute saying the quote was for a manual and not automatic transmission so had to redo the numbers with higher numbers. You need to be ready to walk at a moments notice. Don’t get mad, just leave the dealership if they change the lease on you and go get food or something - there’s a good chance they will call you back (this is what I mean by don’t get emotionally attached as they can use it against you).
Also, its fairly early in the month - you could try telling them what you want to pay, then keep checking till later in June. Start with the selling price and work your way down to the monthly and don’t just tell them what you want to pay monthly. Oh one other thing is that CA has MUCH better leases in general compared to the rest of the country - the rates you’re seeing could be good for the area.
And haha yes I love brazilian jiu jitsu - just wish i found it 10 years ago.
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Ah yeah I am not afraid to walk if it isn’t up to par, although I did submit a finance approval form, I am not locked into anything at this point I hope, just to get realistic numbers on the deal. I am a one stripe white belt myself, if only I could get a dealer discount for that
To you, it may be a value add…to someone else, it may not. IDK what kind of tint you got, but not everyone loves tinted windows.
I’m not saying everyone loves tinted windows, but I think you may be in the minority if you don’t like tinted windows at all. I got a standard 35% tint, not a limo tint.
Either way it’s a value-add. If you wanted tinted windows from the dealer you’d have to pay extra for it. It adds value to the vehicle. It’s also something that would be pretty uniformly invited as opposed to something like 30" rims.
I guess we’re going to have to agree to disagree on this one. I have no problems with tinted windows, but IDK that I’d call it a “value add” on a 3 year old lease return. If you’re only paying a couple hundred bucks for a tint, how much value does it really add on a depreciating asset?
In Florida it would add a decent amount of value, especially with black seats - reason being the car heating up from the sun being closer to the earth round here
We’re talking about aftermarket tinted windows, not factory installed. When have you ever seen a line item, let alone a dollar amount on KBB or NADA for “aftermarket tinted windows” to add value to the car?
I get what you’re saying with regard to the heat. A 200 aftermarket tint job is not going to add 1500 in value to a car. At best, it would be a wash, especially after a couple years.
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I think we’re arguing semantics here. If I was looking for a used Honda Civic Hatchback and the one at dealership A had tinted windows and the one at dealership B didn’t and everything else was the same I would choose the one at dealership A. To me that’s a value-add.
Eh, I agree with @mp11477, it doesn’t really add value to a car. Something you can go to a tint shop and slap on doesn’t really add value to a car.
If I’m looking at two cars in a lot, I’m looking at options, wheels, etc. Things that it came off the line with. And to be honest, there’s so many things about tint customization, I want control over type of tint, degree of tint, etc.