The advice was to spend half as much as whatever was originally planned on car payments to allow plenty of money for fun.
Is this an act, or was I just being too abstract for you?
Also, if you’ll read my comments again, they were about what I didn’t have, not what I had.
I agree with you, I should treat this leasing as an opportunity to build up my credit and training for my budgeting skills! Ok now I will hunt for cheap lease around $200~300!
Thanks everybody!
Make sure you max out your 401k/ira contributions before you let yourself up that car budget. Now is the time in your life to start saving
Quick question, only the EV gets the rebate? What about the hybrid or plug in?
I think u can hack a bmw or something if you want to go about 400-450
You should probably drive a Honda always and all the time.
Car, gas, insurance etc all add up.
I wouldn’t recommend anything above the Elantrolla class
Right now I’m looking at either Honda accord or Mazda 3 they all price at ~27000 ~28000, how much % off the MSRP should I aim for?
This is my first time lease a car, I basically just asking around all the dealers how much discount they can provide pre rebates. Playing the “hey can u match the price” game.
Also the Ioniq EV as well, which vehicle gets the lowest price I will go for it.
I haven’t shopped Honda, but from what I’ve read I’d be inclined to think that the 3 will lease better. Remember that a 3 is more on par with a Civic than an Accord. When I was looking at Mazda, I believe the discount before incentives that I was able to get was around 6-7%.
The way that I would do it is go to Edmunds and find the rebates and money factor for the car and trim you’re looking at. Then, look around here to see what people in your region have been getting for deals on that car. You could even take a look at some broker posts on the Marketplace to see if you can connect with a trusted broker to land a car at a price point that you want without much hassle. If you decide to move forward with working your own deal, reach out to dealers and tell them what you want the deal to look like (focusing on sale price before incentives). This is a VERY 30,000ft view of how to do it. There are tons of posts about how to shape an email and what information you need to get from a dealer to evaluate a deal.
Two important things to keep in mind are to avoid disclosing your monthly payment target and not to set foot inside a dealership except to test drive.
2019’s have apple car play as well.
Apples and Oranges.
Jetta/Golf are comparable to Mazda 3/6 - one is the hatchback and one is the sedan version of the same car.
Civic and Accord are different sized/spec’ed sedans for different markets, like the Corolla and Camry.
My first new car was an Accord (after a Used Accord, Used Civic, and Used Saturn), and I had a new Mazda 3 and a new GTI after that. All that to say @Tommy1900 is looking at about the right segment for a new college grad.
Hondas in general don’t lease AS well (some better than others), Mazda and Toyota are a little better. College grad will help you in all cases.
@Tommy1900 You need to do your own research from here: read the FAQ, get the residual/MF/incentives from Edmunds for the year/make/model you want. Remember if you price an Accord Sport 1.5 and get to dealer and like 2.0 better, the numbers are different. Drive the short list (don’t lease when you do) to ensure you like it first. Some research will help you find what’s possible price-wise for exactly what you want, plug all that into the LH calc for the floor (as low as you can go).
When you have a specific deal to check (eg here is the dealer quote for the Blue 2019 Mazda3 GT FWD from dealer…) with the link to the calc, we can help you deal check before you sign.
TL;DR
Then
Good luck!
Honestly don’t lease right out of college. Buy a 2 year old accord sport and build up your credit and savings for a few years. The actual cost of ownership will be FAR lower than leasing and the car will be basically just as nice. The accord sport is a great car in every way. Car and driver 10 best. Why lease at this stage of life? I get that you can, but save now and get a way better car in a few years
You’ll save on the acquisition fee, disposition fee, lower insurance, lower taxes and registration, etc. Hondas hold their value like crazy at that price point and you’re still driving a great, reliable, enjoyable, nice looking car
I totally get what you saying man. Why lease a cheap car if you can buy it right. I just don’t have 20k cash on me at this point and I feel lease a car can help me build the credit as well.
Or I can get an auto loan then or I can just uber for the first few months wait till I save up enough money.
What do you think folks.
Thanks for the tips! Super helpful! I did some research during the weekend, If the discount and incentives/rebates are the same then MF plays a really important role. any suggestion to get the MF down? I checked Edmunds seems like MF in CA in general higher than other states.
It’s not a bad idea to buy a reliable used car but late model Camry and Accord are usually not good deals. It’s probably better to buy a new leftover 2019 than a 2yr old model
Hyundai, Kia and VW models depreciate more than Accord and Camry in the initial term before slowing down but also have much more warranty left over, making them better targets for buying used.
The MF that Edmunds posts is buy-rate: that is as low as it goes. You need to change cars/brands or try again next month. This is one reason Honda’s don’t lease particularly well (Accords also have an insanely low residual compared to reality, meaning you pay more depreciation over the lease term than you “should”).
I disagree with a portion of this.
The preowned market is way too expensive for 1-2 year old Honda/Toyota products.
Also, total cost of ownership over 3 years with a lease v pre owned buy…
It’s state dependent to determine which is more expensive.
I don’t think what you said works as blanket advice, but it’s worth taking into consideration when assessing the financials.
It is true that you must go for more economical cars like Toyota. You are still young and for sure after 5 or 6 years you can already own a Jeep or BMW. You can also go for Hyundai elantra.
You seem to understand car segments, but you don’t seem to know that the 3 and the 6 are NOT two versions of the same car. The Jetta/Golf is comparable to the 3. The Passat is comparable to the 6.
Just to be clear:
The Civic is a compact with a hatchback and sedan version. The Accord is a mid-size sedan.
The Corolla is a compact with a hatchback and sedan version. The Camry is a mid-size sedan.
The 3 is a compact with a hatchback and sedan version. The 6 is a mid-size sedan.
The compacts are comparable to the compacts, and the mid-size sedans to the mid-size sedans so my statement “Remember that a 3 is more on par with a Civic than an Accord” is true. The 3 and Civic occupy the same segment. It’s not apples and oranges.
@Tommy1900 I like leasing for a people who have a pretty good idea of how many miles they will drive in a year and who can afford a monthly payment but can’t afford it when unexpected bills come up. Long warranties on cheap new cars help to mitigate that risk. One thing you could consider doing is finding a new 2019 Jetta (same segment as 3/Civic/Corolla) in base-base trim with a really nice discount and financing that on a purchase instead of a lease. They come with a 6 year/72,000 mile bumper-to-bumper warranty so you wouldn’t have to worry about unexpected repairs and there are some listed near me for about $15,000. They come very nicely equiped. The basic math is that if you pay $300 for 36 months on a lease, you may be out around $10,800 plus any maintenance and wear-and tear. If you finance a purchase of $16,000 over 5 years at 1.9% (the current finance offer on Jetta which you might not qualify for), your monthly payment would be around $280 and the car is yours after 5 years (still theoretically within warranty, no mileage concerns if you change jobs and need to drive more).
In the end, YOU have to decide where your value lies. Leasing and financing both have their advantges, just avoid extending yourself by targeting too expensive of a car. It sounds like you have the right idea about what price point to be shopping at!
VW reverted back to their original 3/36 warranty recently AFAIK