Sorry for the very uneducated question, brand new to the concept of leasing and trying to educate myself as much as I can. To give some background: I am graduating from medical school in a month and starting residency. I am planning to finish my residency and move back to Hawaii to practice, as family is located there. So I will need a car for residency training, but will be unlikely to keep it past the next 3 years. My priority is to make sure I have a dependable car that I don’t have to worry about too much with my training schedule, so I figured leasing might make sense. A few things to consider:
One complicating factor is I will start my residency in one state and move to another after the first year. I know I will have to re-register the vehicle in the new state, but not sure if there are other problems with moving during the span of the lease.
Two cold weather/snowy states, starting in Minnesota and moving to Utah, so thinking AWD would be recommended.
I do not see myself putting 10000 miles on the vehicle each year, given short commutes and work schedule.
Just wanted to get a sense from those of you more knowledgeable whether this sounds like a circumstance where leasing might actually make sense. As a bonus, if anyone has any recommendations for any subcompact or compact SUVs that are worth looking into to lease currently, would love to hear!
I am still getting my bearings on the leasehackr site, so still overwhelmed, but seems like most activity centers around a few spots nationally, so will have to educate myself on how best to go about all this.
MN is an up-front tax state on a lease. You can pay it up front or roll it in, but Utah may or may not accept that as paying the equivalent tax, and you may be taxed again. It usually works better on a purchase to get it recognized/credited. You should consider buying something like a slightly used Honda or Lexus which will hold value and sell it when you’re ready to move.
Moving a leased vehicle from one state to another is generally not a problem. When you move you call the bank and tell them to send you a power of attorney document so that you can re-register the vehicle.
The things you have to consider when doing this are (1) most states will not refund you the balance of any registration charges / upfront taxes when leaving the state, so you should time everything so that you move right before the registration anniversary and (2) you may end up having to pay more tax in your monthly payment depending on the taxing jurisdictions you are going to and from. Someone more knowledgeable here can probably speak to the specifics of MN and UT.
Get AWD sure, but good tires are far more important than AWD/4WD. If you know you are going to have to be on the road in crappy weather, invest in a set of snow tires and have them swapped every winter.
Many banks will write a 7500 mile lease; some will even write a 5000-mile lease but those are rarer and are mostly seen on $$$ vehicles.
Check the broker deals in the Marketplace section here. Even if there aren’t any in your state or area you can use these as templates for putting your own deal together. Also look into brands that offer new grad discounts such as BMW. Most brands offer first-responder discounts which you may also qualify for depending on the brand.
Getting a slightly used reliable vehicle is probably the best advice you are going to get unless you find a screaming lease deal. How is your credit score? Do you have a credit history from another vehicle? A weak credit history could make leasing more expensive.
Congrats on all you’ve achieved and starting your residency.
You’re received good advice and insights from everyone here, but in your shoes I’d lease an upper-trim CX-30 AWD or a Crosstrek — Japanese reliable, fun to drive, nice/lux, comfortable, 5-star safe, relatively cheap Chase leases that a third-party can buy if needed — on a 36m/7500mi term and not worry about it again until turning-in the keys and getting on a plane back to Hawaii.
If you do decide to lease, post here for a deal check before signing anything.
Definitely gonna keep leasing as a possibility since I have some time before needing the car in June, and at least going through the Leasing 101 stuff/learning the basics and going through the exercise of trying to negotiate a deal will make me a more informed customer, if nothing else.
Can’t offer any advice beyond what others have stated. I remember in May in the residents parking lot when those busted Toyotas and Hondas magically became new BMWs and Benz’s lol.
For me when I moved to the Midwest I got an Acura MDX. That car got me where I needed to go. I remember one time going in and passing like 3 cars in the ditch. Felt pretty good passing them to this southern boy lol.
Congrats on getting through man. Some solid deals on Honda/Toyotas right now and MB loaners are looking good too. I was in the same situation and opted to lease a nice car as a way of rewarding myself
So you should be good from a financial perspective. I figured you were a starving med student! You will have many options, so it really depends on what you want.
Love the Acura SUVs. Friend has an MDX as well. Not sure I can justify the price tag of going more luxury as I’m trying to save money these last few training years!
I don’t know what residents make nowadays, but you’re still kind of starving until you can start moonlighting or until you get your first job post-residency.
Honestly, it’s so not worth it. Save the money and get something boring and practical right now.
Feel like I’m overwhelmed in car land after searching so much and test driving so many cars. Definitely agree w you on boring and practical. I know the usual suspects are what they are for a reason, but feels like paying such a Premium upfront for brands like Toyota/honda relative to others.
just curious if you have an opinion, what kind of car would you target if you were thinking of boring and practical, w the caveat that I worry the snow/mountains/cold make something like a civic or corolla less possible w possibly needing awd?
Hard for me to say b/c I’ve been based in Los Angeles basically all of my life and never have to worry about weather.
My opinion/understanding isn’t much diff from what was posted above. FWD + snow tires should be fine and/or… some sort of Subaru. Doesn’t get more boring, practical, w/ good resale value + AWD than that.
@jeisensc: my partner recently said, “I’m thinking of a Subaru Crosstrek hybrid for my next car!” Uh….
