strangely enough the two i got from dealerships after a ton of haggling (especially for the Lincoln) were better than 99% of what I see on Rodo. Ran the numbers through the leasehacker calculator and came up with 7.1 for a Honda Accord Sport and 6.4 for a Lincoln MKZ. The Lincoln dealership will also give me a check for $500 to cover my disposition fee on my current Toyota lease I am turning in.
After a bunch of online work, some phone calls, and talking in person to dealerships, I got a pretty good idea of which manufacturers/dealers want to actually make a deal, vs. those who want to play games and rip me off (such as Toyota and Kia)
ultimately decided on the Lincoln MKZ for a few reasons.
The lease wasnāt great because of the low residual (48%), but the interest rate was rock-bottom (.5%), and there were some incentives and rebates thrown in. Final score on the calculator was 6.5
the reason why I went with this car is that the ride is as smooth as the top-of-the-line Mercedes and Cadillacs (better than Lexus), the cabin is on of the quietest out there, the leg room in the front is great (44 inches --Iām tall), better than almost any car out there save for the Impala. The features (lots of digital enhancements, remote start (even from your phone), and little details are excellent. Cabin is nicely arranged.
and it has a good curb weight of over 3700 pounds, which means better handling in snow and ice (we get a lot)
I didnāt want a SUV. I like the handling of a sedan or sports car, and really donāt like driving big boats with big blind-spots.
But just from the lease score & assuming low interest rate, you probably would have been better to purchase as the potential RV at the end of 5 year finance period would be better than the depreciation in early part. But maybe more details can shed light on this.
Heās a tall, wealthy, [humble] man. Heās doing just fine in his Lincoln with 44" of legroom and a good, heavy weight which helps handling.
TBH I feel like a real schmuck tucking my 36" inseam into an ES with a scant 42" of legroom. My head basically has to go through the sunroof. I look like a Shriner, for effās sake.
yes, buying it would have been ācheaperā in theory
I say in theory because I donāt like to buy liabilities. I bought a Cadillac many years ago that had a defect in the engine GM refused to fix. It had no resale value after 4 yearsānot good.
the payment is $441 a month. A bit more than I would have liked, but not unreasonable.
An Avalon would have set me back $500+, and that was with talking to dealers electronically before even going to see it. Bad money factor and residual and no incentives / rebates. The Camry wasnāt much better, and is basically a Corolla with a bigger engine and a little more room
The best lease deal was probably the Accord because of the residual, but I wanted more options, a little more power, and better handling in bad weather.
laugh all you want, but go drive a Corolla in snow, ice and wind and see how that works out for you. I was all over the road with my previous car.
Now it isnāt just weight that is a factor. It is AWD/4WD, tires, brakes, and overall handling. But a cheap, light car does not do well in this climate.
