So I am about to close on a Nissan Rogue lease. This is my first car so wanted to be sure I am clear on all the terms.
My question about GAP insurance or Waiver. I was recommended to get a GAP insurance added to my contract by the salesperson. However on doing some research it seems that Nissan Finance (NMAC) provides a GAP waiver. I saw a link on Nissan’s website talking about this, but the post is 2 years old. Also found some discussions about this topic on leasehackr forum from 2 years back or so.
So what is the current updated situation? does NMAC offer GAP waiver? If I do insist on it - does it mean I am not liable to pay the gap if something happens to the car? My credit Score is a bit low - around 650ish so my money factor is high - is this why they are insisting on the gap insurance.
NMAC offers gap insurance on all their leases already. You should not have to purchase anything additional. I don’t believe there are any regional variations to this, but I would ask to see a copy of a blank contract in your area to ensure GAP is included and you’re not paying extra for something you already get for free. I don’t think you’ll have anything to worry about though, but a blank contract would answer your question with 100% accuracy. If they won’t show you one, run from them and find a different dealership.
Likewise, in the unlikely event GAP is not covered, check with your insurance. Many insurance carriers offer GAP at a fraction of the cost a dealership will.
To answer your other question, GAP will cover the difference between your payoff and current value of the car. In other words, if your car is worth 10k, but your payoff is 15k, your insurance would cover the 10k, less your deductible, and you would need to pay cash to cover the balance and pay the car off. GAP covers this difference. It’s an acronym that stands for Guaranteed Asset Protection.
Awesome! Thank you for the answer, clears up a lot of things. I will definitely discuss this next week when I go to close the deal.
Just to confirm - all leases are usually financed by the car company’s own finance wing? like for Nissan, this would be NMAC or can a dealership use another bank or something to finance the lease?
Going on monday to talk the finer details. This question was from a discussion I had 2 months back. They did not have the car in stock at time & and I just wanted to get an idea so I can organize my finances.
Oh no. You should know all this yourself before talking to a dealer.
It is practically impossible for us to tell you what a “good” monthly payment is for your specific lease as lease programs are highly dependent on region, personal qualifications, tax rates, etc.
We always recommend the following method before you ever contact a dealership. If you do all of the work up front, you’ll have a stress free dealer experience and set yourself for success.
Read Leasing 101 to understand how to calculate a lease payment and the variables. Monthly payment is an output, not an input!!
Pick a specific vehicle that you want to target
Gather the current MF, RV and incentives from Edmunds forums for your zip code
Research the LH marketplace and other deals that have been made recently on your vehicle - what was their pre-incentive discount? How did their lease terms differ?
Plug your numbers into the LH calculator, and use a pre-incentive discount similar to what you have seen
Create a target deal, this is what you’re trying to negotiate to. You can try different terms, selling price discount, etc. and see how your monthly payment is affected. It is also possible that different trims of your vehicle may have different MF and RV (i.e. this is very common with GM), so make sure that you look into that. Come up with a set of inputs that give you the output that you want - your desired monthly payment.
With a target price determined, you now have a deal to pursue and compare dealer offers against. More importantly, you have a solid foundation to work from.
Already done - mostly my questions are to doublecheck what I know.
Car - Nissan Rogue Platinum AWD
MF & Residual for my zip (got it from edmunds) .00117 MF and 59% residual
Incentives - $700 + am finishing grad school soon and have a job lined up - so new graduate discount of $500 (total $1200)
MSRP listed as 39010 (new car just delivered so dunno the “selling price” yet)
So I my current credit score as per Experian is 650 (not gonna change for year atleast) and when had gone for a test drive for a lower trim rogue -
was told a MF of 0.0025 as per my credit score and possible $1000 dealer discount (again - the platinum trim was literally not in stock in any of nearby dealerships)
If I take all these factors, include all taxes, no downpayment and plugged into leasehackr calculator -
$610 per month (tax included)
No I haven’t signed anything! As I said this all cross checking.
been having serious doubts - that’s why been looking at alternatives as well. Was looking at the VW Atlas cross sport and Tiguan. I do like the Volvo XC40 as well though I feel it might be small for me and no Volvo dealership in my city - Nearest is in St. Louis. about 150 miles away
I generally like the tech features in the new rogue platinum trim. Yes I know about the CVT issue. The new Rogue feels miles better than the old one.
I hear you guys on the bad deal - my main point of concern is my credit score and lack of “credit” history as experian (and other credit reporting websites like creditkarma) say. I am an international student from the UK, so have no family credit history, etc etc.
Plus I want something with decent tech - like the propilot assist which does make driving long distance very comfortable + the digital dashboard and heads up display. I don’t have a car since I lived on campus (roommate has a car)
So what would you suggest with my kind of background?
I presume you’re on an F1 visa? If so, you’ll want to double check the requirements of whatever bank you’re looking to lease through, as I know some have stricter requirements than otheres.
There are quite a few threads related to non-immigrant visas when leasing a car. Other than credit, it’s also your leasing history and maybe your job history. YMMV based on who the lessor will be… try searching LH for related topics if this concerns you or if it pops up. GLWT
do everything over phone/email until you have a deal