I’m considering to lease a car with 10k or 12k per year and buy out when lease end. Since I’m pretty sure I possibly driving 20k per year which mean 8k excess mileage per year. Would it make sense to take the buy out option since I would like to own a car as an asset and avoid to pay excess mileage at the end of lease?
Can you explain why you wouldn’t just purchase it in the first place? There’s some cars where the lease offer is just so far ahead of the purchase offer (Certain Acura models in the recent past) where it made sense to lease even when the goal was to purchase it. But I don’t get the feeling that’s what’s driving this.
If you’re likely to be driving 20k a year, there’s very few circumstances where leasing makes sense at all.
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What you’re describing sounds like a good way to waste a lot of money. Generally, if you want to buy the car, buy the car.
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If you are going to drive high mileage, either pre-pay the miles that you are going to use while negotiating the lease (getting a loaner with a higher discount might mitigate the additional cost to the payment) or purchase a CPO with the unlimited-mileage warranty that I think MB still offers. Usually purchasing additional miles is cheaper while making the deal than it is at lease return.
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My consideration are…
Financing needs 10%-30% down payment VS leasing around 2k due at signing
Leasing Maintence cost is lower within 36 months
Lease end buy out can apply financing
No interest rates for the first 36 leasing months
Let me attempt to address this one by one:
- You can finance with 0% down. I have done this myself. If your credit does not allow for this, chances are you’re not getting the best rate/deal on the lease either.
- Maintenance costs in the 1st 36 months are irrespective of whether you lease or purchase, not sure how or why you think this.
- Yes, you can finance at lease end, you can also do an extended term finance now, if your only consideration is payment amount. And if you are very sensitive to this, you may want to reconsider whether a Mercedes-Benz is the best target. If you really must have a 3-point star, have you considered CPO?
- No interest rate? This is patently false. You are not only paying interest on the amount you’re paying down, but on the entire residual value. You have a fundamental misunderstanding of how leasing works.
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There is still Rent Charge which is like interest.
I would get a CPO vehicle if you are putting 20K a year
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Thanks for the advise and I’m pretty new to the car leasing. I may look for MB Cpo or considering Lexus since their cars are reliable as I heard…
Calvin is awesome, if you do get a Benz I recommend him. Lexus wise, yeah. CPO Lexus is a Toyota in a luxury body.
Concerned about money but considering buying a Benz and driving 20k per year is just crazy talk.
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I like to not own a car, because it’s a deprecating asset.
I am trying to keep some collateral in my profile…
Won’t have that unless you put allot money down or you’re fairly deep into the term, cash in the bank is a better bet
a 3-yr old Benz with 60k miles that you have to buy for $35k is not collateral, it is a liability. Collateral is never something you owe more on than is worth.
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Personally, while BMW, MB & Audi are all finer products than the average Lexus or Acura, if I’m to own one, especially one already used/CPO (bearing in mind that CPO warranties are far less comprehensive than an original new car warranty), I’d be more comfortable owning the latter brands as lower grade of ‘luxury’ generally translates to lower complexity, their closer adherence to mainstream engineering gives way to less expensive repairs. So I’d certainly consider an IS alongside a C-Class or GS alongside an E-Class, outdated as they may be. If you need something with CarPlay and other kit, perhaps a 2018+ TLX may be a fit. For the average person, the FWD-based platform probably won’t make much of a difference.
I completely agree, need caution to the Toyota v6 iirc.
Depends on the manufacturer, but the general trend is true. BMW certainly shows this, as the minimal coverage of their new CPO warranty does not prove to be of much value.
I trust the Lexus CPO warranty more than myself. 2 years unlimited post normal warranty, and both stack. IE 3 year old car gets the remaining year of warranty until mileage or time limit, then stacks with 2 year unlimited b2b minus wear and tear. They even do 2 years of services, dad had an obsession with the RX I beat out of him with a lease and Tesla test drive.
I would think Lexus will keep that program, as the payout for parts and labor is probably minimal compared to Audi/MB/BMW due to the quality.
That new Volvo warranty is also looking pretty good. Extendable up to 10 years from original in-service date is probably not cheap.
Yea my father’s 2004 Lexus LS is still trucking (sedan’ing?) along at 16-years and 280k miles with normal maintenance & wear/tear replacement as well as minimal repairs required.
Can you imagine what it would take to get a 2004 S-Class, 7-Series or A8 to that mileage?