I am brand new to the site and honestly brand new to leasing cars. I have never leased a car before, but recently while out shopping around for vehicles i was offered lease terms and honestly was unsure if it was good or not. So i wanted to read more into leasing and ask the community on what they think.
Currently i OWN a car, 2012 Chevy Volt i bought 3 years ago used to save money driving while in college again for a new career change, but over the last 3 years i have had LOTS of times i needed a truck and recently took up a hobby that honestly a truck would be a huge help, currently i use a tiny utility trailer towed behind my volt, but it truly struggles and makes me white knuckle the entire way…
So i have narrowed my searches down to the following vehicles…
Chevy Colorado 2.8L Diesel
GMC Canyon 2.8L Diesel
While at a GMC dealership, they have a 2018 Canyon Denali 4x4 priced at 51k MSRP, but its down to 43k currently and they really dont want to budge on the price, but they noticed somehow i had purchased x amount of cars over the years, basically averaging a new to me car every 2-3 years.
So they told me i would benefit from leasing a car over buying and offered me that truck for $4311 down, 12000/year for 24 months, $292/month with the option to purchase after the lease
If you’re changing vehicles every 2-3 years leasing will normally be beneficial over financing, unless the vehicle/brand you’re looking at doesn’t lease well. The benefit is you have a guaranteed exit point where you can hand the vehicle back (which is good if it’s depreciated more than expected e.g. been involved in an accident). But if near the end of lease it’s worth more than you’ve paid in you can sell it and pocket the difference. Or of course you have the option to buy it at the end of the lease so it tends to be the more flexible option. You should still compare the lease cost to what it would cost to finance, that way you know which one is the best option for any vehicle, especially as some vehicles will have different discounts for leasing vs financing.
I would do some research and see what the major benefits are between 24 and 36 month lease terms for those vehicles. 36 months will normally be slightly cheaper monthly, but depending on various factors like servicing and tires it might work out as more or less expensive.
I’m not an expert in those vehicles but a 16% discount off MSRP is always healthy. They’re probably inflating the MF (interest rate) up though to compensate. You should check what the standard MF is by going to https://forums.edmunds.com/discussion/46990/gmc/canyon/2018-gmc-canyon-lease-deals-and-prices/p5 and asking there for the MF, residual value, and what incentives apply for that vehicle in your zip code. With that information you can use the http://leasehackr.com/calculator and make sure the numbers add up.
Here’s the #s for both the Colorado ZR2 and Canyon I gave someone else yesterday. The MF is almost 2% less on the 36 month term of the GMC, so you might have a better deal running it at 36 mos instead of 24.
EDIT: Running through the calc with assumptions since you don’t list all the #s needed, 24 mos seems to be better, even with the 6.29% interest rate/MF.
ZR2 residual
65% for 12k/36
72% for 12k/24
MF
.00215 (5.16%) for 36
.00231 (5.54%) for 24
GMC Canyon Denali Crew Cab AWD
68% for 12k/36
77% for 12k/24
Also, if you are a Costco member they will release details of the holiday purchase program on 10/2, might be worth waiting or signing up if you aren’t already.
it was mentioned if you leased the vehicle and it become more valuable at the end of lease you could sell for the difference, is this rare? just curious as im thinking of leasing the truck with the possibility of buying at the end, just comparing if i can get a better deal leasing vs buying…
