Hi friends! I’m looking to get the absolutely rock bottom monthly payment possible for an AWD / 4WD vehicle. It can be a car, SUV, or truck. I saw the Jeep and Nissan news but I’m not sure if those are still options, and if they are the best options.
My daughter’s 2011 Tiguan looks like it’s on the decline. I can probably get $6000 trade in or even $10,000 private market for it. She’s halfway through college and starting a job so I want her setup with a reliable AWD vehicle.
I’m hoping to get a payment under $100, maybe even under $50 if possible, after about $10,000 down on the lease. The reason for putting money down is so she owns the monthly payment.
So far I’m considering the Mazda CX-30, the Jeep xe, and the Nissan Frontier.
So where can the lowest monthly payment be had? Thanks so much!!
Don’t put money down on a lease. If you total the vehicle you can lose it. Everyone else here will say the same. If you want you can do a one pay or MSDs to lower MF/payment or put it in an account and have it automatically withdraw a dollar amount to be applied as a payment to the lease.
Thanks, and yes, understood. I had a very said incident of totaling a leased Jaguar that was very educational. Let’s assume I sell her current old car and we are autopaying it towards the lease payment and my daughter has to pay in her remaining part. For the sake of doing the math, we’ll call it a down payment but I’ll keep the money safe elsewhere.
So the question stands… what makes and models are best to get a super low monthly payment but still has AWD? (we live around snow)
I recommend doing the math, followed by an honest personal risk/reward assessment.
Also, the size of the risk isn’t constant throughout the entire lease term; it decreases every single month (and the cumulative savings in rent charges increases).
If you total a leased vehicle in month 34 of 36, for example, the maximum risk is 2/36=5.6% of the down payment… meanwhile, for the first 34 months you’ve saved rent charges every single month.
What do you mean “Tiguan in on the decline”? And then you think you can get $10k? Should be in good shape to fetch $10k. In which case, I assume this is not a rush request.
Anyway, an absolute base Sahara 4xe would land you a sub-$13k one-pay. Either scrape together the $3k and have her pay it back over time or she could even put it on a credit card and pay that back.
Even if you add a hardtop, you are only adding about $500. This is all with fingers crossed that programs don’t change drastically between order and delivery.
My problem with the Frontier is 1) finding one and 2) it is only 18 mos.
Hey everyone, I appreciate all the advice. Let me clarify… the real question is: what is the best AWD car/SUV that would have about $10-13k in depreciation over 25-36 months? That way with $10k we could have a $0 to $50 payment.
Not that it’s relevant, but since someone was curious, the current car (Tiguan) still has value but an engine seal fix or transmission is almost definitely on the horizon and I want to get value out of it before the next big fix comes along. It runs great and probably has trade in of $6k and private market of $10k.
I appreciate that financing would probably be smarter, but my kid can’t afford much of a payment, hence the lease. If she were to sell her car now it would be hard to purchase a car that is going to last her a few years without a big monthly payment (big in this case is over $100). Again, not that it’s relevant but my general idea is that I’ll help her purchase a modest car as a college grad gift, but for now she just needs something to get around safe and get to her job. Plus Daddy needs to save his money for the upgrade from a 340 to an M3 that’s coming up…
So, it sounds like I should definitely check out the base Jeep Sahara, the Nissan Frontier if I can find one, and look at ordering an Impreza. Any others worth looking at? What about the Mazdas?
Hi friends and experts. What are the best lease deals right now for affordable small SUVs?
Here are the background and details: I’m looking to lease an affordable AWD SUV for my daughter who is out in school in Oregon (go Ducks!). I’m looking to do a one-time lease payment so she is setup without a car payment until she graduates college. Then she can save up money and buy her own car once she graduates. The used car market is so inflated that I decided rather than buy a used car, I will use the same amount of money and put it towards a lease with the understanding that she won’t have equity at least end. Hopefully by 2025 the market has cooled down and my responsible daughter has saved up enough for a down payment on her new car.
I’m looking for suggestions on the best small SUVs to lease that have the lowest total cost of the entire lease. For example, I’m hoping I could lease something like a Jeep Compass or Mazda CX-30 for a one time payment of $12,000-$13,000. Oregon has no sales tax if we register it there which is a nice perk.
Ideally we would pick up the car in Colorado or Oregon, but I’m happy to ship from nationwide if the deal is worth it.
So, what SUVs should I be considering for total lease cost of around $11,000 to $14,000 for 24-36 months?
Not sure I follow… are you referring to the elimination of equity over the 3 year lease? The way I figure, her current car is 50/50 whether it makes it another 3 years. It might not make it to year two. There is a bit of a gamble here, but the idea is to take the equity in hand, buy 3 years of miles with it, and then buy a car when the market cools. She saved up to buy her last car, so she can save up to buy her next car over the next 3 years.
I guess my feeling is that whether you are driving miles on a used car or a lease, you are depreciating the vehicle. The lease in this scenario at least gives a reliable car during the depreciation period. The downside is that at the end of 3 years there is a chance the current used car would have some value, but that’s a big if.
I’d you’re referring to paying up front vs monthly, that’s a different question, and is more about logistics for me than finances.
