If you cannot afford to buy a brand new car outright, that does not mean you have to stay without a nice seat of wheels in your possession. Leasing is a form of car renting. You pick a car that you would like to own, pay your monthly tabs, and you enjoy driving it up until the lease contract expires (usually around the third year). Pretty simple, right? Well, not exactly. Truth be told, leasing does have some down sides as well. Usually you are going to have a mileage limit (10-15.000 miles per year), you will never be the sole owner of the car (unless you decide to buy at after the deal runs out), there are additional fees included, down payments can be big, etc. However, experts have some important tips that are worth keeping in mind before you decide to take a step in this direction.
- If your monthly income isn’t very high, leasing could be the right option for you. Depending on the car you choose, monthly payments tend to be pretty reasonable and manageable.
- Most of the time, leasing means that you could be able to drive a car that is either new or relatively new. So, having to cash out a large sum of money if you want to drive a brand new car, is not the only possible solution.
- Every time you drive a brand new car away from the dealership, its price starts to plummet. Depreciation is something that every car owner has to face. However, if you decide to do car business lease, that will not be your problem, but the agencies. They will have to do the hard part of selling it.
- You would have to earn a lot of money if you wanted to have a brand new car every couple of years. Again, if you are on a lease, this is just another benefit that arises from it.
- As long as the leased car is under warranty, you won’t have to deal with additional expenses that would otherwise go on maintaining purposes.
- Always try to negotiate the cap price (the total price of the car). Even if the dealer starts talking about how the cap price is irrelevant to you, because you will only pay small monthly tabs, be insistent. Of course, the cap price is the main determinant of your monthly payments, don’t forget it. That’s why you should negotiate the price before you even mention leasing.
- Be careful of your mileage. As we have mentioned before, almost every lease comes with a mileage limit. You really should not cross that boundary. Because if you do, you will have to pay extra fees for every single mile above the it. This means, that you maybe will not be able to use the car as much as you would want to.
- Don’t go ahead of yourself. Doing a good calculation will prevent you from making a serious and costly mistake. Other than those monthly payments, leasing includes the down payment for the car, registration fee, and some additional expenses.
- Try to close a deal on a car that does have the GAP insurance (Guaranteed Auto Protection). In a case of theft or wreckage, having this insurance will mean you won’t have to pay any extra dollars to the leasing agency.
- Do not sign a lease that extends beyond the cars warranty. This will consequently mean that more expenses will arise with time when your car starts developing faults, and the warranty won’t be there to cover them.
- If you can, and you know you will need it, buy some extra miles in advance. Often when you do this, agencies give you back the money when you return the car with less miles on it than you paid for.
- Bring someone with you. Sometimes it’s wise to bring a friend who will stay objective and coolheaded during the process of negotiation.
- Always read the contract twice! Make sure nothing unsaid slips onto the fine print.
- Do extensive research on the leasing agency and their staff. Try to inform yourself about the experiences that other people had with them. It’s very important that you feel safe and comfortable before going in to seal the deal.
- If you end up leasing a car, at least don’t forget to enjoy it.
