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saleswoman is talking me into a lease, is it better than financing?

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MichaelWoodland
Established Member

saleswoman is talking me into a lease, is it better than financing?

So I have my eye on an Mercedes AMG GT, I wanted to just finance it. Local CU is giving me a good rate. But as the saleswoman and I are having lunch we really reccomends that I lease. She said that it's better for me because I am a busy man and I can just turn in the car at the end. She's been texting me all the time asking to hangout. I really think she wants to really close this deal. So I think she is biased.

 

What would you do?

Message 1 of 26
25 REPLIES 25
RSX
Valued Contributor

Re: saleswoman is talking me into a lease, is it better than financing?

I would do what I wanted in the first place.  Finance it

 

Dont let salespeople convince you of anything.  

 

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Message 2 of 26
mross1080
Established Contributor

Re: saleswoman is talking me into a lease, is it better than financing?

Depending on how often you change out your cars it COULD be worth it. But honestly any car over 70k or so the lease is never worth it unless theres some huge incentive which there usually isnt. If the rate your getting from your CU is good then go for it. Dont let a salesperson talk you into something, They just want a sale.

 

The easiest way to figure it out without going crazy into money factors is figure out how much the lease is a month and how much down, Do the same thing with finance numbers. Decide/guess how long youll keep the car for and lookup how much it will be worth and simply add all the numbers. Go with the lower one.

Message 3 of 26
TheFIGuy
Established Contributor

Re: saleswoman is talking me into a lease, is it better than financing?

If you're the type of person who tints windows, buys custom floor mats and custom items for the vehicle, a lease might not be beneficial. I am this type of person, and that's why I finance, keep the vehicle for 2-3/years, and sell to buy another vehicle. I like the ability to sell whenever I want and not be tied to a calendar/miles.

 

This time around, I will be selling my TM3P faster than my normal timeline, but I really want the TMYP or Cybertruck. Leaning more towards Cybertruck.

Message 4 of 26
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: saleswoman is talking me into a lease, is it better than financing?


@MichaelWoodland wrote:

So I have my eye on an Mercedes AMG GT, I wanted to just finance it. Local CU is giving me a good rate. But as the saleswoman and I are having lunch we really reccomends that I lease. She said that it's better for me because I am a busy man and I can just turn in the car at the end. She's been texting me all the time asking to hangout. I really think she wants to really close this deal. So I think she is biased.

 

What would you do?


I think she's an idiot. If you finance a car for 3 years, at the end of the 3 years you have 36 paid checks and you own a car. If you lease it at the end of the 36 months you have 36 paid checks and the opportunity to start it all over again. If the car isn't going to be used for a business that you own (no, not even for business expenses if you are an employee) then there is a chance a lease may be advantageous. If not, then there is no chance it will be advantageous.

Message 5 of 26
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: saleswoman is talking me into a lease, is it better than financing?

So I have owned many a car always financing until last month when I leased for the first time ever.

All I can speak of is how my experience was and a couple of leases I helped my wife with.

My car is far less expensive than an AMG GT.

 

I have a new Audi S4.

Financing over 3 years even if at 0% would have been almost 2.5 times the monthly payment on my lease.  I don't think it's a fair comparison to compare a 3 year lease vs 3 year loan.   

 

I did consider taking out a 7 year loan at I think it was 3.75% at my CU but because of COVID 10,000 miles a year is plenty for me.  If I wanted 15,000 miles a year the 7 year loan would have been pretty close to my lease payment and I probably would have financed.  That's exactly what I did with my mother in laws Lexus over the summer.  Lease rates were bad and it was far less to finance over 7 years than lease.  It should definitely be rightside up in 3 but she plans on keeping it until she stops driving.

 

With respect to leases something that sometimes skips peoples mind is putting money down.

 

On the one hand it makes sense put $3,600 down and lower your payment.

 

However what happens if the car is stolen, totalled?  You lose that $3,600 down payment and have to cough up another $3,600 plus tax, title, fees to get into the same car.

 

To me it would make more sense to put that $3,600 in savings and transfer $100 a month in to have the same effect of lowering your monthly car payment without the risk.

 

If you are talking about an AMG GT you hopefull don't have to worry about transfering $100 a month from savings, but they could be talking about a much higher cap cost reduction down payment and I would think twice about that.

 

There are a few other considerations with leases.

  • Some brands/models lease much better than others. I could have gotten a comparable BMW M340Ix same sticker price for a lot less per month.
  • Leasing often forces you to be a return customer.  Lease another Mercedes or whatever you leased and you don't pay a disposition fee and they may take it back early and forgive some mileage overage.

Regardless good luck with that AMG and be sure to post some pictures as eye candy for us.

Message 6 of 26
Shooting-For-800
Senior Contributor

Re: saleswoman is talking me into a lease, is it better than financing?

It COMPLELY depends on the numbers.

Do the math.  If a 3 year lease for example, add up the payments and residual and compare that to the kbb of a 3 year version depreciation.

Lease can be better if the car depreciates fast and the payments are right.

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Message 7 of 26
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: saleswoman is talking me into a lease, is it better than financing?


@Shooting-For-800 wrote:

It COMPLELY depends on the numbers.

Do the math.  If a 3 year lease for example, add up the payments and residual and compare that to the kbb of a 3 year version depreciation.

Lease can be better if the car depreciates fast and the payments are right.


IMHO, if the car depreciates that fast so that the numbers make sense, you should not be buying that car.

Message 8 of 26
sccredit
Valued Contributor

Re: saleswoman is talking me into a lease, is it better than financing?

Check out Leasehackr. Leasing is not for everyone. Before jumping into a lease make sure you know everything you are committing to. Leasing makes sense for us for DW's car but not for mine. You need to decide what your long term plans are for the car. If you are only going to keep it for 3 years, drive a reasonable amount of miles annually and it depreciates hard a lease might make sense for you. If you'll keep it longer than 3 years and it holds its value financing might be a better fit. Look at the entire financial picture, not just the monthly payment the salesperson is pushing you on. 

Message 9 of 26
iced
Valued Contributor

Re: saleswoman is talking me into a lease, is it better than financing?


@MichaelWoodland wrote:

So I have my eye on an Mercedes AMG GT, I wanted to just finance it. Local CU is giving me a good rate. But as the saleswoman and I are having lunch we really reccomends that I lease. She said that it's better for me because I am a busy man and I can just turn in the car at the end. She's been texting me all the time asking to hangout. I really think she wants to really close this deal. So I think she is biased.

 

What would you do?


If I planned on driving the car for only two years and trading it in for another new car, lease.

 

Otherwise, buy.

Message 10 of 26
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