I am about to order a 2009 Clubman S this Fridsay. I had plan to lease it. However, I am rethinking the cost of it. My dealer told me the 24 momth leasing was 72%(down from 78% in Oct) and the money factor was .0029(up from .00239 in Oct). The money factor turns out to be about 7% interest. That is very expense compare to the mid-5% interest back in Oct.

Has anyone else been quoted similar leasing numbers?

 

How much does that 2% change the lease payment? I can look into it tomorrow for you!

 

The change in residual and money factor changed the monthly about 30%.

 

Is this a flat rate, or it is tied to credit rating?

 

Looks like it's across the board: http://www.ridewithg.com/index.php/the-list/

 

Unless you are a low mileage driver or have another reason for leasing don't do it. Just get a loan and buy it.

The costs at the end of a lease can be substantial.

charlie

 

Residuals normaly drop from when a new model year comes out as time goes along. A 09 will never me worth as much as when it first come out. With the economy as unstable as it is rates and residuals will be all over the place. My guess rates will come down as the feb lowers rates but so will residuals as used car values drop. BTW 36m will normaly give you a better payment and deal when there is little money down and the car is sold at msrp. I got these rates here http://www.ridewithg.com/index.php/2...9-mini-cooper/
2009 Mini Cooper S Coupe
24 Month – Residual 78% of MSRP – .00239 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 69% of MSRP – .00239 Base Rate
48 Month – Residual 58% of MSRP – .00239 Base Rate

if the the msrp is 27410 and you pay 27410 the payment at 24m 367.87 + tax vs 36 at 346.74+ tax. Also you have to pay dealer fees and lease start up fees probaly totaling over $1000 so more reason to break that cost over 36 vs 24.

 

I think this is old data. I have gotten similar percentage and money factor from two dealers.

Is there anyone that has done a lease deal in the last two weeks that can share their info on the deal?

 

Yes that is nov 08 numbers for a coupe not clubman. It was more to show the 24 vs 36 payments. I will be going to my dealer tomowor to see about trading my TSX early for another MINI and I will see what he comes up with.

 

My wife and I just ran the lease gamut after her Mercedes Lease came due. We were able to negotiate a halfway decent lease on an 08 BMW X3 due to BMW incentives on 08's but it wasn't nearly as good as the original M-B lease we gave up.

As a general observation - I think good leases are on hiatus until the banks get over their lending jitters and the economy turns around.

 

I think your observations are very good and consistent with what I am getting from the dealer. I think the good news is I don't need to lock on a lease right now. I can order my new clubman and decide how I want to purchase it in later Feb. Things could be very different then...i don't think they will be worse. (i don't think it could get worsw than a 7% money factor!)

 

I looked at what we have here in Albuquerque, and it looks correct to me!

 

Thank you for checking MiniFaron!

 

Only fools lease cars

The most expensive way to purchase a car.

Save your pennies and try to cough up at least 25% down, then finance the rest. Keep the car 7-10 years. Cheapest way of car ownership.

If you can't afford the car with at least 25% down, then look elsewhere.

Unless you are a business owner and can deduct the lease payments as a business expense, stay clear from it.

 

Leasing is nothing but a long term rental car.

Dealers, banks and manufacturers love it because they make $$$ out of fools getting into cars they can't afford in the first place

Since the burst of the housing bubble and the credit crunch we are going back to normal times. We are not as rich as we think we are and the reality is that a lot of people can not afford the cars, house and lifestyle they had before.

Things are going back to normal. This financial situation is a huge blessing in disguise.

 

That may have been the case once upon a time but in the last 5-6 years leasing has actually been pretty good for the smart consumer as the manufacturers have been gambling on high residuals for their products. The reason leasing is off the boil now is primarily due to the credit crunch, gloomy picture for residuals and the manufacturers getting burned on their previous residual projections.

We leased my wife's last car and her current car because they are gas-guzzling kiddie haulers whose residuals we're not prepared to gamble on ourselves. Both are end of model years that were/are backed by manufacturer money. If the the residuals tank (which they probably will) we just hand the keys back and say thank you. I don't happen to think that this approach applies to a MINI but for a lot of people a $200-300 monthly payment w/little or no out of pocket did seem like an attractive proposition.

As for turn-in fees. We paid $550 to turn in our Mercedes R350 - a car that stickered at $54k when we leased it. Obviously you have to be careful w/the car and not go over miles but the end of lease costs do not have to be prohibitive...

 

I prefer to buy instead of lease, but it is a good option for some. A thread where a simple question about lease prices was asked (by a seemingly savvy comsumer) is not the place to attack anyone who would lease a vehicle.

I haven't cared to call and ask details, but MINI of Grand Rapids has lease specials on their website. $0 down, $0 first month payment, $314/month for '09 Coopers (I'd guess "base" models). $250 allowance on all 2008's - lease or buy.

 

As long as you look at it as a rental car, then a lease is a good deal. If you're going to change cars every couple of years and just want to break even then go for it. Especially good if you can make it a business car.

I like to keep my cars for a while (5-10yrs), and, I drive the snot out of them, 25k mi per year minimum, so a lease is out of the question. I also don't like to worry about what will happen if I want to modify the car.

charlie

 

Exactly. A rational comparison of three year costs (which would include selling a purchased car at the end of that period) historically shows out-of-pocket cash for a lease to be neutral with a buy. For a two year holding period, leases traditionally have been less expensive. There are many people who are car lovers, and just want to drive something new on a regular basis. My guess is the typical NAM poster is more of a buy and hold type.

With the recent credit crunch its hard to tell what's going to look better two to three years from now. There still are decent lease deals around, especially through quality brokers, who often can acquire the car through their dealer network for materially less than MSRP. USBank seems to still be very interested in financing leases, and as of a few weeks ago had lower rates than BMW, and a slightly higher (less than a point) residual on Mini's.

Of course YMMV.

 

Another angle to consider:

BUY an item that appreciates in value and....

LEASE (rent) an item that depreciates in value.

towtruckted

 

It is good to have a lively discussion on leasing. I have done both tradtional finance and leasing. Both have their plus and minus points. The vehicle I have getting rid of for a mini is a Land Rover LR3. I just couldn't take the 13 mpg of the LR3 anymore and the effect it is having on the environment.
I am glad I leased it. I can just give it back to them instead of trying to sell it myself. Also, it is nice being in a leasing when you have a car that is a lemon.
Does it cost something for that flexiablity..yes. Nothing is free!
I smart consumer to look at all of his options and decide what makes the best sense for them.

 

For what? In three leases my total end-of-lease costs have been $156, and that was for going over mileage on my last lease, for which I got charged 20¢/mile.

If you don't take care of the car you can incur charges, but so what. If you buy a car and don't take care of it you incur lost resale value. Lesson learned: take care of your car if you don't want to loose value or money.

I never saw leasing as foolish. I was merely renting something that depreciated in value. I let the owner take the most hit on that, and I was happy to get a new car every 3 years, an M3 being the most recent of those before I bought my JCW. It worked out great for me and I have no regrets doing it. But I've been a good candidate for leasing. I'm a low mileage driver, take good care of my cars, and have great credit so I can get the very best rates.

The reason leases are now getting more expensive is that the leasing companies have been taking a bit hit on market value being lower than residuals when leases come to term. BMW has taken a particularly big it since a large percentage of their new car sales are for leases, and they are trying to encourage more purchase sales.

 

You don't lease a car to buy it, that would be foolish. A new car is never a good investment it always goes down. The “Cheapest way of car ownership” is to buy used not new.

If you look at the money you put down and how much you pay a month for a retail at 3 years vs what the car is worth it will normally be break even. If you lease the same car you will pay less a month and still end up with the same thing, break even.

I lease because I want to always drive a new car, not have to care about what it is worth (think of those that own a suv), not have to care about running out of warranty , not having to worry about service cost, not having to care if the car is stolen or totaled. I pay a flat fee a month , it will never go away but it will be the same every month and my car will always be new. If it was to buy a new car and trade it every 3 years it would cost $1000 more.

My wife does not care about cars as much as I do so we buy hers as a keeper. Different needs different ways to finance. If you are looking for the cheapest way to own a car look for a used yogo they get good MPG and are small just like a MINI.

 

Contrary to what is being said here, I do not feel that leasing is the wrong option for EVERYONE, except a Business person who can write it off. In fact I leased a BMW X3 for two years for my wife, and it goes back on the 30th. We didn't try, and we kept the miles way under what was allotted in the lease. You just have to lease what you can afford rather then looking at a lease to buy something beyond your means. I am very glad that we choose to lease, because if we had not. We would be stuck in a car that we only sort of liked!
The leasing company takes a chance as well in this as well. They are betting that the car will be what they are saying it will be. If its not after they gey it back, they loose some money as well. Not that I feel bad for them but...

 

I agree that if you are going to change cars frequently and consider the monthly payments a 'sunk cost' then leasing is right up your alley. As said above, it is a lot like a long term rental.

But, for those of us who drive a lot of miles and keep our cars for long periods of time, leasing is a bad idea. Some of us want to keep a car after it is paid off and not have any car payments.

Leasing isn't for me. It is for others. You just have to know what you want. Too many people get sucked into leases because of the low monthly payments and aren't prepared for the end of lease issues.

charlie