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Lease vs Buy Opinions

BluegrassMotorsport

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Hey y'all. New here and I've got truck fever again. I know, know - it's a bad time to be buying anything. Carvana offered me more than I paid for my 6.2 Silverado when Covid prices first went crazy, and I figured I would put that payment toward my Corvette and pay it off early. I'll have it paid off in August so it's time to start truck shopping again. I've been a Chevy guy my whole life and I loved my last one, but there's really no excuse for their interior at that price point. The new interiors were supposed to be out this fall, but have been delayed into eternity. Thanks, Covid. I'm being tempted by the Ram and Hydro Blue would match my Vette almost identically. I know there's quite a few threads on leasing and I read through most or maybe all of them. But I wanted to get some opinions on trading toward a lease.

I'll be trading an Audi A4 I bought to replace my Silverado. Really, really great car and I love the mpg but I'm a truck guy. I've played around with the estimator on Ram's site. Based on 2021 prices, after my trade I could buy a Laramie Level B for $400-450 per month or lease the same truck for $150-175 per month. Pretty significant difference there. But I know monthly payments don't tell the whole story. The lease puts me in a new truck every 2-3 years which is great because I like to trade. But, I don't know if I'd be willing to give up ~$24k in equity from the Audi toward a vehicle I don't own, all for the sake of a cheaper payment. One of the arguments in favor of leasing is the first couple years' payments on a new vehicle purchase are mostly interest anyhow, because of how amortization schedules are set up. So you're not gaining much equity. But, because of my trade, I'll already have plenty of equity in if I buy instead, despite paying mostly interest at first.

So, it seems to me leasing is probably the best option if you trade often and are coming in with no equity. But if you have a relatively high trade, you should keep the equity and role it into a purchase. Thoughts?

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk haha.
 

GregHBNA

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Yeah, you'd never see that $24,000 again. Unless you purchased the truck at lease end, and I bet residual values are kinda pricey at this point.

For sure, estimators on the website are only that "estimates" and do not take into consideration an array of added fees. The "deal" you think you are getting might suddenly UP in real world terms.
 

BluegrassMotorsport

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Yeah, you'd never see that $24,000 again. Unless you purchased the truck at lease end, and I bet residual values are kinda pricey at this point.

For sure, estimators on the website are only that "estimates" and do not take into consideration an array of added fees. The "deal" you think you are getting might suddenly UP in real world terms.
Yeah that's kind of what I was thinking, too. I'll never see the money again so I should rather role it into a new one instead. Now to get with Aaron at Mark CDJR and see what kind of deal he can cook up haha. I'm probably going to have to order one because finding the color/options I want is tough. Hoping 2022 prices haven't jumped too bad.
 

Trippi

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if you are good with the $450 ish payment you can lease a nice RAM for that same price and keep your 24K. I lease and have no regrets. Just haven't found the vehicle yet I want to own for the long haul.
 

bud007

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Personally i think a lot of people that are considering leasing a vehicle look at the monthly payments and think a lesser monthly payment would be great .
BUT ...the one thing you definitely have to keep in mind is the RETURN of the leased vehicle ( unless you plan on purchasing it in the end ) and the condition it is ... lets face it , it is a truck ... are you going to baby it , so that every little mark you put in it is going to pass their inspection ( usually 2" diameter or less is ok on dings ) keep it under the mileage ( definitely check tire wear ) , cover EVERYTHING so that it does not get damaged .. ( seats , dash consoles radios .. EVERYTHING ) because they WILL charge you for it .. believe me i have leased 3 chevy vehicles and 1 infiniti ( the infiniti , 2 chevy volts . and now an Equinox ) leasing can be good at times. and to let you know my wife and myself keep our vehicles SPOTLESS , the infiniti we had no problem with the return (inspector said he had never seen one returned in better shape , kicking myself for not buying that one :() the chevys on the other hand not so good , the dealer has been a pain in the a** each time always trying to get you for everything ( always need to get in my downright fighting attitude when going to deal with them :ROFLMAO: but it does keep my up on all of their little dealership games )
Leasing the vehicles works good for the wife , but to be honest i would NEVER lease a truck , just my opinion
good luck with whatever you decide.
 

Trippi

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I turned my Chevy in 20K over miles, retread tires that didn't match all the way around (needed them for inspection which was like 3 months before lease end) and a nice ding on the backend...they mailed me a check for $1300 at the end. This truck I pay for 'lease cares' all dings get fixed on their dime anytime I want them addressed, not just at the end, dinged up rims or tires they replace...and I get a full set of brakes. Somebody dinged me in a parking lot and I took it and the PDR guy fixed me right up.
 

BluegrassMotorsport

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if you are good with the $450 ish payment you can lease a nice RAM for that same price and keep your 24K. I lease and have no regrets. Just haven't found the vehicle yet I want to own for the long haul.
Well I looked at that and I don't think I can lease the Laramie I want for that. I'm gonna check at some dealers and see, though. Ram's website has a lease deal for a Laramie at $499 per month but I don't know how options change that and I really want the Laramie B group if I can swing it.
 

GregHBNA

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Don't forget the $395 fee you'll get hit with at lease end whether you buy it or not!
 

wallyuwl

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if you are good with the $450 ish payment you can lease a nice RAM for that same price and keep your 24K. I lease and have no regrets. Just haven't found the vehicle yet I want to own for the long haul.
I would do this, and look at all the options on a 2024 or 2025 when the lease is up. Still look into Aaron at Mark Dodge for a lease, as they are still based off of selling price.
 

GregHBNA

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Looks like RAM leases now require $3999 down. Why would you want to sink that into a vehicle you're not going to own? You either pay it up front or it gets rolled into your payments.
 

BluegrassMotorsport

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Well I emailed Mark this morning so the name of the game is hurry up and wait, now. We'll see what he says. I'll give my local dealers a shot but I doubt any of them will be able to match him, or even come close for that matter.
 

Camelot

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From a financial view, Buy, don't lease if you don't use it for work and can deduct the lease cost. Cost of cash is cheap at the moment if you need a loan and don't pay cash.
 

BluegrassMotorsport

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From a financial view, Buy, don't lease if you don't use it for work and can deduct the lease cost. Cost of cash is cheap at the moment if you need a loan and don't pay cash.
Yeah I typically won't finance anything longer than 60 months and always try to pay off early. But interest rates are so low, I'd be comfortable going 72 months on this.
 

Trippi

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Looks like RAM leases now require $3999 down. Why would you want to sink that into a vehicle you're not going to own? You either pay it up front or it gets rolled into your payments.
I must have the best dealer around I never put anything down on a lease just first month payment...no matter what the advertisement is.
 

GregHBNA

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I must have the best dealer around I never put anything down on a lease just first month payment...no matter what the advertisement is.
They they rolled the requirement into your monthly payment!!!
 

BNeal

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Looks like RAM leases now require $3999 down. Why would you want to sink that into a vehicle you're not going to own? You either pay it up front or it gets rolled into your payments.
I have never put money down on a lease. What I understand, is that if you want the "advertised" monthly payment, you have to put X-amount down. But I have leased several vehicles over the years and never put money down. But, hey... maybe the game has changed.
 

dwalme

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They they rolled the requirement into your monthly payment!!!

Download an app called Leasematic on your phone.

It'll help you understand how a lease is structured and all the factors that go into the equation.

MSRP, Sales price, term, money factor, residual, rebates, etc. Plug in all the values and you can see what you are actually paying.

The only thing the dealer typically determines is the sales price of the vehicle. They may try to mark up the money factor but you'll know when you ask them for the rate. Edmunds has a forum where you can ask the proper money factor and incentives for your region to ensure the dealer isn't marking it up on you.

I agree with the advice above. I never do cap cost reduction (money down) on a lease.

The monthly payment is the payment. If it's too high it is because the rebates are too low, sale price is too high, or the money factor is too high (or the dealer marked it up).

Dealers cannot change residual values. Those are set by the leasing company. A high residual value will make the payments smaller but more expensive to buy at the end of the term. A lower residual value will make the payments higher but less expensive to purchase at the end.

Quite a few things to consider when leasing. Which way you go all depends on what factors are important to you.
 

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