[bones774]

and always paid cash for my cars. I'm now driving a 2006 Ody that offhand I paid 35 k for and had the car now for let's say 5 years(60 months), divide the cost by month and it's $583 pr month, even at 6 years $486 per month, 7 years $416 pr month. I just saw a promo to lease a 2011 Ody for $360 pr month for 35 months no money down.
Have I been stupid all these years? I've paid more per month for an aging vehicle that is gonna start needing more maintenance as we go along than I could just lease a new vehicle.
So if i'm right, what would be the best course of action to take? sell my current car at market value and jump into the lease, or just suck it down and hold onto the old car till the cost averages down(which is still years away). and BTW-a 35 month lease at this time would take me till my youngest child is 16 years old and hopefully my last minivan(not that there's anything wrong with them, but).

 

[Greg Stoddard]

How many miles have you put on the vehicle per year?

That is a big limiter for me on leasing as I average 18,000 miles per year and the wife averages 25,000 per year. These are way over the mileage limits for leases and the mileage penalties would kill any savings from the lease price.

Buy-out is usually not a good option for avoiding the mileage penalties because the buyout prices are much higher than the residual value.

These are things that have to be considered as well as the monthly cost. They usually end up making the true cost of leasing much higher than a straight out purchase. Leasing really only makes sense for people who change their vehicles out every few years so that they don't keep taking the hit on the initial depreciation value of a new vehicle purchase.

 

[mi_sat]

I just saw a promo to lease a 2011 Ody for $360 pr month for 35 months no money down.

There are many factors that go into a lease price. Which version (e.g. EX-L, Touring) is this? How many miles/year? What interest rate? Lease fees (front and back end)? Etc.

We just don't know enough about the deal to make an informed recommendation.

Most quoted lease deals are for stripped vehicles and low mileage (10,500 - 12,000 miles/year). These are meant to grab your attention with low quoted payments. Looks like mission accomplished!

Can you provide more information?

 

[bones774]

I have just over 100k on my car now, it is a model with the RES but not Navi.
The details of the lease are on the Honda website.
Aren't some of the lease details negotiable, like mileage.

 

[mi_sat]

I have just over 100k on my car now, it is a model with the RES but not Navi.
The details of the lease are on the Honda website.
Aren't some of the lease details negotiable, like mileage.

If you are leasing (and assuming no trade-in), the dealer can play with the selling price, residual % and the interest rate in determining your payment. (The MSRP, the fourth factor to determine the lease price, is obvious from the sticker.) You add further complexity if you're trading-in, since the dealer can play with that as well.

Generally you negotiate the selling price as if you were buying (say, for cash). Only after you agree to the selling price, tell them you've decided to lease. They'll need to know the term and number of miles per year you want. These factors impact the residual %, not the selling price, which is why you negotiate the selling price first.

It helps to know what the Honda residual % and interest rates are before going into the negotiation since the dealer can play around with that as well. There are some Honda fan sites I've seen where you can indicate which vehicle you are thinking of leasing, what term and how many miles, and they can tell you the residual %. This gives you a better chance of not being robbed by a dealer, who will use these two factors to his/her advantage.

As to the Honda lease deal, it's for an LX and 12000 miles. Only you can decide if you can live with an LX and 12000 miles.

 

[dvpatel]

I have just over 100k on my car now, it is a model with the RES but not Navi.
The details of the lease are on the Honda website.
Aren't some of the lease details negotiable, like mileage.

No the mileage is NOT negotiable as far as I know. Plus your van is STILL WORTH something which if you lease, the money si down the drain. I personally believe owning is better than leasing unless you have a mental problem which requires you to get a new car every 2 -3 years in which case leasing is better.

In any case, we have had a few very good owning v/s leasing discussions before on here. Perhaps you can glean some valuable infomation in them?

 

[mi_sat]

No the mileage is NOT negotiable as far as I know. Plus your van is STILL WORTH something which if you lease, the money si down the drain. I personally believe owning is better than leasing unless you have a mental problem which requires you to get a new car every 2 -3 years in which case leasing is better.

In any case, we have had a few very good owning v/s leasing discussions before on here. Perhaps you can glean some valuable infomation in them?

You don't need to negotiate mileage. You simply tell them what you want (closest to whatever they offer, such as 15,000 miles per year). You negotiate the selling price, the interest rate and, possibly, the residual %.

I think the comment on "mental problems" is, frankly, childish. Some of us have both the means and the desire to spend our money on vehicles every two or three years. In many cases, it makes financial sense to lease. Not sure what qualifies you to sit in judgment of others when it comes to this issue.

 

[bones774]

I think the comment on "mental problems" is, frankly, childish. Some of us have both the means and the desire to spend our money on vehicles every two or three years. In many cases, it makes financial sense to lease. Not sure what qualifies you to sit in judgment of others when it comes to this issue.



Mr. Patel has been/is a good contributor to this site, however he has taken to much on a personal level with me in the past and i've seen him do so with others. We used to call them "bullies" in my youth. I'm glad someone impartial pointed that out. Another jibe at me was to look up other previous lease discussions but they would not be relevant to the Honda deal that started this discussion anyway. He'll come back with a retort but I'm past it now.

 

[psu ody fan]

No the mileage is NOT negotiable as far as I know.

Mileage is negotiable when signing a lease. Through Honda, they typically offer mileage options at 12k and 15k per year. Other companies differ. GM offers some Cadillac leases that only have 10k miles per year. However, most leases offer the option to buy additional mileage at a discounted rate. By discounted, I mean when compared to the "over" rmileage penalty you might pay at the end of a lease (in most Honda leases, that is 20 cents per mile).

Leasing has worked for me in the past, but I'm one of those mentally defective folks as so callously defined by dv. I just wrote a check to Honda to buy out the lease on my Pilot, because I want to resist that temptation to lease something new every 3 years. I'm very confident I didn't pay any more to lease this thing for 3 years (and then buy it), than if I would have if I'd simply just taken out a 3 year loan with much larger payments.

 

[mi_sat]

Mr. Patel has been/is a good contributor to this site, however he has taken to much on a personal level with me in the past and i've seen him do so with others. We used to call them "bullies" in my youth. I'm glad someone impartial pointed that out.

There's nothing quite like the anonymity of the internet to bring people like this out of the woodwork. Unfortunately, I see it all too often on the various websites I frequent.

 

[dvpatel]

Another jibe at me was to look up other previous lease discussions but they would not be relevant to the Honda deal that started this discussion anyway. He'll come back with a retort but I'm past it now.

Really? This had nothing to do with leasing v/s owning? When you come here and ask a question, you should be open to ALL the answers you get back INCLUDING ones asking you to SEARCH.

That said, here are the prior discussions on the topic LEASING v/s OWNING which is the question that you basically asked in your OP.

http://www.odyclub.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=44266&highlight=leasing
http://www.odyclub.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=38138&highlight=leasing

And, last but not least. If you lease with AHFC, read the following thread closely if you intend to drive outside the USofA
http://www.odyclub.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=109519&highlight=leasing

 

[dvpatel]

I think the comment on "mental problems" is, frankly, childish. Some of us have both the means and the desire to spend our money on vehicles every two or three years. In many cases, it makes financial sense to lease. Not sure what qualifies you to sit in judgment of others when it comes to this issue.

Ok. Perhaps that did not come out as I intended it to come out. But, I know several folks (neighbors and coworkers) who cannot afford new cars and lease just so that they can keep getting a new car every 2 - 3 years. They are not the type that search for the best lease terms and aren't the best negotiators but still lease any way and pay more v/s just sticking with a car and save some hard earned money.

If you have a car that's giving problems, dumping it is very good but most of the folks I describe in my post here are the ones that absolutely NEED to buy a new car just because they got tired of it after 3 years even though they cannot afford a new car. Hence my comment above.

 

[bones774]

In response to driving outside the states,Many if not most USA insurers require you to notify them if the car is to be driven outside the states, a special insurance notice is sometimes provided, though many people are unaware of this and do not follow this rule.

and BTW if we go to that thread we can again see more wiseguy cracks but one certain poster!!!!

 

[dvpatel]

In response to driving outside the states,Many if not most USA insurers require you to notify them if the car is to be driven outside the states, a special insurance notice is sometimes provided, though many people are unaware of this and do not follow this rule.

But the insurance company does not threaten you and even if they did, you can dump 'em and go with someone else.

My policy does NOT prohibit me from driving outside USA for vacations and I am not required to notify to that effect either. Infact none of my prior insurance policies required me to notify them if I drive out of USA and I have had insurances with at least 3 major insurance carriers.

 

[mindoro]

Leased my first car and yeah, just like others, mileage is an issue for me when leasing. Matter of fact, we did go over the limit and we paid a hefty surcharge. grrrr. And btw, was not cool telling my GF at the time, ummm so sorry we can't go there as I will go over the mileage limit - FAIL!

Also, I was annoyed at all those extra charges when we returned the vehicle.

Leasing may seem cheaper eg $360 because you don't own the vehicle at the end.

Good luck on your next ride.

Best,

Mindoro

 

[0dyfamily]

There's nothing quite like the anonymity of the internet to bring people like this out of the woodwork. Unfortunately, I see it all too often on the various websites I frequent.

mi_sat , tap it light, brother, and don't take this in a bad way. dv didn't pop "out of the woodwork". He's here all the time, even on OUR days off, wrestling with the kuh-buh-zillion spam posts this place gets.

He and chiody do a great job of keeping our Ody house clean. He's definitely not anonymous, he's here every day.

OF

 

[mi_sat]

mi_sat , tap it light, brother, and don't take this in a bad way. dv didn't pop "out of the woodwork". He's here all the time, even on OUR days off, wrestling with the kuh-buh-zillion spam posts this place gets.

He and chiody do a great job of keeping our Ody house clean. He's definitely not anonymous, he's here every day.

OF

Actually, I was speaking more generally than just this one person. You wouldn't believe things people say to each other just because they can easily get away with it on the internet.

What happened to respecting the opinions of others? Name-calling and personal attacks are all too common these days.

I'm sure dv does a great job on this board, keeping it up to snuff. No argument there.

 

[Greg Stoddard]

I have just over 100k on my car now, it is a model with the RES but not Navi.
The details of the lease are on the Honda website.
Aren't some of the lease details negotiable, like mileage.

And here is where the big difference comes in with the quoted lease terms. You are pretty much double the mileage that would be allowed in the lease terms and in a much higher model. I think if you go in to the dealer and try to lease an equivilant model Odyssey with mileage penalty you'll find that the monthly lease payments will be much higher than the teaser one they are advertising. Since as you stated the 3-yr term would take you to the point where you don't think you would need a minivan any more I personally would just keep your current vehicle for the time being and then you can be done with it. The advantage being that although you will have more maintanence costs your monthly average is going to keep going down and when you do get out of it for a new car you actually own the vehicle and will be able to use it toward the next car. If you sell now when you change in three years you have no value in the car and will be starting from scratch.

 

[0dyfamily]

....You wouldn't believe things people say to each other just because they can easily get away with it on the internet....

Yes.

...I'm sure dv does a great job on this board, keeping it up to snuff. No argument there.

He is the man. As happens to all of us, sometimes our typed words accidentally turn out a little fiercer than the message we really want to send...been there, done that.

Guess I'd better stop drifting...maybe some day when I'm driving less, all 4 kids out in the world, I'll try that leasing gig. I punish my family-mover vehicles way too much to consider leasing a good option for me. Now, my dual-income no-kids neighbors, driving always-new leased cars seems to be a good fit for them.

OF

 

[psu ody fan]

Now, my dual-income no-kids neighbors, driving always-new leased cars seems to be a good fit for them.

OF

And I'd bet that you (and dv) wouldn't walk up to them and start to discuss their "mental problems" in front of their faces. I think THAT is what mi_sat was referring to with his comment about the anonymity of the internet.

He is the man. As happens to all of us, sometimes our typed words accidentally turn out a little fiercer than the message we really want to send...been there, done that.

Gee, if you guys were all perfect like me, that would never happen!! :stupid: