Lease question
 

I often see people mention that they have the option to buy their vehicle when the lease is up, and they quote the price to buy. I'm just curious if the price quoted by the dealership is negotiable? I've just never heard someone say they were offered one price to purchase the vehicle, but then negotiated a lower price.

My dad negotiated 3000 guilders (approx. 1300 Euro or $ 2000 in todays money) off the quoted price when buying his leased Subary Legacy Estate on his retirement in 1998.

They won't quote you unless they can make a profit. There will always be a margin to negotiate about.

In the United States the purchase price is specified in the initial lease contract. Essentially how a lease works is, the financing company makes an educated guess at how much the car will depreciate over the lease period, that amount is then split up into monthly payments, and that's your lease payment. At the end, the value they estimated and wrote down on the contract is what you can buy the vehicle for. These numbers are usually conservative, and generally work out slightly in the favor of the dealer, therefore there isn't much room to negotiate things as a rule.

Ive often wondered why someone would rent a car vs buy in that manner. I find I am in a unique position that I can deduct milage and have consider doing something like that. Of course I can keep driving my car and pocket the difference. :thumbup:

1. a lease payment is a deductible business expense, a payment is not
2. you only pay the sales tax on the monthly payment, not the 'purchase price.
3. cars that hold their value (high end cars) have lower monthly lease payments, so you get more car for the payment

often times though it's a gimmick to sell cars.
IMPORTNT note: a lease can be for 110% of sticker.......:eek::eek::eek:

IMO, you only lease if you can write it off for taxes, or you can't afford the payment if you were to buy it. In which case, you probably should lower your standards a bit. The lease isn't held by the dealership in general, it is held by say GMAC, Honda Finance, etc. The dealership sells/leases you the car, then they sell the paper to Honda Finance etc. The dealership could care less if you make the payments or what you end up paying out at the end of your lease, as it isn't their problem. Leases are usually calculated to be more expensive to pay out than what they are worth, mainly to get you into get another lease rather than to buy out the car you have been driving. Sometimes you get lucky, and whatever you leased will hold it's value better than the finance company estimated, so it makes sense to buy out your lease. But in general this is not the case. As far as negotiating your lease, it's always worth a shot. But remember that the cards were stacked against you from the start, so the lease holder will probably only go for it if the value of the car you leased has tanked for some reason, and the paper they paid for on it is worth less than what they said you could buy it out for. As always, DO YOUR RESEARCH on what the car is really worth. :snail: