Bought my last Honda.

x10003q wrote

How many miles have you put on this one?

80k I think. Something close to that.

campgottagopee wrote

As long as you can stay withing the mileage leasing is really the way to go.

Thought about it. But it would mean a payment for all of the next 7 years with nothing to trade.  Would I have to do two leases for that much time?  I guess I should look into it.

I was thinking of paying cash (minus trade in) for one last car.

That's true. You will always have a payment, but you get your savings up front. Again this is only if you don't put more than 15K on /year. It's all a mindset. Even if you take $30,000 and go pay cash for a car, add up everything you put into it for repair, then divide it by the number of months you've owned the car you'll come up with a monthly cost of ownership. People who actually do the math are shocked at the results. The idea in a lease is you are always under factory warranty and you shouldn't have to put brakes, tires, exhaust, etc etc on a vehicle in 3 years so you know what your monthly cost of ownership is. Vehicles are one of the most depreciating items out there so why pay for all of it.  

campgottagopee wrote

That's true. You will always have a payment, but you get your savings up front. Again this is only if you don't put more than 15K on /year. It's all a mindset. Even if you take $30,000 and go pay cash for a car, add up everything you put into it for repair, then divide it by the number of months you've owned the car you'll come up with a monthly cost of ownership. People who actually do the math are shocked at the results. The idea in a lease is you are always under factory warranty and you shouldn't have to put brakes, tires, exhaust, etc etc on a vehicle in 3 years so you know what your monthly cost of ownership is. Vehicles are one of the most depreciating items out there so why pay for all of it.

I'd have to come up with 15k after trade for the Honda.  How does that compare to 7 years of leasing? Could you lease at 25k vehicle for $200?

$200 x 12 x 7 years = $16,800

...but nothing to sell at the end?

Let's leave your trade out of it for now. I'll get to that at the end.

Right now you can lease a forester for 249/month with no money down. No money down meaning you'll need 1st payment, sales tax, dmv and dealer fees due at inception, or roughly 1300 bucks. So with 1300 down your payment is 249. If one were to purchase the same car (MSRP of 26K) for 5 years at a good rate (i'm using 3.99) with 1300 down your payment would be in the 480's for 60 mo's, or say 235 more/month. So 235 x 60 mo's is 14,100, there's your something at the end and you didn't spend any money on the lease car other than oil changes. So you get your "equity" on a monthly basis.

You have a trade that's paid for. You can still trade it, take the equity and put it in the bank. If the dealer will give you 10k for it, 10k - $1300 for lease, you walk out with a leased car for 250/month and a check for $8700. Then you'll be saving the 230 / month in payment as well. That's your equity, or something to sell at the end.

Can I put the trade-in money down to reduce the amount of the lease?

Sure can. All that matters in a lease are 2 things. #1 what's my payment, and #2 how much money am I putting down to get it there. Those 2 items add up to your monthly cost of ownership. Keep in mind that you'll be using that equity up quickly in a lease.  36 months goes by quickly. I've seen some put 5k down on a lease then in 36 months want the same payment they just had but only want to put 2k down. It doesn't work that way. Another thing to keep in mind is there's a disposition fee at the end of the lease. The only way you would need to pay that is if you didn't stick with the same brand. Meaning, you lease a toyota now, then in 3 years you want to lease a chev. Toyota will bill you a disp. fee, generally around 395 is the going rate. Factor that into monthly cost of ownership as well and it's peanuts.

One other item is mileage. SO many times I hear people say, I know I only drive 12k / yr but I want 15k/yr just to be "safe". That, imo, is silly. You won't get any money back because the mileage is going to be lower than stated on your contract, so why pay for something you aren't going to use. Heck, even if you do go over on mileage it isn't a huge penalty. Most leasing companies charge .15 / mile, or $150 / 1000. you go over by 3000 miles? Big deal. Pay them your 450 bucks, divide it by 36, come up with monthly cost of ownership.

This mindset is the same thing as paying your light bill when it comes in the mail.

What's the highest yearly mileage you would recommend for leasing? I've always stayed away cause I do over 30k a year.

Unless you can write mileage off for biz purpose I'd keep it at 15K, sometimes a 18k/yr lease may make sense but it's really all in the math. You get over 18k/yr and residuals really drop like a rock.

That's what I thought. Last time around I even sniffed out a used vehicle with about 21k on it already. That was also because they stopped making my truck and I was very happy with the durability of my last one. I just do too many miles.

campgottagopee wrote

The idea in a lease is you are always under factory warranty and you shouldn't have to put brakes, tires, exhaust, etc etc on a vehicle in 3 years so you know what your monthly cost of ownership is. Vehicles are one of the most depreciating items out there so why pay for all of it.

Car sales guy talking about the benefits of leasing.

There is no one size fits all solution for everyone. My partner leased her last car because she didn't want to buy a used car and deal with fixing it (her last used car kicked the bucket unexpected leaving us in a bit of a bind). We got hosed on the lease big time because she needed to get something ASAP and didn't shop around. Total waste of money from my perspective because her lease was a base Corolla. Something that cheap, you can buy straight out and drive +200k and it will be far cheaper than leasing or always trading up and having a payment. Get an end of year model on the cheap and never worry about it until it dies, way cheaper than leasing. We didn't have money to buy and she didn't love the car, just wanted something cheap until we could afford something better. Bam, lease got the job done but wasn't financially in our best interest.

But for more expensive cars, leasing (assuming you can hit the mileage limits) or trading up every 3 years is a really good idea unless you plan on taking a car over +200k and beyond. Unfortunately, the only issue with that is you never know if the car is going to make it that long without massive mechanical issues. But if repairs are reasonable and you are okay going the distance and chancing it, that can be cheaper in the long run for many cars. But the more expensive the car, the less likely it is to be worth it, IMO.

My partner got a CRV in January and in April I traded in my VW TDI Wagen for a Honda Civic Hatch. We are both super happy with the Hondas. After six tanks, my hatch is averaging +40 MPG (tank measurement, not computer) and my best tank so far was 45.4 MPG on 7.45 gallons of gas. The average will tank a bit in the summer since I am not driving long distances for skiing but pretty damned good. I don't drive in cities. Still way out performing EPA estimates and rivaling my VW TDI!

I bought my Hatch with my TDI Buyback money (+3k outta pocket for the good package) and that makes the most sense for me. I average 18-20k miles per year due to skiing and hiking and other distance driving so a lease is not even an option. Resale value in 3 years won't be too great with the mileage. I always buy my cars to go the distance, I'd still be in the VW after 80k miles if it wasn't for the cheating diesel issue. My goal is always going over the +200k mark. If I hit that mark, it will average out to about $2000/year plus repairs (less if the car goes longer than 200k). A lease would have far outpaced that even with fewer repairs. No warranty on my car, I don't like to participate in organized gambling in which the deck is stacked and the house wins far more often than not.

Any ways, big thumbs up for Hondas from us after not having ever been Honda owners in the past. Honda is hitting home runs right now, IMO.

If you got "hosed" on a base model corolla lease than you've got bigger problems than what kind of car to drive

I always thought leasing put you into a car you really cant afford. just sold my 2004 Honda pilot for $3500. went 8 years without a car payment   $400/mo x 12 months x 8 years =  $38,499 that I did not spend on a car in that time frame. just bought a used  2014 CRV. I really liked the style of the new CRV. if I wasn't so cheap would of bought the new one in a hart beat.

campgottagopee wrote

If you got "hosed" on a base model corolla lease than you've got bigger problems than what kind of car to drive

Yea, you are right about that! The problem was my partner went car shopping and signed a deal without checking in with me. She has no stomach for negotiating so she didn't and signed on the first offer she got without shopping around. Finances were tough back then, thankfully not now. I was much more satisfied with her CRV purchase getting a previous year's model for less than the supposed "invoice" price (for whatever that is worth, I know that isn't the actual bottom line in most cases). Always better to shop when you aren't desperate and have solid financial footing, lol.

I had never consider leasing before the last car.  We went to a guy I knew from coaching my kid in baseball who works at a Ford dealer and he laid out the math that Campy just did.  Leasing really is the best deal out there if you drive about 15k miles ar year.

sig wrote

I always thought leasing put you into a car you really cant afford. just sold my 2004 Honda pilot for $3500. went 8 years without a car payment   $400/mo x 12 months x 8 years =  $38,499 that I did not spend on a car in that time frame. just bought a used  2014 CRV. I really liked the style of the new CRV. if I wasn't so cheap would of bought the new one in a hart beat.

IMO one should never lease a car that you couldn't afford to purchase. Leasing is simply a different avenue to "purchase" a new car. After all, what is it you really "own"? A depreciating item. Good for you

The other way to lesson one's depreciation is due exactly what you do. Buy a used car and drive it for 10+  years. Some people aren't willing or able to roll the dice on reliability.

campgottagopee wrote

Buy a used car and drive it for 10+  years.

that'd be me...

drive my ski/bike locker slash property rental maintenance man vehicle about 20k/year for 7-10 yrs

I drove the CR-V today with the CVT transmission it wasn't really too bad. I'll probably end up buying the car.

I love that after naming the thread "bought my last honda" Harvey is still driving and buying them. :) Not surprised you didn't mind the CVT, it doesn't feel much different from an auto and whatever small differences there are, you forget about them pretty quickly.

In other news, my 2017 Civic Hatch CVT is currently averaging 41.1 MPG (measured by tank, not computer) after 11 fill ups. Suffice it to say, I haven't likely bought my last Honda. But it will probably be a very very long time before I'll need a replacement.

I love the title of this thread, it's evergreen.  

The CVT was a little odd but very much nicer than the one  I drove last, a Subaru in 2012.  In the new CRV it feels like you get going faster than you think.

That car has some safety features that seem really important.  To some extent the car can sense if you are getting sleepy.

Best mpg I ever squeezed out of my wife's manual trans 2012 Civic was 44. It seemed to average about 38 highway.