Lease experts - need help wrapping my noodle around trade-in

[wantonsoup]

2013 LEAF SL Lease 36 Months - $296/Month - $1,999 initial payment.

Excludes taxes, title, and license. $1,999 initial payment required at consummation. (Includes $1,703 consumer down payment, $296 first month payment.) (INCLUDES $7,500 manufacturer's rebate applied to $296 MONTH lease. Offer valid only when financed through Nissan Motor Acceptance Corporation.) Subject to residency restriction. Varies by Nissan Region. 2013 LEAF SL Lease model 17213 subject to availability to well-qualified lessees through Nissan-Infiniti LT. $35,690 MSRP incl. destination charge. Net capitalized cost of $25,377 includes a $595 non-refundable acquisition fee. Dealer contribution may affect actual price set by dealer. Monthly payments total $10,656 At lease end, purchase for $17,845, plus purchase option fee up to $300 (except KS & WI), plus tax, or pay excess wear & use plus $0.15 per mile for mileage over 12,000 miles per year. Lessee is responsible for maintenance and repairs. A disposition fee is due at termination of lease term. No security deposit required. See participating dealer for details. Offer ends 02/28/2013.

So let's say I am going to lease the 2013 SL which has a promotion for $1,703 down and $296/m for 36 months. Before taxes and tags, that's $12,359 spent over 36 months. Probably the dealer throws on $499 for their BS. But somewhere around $12k is what I'd spend total. (Plus tax and tags)

I own a vehicle outright that the Leaf will be replacing, that has a trade-in value of around $11k. (Online sites like KBB, Edmunds, and NADA all say between $11,300 and $12,300, so I'll throw $11,000 as a baseline I think is fair). How the heck does that work for a lease? Would they put it in as a down payment, so the lease is essentially paid for? I said before the total was $12,359. If they gave me $11k in trade, does that mean I could pay them $1,359 and basically have no payment for 36 months?

I'm curious about this. Please let me know if anyone has any insight and knowledge into this stuff.

 

[evnow]

If they gave me $11k in trade, does that mean I could pay them $1,359 and basically have no payment for 36 months?

IIRC, there is a max down payment they will take. So, you will have monthly payments. They should be writing a check to you after the trade-in for rest of the amount.

ps : It is not a good idea to pay large down payments on lease. If the car gets totaled, you may lose all that money.

 

[MrIanB]

2013 LEAF SL Lease 36 Months - $296/Month - $1,999 initial payment.

Excludes taxes, title, and license. $1,999 initial payment required at consummation. (Includes $1,703 consumer down payment, $296 first month payment.) (INCLUDES $7,500 manufacturer's rebate applied to $296 MONTH lease. Offer valid only when financed through Nissan Motor Acceptance Corporation.) Subject to residency restriction. Varies by Nissan Region. 2013 LEAF SL Lease model 17213 subject to availability to well-qualified lessees through Nissan-Infiniti LT. $35,690 MSRP incl. destination charge. Net capitalized cost of $25,377 includes a $595 non-refundable acquisition fee. Dealer contribution may affect actual price set by dealer. Monthly payments total $10,656 At lease end, purchase for $17,845, plus purchase option fee up to $300 (except KS & WI), plus tax, or pay excess wear & use plus $0.15 per mile for mileage over 12,000 miles per year. Lessee is responsible for maintenance and repairs. A disposition fee is due at termination of lease term. No security deposit required. See participating dealer for details. Offer ends 02/28/2013.

So let's say I am going to lease the 2013 SL which has a promotion for $1,703 down and $296/m for 36 months. Before taxes and tags, that's $12,359 spent over 36 months. Probably the dealer throws on $499 for their BS. But somewhere around $12k is what I'd spend total. (Plus tax and tags)

I own a vehicle outright that the Leaf will be replacing, that has a trade-in value of around $11k. (Online sites like KBB, Edmunds, and NADA all say between $11,300 and $12,300, so I'll throw $11,000 as a baseline I think is fair). How the heck does that work for a lease? Would they put it in as a down payment, so the lease is essentially paid for? I said before the total was $12,359. If they gave me $11k in trade, does that mean I could pay them $1,359 and basically have no payment for 36 months?

I'm curious about this. Please let me know if anyone has any insight and knowledge into this stuff.

Suggestion. What ever you get for trade in, use min or any amount you want for your down payment needed. They will mail you a check for balance and you can use that check to make your payments. They have to fund the loan before they write/mail you a check or have you pick it up. I traded a Lexus for my Leaf and got $15,000 for it, put own 3k and they signed a form they owed me 12k and two weeks later got check in mail.

Good luck,

Ian B

 

[RonDawg]

Since advice is being given here about giving the least possible down payment, how about selling the car to a different dealer such as CarMax? It will make your deal on the Leaf far less complicated, and you'll be more easily discern what you actually got for your car and what you are actually paying on the Leaf.

 

[wantonsoup]

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it.

IIRC, there is a max down payment they will take. So, you will have monthly payments. They should be writing a check to you after the trade-in for rest of the amount.

Suggestion. What ever you get for trade in, use min or any amount you want for your down payment needed. They will mail you a check for balance and you can use that check to make your payments. They have to fund the loan before they write/mail you a check or have you pick it up. I traded a Lexus for my Leaf and got $15,000 for it, put own 3k and they signed a form they owed me 12k and two weeks later got check in mail.

Ahh, that makes sense. So ideally I could keep the downpayment as Nissan suggests ($1,703) and get a check for $11k. Of course, that means no tax savings by trading in the car... but at my low tax rate of 3.9% at my house that's only $429 I'm out.

ps : It is not a good idea to pay large down payments on lease. If the car gets totaled, you may lose all that money.

Hmm, hadn't thought of that. Might as well give Nissan as little as possible up front just in case. Gap insurance is included I'm assuming if the lease is through Nissan.

how about selling the car to a different dealer such as CarMax?

Good point, too. If trading in doesn't work out, I can throw it on Craigslist and maybe make a grand more than the trade-in price. There's a lot of my car out there so it's a bit of a buyer's market so I'd love to trade it in and be done with it.

 

[evnow]

Good point, too. If trading in doesn't work out, I can throw it on Craigslist and maybe make a grand more than the trade-in price. There's a lot of my car out there so it's a bit of a buyer's market so I'd love to trade it in and be done with it.

Thats what a lot of dealers themselfs suggest. At the dealer you just get the auction price.

 

[wantonsoup]

My plan is to print out the NADA, Edmunds, KBB and Intelliprice values from the web and either they pay what I want, or I drive two cars home :lol:

As you know from the other thread (Lease v Buy) think leasing is usually a bad deal, costing you a couple grand. But... this deal puts the residual at nearly $18k which I believe to be high.

 

[MrIanB]

My plan is to print out the NADA, Edmunds, KBB and Intelliprice values from the web and either they pay what I want, or I drive two cars home :lol:

As you know from the other thread (Lease v Buy) think leasing is usually a bad deal, costing you a couple grand. But... this deal puts the residual at nearly $18k which I believe to be high.

Last suggestion. Go to Carmax as someone said and they will give you a written appraisal. See what the dealer offers and if lower tell them you want them to beat carmax appraisal and show it to them. A lot of dealers advertise they will give x amount over Carmax or match them. Let them appraise your car first at the nissan dealer and give you Nissan's appraisal. Compare in your head to carmax and if lower pull out carmax or reference their policy to beat or match carmax appraisals.

Win win for you.

Let us know the outcome and good luck,

Ian B

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

I said before the total was $12,359. If they gave me $11k in trade, does that mean I could pay them $1,359 and basically have no payment for 36 months?

I'm curious about this. Please let me know if anyone has any insight and knowledge into this stuff.

actually no. the total includes a "rental" fee which is essentially interest on the lease "loan" if you make a larger down payment, your total payments would be less due to paying less interest due to a smaller balance.

I put a larger down payment on mine to reduce that rental fee to something manageable. as far as what would happen in an accident, you need to check with your insurance company. there have been a few people who had accidents and still got some money back after the dust settled and most did not pay any extra down payment.

another thing is that "gap" insurance is almost useless since the $7500 fed tax credit immediately reduces the liability to you and will cover most if not all of the depreciation plus some in some cases.

as always, when payouts are based on market value, all this can change rapidly.

 

[wantonsoup]

How much did you put down? Someone mentioned earlier they thought you could only put down some maximum amount.

 

[TonyWilliams]

You can prepay the entire lease in one payment. I don't recommend it for all the reasons above.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

How much did you put down? Someone mentioned earlier they thought you could only put down some maximum amount.

$10K but my residual is only like $15,000 something. they jacked up my loan rate (called something but i forget...basically interest rate) so i calculated what I would have to put down to reduce rental fee back down to lowest loan rate which came out to like $8900 so i just made it 10K even. my monthly is only $162