How to spot a good car lease

Leasing has been lauded as your cheapest ticket to keep up with the industry’s hottest vehicles and trends. The jury, however, is still out on leasing: with the industry long on hype and short on detail, it is difficult to distinguish between a genuinely good deal and a downright up-selling exercise.

So how do you spot a good deal?

First, you need to find out if there are any down payments on the lease. A down payment refers to the lump sum amount that you pay upfront, either in cash, non-cash credit or trading allowance, to reduce your monthly payment. You should think twice before putting money down on a lease: not only are you getting a rough deal, as you’re essentially forfeiting the general rule of leasing: not putting any cash upfront, but the money is not recoupable at the end of your lease. There is another big disadvantage: in the event of your car getting damaged or stolen, you insurance and the gap cost will not cover the loss.

Mileage Limit

Most leasing companies allow you a limit of 45,000 free miles over the length of a 3-year lease. This may seem like a good deal at first sight, but when you consider it only comes to 15,000 miles over a 12 month period it’s not difficult to foresee why it might be difficult to stay within this limit. Even people working from home have little trouble putting 15,000 miles on their cars. If you exceed the mileage limit, the penalty for each excess mile can be as high as 20 cents. This can add up quickly over the length of your lease: an additional 4,000 miles a year over the length of a 3-years lease contract, will end up costing you an extra $2,400 in excess mileage charges! Be realistic about your mileage needs, especially if you have to regularly commute over long-distances, before you sign the contract. Consider padding the miles that you expect to use since it is less expensive to contract for the extra before you sign than it is to pay the extra charges at end of your lease.

Sales Tax

Sales tax is usually capitalized and added to the monthly payments. However, some dealers choose not to include it in their calculations to drive the advertised lease payments even lower. What they do instead is state in the small print that the monthly payment excludes “sales tax”. Make sure you carefully read the fine print for any extra, hidden costs not included in the advertised monthly payment. Unscrupulous fees that typically slip through the cracks include sales tax, registration and title fees.

 This is an extract   Please click to read more

Go Green And Save On Your Lease
Beginning in 2006, businesses and taxpayers who lease, or purchase, an environmentally-friendly and fuel-eff...
go-green-and-save-on-your-lease.php

Leasing With Bad Credit
Credit score is a measure of your credit worthiness used by leasing agentsto determine whether you are eligib...
leasing-with-bad-credit.php

Lease Trading
Trading a lease is the best option for people who want to terminate a lease early and don’t ...
lease-trading.php

Auto Insurance And Leasing
When you lease, the vehicle that you will drive belongs to the le...
auto-insurance-and-leasing.php

Leasing Used Cars Explained
Leasing a used vehicle can be an attractive deal in many ways,...
leasing-used-cars-explained.php

Luxury Cars And Resale Values
The most determining factor when it comes to resale values is p...
luxury-cars-and-resale-values.php

Fees Involved In Leasing
At the beginning of the lease, you have to pay a refundable security deposit, ...
fees-involved-in-leasing.php

Leasing And Your Credit Score
The leasing contract stipulates that you m...
leasing-and-your-credit-score.php

How To Calculate Your Lease Payment
Actually, it’s not that difficult! Once you understand all the f...
how-to-calculate-your-lease-payment.php

How To Lease A New Car
Check incentives: be on the look-out for factory –subsidized lease deals. Car manufacturers realise tha...
how-to-lease-a-new-car.php

Leasing Glossary
Acquisition fee: A fee charged by a leasing company to begin a lease. Not all leasing compan...
leasing-glossary.php

How To Get Out Of A Lease Before Your Contract Expires
It’s not all doom and gloom though. Actually, there is a number of options available to you.You can sell the car your...
how-to-get-out-of-a-lease-before-your-contract-expires.php

Auto Leasing Scams
Here we look at some of these common scams and how to ...
auto-leasing-scams.php

The Residual Value Of Leasing
Let us first start by looking at the meaning of residual value. The t...
the-residual-value-of-leasing.php

Buy Or Lease
As is the case with every other common dilemma, t...
buy-or-lease.php

Buy A Car At The End Of Your Lease
First, you need to know the cost of buying out your lease. Read the fine print of you...
buy-a-car-at-the-end-of-your-lease.php

Using Lease Calculators
If you are considering a car lease, then you might want to know some ke...
using-lease-calculators.php

Independent Car Lease Companies
So which one is better?...
independent-car-lease-companies.php

Single Payment Lease
There are two amounts in a conventional lease that incur charges and...
single-payment-lease.php

How To Avoid Extra Costs At The End Of Your Lease
$250 to dispose of your vehicle, $1000 for extra miles you put on the clockand...
how-to-avoid-extra-costs-at-the-end-of-your-lease.php

Benefits Of Leasing
Benefit Number 1: Keeping up with the latest trends...
benefits-of-leasing.php

Lease Financing
Well, no quite! When you lease a car, you’re only using the car over a specified period of time...
lease-financing.php

Dealer Leasing Tricks
Here is a look at some of the tricks dealers use to ...
dealer-leasing-tricks.php


Latest News On How to spot a good car lease

Nissan LEAF car hire now available in London and Paris - Contract hire and leasing news (press release) (blog)


Nissan LEAF car hire now available in London and Paris
Contract hire and leasing news (press release) (blog)
Europcar is to offer the 100 per cent electric Nissan LEAF for hire at its London and Paris car rental offices. Starting this month, the Nissan LEAF, the 2011 World and European Car of the Year, will be available for short-term rental as part of a ...

and more »

Read more...


5 ways to not get fleeced on your car lease - Tampabay.com


5 ways to not get fleeced on your car lease
Tampabay.com
By Scott J. Wilson, Los Angeles Times Leasing a car is rarely the most economical way to have an auto at your disposal. But if you like to have a new car every two or three years, leasing could be the way to go. Here are five tips on leasing a car ...

Read more...


Windmill Leasing Donate Funds to Help Avoncroft's Storm-damaged Post Mill - MarketWatch (press release)


Windmill Leasing Donate Funds to Help Avoncroft's Storm-damaged Post Mill
MarketWatch (press release)
It holds special significance for the car leasing company as Windmill Leasing was named after the old Post Mill. Keith Townsend said: "When we heard the news our instant reaction was to find out what we could do to help. As the windmill is where we ...

and more »

Read more...


Hertz Global Holdings to Hold Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2011 Financial ... - MarketWatch (press release)


GreenBiz.com

Hertz Global Holdings to Hold Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2011 Financial ...
MarketWatch (press release)
8, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. /quotes/zigman/439823/quotes/nls/htz HTZ +1.04% , the parent company of The Hertz Corporation, the world's largest general use airport car rental company and a leading equipment rental ...
Hertz Launches Global Sustainability Strategy; -- "Living Journey" represents ...ElectroIQ

all 25 news articles »

Read more...


For the rail finance and leasing sector, a promising year - Progressive Rail Roading


For the rail finance and leasing sector, a promising year
Progressive Rail Roading
As a result, the demand for rail cars and locomotives has increased, and short-term lease rates have increased. As long as the recovery continues, and is able to offset a weaker export environment, we expect this to continue.

and more »

Read more...