nastinupe1

This thread is making me not want to sell my S2000. I want to keep it forever and get the value out of it.

I am buying my car. I bought a SC'ed 2004 in 2006 for $25k and $0 down. I pay $536/ month for 60 months.

Sevenpants

I leased my 05 at the end of August 05 (towards the end of the model year) for $349/month + tax for 36 months with 0 down, and the dealer paid the first payment so I only had to make 35 payments. Based on the rest of these posts, it looks like I got a heck of a deal.

Whether a lease makes sense absolutely depends on the terms. You are paying for the depreciation while you drive the car. If the car will be worth $10k less at the end of the lease than it was worth at the beginning and your total payments are $11k, it is a good deal. If your total payments amount to $18k, it is not. You always have the option to buy the car at the end of the lease for the previously agreed upon purchase price less the depreciation, so even if you plan on purchasing the car and driving it for 20 years, sometimes it still makes sense to lease. This all depends on the terms of the lease vs. the finance terms.

Anyone who says leasing is always a bad idea is just plain ignorant.

skyrix

Hey S2000Tuner, $800 drive off with $380/m including tax
Thats the best lease deal I've seen for a S2K!!!
Did you lease through Honda Financial? Which dealer did you go to?
I'm also in the LA area looking to lease/buy a S2K...

Weren't you selling this car at one point?
How is that going for you?

SSSnakeSSS

Check out the Honda site, they lay out their current leasing deals on all their cars.

laguna2s2k

#s seemed kinda high to me too! I paid 418/mo. inc. taxes. $0 down $0 out of pocket! 36 Mo. (Came into money a month later and just paid off the lease, but still could have lived with those #s) before hand I did some math, those payments over 36 mos. totaled the the difference of purchase $ and residual after 3yrs ($18900 I think) So basically I would have just paid principal for 3 yrs! then you have more options! New one or, buy a 3year old S with less than 36k for 18900, Which is a good price for the market today! and add the the confidence of knowing the history of the car!
Leasing can sometimes (not always) makes sense!

dewke

Leasing is a terrible slippery slope and you should avoid it if at all possible. If you can afford the payment finance the car.

S2000Tuner

Hey, yes, I did get a good deal, I shopped around for a few months before I agreed to this deal. I was really looking for a GPW which was pretty hard to find at the time. there were blacks, silverstones, and sebrings all over the place but the white was hard to come by.

The lease is through Honda financial, Honda themselves always has the best lease deals. I checked on their website, and the deal that was offered at the time was a sweet deal, and I used it as a base of negotiation.

I walked in to Miller Honda in Culver City on Robertson & Venice I believe. I went up the stairs to the car lot, and to my happiness there was a GPW parked with just 4 miles on the odometer, waiting for me

I test drove it for less than a mile, walked in side and started talking to the manager right off the bat.. It took from 3pm till 7pm and I was done, they agreed to the deal. I had to deal with the typical BS like every dealership, but I finally got what I wanted and the deal was done. Just an hour later, I drove away the lot in my brand new MY06 GPW with only $800 out of pocket.

_____

So I was in love with the car till I test drove an EVO, wow, that car was mean and aggressive unlike the gentle S. I ended up buying an 06 EVO (the lease for the EVO was too crazy, something like $700/month for 4 years!) just 6 months after I got my S thinking I was going to sell my S. Now, the tables have turned and I want to keep my S and sell the EVO which is currently running 300 AWHP and 320 AWTQ.

My story.

ace123

I financed, and it's the first car I've financed at ~$30k, so my rates are a bit higher than they should be.

I paid $0 down, $625/mo. for 5 years.

Why put money down on a lease of $500/month if the term is more than 1-2 years? I can understand if you either
1. want to beat the crap out of the car
2. want a short term and like to change cars

When you get a 3-4 year term lease, I just don't think +$150/month in payments is much to own the car.

But I must say, I saw someone run the numbers, so obviously in some cases it's an informed decision with a legitimate line of reason. I'm just biased!

atlantachap

There's a huge amount of right and wrong info in this thread. It's usually a good idea to thoroughly understand all aspects of leasing before you sign a lease. Should check out the BMW forums where people show you how to calculate the lease and even have a worksheet for BMW's.

I'll give you the formula here.

(Cap Cost - Residual)/Term = Depreciation
(Cap Cost + Residual)*MF = Interest [MF stands for Money Factor]

Depreciation + Interest is your monthly payment. If you multiply the money factor by 24, you get your ~APR for a loan.

Generally, leases work well if you:
*don't drive a lot, 10-15k (15k is the best on BMW's)
*like to change out cars every few years
*own your own business
*have better use of your money
*chose a car that has high/good residual (S residual @ 4yr/60k is >50% according to Edmunds and KBB.)
*don't mod your cars

However, there are lots of gray areas. I don't own my own business and drive a lot, 18-28k a year. I'm right on the line between a good person for a lease or financing. Take the below for example.

If I finance $27k with no downpayment, my payments come out to be around $620 for 4yrs @ 4.9%. Or I could lease a M Z4 Coupe for that exact amount per month for 30 months with 15k miles/yr.

[The only downside on the M Z4 lease is that I would have to pay 7 MSD's, multiple security deposits, to get the best MF. However, I do get that money back, unlike a downpayment. Each SD is equal to your monthly payment rounded to the nearest $50 mark.]

I think I'm leaning towards the S as I would own it 1.5 years after vs. owning nothing after the 30 month M Z4 lease. Having some equity left in the car also helps. My friend who owns his own business will probably lease the M Z4 Coupe. I'm still on the fence here M Z4 Coupe vs S2000, hmm....

On a side note: I can't believe people actually put downpayments on a car lease, especially for an S. You do know that if something should happen to your car: stolen, totalled when hit from behind, etc. You lose that downpayment, even though your insurance will cover the cost while the gap insurance (built into the lease) covers the leftover gap between the loan and what insurance pays out.

I covered the meat of leasing. There's still some details that you should know. I leave that up to you to find out. Happy motoring in the mean time!

Lee

gerdaland

touche ATL-Chap