| 1. |
Do you replace your vehicle before your
loan is paid off or soon thereafter? |
| |
If you trade-in your vehicle before you pay
of off, in many cases the value of the vehicle is less than
what you owe. You end up having to pay to get rid of
your vehicle, and you may have to go through the hassle of
selling your used car. Leasing eliminates this
problem. |
|
| 2. |
Is it important to you to have a
vehicle that is fairly new and under warranty? |
| |
If yes, a 3-year lease might be appropriate
for you. Your vehicle will almost always be under
warranty and you will always have an almost new vehicle. |
|
| 3. |
Are you unsure if you are going to just
keep your vehicle a few years or keep it a long time? |
| |
Leasing may be a great option for you.
Lease it for three or four years and then decide whether you
want to keep it long-term or get rid of it. If you had
bought the vehicle and decided to get rid of it at the end of three
years, you may have to eat a several thousand dollar loss, and
you also have to go through the hassle of disposing of the
vehicle. Isn't just turning the vehicle in a much
easier option? |
|
| 4. |
Is there significant business use of the
vehicle? |
| |
There are significant tax advantages to
leasing business use vehicles. Remember, this includes
any vehicle that is used for business not just vehicles
owned by a corporation. Are you an independent
contractor, a real estate agent, sell Mary Kay? You
qualify. |
|
| 5. |
Do you hate selling your used car? |
| |
When you decide to get rid of your car you
often have the choice of trading it into the dealer for less
than it is worth, or putting an ad in the paper and going
through the used car circus. |
|
| 6. |
Are you comfortable with making regular
monthly payments? |
| |
When you lease a vehicle, your lease payment
will typically be lower than the loan payment on buying the
vehicle. However, you will always have a monthly
payment. The payment will never go away like it
eventually will if you purchase a vehicle. |
|
| 7. |
Do you have a good credit rating? |
| |
Since most leases don't require a down
payment and you are not building any equity, you generally
must have a better credit rating than would be required for
a loan. We oftentimes can get you approved, but bad
credit is definitely an obstacle to leasing. |
|
| 8. |
Do you take fairly good care of your
vehicles? |
| |
If you don't take good care of your vehicle,
you may face some wear and tear charges when you turn it in.
If you totally trash your vehicles, you probably shouldn't
lease because the excess wear and tear charges may be
prohibitive. But remember, even if you purchase, you
will have a difficult time selling a totally trashed car. |
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