Lease or Buy at 0% APR?
0-Down-Ford-Purchase
Earlier this month, while wishfully hunting for Ford Car Lease offers, I found some tremendous deals; not car lease offers, but 0 Loan Deals. A 0-Loan simply means that you can buy the car on a 0% interest rate loan for 36, 48 or 60 months. Is there a catch? Yes, but it is no different than it is with car leasing; you must have decent credit in order to take advantage of this desirable financing. Buying a car on a 0% APR can save you one hundred dollars or more on your monthly car payment and thousands of dollars on your total cost over the life of the loan. For example, a $30,000 Ford Escape at 6% interest for 60 months will yield you a monthly payment of $580. That same $30,000 SUV will cost you only $500 a month at 0% interest. That's a total savings of $4,800 ($80.00 x $60.00) The more expensive the car obviously, the greater the savings. It used to be rare to get a 0% Loan on the longer term 48 and 60 month terms, but Ford is doing it with a large number of their models. As to the question whether or not it is better to lease or buy a car on a 0-Loan, the answer depends on one thing: That you choose a car that leases extremely well. There are $30,000 SUVs out there by Toyota, Honda, Acura and Nissan that you can lease for under $400.00 a month. That's a $180 a month savings and if you don't wish to drive it longer than 2 or 3 years, you are still going to be paying less money than you did on the $580, 0-% Car Loan after 3, 4 and 5 years. Of course, if you keep your $30,000 Ford Escape, you will be able to sell it for at least $10,000, so you will still come away with more cash in the long term, though you will no longer have a new car. The longer you keep your car, the greater your savings; that is, if you have no unusual maintenance expenses. A 0 APR Car Deal is certainly a competitive alternative to Car Leasing. When you are not having to pay any interest, it is certainly more tempting to go for the long, 60-month term in order to lower your monthly cost. Why not borrow at no interest for as long as you can? Ford will extend your financing up to 72 months, with only a slight .9 to 1.9% Interest Rate hike. Though, you will technically be paying some interest on a 72 month loan, it will still lower your payment over the 0% 60-month loan. Read the rest of this entry »
