Nissan Leaf Lease

Nissan Leaf Review

When the Nissan Leaf is introduced in December of 2010, it will be the first, fully electric car introduced to the United States that you can drive for 200 miles without using a drop of gas. Unlike the highly anticipated Chevrolet Volt, the Nissan Leaf uses no gas at all - only electric. In fact, if you took your Leaf to a Maintenance shop they wouldn't know what to do with it. The Nissan Leaf has no exhaust, uses no oil, has no starter, pistons, alternator, etc.  About the only thing in common the Nissan Leaf shares with gas powered cars is the steering and brakes.  Even though, the Nissan Leaf has not been released for sale, Nissan has already established a preliminary leasing offer and a suggested Manufacturers Retail Price of around $32,400.

Does it Pay to Lease a Nissan Leaf?

The Nissan Leaf requires the installation of a special power receptacle to your home garage for charging its high-powered battery. This is a pretty good indication that you should consider a Leaf only if you're looking for a commuter car that will be parked in your garage where it can be charged every evening. That being the case, you can roughly calculate how much a Leaf will save you in gas. If you are driving an average of 10,000 to 12,000 miles a year, you can expect to save about $1,400 to $1,700 per year ($116 to $142 per month). Additional savings are available to you in credit from the state and federal governemnt. The federal Tax Credit can be as high as $7,500 and additional tax credits vary by state. For Colorado as example, the Tax Credit is up to $6,000. Assuming, you get 100% of the tax credit, you can get as much as $13,500 (between Federal and State) off the price of a $32,400 car. Check with your state and IRS before you make any solid assumptions about how much you will really get back from leasing a Nissan Leaf. Read the rest of this entry

Feature

Comparing 60 Month 0% Car Loans to a Cheap Car Lease

If you were to acquire a 60-Month-No-Interest-No-Money-Down-Car-Loan offer every 5 years, how would that compare to leasing that same car for every 3-5 years? At 0% interest for 60 months, common sense would make you believe that is a deal that is hard to beat. With so many car companies offering 60, and even 72-month loans at 0% APR, these are rare times indeed. In fact, you won't see any of the new, 2011 models yet being offered at 0% interest. That should serve as a hint that these 0% Car Loans won't be around forever. As it stakes now, even a good, cheap car lease, can't beat most of these 60-Month, No Interest Purchase Loans.

For the sake of interest, I have done a comparison study on 0% Car Loans vs. Car Leasing for the most popular car models. There are a few factors that need to be explained: Read the rest of this entry

BMW No Money Down Lease

2010 Cars Offer Best Lease Value

August is a great time to lease cars. Since the 2010 models with high residual values are nearing their end, both car dealers and factories are motivated to sell them to make room for the new 2011 models. When a car is still within it's 4-year design phase, there is really no advantage to getting a newer year - the car is basically the same design. If you lease a car at the end of it's 4-year design stage, like  the Toyota RAV-4, you will get a great deal because of the long-term residual track record.  As the new 2011 car models are becoming more popular, there is some great remaining inventory on 2010 models with great resale values. This is the time to get a great car lease on a 2010 automobile. Surprisingly, the 2011 and 2010 leases have very little difference on the prices of the Subaru leases. On the other hand, not one of the Subaru models makes the top-5 Lease Offers this month.

No Money Down Leases

I've always made the point that there is no reason to put any money down on a lease.  Every thousand dollars you put down lowers your payment about $25 - $35.00, but look at how many months it will take to recoup that downpayment? Honda is now illustrating this point, by offering a 'no-money-down' lease option on most of its August Car Lease Offers. For instance, you can lease a Honda Crosstour EX V6 for either $259 a  month with $2,969 Down or you can lease it for $340 a month with no money down.  Lease a Honda Civic for $210 a month with no money down or for $159.00 a month and $1399 down.  I've included both options on the Honda Lease Specials this month so you can compare the LVR (Lease Value Ratio). As you can see, the money you put down makes very little difference in the lease value you're getting or the bottom line total cost of the lease after 3 years. Whether or not you put money down on your lease is a psychological matter: Would you rather preserve your cash up front and make a slightly higher payment, or would you feel better putting several hundred dollars down to secure a much lower monthly car payment?  What a great idea on Honda's part to give you that Lease Offer option so you can compare what works best for your own psyche.

Honda Civic Leasing Makes Sense

For the 4th time in the last 5 months, The Toyota RAV-4 tops the list as the best Lease Offer. This time, however, Honda has positioned itself ahead some of the Corolla with its Civic and Civic Hybrid leases which are excellent deals.  If you're interested in lowering your monthly expenses as much as possible the No Money Down, $270 a month payment for the Civic Hybrid makes a great deal of sense.  In the 3 year term, you will not only save several hundred dollars on a downpayment, but at the gas pump as well.

Improved BMW Leasing

In other big news this month, BMW is doing something I've never seen them do before. They are offering no money down (1st Payment Only) Lease Offers on a few of their models: 328i Sedan, 328i XDrive Sedan and 335i Sedan. These are not just mind games with enticing low payment numbers, but really are good values. The LVR on these BMW Lease Offers is as low or lower than I've seen in the past. All in all, there are some very good deals this month. Below, are the top-25 car leases for the month of August.  Keep in mind that cars with no-money down lease offers are listed twice so you can compare the difference.  Read the rest of this entry