How to Catch a Deal and Find the Tricks in Car Leasing Articles | Automotive

Over the most recent years leasing has been construed as the best and cheapest what to keep up with “the Jones”. The trends and hottest vehicles of the day are becoming the most desired on the road. However there are still some undecided out their not quite sure what to make of the leasing game. The industry however has been giving out few details and making it hard to see between the lines on what is a good deal and what is up-selling exercise.

So spotting a good deal? What are the key factors to determining if you are getting the short end of the stick or actually hit the jackpot?

Down Payments:

First of all it is necessary to know if you are required to pay down payments on the vehicle. You need to know if the down payment is in the form of:

• Cash
• Non-cash credit
• Or trading allowances

This concept of course doesn’t make for a good deal and essentially causes you to forfeit your -No down payment rule. On top of that you are not going to get anything back at the end of term. Nor will you be covered by the lease or gap insurance if the car is totaled or stolen.

Mileage Limits:

The amount of miles that a company allows over the length of the term should be seriously evaluated. Since these things can add up quickly. If you try to get out of the lease before the term is over you can face serious penalties. The average allotted amount of miles in a general lease contract is 45,000 miles for the length of a 3 year lease which is only allowing you 15,000 miles per 12 months.

Exceeding these miles on the lease contract can give you a hefty penalty at the end of the lease. Some excess miles can cost you up to $.20 cents per mile. Which can add up considerably over 3 years? With a mere 2,000 miles more per year can cost you around $1,200 in mileage charges at the end of you lease. You can however negotiate the excess mileage costs or add miles to your contract. The biggest thing to do is be honest with yourself in determining how many miles you will be needing over that time as well as giving yourself some extra miles just in case. Make sure you talk it over with the dealer and look over the contract before signing anything.

Sales Tax:

You must make sure you know where your sales tax is being added because if not you could have a large surprise at the end of the lease. The dealer can choose to not include the sales tax in your monthly payments and instead add it to your end of lease payment. Adding quite a surprise to your pot. Making sure you know upfront when your sales tax is going to be added can save you a lot of end of lease hassle. Make sure that you read the fine print carefully as well. They state no hidden costs because some fees are written in the fine print and you can easily miss those including sales tax, registration and title fees.