Lower Payments

With a lease your monthly payments will almost always be lower than a conventional loan because you are paying for only a portion of the car’s full value over the lease period. This gives you the option of driving a nicer car for the same monthly cost.

Manufacturer Incentives

In tough times manufacturers may offer very attractive terms such as below market interest rates and artificially high residuals that both have the effect of lowering the monthly payment.

Lower Up-front Costs

Unless you decide to make a large cap reduction payment, initial costs for most leases will be limited to a refundable security deposit (typically one monthly payment rounded up to the nearest $25), sales tax depending on your state, title and registration fees, environmental fees (i.e., battery and tire disposal fees), and finally, your first monthly payment. As a result, leasing ties up less of your capital, freeing cash up for more lucrative investments.

Federal Taxes

With the tax reform act of 1989 phasing out deductions for interest on car loans, leasing may now compare more favorably against conventional financing from a tax standpoint. Although most individuals will not save taxes with a lease, some businesses may enjoy certain advantages with leasing. Consult your tax advisor for more information.

Sales Tax

Most states tax leases by taxing the monthly payment stream and any cash down payment (cap reduction). This works out to quite a bit less than paying sales tax on the full price of the vehicle as required in a purchase.

Hassle-free Disposition

At the end of the lease you simply turn the car back in to the dealer and walk away. You won’t have the effort and expense of selling the car or haggling over its trade-in value. If you decide to buy the car at the end of the lease you know about how much it will cost (no more than the residual value).

When you lease a car from a dealership, you should expect to pay full price and then some. Dealers are notorious for slashing prices on the floor, and just when you think you’ve scored a deal they jack the price back up as soon as you get into the office to begin dealing with taxes, fees, and overpriced insurance rates. That’s because the finance and insurance department personnel are literally paid to make back the cash you just saved.

Getting a good price on your lease from the dealer requires more knowledge and expertise than you can gather in a weekend. A broker, on the other hand, will already have that expertise, saving you the time and frustration of having to do it yourself.