Leasing
• Leasing may seem cheaper than buying, but you're mortgaging your future when you lease. After a few years of leasing a vehicle and making payments, you own nothing.
• Manufacturers and dealers like to use upfront fees to create ultra-low monthly payments that mask the actual cost of a lease.
• Most leases allow you to drive an average of 15,000 miles per year. If you exceed the limit, you have to pay a penalty of 8 to 15 cents per mile.
• Before you turn in a leased car, have it detailed inside and out and make any needed repairs. Then find out what company is officially responsible for determining that the car is in acceptable condition.
• A 4 or 5 year lease is a recipe for disaster. Many customers end up married to a vehicle they hate or end up paying severe early termination penalties.
• If you lease for 5 years and your car is totaled in an accident, you could be responsible for a giant gap between the amount the insurance company will pay and the stated residual in the lease.
Limit cars loans to 42 months
Auto loan financing is suddenly available to people with damaged credit who may have been turned down for car loans as recently as a few months ago. But is that "yes" to your credit app really a "yes" in your monthly budget? If your payments per month are too high ...
Sweet lease deals on electric cars
Automakers are rolling out great leasing offers on electric vehicles while they sit unloved on dealer lots. Range anxiety has been a big reason why people haven't bought electric cars. That's the fear that you'll run out of charge and have to call a tow truck from the side of ...
Cheap options for new and used cars
With the average cost of cars right around $32,000, is it possible to buy one for less? You betcha! Car buyers keep pushing the price of cars up and up and they keep taking out longer and longer car loans. I read a recent report about some loans stretching out ...
Social media helps disgruntled auto owners
If your car breaks after it's out of warranty, social media affords you more ways to put the pressure on dealerships to get a fix in place at a reduced price. Cars today are so much better, safer, and more reliable than they once were. Yet there are still times ...
Smaller cars offer great fuel economy, great prices
Smaller cars are sitting unloved on dealer lots. That means you can get a deal at a time when we've had a big run-up in gas prices during the last few weeks. Both the Toyota Yaris and the Honda Fit are in big oversupply and priced to move. What's interesting ...
Ford, Nissan make moves to attract electric car customers
Ford is offering a lease that pays for itself on one of their cutting-edge electric vehicles. The Ford Focus is being offered through a 36-month lease for a monthly payment of $285, with $900 due at signing. The offer stands through April 1, 2013. This could be a steal for ...
The Clark Smart steps for buying a new car
The new year looks set to be a great one for car sales both new and used. On the new car front, estimates from market research firm Polk suggest we'll see 15 million cars sold this year. Interest rates are low on auto loans and this is really a win ...
Getting out of a car lease
I was recently talking to a radio station manager who was very upset that he routinely trashes auto leasing. As it turned out, leasing was a great idea for this guy. In fact, if you're the kind of person who gets "new car fever" every couple of years, leasing may ...
Car leasing is back, but is it for you?
Leasing is all the rage in the auto industry again, but does it make sense for you to get into a car this way? I've seen several news reports that say leasing is now the No. 1 strategy of automakers and car dealers to reverse the trend that we're keeping ...
The most stolen cars?
Sophisticated anti-theft technology has altered the pattern of what kind of cars are being stolen. The National Insurance Crime Bureau shows that recent model years aren't being stolen like in the past. The reason why? All the new technology in cars makes it tougher to steal them and easier to ...
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