Hey all-

Last week i received a truly bittersweet piece of news - that instead of commuting 25+ miles each way through ridiculous traffic to and from work 5 days a week, which i have been doing for the past 2.5 yrs., that i will now i have a 5 minute walk to work.

The sad part is that if I take this opportunity, I will no longer need my beloved xB anymore... The only reason I got it, other than being a kicka$$ car, is that it would get me to and from work safely and reliably. Now my only worries might be a good pair of shoes and a decent raincoat...

Anyways - any thoughts on what the hell to do in this situation? I put $5000 down on my lease to get my payments @ $140/mo., but would hate to possibly end the lease without getting any of my $$$ back...

just looking for suggestions, thoughts, flaming on leases, whatever....

 

huh so just becasue you are going to walk only five minutes you are thinking about giving up the box.what you don't run errands...........

 

i live in the city... everything is in walking distance...

i would probably get a used car that I could pay for in cash for the occasional road trip, etc. I just can't justify keeping a new car with 15K mile/yr. lease when i will be putting next to 0 miles on it a week.


plus we would be getting a company vespa :D

 

so who realy cars how much they drive there car.... its all about haveing one... come on dont give it up that easly....... my mom bout a new 03 nissan altima and has had it for like almost 2 years and only has 15,000 miles on it.... i bout mine 6+ monthes ago and i now how 11,000 miles on this puppy now dont tell me she is going to give up here nice fancy car... she is like hell no i love this thing..... so there just cuz u can walk to work dose not mean u have to...... dont give it up i say.....

 

the miles you wont put on the car will be a plus when you go to trade or sell hang onto the car if you dont need then sell it
and pocket the diffrence if you can (you did not do a 5 year lease i hope)

 

3 yr. lease

hmm... another reason i'm considering this is to be completely out of debt, and to have a car that is my own - which is why i'm considering just buying a beater that i won't owe any money on... :-/

 

the only thing i know about returning a lease is that you have to pay for damages(scratches, dings, chipped paint, etc..). we had to pay like 4k on my moms benz for all the stuff she did to it.

 

I would hate to see you give up the box, but I don't think that anyone can blame you for improving your financial situation...ESPECIALLY if you're getting a Vespa.

 

yeah nate, i know - crappy timing. it's just that if i'm barely driving anymore i can hardly justify keeping a brand new car... i love my box but i just don't feel like making monthly payments on it if it's just going to sit on the street 90% of the time


has anyone turned one back into koons before? - i know this doesn't help you at all so i understand if you are hesitant to offer any advice...

 

What would have the lease payments been with minimum down? Figure that out, multiply by the number of months you've had it and add in the minimum down. Then take what you've spent (money down + lease payments you've made) and subtract one from the other. Maybe they'll give you that back. I dunno. I don't like the idea of leases because of this kind of thing. I like to know that if I can cover the lien I can sell the car for whatever I need to.

 

thus bringing up the question of why anyone would lease a car verrry verrry few instances where someone does better to lease a car...

~wC

 

i knew this thread wouldn't get far without someone hatin' on leases :D


to each his own :D

 

ahhhh funk it. i'll probably just keep it...


*orders goldlines*

:D

 

That's the American Spirit. SPEND! SPEND!

 

my box is going to look HOT sitting @ the curb all week long!


woot

 

I feel for you. Thats why had a beater when I lived in Chicago. Although I did have a parking space by my apt.

I needed a car to get from Hyde Park to Rush street and back on LSD(Lake Shore Drive) on the weekends. You Chicago folks will get this.

 

Hi retail,
$140/month is pretty sweet, wish that were my payment. I know you had to pony up the dough to get it there!
If you're looking for alternatives to getting out of the lease you might want to check out
http://swapalease.com
They hook up people wanting to get out of leases and people wanting to buy into a remaining lease. Of course the usual caveats apply, make sure your contract will allow it, etc...
I'm not promoting the site or anything, just thought it might be of some use if you didn't already know about it.
Good Luck

 

That's a tough call.

If you keep the car, it costs you money, but you are going to get royally butt-raped trying to get out of a lease early. I really would not even consider it. First off, car dealers are bloodthirsty cash-hungry wolves, you can kiss your $5k goodbye. Second of all, they are going to try to get you to pay them for the duration of the lease, it's very sticky getting out of one and you can count on getting screwed because of what you signed.

For future reference, don't EVER give a downpayment like that on a lease-- its practically throwing money away. Leasing itself is questionable, it only makes financial sense with more expensive cars that depreciate more. If you are the type of person who likes a new Audi or Saab every 2-3 years --- then it can make financial sense to lease. Otherwise you are paying for the right to hand the car over at the end of the lease and be emptyhanded.

$140 a month?

I pay $320 a month, pretty much anyone with a decent job can afford that, and I am acutally going to own my car. If I decide to sell it or I don't want it before the payments are done, I am free to sell the car and get another. If I don't, then in a few years I will own the car outright.

Just a thought.

You can try and give back the car and lose your $5,000 and then some, or you can keep the car and lose your $5,000 (its already long gone anyway)

I think you should stay in the lease and suck it up.

Good luck whatever you decide.

 

thanks for the tough love, i guess.

what if I privately sold my car to pay the lease off?

 

actually just talked to my dealer - looks like i may be able to switch over to financing