alz0rz

iTrader: (41)

Miata's are also very nice cars if you want to maintain the eye candy and better on gas..

shaunv74

I didn't read through all of this but it sounds like you like the car.

My advice. Give it back and lease a new '09 RX8. They are updating it and the engine has a better oil metering system.

REL_RX8

Please Read
Okay, seeing as I've reached page 4, I'm going to put everyone up to speed on this post so you don't have to read this lengthy thread.

What's the situation
My lease is up on a 2005 Mazda RX-8 Grand Touring with 15,000 miles on it. The lease buyout is 18k. Because you can purchase the car on the market place about the same, buying it isn't an appealing option. Besides, I don't think I'm doing well enough financially to support a potentially high maintenance vehicle.

I have extended my car until this day by securing some money on a newer Mazda vehicle. However, that was only for 6 months. Two months short of the new Mazda lineup I'm so desperately waiting for.

What I can't do
I cannot afford the higher monthly payments if I were to purchase the lease buyout car.

What my main goal right now is
Mazda expects to launch their new 2009 RX-8 and Mazda6 this June/July. Unfortunately my lease is up NOW, and I only have 1 day now before I have to turn it in.

This is very unfortunate because if I could extend my lease again for 2 more months, I would be able to get the new RX-8 or Mazda6. I'm not just going to go 2 months without a car while I wait. I don't want to lock myself into a 2 year lease either on something when I would prefer a Mazda6 or RX-8.

mike73737

If you're hard up for cash I don't understand why you want to lease another expensive car again. Buy a more affordable car that is 5 or so years old and save your money. Leasing is the most expensive way of owning a vehicle (with very few exceptions).

shaunv74

Do they have a flexcar program where you are? you could join a car share program for a few months while you wait.

http://www.flexcar.com/

boondockjj

Actually I have a rx-8 and a cx-7 and I love the way it handles.

Groundrush

Seconded on a late model Miata NB...look for the Mazdaspeed version if you want additional performance. Not sure of your climate, but mine, with all season tires, handles pretty damn well in the snow, and it's a '90 without all the DSC/TC bells and whistles. It's raw, noisy, and uncomfortable, and I love it. If you haven't driven one, GO AND DO IT. Drop the top, find a curvy road...the decision will be made. The cars are the most ridiculously fun vehicles out there, get great gas mileage, and can be had for reasonable cost. Not to mention the ton of aftermarket goodies that can be had...rollbars, suspension, FI, etc. Good luck on your new purchase...hope you find something you like that won't break you financially.

CarAndDriver

Miata sounds good.

REL_RX8

Well because I do have some nasty winters, I would probably want a hard top convertible which would put me out of my price range. I'm going to assume hard top is the max premium. Miatas don't get the greatest mileage either for their size. (22mpg)

I think the most practical car would be a Mazda3. They look similar to the RX-8 and get awesome mileage. Not to mention they are very cheap.

Hopefully I can get this lease extended where I can look into the new Mazda6 or 09' RX-8.

mike73737

My fiance drives a 3 and it's a great car. Make sure you get an S though. Definitely the best quality econo car out there IMO.

I think you're understating the Miata mileage, I thought the NC's were getting mid to upper 20's in mixed driving? Car and Driver did a write up about hard-top convertibles (I forget when, last year or so) and said they weren't worth the money. Soft-tops have become better insulated and they couldn't really notice a difference. Not sure if that's true, just what the article said.

REL_RX8

Alright, from the looks of it, the Saturn AURA has the best leases going on right now, and it has a nice feel to it. I can get a fully loaded XR for $239/mo with only $1,500 down, 24 mo lease. When the lease is up, I plan on becoming part of the RX-8 family once again for for a long time to come.

The only thing that sucks right now is that I have to replace 2 of the Bridgestone Potenza RE040 which run $216/tire at the cheapest place I could find! I was foolish by not rotating my tires sooner. A $500 lesson learned...

Revvittupp

Becuase you are wrong. Most long term cost estimates put leasing as THE cheapest way to drive a vehicle. Let me ask you a question? Why do you want to OWN anything that drops in value EVERY SINGLE day. I prefer to OWN things that rise in value such as homes(normally, and over any realistically long length of time) stocks, bonds, etc. I would far prefer that Cab East LLC own my car... That said, i bought my car used, because I plan on it being a long term second car in the realatively near future and they depreciate SO DAMN MUCH that a used one was well worth the purchase price.


Ther eis NO MORE expensive way to buy a car then cash. Write that down. The opportunity cost of wasting yoru capital on a depreciating asset is HORRIBLE.

mike73737

Write that down eh? Thanks, not really looking for financial advice from you buddy.

Show me these "long term estimates" and we'll see. You're paying the depreciation whether you own the car or lease it. Either you're paying it every month as part of your lease payment or you're paying it in lost value when you sell. If they offer you a crappy lease then you're better off buying, it all comes down to the numbers. One thing I can say, blanket statements like yours are wrong. Only way to avoid paying the initial depreciation is buying a used car.

As for buying a car cash, I don't believe I ever said that. Whether you want to pay cash for a car or get a loan is a question of risk tolerance. Any investment is subject to loss (some more so than others) and if you're not willing to take the risk the market presents then you're better off paying cash. Most car loans have higher interest rates than most savings accounts, so clearly if you're not interested in market risk you're better off buying the car outright. Personally I would never pay cash for a car.

And for the record, just about everything you own depreciates everyday with the exception of investments, real estate and some random articles. All your clothes, food, crap, etc is worth less today than when you bought it. That's just how it works. Are you leasing your living room furniture then too?

mike73737

Here you go, like I said, it depends on you situation:

http://www.leaseguide.com/lease03.htm

Revvittupp

You are right, I should not have laid out such a blanket statement... I should have said, somethign along the lines of...

Leasing is better over the long term UNLESS, the manufacturer has extremely POOR lease programs. Luckily for us, manufacturers are BEGGING to sell each car, TWICE. Therefore they have strong lease progrmas as well as certified used programs that help make vehicles affordable to peopel that otherwise shouldn't be buying their cars. We WIN.

What that article flatly ignored, was upfront knowledge of the residual value, and how that is a WIN-WIN situation in a lease.

For example... I leased a Jeep Grand Cherokee, '04 model. M<Y Sticker price was $32k and the residual was in the upper $16's for a 39 month lease. At the end of the lease, the vehilcle was worht, MAYBE $12k. So I only paid the depreciation from $24k ammount financed, less the $16k residual. Had I purchased the car, and turned it in at that time, I would have received $12k in trade in. Since I leased it, I received $16k, as agreed upon before the start of the lease. So, Chrysler LOST $4k+ when they sold it at auction. If that situation is reversed, and the vehicle was somehow worht $20k, then I would have pruchased it out, traded it in and pocketed the $4k. This estimation of future value ALWAYS works in the lessee's favor.

Also I should have admitted that someone that does not follow the guidelines of the lease will lose as well. That said, properly setting up a lease in the first place will help you. Sure a 2o-25k lease will have a higher payment, AS IT SHOULD, as if you are buying or leasign a car, driving that much forces IMMENSE ammounts of depreciation. In a 20k/year lease the residual a the end will nearly 100% of the time be mroe then it's value./ A 3 year old car of any make and model will be worth FAR LESS then the same aged vehicle with under $40k.

Also, with today's infaltion rates, anything you can put off paying until tomorrow will "cost less" then if you pay today.

Also ignored in any of these type articles is the value of financing as big an ammount as possible, covered by Gap insurance. If the vehicle is totalled, the balance will be zero, and you have only paid what you have paid to use the vehicle to that point. With auto theft rising each year as well as increasing complexity of safety systems, vehicles are considered a total loss iwth increassing rates each year.

In whole, all of those accountants that write articles liek that completely look at the financing options in a vacuum, away from real life situations. BY all means, purchase away if that is your hearts content, buy cash if you would like, but don't say I didn't tell you so.

mike73737

I agree that you can get a good lease and make it work for you, but if I was hard up for cash (as it seems this guy is) I would buy a used car over getting a lease on a new one. Depends on if you really want a new car or not I guess though. If it's the most important thing on your radar and you plan on turning the car back in at the end of the lease then by all means lease it. I wouldn't ever lease a car because I doubt I will ever buy one new, so I'm probably not very impartial.

delhi

Well let us know what you have decided. Since you can't afford to buyout anyways, just walk away. Used NBs are great. If you can find a well kept CRX, go for it. These little cars can be had for cheap and will hold you over until the new Mazda line-up shows up.

Revvittupp

Ok, I have to agree with you there. It is unfair, in a way to compare a used car purchase with a new car purchase, thoguh repair costs, etc get in the way of an easy comparison. If I personally were in this guys shoes I'd get a coupel year old 3, or heck even an older protege that is unlikely to have expensive repairs and would cost south of the $10k mark to have his payment comfortably under the $200 mark. Unfortunately for him, he has been "spoiled" with a $30k car at $200 a month which is simply inreachable by normal circumstances, hence he got a SCREAMING deal on his original lease, which is partially why I have steered him to continue extending his lease as long as possible.

MTLbroker

Actually, most factory leases are a good way to own a car. While the driver is responsible for the depreciation during the lease, any liability for depreciation upon lease termination is transferred to the lessor.

Look at it this way, as a lessee, I agree to pay the depreciation for the next 36 months. At the lease end, if the value of the car is greater than the buy-back, then it is worth my while to buy the car out and recoup some of the depreciation.
If the market value of the car is lower than the lease end value, I have the option to transfer the liability of the excess depreciation back to the lessor. I've effectively drove a car for less depreciation than the market.

I would guess that leasing benefits the majority of drivers out there. The only people who would not benefit are those that operate their vehicles outside of the standard lease terms (high mileage drivers, commercial vehicles, etc...)

Revvittupp

Bingo and this fact is almost universally ignored. This is indeed the greatest benefit of leasing.

I'd argue that you would have to drive RIDICULOUSLY high mileage to not be able to properly fit inot a lease program(greater then 25k miles per year).

REL_RX8

Sorry for taking so long to respond to this thread, hard to believe it's been nearly two years. I ended up getting a 2 year lease Aura which actually expires in 2 months from now! I went looking at another RX-8 lease, but it's going to run in the $400-$500+/mo range on a 24 month lease (w/ nothing down).

Right now I'm going to get in contact with every Mazda dealer within 500 miles to see if any of them are having specials. I doubt I'll see a $2000 down/$200 mo lease ever again, but if I could even get under the $300s that might be an attractive deal. If anybody in the midwest region sees a good deal, let me know.

I'm also going to see what I can get on a used RX-8. Reliability is a concern, but if the mileage is low enough I might just bite.

I'd like to thank everyone who participated in this thread for sharing a wealth of information, it was much appreciated.

HomicidalApple

iTrader: (3)

you should just buy one... they arent that expensive anymore...

leasing is a waste of money..

As for reliability:

BUY ONE WITH A FULL BUMPER TO BUMPER WARRANTY!!!!!!!!!!

REL_RX8

I did some looking on Autotrader, and I'm kinda pissed I couldn't approve for a loan on the buyout for my original lease. The buyout I could have got on it was less than what the open market is asking even today with nearly double the miles.

If I can't extend the lease on my Aura any more, I'm probably going to settle for a Mazda 6 (good leases right now).

HomicidalApple

iTrader: (3)

you should go for a 3

xsnipersgox

just don't get in a situation where if something happens you can't make payment, seems like you are stretching to the limit of your budget.