Originally Posted by Black Duck

I take it you made all your thousands gambling, judging by where you live?

Originally Posted by zipgun

LOL Gambling? Lets just say if i ever stepped into one those casinos I would be driving a pair of nike's.

Originally Posted by Black Duck

Why? Even if you have the money, you would be better off leaving it in the bank to gain interest or for a rainy day.

Originally Posted by THe Emperor

Well I don't mind being alittle upside down since I really don't plan on buying another car after this one, if I do it'll be a VERY long time away. The 350 is originally the car I wanted the first time but I didn't have any credit before but I got my father to co-sign on my existing car which was a very hard thing to do so I took what I could for the time being. I only average 8000 miles per year and I want to get a 03-04 Z with no more than 25-30000 miles. I wouldnt ever consider getting rid of the Z before 100000 miles. I heard you can get 200000 miles out of the well maintained Z with no problem. At 100000 miles if I've had no major problems with the Z I'll keep it but if I do I'll get rid of it. In the city where I live everything is so close together thats why I don't average many miles per year plus I don't really go out a whole lot besides work which is 12 minutes away. So if the car has 30000 miles already it'll take me 8.75 years to get to 100000 miles. I'm not the type who has to keep up with the Jones' the 350Z is what I've always wanted so I know I'm not gonna trade again before it's paid off just because something new came out. So I really don't mind being alittle upside down beacsue if I finance for 5-6 years I'll be paid off well before it its 100000 miles anyway. And my average would be even lower because one year I drove 350 miles to indiana twice which added 1400 miles and I'll never do that crap again EVER!

Originally Posted by davidv

You never answered my question. The lender is going to give you a new car plus $3,000, and your portion is zero? Do lenders do that?

Originally Posted by Key Of Z

Sure they'll do that. They'll make a bunch of money and the OP's gonna get murdered, unfortunately.

Originally Posted by bailey bill

So you pay 8-10% interest on a car loan so you have money in the bank earning 4-5%?

Do I really need to explain why that's a bad idea?

bill

Originally Posted by Black Duck

1. Get the mileage right at the start and over allow. For example if you think you are going to do 12K a year sign up for a 15k a year lease. It is cheaper than paying penalties at the end.

Now I'm not saying that all leases are bad and leasing does makes sense to some people. Unfortunately a large number of people who lease have not done their homework nor do they understand what they are getting into. Everytime I buy a car the salesman at the end will say well if I can save you money each month leasing why won't you want to do it? They make it out to the average consumer that leasing is the better way to go hands down. As for the terms, the problem most people have is that the dealer suckers them into the 12k miles per year because it's cheaper. A large number of people who lease, not all, do it because of the lower monthly payments. The difference between a lease and a purchase is generally around $50-$60/month. Most of the buyers will not be interested in paying the extra $$ to bump themselves up to 15k+/year. Many of them think well I'm not going to keep this car nor am I ever going to just return it. The trap is that the buyer looks at the inflated residual value and think that their car is going to be worth around that $$ amount at the end of the term. Sadly the mileage is what's going to dictate that no matter what. I don't know about you but living in a large city like Dallas, I average 15-17k miles/year.

2. When you lease a vehicle, you really have to accept the fact that you are paying the depreciation over 3/4 years and never really own the car unless you buy it at the end (not recommended).

I agree.

3. Yes it is true, you could get upside down even with the lease but only if you try to get out early. If you see the lease through to the end, you will owe nothing and should be able to swop into another vehicle. Manufacturers will also very often have promotions that waive the last 6 months of the lease if you lease another new vehicle.

I agree here too but seeing the term of the lease through is half the battle. Keeping the car under the mileage agreement is the other half. This points back to the first point regarding mileage.

4. People who take out loans for 72 months but get bored of their vehicles after 36 should consider the lease.

72 months is a bad way to finance no matter what. I generally take 60 and pay the car off in 2 year or go lower for the special rates. If you have to finance 72 months to fit your budget then chances are you are in too much car.