Leasing a car might sound less of a commitment than buying a car, except it is not. Leasing a car requires no less amount of preparation and strategic planning, and just like buying a car plenty can go wrong if not done correctly. Leasing has become a very popular option nowadays. CarIndigo helps the people in selecting the car for leasing pupose. People are choosing to do that not only for cars like the Chevy Tahoe, and the Chevy Trailblazer but even you luxury sedans like the Audis and the M cars by BMWs by the middle class and upper-middle-class alike.
Some of these tips may not be very known ones, but there are some key points before you even go through these tips. If you are not leasing the newest and greatest, make sure that you are at least never more than a few model years away from there. This way you will also be under full warranty, which is exponentially essential as you will not have to worry about big repairs; not to mention the maintenance cars will also be low.
After you have these covered, you are set up for more real savings which comprise lower upfront costs and similarly lower monthly costs over time. As mentioned before, these rules are the same for cars, trucks, and SUVs like the 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe, and the 2021 Chevrolet Trailblazer. Let’s get to the rest of these tips.
Negotiate the price
This is a mistake which unfortunately is far too common; people forget to negotiate the price of the vehicle when they are leasing. Instead of focusing on the capitalized costs, they focus on reducing monthly payments or lease terms, and unfortunately, they miss out on thousands of dollars of savings. Sure, there are some leases that are subsidized by the manufacturers so they have specific terms. But other than these, most leases you come across are fairly negotiable.
You should do your research to determine a fair price for the car so that you can use that as a platform for negotiating. At the end of a lease term, research the predetermined value of your leased vehicle. This is known as residual value and it will go a long way in protecting you at the end of the lease apart from lowering your monthly costs.
Understand the number of miles driven
Different leases have a different mileage cap, most of them have a cap at 12,000 miles yearly, which to be honest can be ticked off pretty quickly. Some leases have a higher cap, at 15,000 miles, and that also means they will have higher monthly costs. If you are not so much of a numbers guy and these calculations are puzzling you, for clarity’s sake you should just keep in mind that paying for the miles upfront will be comparatively cheaper than what you pay when you turn the car in.
It can be hard to believe but most dealers will actually pay you back for the unused miles when you pay for them upfront. Considering that you cannot buy extra miles after your lease begins so it is time to be realistic before you sign them, not after.
Gap insurance is important
It is an open secret among the minds that the minute you are driving the car off the lot, it has already depreciated, does not matter if you are buying or leasing it. As a matter of fact, most of the car’s depreciation happens within the first two months of the car ownership period. And then there are factors which can screw up your car, for e.g. if a tree falls on it, and it is time for some expenses.
In that situation, the insurance company might have a different worth for your car and you have to pay the remaining amount out of your pocket. This is where gap insurance comes to the rescue, it can pay for that difference in case you have to replace your car.
Maintain your leased car
It might be very tempting to not look after your leased car as you plan to walk away from it after a few years so you neglect minor bumps, dents, scratches, and overall maintenance. That actually can be a bigger mistake than you might think. At the end of your lease period, these negligences will be picked up in the post-lease inspection which happens quite usually and lessors may count that under excessive wear and tear to extract more money at the lease-end.
It is therefore strongly advised to take care of even the littlest of scratches in order to save yourself from the excess of charges when you turn your car in.
Longer car leases
The reason why people opt for leasing a car is that they have the option of turning the car in before they run into problems which can be faced due to normal usage like wear and tear with age, balding tires, failing brakes, and various other issues. This is why you will see most leases are in the two-to-three-year range since most of these cars have a bumper-to-bumper warranty for 3 years.
If you opt for leasing a car more than that period, however, like a 4-5 year period, you might have to solve those car problems without actually owning the car, which is an unnecessary headache. You can get an extended warranty but it does not make sense to pay extra for that. Keep your leases short and if you want to lease it for around 5 years then you might as well buy the car.
Bargain for your trade-in
Finally, if you’re moving from a car you own to a lease, you can trade-in your previous car. Just like when you buy a new car, it is important to bargain hard for your trade-in so that you can maximize your savings. Research well about the value of your so that you save some significant amount of money for your trade-in. As a pro tip, it is always better to negotiate a deal first and then bring in the offer of a trade-in and see the terms change immensely.
