Originally Posted by srt4evah

I think people really don't understand lease deals very well. I already showed how the numbers stack up.

With the lease deal you're guaranteed to be out $11,500 or so after 2 years if you don't want the car, and with financing you are going to be in the $10,000-11,000 range, depending on how good you are at selling cars.

If you decide to keep the car and pay it off, the lease deal will end up costing you a total of about $34,000 or so, and the financing around $32,000.

So with the lease, you're out $1000-2000 depending on what you do with the car, BUT at the same time for the first two years you are keeping an extra $3200-5200 in your pocket because the lease payments are much lower (hence why I consider the payments "deferred").

It's just a matter of personal preference, if you can handle the mileage limitations and don't plan to mod heavily, the lease is not THAT bad a deal. $1000-2000 more for the total cost of the car over 5 years versus having $3200-5200 in savings in the first two years, or $1000 more if you decide to walk away from the car, it's not that big of a deal.

You guys that think putting money down on the lease is so bad are not seeing the big picture, you are losing money REGARDLESS of whether you lease or finance, the car is depreciating just the same.

It just comes down to personal preference. If you think you might want the car for just 2 years, and you can live with the lease restrictions, then leasing buys you some peace of mind in that you can walk away. If you finance it then you have to deal with selling the car later, and you STILL lose about $10,000 in depreciation, maybe more depending on how bad the economy is by then... but the lease gives you a guaranteed cost.

For me, I'm planning to mod the engine, so I guess a lease is not going to work for me, but for anyone doing say basic bolt-ons or suspension mods only, and not sure they want the car beyond a couple years, this lease deal rocks!

Originally Posted by spooled_u

I'm pretty sure you still aren't seeing the point here. So let me break it down for you. The current GSR deal is $3788 down, $389/month for 24 months. Your total cost over 2 years is $13,124. $389x24/months+$3788. Okay, for a BASE GSR. BASE. No options! This isn't even including any taxes, depending on how your state handles leasing and taxes. Some states tax on full price, some on only the payments, etc...

That is a GARBAGE lease. Check out my lease.
0 money down. $443.57/month for 24 months for a total cost of $10,645. Guess what, I've got every option on my GSR. Fully loaded. Sticker for $40,102.
Mitsubishi is RAPING you on the down payment, RAPING you on the money factor. The only thing that is even semi-palatable is the residual.

So you pay 50 bucks less a month, BUT you had to shell out almost 4 grand, which you will never see again, to drive an inferior car.

So yes, that lease deal is a BAD deal because you can probably walk into any credit union or bank that does 3rd party leases and get a much better deal. Or just take the 0% for 60 months.

Originally Posted by srt4evah

No, the lease deal is $3995 and $289 a month. That's $10,931. You're looking the default Mitsu deal, but I'm talking about the South Coast deal I linked in this thread. Yes it IS for a base GSR, but there is no deal for a loaded GSR we're talking about. You got a great deal, but that's not available to everyone.

In the end, options aside, putting $4000 down and $289 a month is the same as $0 down and $447 a month, minus a couple hundred dollars.

You got a smoking deal there man, where did you get that? I'd go for that deal in an instant too! What's your purchase price at the end of the lease?

Originally Posted by spooled_u

My residual was 67%, so the purchase price at the end is around 26k. Bought the car from Don Herring in Irving and got the lease through Navy Federal, which coincidentally, has stopped doing auto leases as of October 31st, which really sucks.

But anyway, my point is that not very many people know that a lot of banks and credit unions do 3rd party leases. It's just like bringing your own financing. There is a better deal out there.