[JBinSD]

I know inventory is pretty scarce to begin with. I want to get another 'Maro before they kill it, but the lease option is intriguing to me as well. The low-mile lease for LT-1's has a pretty good MF and RV; I'm wondering if trying to lease now, with the option to buy out at the end, is a good strategy.

Just checking to see what others have done in the leasing arena.

Cheers.

[The Chief (tm)]

You can probably run the numbers reasonably well.

For the most part you'd know what your monthly lease payment is, depending on your down payment, for however long is the lease term.

You'll know the residual value, so you could whip up a matrix of monthly payments for a loan afterwards, based again on any money down, length of term, and interest rate, for when you would actually be buying the car. Of course you'd have to have a fairly wide range of rates to tee up as part of the generated estimate, or a crystal ball.

I will tell you this, and it is not merely my opinion: when I worked as a salesman -- er, "Sales & Leasing Consultant" for a very successful, high-inventory BMW dealership, it was generally accepted that leasing a car, with the intent to purchase it at the end of the term, was NOT the financially prudent approach. And that was back when you could deduct the heck out of lease payments and what have you.

YMMV.

[MKF27]

Originally Posted by The Chief (tm)

You can probably run the numbers reasonably well.

For the most part you'd know what your monthly lease payment is, depending on your down payment, for however long is the lease term.

You'll know the residual value, so you could whip up a matrix of monthly payments for a loan afterwards, based again on any money down, length of term, and interest rate, for when you would actually be buying the car. Of course you'd have to have a fairly wide range of rates to tee up as part of the generated estimate, or a crystal ball.

I will tell you this, and it is not merely my opinion: when I worked as a salesman -- er, "Sales & Leasing Consultant" for a very successful, high-inventory BMW dealership, it was generally accepted that leasing a car, with the intent to purchase it at the end of the term, was NOT the financially prudent approach. And that was back when you could deduct the heck out of lease payments and what have you.

YMMV.

There’s a huge difference in leasing a BMW and leasing a Camaro. Residual value being the biggest factor considering how much the value of BMWs fall off. I was a “sales consultant” for 7 years at a Honda dealership where leasing came back with great rewards considering before the end of leases for Honda you would already have equity. It’s even more rewarding if you’re rolling negative and you want a way out in a shorter time frame. I’m a business manager now for a dealership group and I tell people it’s all about what makes sense for the consumer considering their short term and long term goals and the vehicle they are getting. Not every leasing situation is the same. I ordered a camaro a month ago and I’m going to consider all options. It’s a great way to avoid the crazy APRs that are out there to get back into things in a few years when the market as flipped back to a better financing field of choice. It just needs to make sense.

[The Chief (tm)]

No disagreements -- all needs to "make sense", and there are a ton of variables that would go into the math. And maybe the biggest contribution to whether it's a "good" idea or a "bad" idea is that residual value, a high one of which makes the lease payments lower and look great, but which means higher buyout cost later.

And as you mention, of course the situation would vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, and even from car to car. In the case of the BMW's I remember the residual on the 7-series cars were terrible -- in the 50% range -- but on the 3's and 5's it could be in the 70's.

Considering all out-of-pocket costs, back then anyway, you could usually lease two cars, for two three-year terms, for the same amount it would cost to buy a single car, and fully pay it off, in five years. So you'd have the newest thing, twice, in that span, always under warranty (warranties typically longer these days though), compared to one five-year old car.

Folks would say, yeah, but at year five I *own* the car, and certainly that was true. But soooo many people came in to trade in their "old", five-year old car the *moment* they made that last payment. So what had they actually "owned"? Nothing. And in doing so, they almost literally "made the argument" for leasing.

Again, fer sure, check the numbers, do the math, see what makes sense. The inputs are "fixed" WRT the initial lease $, and the buy-out price; then it's running a range of car loan interest rates to see what might be the monthly cost later on.

[WhiteMale]

I considered it because I'm a leasing guy, works great for me as I do low miles and take super good car of my cars. I always liked the ability to walk in and walk out at the end of the lease. When I started leasing how ever it worked itself out it was cheaper month to month than a loan.
Every car I leased was a different leasor(?) and/or car manuf and every one of them was different in the lease end process but I never once had a bad experience.
I like to use a car for 30-36 months and then be on to the next one. I never had a car that was out of factory warranty, and never had to do more than basic operator maintenance, either. A few oil changes, an air filter here and there was about all.

[CamaroRSOnt]

Leases probably make a lot of sense in a ZIRP environment but now with carrying costs in the 6-8% range on cars the math might not be so friendly. Anytime you pay for a car monthly , lease or not interest comes to bear on that monthly amount

[The Chief (tm)]

White Male, you're The Guy that leasing works great for, and it was much the same in my case also. I was fortunate enough, just after my time with BMW, to be able to afford to start buying them, instead of selling them, and I leased my way through an M3, 540i 6-speed, and M5. (Also a Jeep Wrangler 6cyl.)

I, like you, put very low miles on the things, and thanks to that, and favorable residual values, I was even able to buy out and then immediately sell two of those at a profit. (Can't count on that working every time though.)

But as MKF and CamaroRSOnt point out, you've *really* gotta look at the numbers hard.

Thing here is, looking like it will truly be the last of the Camaros, then you're probably gonna want to hold on to it 'cuz there just won't be another one for you to swap into, in 2027/whenever. In which case that high residual value, being shown on lease terms now, works against you when you go to buy it at lease end. OTOH one would imagine that interest rates will have moderated somewhat by then. (See? A lot of math.)

Good luck with the decision.

[JBinSD]

I am taking advantage of the low-mile lease on the LT1. It has an inflated residual of 71% for a 24 mo. lease. I figure it will protect me, since if the market is softer is 2 yrs, I can walk away and buy another car, or negotiate down. If they increase in value, I can buy the lease out at a fixed price on a car that I have possessed since new.

I do usually get tired of a car around 2 years, but I had a 2SS vert for 3.5 years, sold it, bought a Tesla, and immediately regretted it. Now I'll have both, and can make an informed decision after 2 more years. Maybe not perfect logic, but I need me a droptop V-8 manual again :-).

[The Chief (tm)]

Beauty!

[455Rocket]

I just leased a new LT1, got it $2000 under sticker, put $2600 down, payments $480 for a 2 year lease. Not that great compared to what you could get them for a year or two ago but I'm ok with the deal. Was looking at one of those 4 cylinder Silverados but test drove a camaro and decided I needed a little excitement in my life. I think the lease puts the purchase price around 32k at the end of the 2 years but highly doubt I would buy as the payments would probably be even higher than they are now. I went with the higher payments on the 2 year lease, would rather pay now than being stuck 3 or 4 years with the economy and gas the way its going.

[JBinSD]

Sounds like a good deal. I took advantage of the 2 yr lease as well. The vert had a 71% residual which must be subsidized. My buyout is about $33k on a fully-loaded LT1, but a similarly-appointed 2SS would have been $12k+ more, and didn't have the lease incentives. I'll buy if I love it or leave it in 2 years. Seems like a win-win with them stopping production.

[455Rocket]

Originally Posted by JBinSD

Sounds like a good deal. I took advantage of the 2 yr lease as well. The vert had a 71% residual which must be subsidized. My buyout is about $33k on a fully-loaded LT1, but a similarly-appointed 2SS would have been $12k+ more, and didn't have the lease incentives. I'll buy if I love it or leave it in 2 years. Seems like a win-win with them stopping production.

That's great you did the 2 years also and yes the SS payments would be way more than I would ever be willing to pay for a car, $480 is pushing it for me. I guess with the inflation and everything the days of low lease payments are over though, I heard people were getting LT1s for like $300-350 a year or two ago. My mom was able to snag a Trax for $190/month a year and a half ago, the salesman said the same car would be at least $300 now.