[MDXON]

Hi all,

I am soon to be a first time MDXer and am super excited. The price I have got in Canada is $300 over invoice for the Navi model and am now figuring out the leasing terms prior to picking it up. Here are my options:

36 Months: $400 bi-weekly, $30,600+tx residual
48 Months: $370 bi-weekly, $26,300+tx residual

What do you think makes more sense if I can afford either payment and am not sure if I am going to keep the car at this point.

Weather I keep the car will depend on what cars are out there once I am done with this lease. I used to keep cars for 6-8 years but feel like technology is changing so rapidly these days.

On a side note, added options over the price of car are: front and rear parking sensors (~$1k) and lease guard (~$1k)

Thanks so much

 

[theXman]

It does not make sense to keep the car at lease end, because the residual usually is high. Which is good for leasing, the higher the residual, the lower the financing amount would be, that helps lower the monthly payments. If you plan to keep the car, you should consider buying it instead of leasing it.

In terms of 36 vs 48, it really depends on how often you'd like to upgrade. Some people get tired of their cars quicker than others.

Again leasing is not for everybody, some people believe it does not make financial sense to them. So it has its pros and cons.

 

[kareshi]

Ask yourself if you want to pay $4400 to lease it for another year.

You should see the 4th gen MDX after 36 months, and you may want to switch. I would go for the 36 months lease.

 

[mdxstang]

I'm stating the following since it looks like you haven't leased before. You've likely already thought of much of this but I'll post it anyway.

Make sure you know what you're getting into when you lease the vehicle. Leasing is usually the most expensive way to own a car, i.e. more expensive than buying outright, but they present it in a way where the numbers appear to be attractive. Car companies have teams of financial people come up with the numbers in a way where the car company won't lose money on these lease deals.

It's best to do the math yourself and compare leasing to buying in an apples to apples way. Think of it as just renting a car, which is what it actually is. You need to add up all the costs for the duration, including the money down, etc., have a realistic understanding of the penalties if you go over on mileage or incur other costs due to dings, etc., and figure out what that vehicle cost you for the 3 or 4 years you had it realizing you'll have nothing to show for it when the lease is over - i.e. you own nothing. Also make sure you understand any early buyout options in case a year or two from now your desires or situation changes.

Be sure to accommodate the 'bi-weekly' versus 'monthly' since there are 26 bi-weekly payments in a year versus 24 'twice a month' payments a monthly payment plan would have. It's a way to squeak more money out and make it appear more attractive to someone who's not paying close attention to the math.

I've always just purchased my vehicles because the math on leasing has never shown to be attractive. I realize a lot of people, including some posters here, lease but I look at it as a simple math situation. I do also keep my vehicles for a long time - usually a minimum of 6 years but often much more and I don't make car payments so I don't have a mentality that I'll always be making a monthly payment.

If it seems too expensive at the end of the math it probably is too expensive and you should buy something else - a used MDX or some other similar but less expensive vehicle. Moreover, it's best to pay cash or not buy it but I'll get off my soapbox.