pvmike1

Yeah, but realtors often drive their clients around, so there is some justification for spending on luxury. Most of us are only driving ourselves.

KA8

iTrader: (1)

I'm studying now to become a realtor eventually. Does that mean I need to lease an expensive vehicle when I become one? I'm not the type of person who is into the whole 'image' thing. I'm actually quite the opposite. I drive a 91 300zx because I like it and I don't really care what others think.

If I need to drive some clients around I'd buy a hyundai or something. LOL

VorghenRiz

I just returned my leased 2005 Acura RL at the beginning of August and let me say, that's not a car I'd want to keep out of warranty. I had numerous issues with the car including the A/C going out at 40k miles and I shudder to think what it would cost out of warranty. In addition to that, the value of the car tanked horribly and I couldn't get anywhere near the residual. Leasing in this case, worked out AWESOME, as the car is now the dealer's headache.

Exactly. Historically, the Japanese luxury marques have had much better deals when it came to financing and getting discounts. In my experience, it was always easier to get a Lexus, Infiniti, or Acura dealer to come down in price versus BMW or Mercedes. Also, in contrast, the Europeans have historically had a better money factor making leasing more attractive than financing.

Of course, now with the downturn in the economy, the Europeans are feeling the pain from subsidizing their leases, increase cost of raw materials, a glut of used cars, and sinking residuals, so now everyone's moving towards financing (i.e. BMW offering 0.9%). And recently, I think I read somewhere that Toyota has now surpassed GM as the largest auto financing company in America.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

trust me you don't want to use that car to drive your clients around. it's not a MUST to have a prestige car to bring your clients around, but hard fact is sometimes it makes a difference. some of them just like to be in a ML350 than a sienna or rav4

newr

Sometime leasing is better than buying and vice versa. It all dedends on the situation.

Making a blanket statement like "Leasing Gives You a Car You Couldn't Afford to Buy" is just down right uneducated... or in another word... stupid..

rominl

iTrader: (4)

whole heartedly agree. i do think some people lease coz' they can't afford the car and just want to "reach" there, but there are also quite a lot of people who can afford to buy whatever they want, but leasing are better options for them

mmarshall

Drive a client around in an 80K BMW or Mercedes, and that client is going to know who is helping to pay for it.

KA8 has it correct.

ST430

You could get that 10% off 7 years ago when i bought my LS430 new...

mmarshall

I understand where you're coming from, Henry, but have to disagree. There may be a few clients who feel that way, but in most cases (see my post above), they are going to resent knowing that the money for that "prestige" car (whether bought or leased), was financed by a big fee or commission; yes, out of that client's wallet.

That is especially true of today's tough real estate situation.....a lot of potential clients are mad enough at market conditons as they are, and in no mood to fool around with excessive agent fees.

LexFather

I agree leasing is better in some cases but c'mon yall, these rates are insane. Are these cars truly desirable is no one wants to KEEP them and OWN them?? We are talking 70-80% lease rates here!!!!

Some of these cars are not for business either, the RR or 6 series for instance.

What surprised me was Audi, as their lease deals are not typically as attractive as BMW or Benz.

I agree that the article heading is a blanket statement but there is much truth to it. You can lease some of these cars for the financing price of maybe a loaded damn Accord or Camry!!

mmarshall

Well, as far as keeping and owning them go, the typical lease term today is 2-4 years...and I've heard of some newer, shorter 1-year ones as well. A lease is certainly not a lifetime commitment to keep or own it.

As you point out (and I agree), a lot of people simply plunk down the "outrageous" lease money because it is still cheaper by the month than buying, and they don't have the hassles of trading the car in or trying to unload it on someone else if they get tired of it.

Oh, and, of course, it lets them keep up with the Jones'.

-J-P-L-

Aside from all that, people aren't foolish enough to waste tremendous amounts of money to fix this Euro junk after the warranty ends after the typical lease period. So they lease and keep vehicles only within warranty.

So it's interesting that people know about the problems associated with owning German cars but still need that image and prestige and therefore proceed to lease.

While reliable high quality Japanese cars receive the full investment from customers who PURCHASE their cars.

Actually, most business people such as a Realtor use cars such as Camry's, Accords, Impala's, and Taurus's to escort clients around. They don't want to be too flashy as that can be a turnoff for many people.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

m5, m6, cls63, e63, do i want to own them after warranty? no way... so leasing is our ONLY OPTION

if i were to own something (like a suv or minivan), then toyota, honda, lexus

Faymester

I think there are 2 types (in general) of people leasing cars

a - the ones that cant afford the car but are trying for the image anyhow (i cant stand these people)

b - the ones that don't want to deal with the car when it gets older and can afford anything they want but a lease is easier because it just goes away (i love these people)

you can usually tell which of these two catagories the person falls into based on which car they leased


that said, i would probably never buy a german car (only lease, re: your post just above, rominl)

dunnojack

so many posers who don't really have the money to buy a 7

..... like those people who slap on $5000 wheels, and then remove them to put them on their next leased car