carbuff

I posted in March 2010 that I had purchased my 2008 leased SC430. At the time of purchase the odometer read 4,200 miles.

The dollar figures involved in my ownership of this fine car might be of interest to members of this forum.

Two Year Lease (through LFS) $30,221
After Lease Actual Purchase Price $36,064

Arizona Title and License Fee $ 843
Hartford Automobile Insurance $2,200

Kelley Blue Book Values at time of my March 2010 purchase
Trade-in Value $38,050
Private Party Value $40,935
Suggested Retail Value $44,635
Certified Pre-Owned Value $45,785

JohnnyCake

I have never really understood leasing. At the end of your lease you bought it, meaning that you paid $66,285 for the car all together?

carbuff

Yes, that is correct.

Here is the entire picture: Until leasing the SC430, I had purchased new cars during the past sixteen years. When I decided to move from a sedan to the SC I did not know if my wife and I would like this smaller convertible. By leasing and being to get out of the lease in two years if we did not like the SC, I would be dollars ahead of buying the car. I could also benefit by keeping the cash difference from what we paid in two years to the total price of the car.

The dealership close by to my home would not budge from $67K for the purchase. His leasing arrangement would be based on that $75K. The monthly payments were beyond what I was willing to pay on a monthly basis.

I contacted a broker in another state and got the SC on a lease based on a value of $60,500 rather than the $67K in my own state.

Last month as the lease period ended, neither my wife or I wanted to get another car. We love the SC!

We bought it and still ended up paying slightly less for it then if I had bought two years ago from my local dealership.

I have no regrets about anything experienced in this matter.

VVTiBob

Congrats... sounds like you made the best decision while applying some very wise analysis for your situation. Hope you enjoy the car for years to come.

Yes

i don't think that was necessarily a bad deal. but you did pay a premium price for a used, albeit low milage, sc. if you had bought it outright, you probably could have bought a new sc for that price.

carbuff

I may have misunderstood your meaning about "new".

I leased the SC brand new off the boat. I am the one who put the 4,200 miles on it. As far as I am concerned, it was new when I got it, new when I drove it and "used" only in name when I ended the lease and actually purchased it.

Best of all, I have first-hand knowledge as to how the SC has been driven and serviced from the beginning to this very moment in time.

Yes

i thought you meant it had 4,200 mile on it when you leased it. but since it was new, you probably paid about the same as if you had bought it to begin with. you may have been able to get a little better deal, dealer invoice was just under 57k, but that's not too bad.

IStoSC

^yea seemed to be about the same as paying for all of it right off the bat when it was new...but I guess the OP had more money in the bank for some time rather than just dishing out the dough up front? IF anything carbuff you should have had them CPO it so that you could get an extra three years out of warranty...

scdroptop

iTrader: (1)

I like what carbuff did because it made sense to NOT own it new and take the tumultuous hit on depreciation all our cars take in the first three years PLUS he could walk away if his wife didn't like it in a couple of years.

Even better, as he has noted, he couldn't find a better, more maintained lower mileage 2008 with 4k miles on it...I've never seen one that low and I look at cars all the time! He knows the entire history...no stories, knows who has been in the car, type of driving, paint work, service, pets, smoke, etc all the stuff that dealers hide or that you DON'T know. Hell, I think he is AHEAD of it all in the end...even at the $66k price.

Value is a relative term...one of my good physician friends one time told me how he sets patients expectations about all medications, but especially tough diseases to treat...

He says instead of rapid firing his opinion when a patient comes back after being on the medication/treatment, he asks, "how do YOU think you are doing" and it's amazing what percentage of people say that they are doing well, generally speaking.

Same thing with getting a good deal...perception IS reality. $66k may not seem like a good deal at face value, but AT THAT TIME it certainly was and in the end the lease terms and buy price, in conjunction with the history/mileage on the car makes it an even sweeter deal IMO.

Bravo again, carbuff. They say to NEVER buy your car you leased, but I know of several people in addition to you and myself who did it and were extremely happy with the value.

JasDmw

Happen to know where there is a 2008 right now; about 1000 miles (yes it's a US car in Canada). Deal not that great though; $62,900.00 CDN! Check out Autotrader.ca; easy to find.

Yes

considering you can buy a 2010 for about the same price, that's not much of a deal. if you're financing, you'll get a better rate on a new car. so you'd likely pay less for a 2010.

carbuff

A friend suggested that I check State Farm Insurance to compare prices with my insurer (Hartford). I did and also checked Geico.

The Geico price was within a few dollars of Hartford. State Farm was less than HALF of the Hartford price. I switched to State Farm and am now paying $1,054 per year for the same coverage that Hartford charged me $2,200 per year.

The lesson I learned is to not assume one's traditional insurer remains competitive but instead to check and compare each and every time a policy renewal date comes around.

My thanks to my Texas friend for wising me up.

IStoSC

^excellent to know

Bon

An option at the end of a lease is to private sell the car rather than turn it in. I've done it twice and ended up with money in my pocket each time. I've also done what carbuff did and bought the car because I liked it and knew how it was driven and maintained.

TooCoolSC

What I've found is that I might be able to find a company that will insure my car for a tad bit less than the company I'm currently with. But you have to look at the big picture.

My favorite car insurance companies over the years have been Geico and Progressive. I especially liked Progressive because they give you significant savings if you completely pay for your policy up front. I think it was a 10-15% savings, so it was substantial. They also didn't mess with silly discounts, like giving you a better rate for defensive driving. They just had good rates. But then, like all companies, they started creeping up on me. Every 6 months my rate would go up a little, until I finally realized that I was no longer getting the best deal.

I have wondered if most all companies give you a teaser rate when you first call and get a quote.....just to get you to go with them. Then, when you do, they will start jacking the rate up. That's been my experience with ALL car insurance. So the secret is to switch around every couple of years, IMO.

However, I've found that the absolute best deal is when you combine your car insurance and homeowners insurance with the same company. Having both with the same company gives you a significant savings on what you pay for both.

Currently, I have both my car and homeowners with State Farm. My car insurance is coming up and I have called 3 different companies for quotes....just to see what they will offer. They are all fairly close. But when I add the homeowners into the equation, no company has been able to beat that combination. And every year I stay with State Farm, it results in a greater discount for each successive year.

So all that is to say.....I think for most people, the best deal is going to be combining their car and homeowners with the same company. You might find better deals separately, but the bottom line is what you pay for both. When you have both with the same company, you get additional discounts for both home and car, and those additional discounts are what makes the difference in the overall price.