thehammerdog

New Fiat that J-Lo drives in is Hot

thehammerdog

The DuffBag>>>>

https://duffbag.wordpress.com/2011/03...a-porsche-911/

rekmeyata

I'm not a fan of leasing, it's the same as renting a house or an apartment, you don't own it and you just pay interest on it, and if for some reasons you need to terminate the agreement sooner then the period you signed for you get hit bad. Insurance cost is higher on leased cars; you have limited miles you will be allowed to drive, anything over those miles you get hit hard for each mile over; any damage, regardless how minor will be charged against you at the end of the lease. You're building no equity by leasing; you're never stop having car payments; credit standards are higher then buying; you are not allowed to customize the car in the least bit; if you decide to buy the car at the end of the lease and take a loan to do so you're paying twice the interest you would have paid if you had bought the car when it was new instead of leasing it.

Car salesmen will paint a glorious picture of leasing because they make more commission on leased cars!!

Talking about BMW, don't forget they have a cool looking conv. sports car called the Z4. Definitely an eye catcher of a car, and guys will be flocking to you if you had one of those with a bike on the back...even without the bike on the back!! Nissan has the Z370 convertible that looks really sharp too that would be less expensive then the BMW both in terms of initial cost and repair costs. And Porsche has the Boxter that's not too bad as well, but repair cost are high.

I'm just throwing ideas out, not saying you should get one or the other, obviously you need to find a car that will fit your needs and brain sensory.

I think most if not all guys that see a woman on bike who looks like they've been riding awhile...ie physically fit in appearance, find them attractive...the bike's looks has nothing to do with that because the man has woman laser guided eyes that home in on the woman riding the bike...the bike is a blur!!!!!!!!

merlinextraligh

I don't think you can make a blanket statement that leasing a car is a bad idea. It's just another way of financing a vehicle. The rational approach is to look at your options and compare, with the basic options being pay cash, finance with a car loan, or other type loan, or lease.

All those options have advantages and disadvantages. Even the paying cash option has the downside of the opportunity cost of not beign able to use the money for other purposes and investments.

Whether a lease is a good idea is going to depend on your personal situation, as well as a number of factors in the lease including the lease factor (i.e. effective interest rate) the residual value, and factors outside the lease such as the rate of return on your investments, and the interest rate of available non lease financing.

And while I'd agree that leases can be a bad deal in many circumstances for the reasons you outline, there are times when the financing arm of the Auto Manufacturer is subsidizing the deal and the lease becomes the most attractive option, even ahead of paying cash, by doing things like providing an artificially low lease factor, or artificially high residual value.

Like any financial transaction, the answer is in the details.

pgjackson

OP, also consider that in a vert you are ALWAYS in the sun. Just driving across town can result in a serious sunburn. You will always be sweaty when you arrive if driving in Florida in the afternoon with the top down and typically verts cost quite a bit more. Just make sure you know what you are getting in to before making the plunge. Verts sound all romantic and cool, but they have a HUGE downside.

RichardGlover

I used to own a Sebring. It was a fun car, but had a lot of mechanical problems. I'd never recommend another Chrysler product to anybody.

DGlenday

On of the guys in my cycling club has a Fiat 500. He throws down the back seat, releases the front wheel, and the bike slides in - almost zero-effort. And he doesn't have a bike rack messing up the car's looks, aerodynamics, or gas mileage.

Missbumble 

Love the Audi TT!!! Maybe I will look at that (though i did want tolease and keep payment to $400ish...)

Missbumble 

Yes - asked to day - all they could think of was building an extension that would go very far out - 14-20" out from end of car...that t hing would be ugly! I leave the rack on all the time so I don't think tht will work.

mark1974

the best convertible in your price range would be a honda s2000. the porsche boxster is nice to but the s2000 is better. why would you choose anything else? it make no sense

Missbumble 

Surely, you jest!!?

mark1974

eeeewwwwwwwww, oh wait your one of those girls lol nevermind its good for you!

Missbumble 

Thanks those are excellent points...and I can be convinved to go with a non convertible...but I do definitley need to go for a more fun car than my very sensible - awesome family car - a Hyundai Sonata (2011......) so I arrived form Atlanta to Florida - and said time for a more fun car! I also get a ton of sun riding the bike...

mark1974

lol do u wear flip flops?

LesterOfPuppets

Smart Pickup. If/When it becomes available...

tcwayne

fify

rekmeyata

That answer you gave is typical of most peoples reaction to leasing. I gave an opinion not saying no one else should have one. My opinion is that leasing is a bad financial decision; just as I think that credit card loans are a bad financial decision, the same for cars! yes, I said even loans on cars is a bad financial decision unless you can get 0% financing. But I also don't believe in buying new cars either even if I got a 0% finance due to the depreciation of the car!! What can I say, I weird for having no personal debt...yes my home is paid for too...but a house loan is acceptable because it's nearly impossible to save money to buy a house outright.

LesterOfPuppets

Hahaha. Not exactly my cup of tea either. I like the idea but not the execution. The upper left concept drawing looks good to me, though. Reminds me of a Honda Del Sol.

LesterOfPuppets

+1. I find financing a car completely irresponsible. Leasing one is off the charts.

But people do both all the time, who am I to judge

Velo Gator

Your posts are silly.

pgjackson

Be sure to check your insurance also. Verts are a lot more expensive to insure.

mark1974

you and ur $5000 car are not cool.

merlinextraligh

Simple, personal, example where it make sense to have a car loan. We have 2 cars one is paid for, one isn't. The one that isn't is a Porsche Cayenne that's a Porsche certified used vehicle which came with a 2.9% interest rate.

I could have paid cash for it, but that would have reduced the amount of money I have to invest. Even in today's market I'm confident that over the life of the loan my investment portfolio will do substantially better than 2.9% so it would cost me money to pay cash for the car.

And before you say that interest on savings is currently well below 2.9%, that's not the right comparator. Because I'm always going to keep a set amount of money in cash savings, money for a car purchase ultimately reduces the amount available to invest, whether it comes out of asavings account or not, and the correct interest rate to use to assess the opportunity cost of the cash purchase is the total rate rate of return on a blended portfolio.

In simpler terms, if people, for marketing reasons, want to subidize my use of their money, I'm all for it. If they want to charge me more than my cost of funds, I'll use my own money.

So again you have to look at the cost of money for all your options, lease, conventional loan, or cash.

LesterOfPuppets

Of course you should compare over that 3-5 year window, some investments you have to look at a longer window than that to beat the 2.9%, but generally yes, at that APR it should work out for ya.

You should also factor in depreciation of course. That'll probably make it a wash in many good cases.

If you're about as happy with 3-year old car smell as you are with new car smell then you can typically make MUCH better deals when you offer cash money. I usually go for about 66% asking. Throw that on the table and if they balk I walk. I've had two dealers chase me down after doing so.

In most states you can also opt for cheaper insurance coverage for cars you own than you can for cars that a bank or other institution owns.

Missbumble 

Agree - I think some of it has to do with the residual cost... and looking at what happens over next say 3 years - as that us how long I would own it.... My plan likely would be to either sell at end of 3 years or turn in the lease - and get another car.... So I think you look at the money factor, Capitalization cost, and residula value and compare cost ot own the car or lease it for the three...

The back story is my last last car I had for 12 years (too long as too expensive to fix (SAAB)) and then I purchased a big Hyiundai Sonata in Feb 2011...moved to S Florida... and want to have a more fun car...although the Sonata is a great car.