Car Advice Anybody?

sgt244

sgt244

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Mar 15, 2010
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SO, I have a 2017 jeep grand cherokee leased for 39 months.

I have 1 year and change left on the lease.. Currently have 11,500 miles on it.

Will have around 18,000-20,000 miles on it by the time my lease is up.

I'd have a little under $16,000 in to it by the end of the lease.With option to buy for $18,000. --- Getting total up to $34,000 all-in (right around sticker price)

My question is. Is it worth it to buy? Or should I give it in and lease something else? Something cheaper maybe? like a jeep cherokee for around $250 a month? --- Are leases even worth doing again? Or is the best move to just buy my jeep out for the $18,000 at the end of lease considering the low mileage and great condition its in...(its been maintained very well)

To end I do love my jeep, and not really itching to get anything else. Just wondering whats the best move financially as I know cars aren't the best investments around (LOL) -- decided it would be good to get other peoples' opinions maybe some of you have more experience than I do with them.

Thanks!
 
Generally speaking "they" say that leasing then buying is the worst way to acquire a vehicle. I'm not that good at math but I get the point.

BUT, if you like the vehicle, you know the vehicle and how it has been maintained, and you avoid the hassle of new car shopping, I don't think its a bad thing.

"They" also say to buy a used car to make someone else pay the depreciation. My problem with used cars is that I have always had some kind of problems with them which has soured me on buying them. Buying somebody else's problem is more like it. Since you know your vehicle's history, you know whether it has any problems.

I also drive over 20,000 miles a year so leasing isn't a reasonable option so I really haven't looked into it in a long time.
 
I've had older jeeps and they are great... But I avoid them like the plague these days. I would never buy one.
 
Mo2 said:
I've had older jeeps and they are great... But I avoid them like the plague these days. I would never buy one.
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Lol, I’ve had mine for 2 years without any issues, care to embellish?
 
I would seriously consider buying it if it continues good service. You know the vehicle. That is a big deal with a "used" vehicle. Leasing is almost always a bad deal if you have any other choice.

20K is pretty low mileage after 39 months.....

One should look at it's value at the time the lease is up and make a decision.

Jeeps used to be U-joint eaters. I assume they have resolved that problem.
 
I've been involved in the sales and parts facets of car business for years, so I'm going to leave some general advice out here when it comes down to leasing:

1- Never, ever venture into a dealership by telling them as to what monthly payment you are looking for! NEVER!!! Whether leasing (more important in leasing cases) or even financing to buy.

2- Research two very important factors when it comes to leasing a vehicle:

A- Residual Value or R.V
B- The money factor or the M.F... If you want to figure out the APR equivalent of the M.F, just multiply that number by 2400 and that's your effective APR.

The money which you put down and / or the MSRP discount which the dealer is offering goes toward the reduction of the price which you have negotiated which translates to Capitalized Cost Reduction or Cap Cost Reduction. However the MSRP also remains an important factor in the lease agreement because the R.V is based open the MSRP and NOT the price which you pay based on the Cap Cost Reduction.

3- Put down as little as possible because it is a big mistake in my opinion to put down several thousands of $ when doing in a lease, but the less you put down the more your monthly payments! The reason I always do a ZERO down is because if the leased car is totaled / stolen / lost, your downpayment is also Bye-Bye in most insurance settlement cases! Note that $0 down doesn't mean that you get the key to the car and walk away without writing a check! Normally at the very least you will have to pay for the 1st year DMV fees plus the first month payment collected upfront as lease payments are paid in advance as opposed to regular financing which become due in 30 days or so (most lenders usually allow you to adjust the due date once to sync with your income deposits). This payment is know as drive off not the downpayment.

There are ways to determine as to whether it is better to buy or to lease. In some cases leases are great if you can write it off in addition to when the manufacturer is basically offering you a deal where they are begging you to take their cars off their hands. You will never get a great lease deal when it comes to very popular and sought after models of a certain make.

Good luck.
 
Casinostocks Casinostocks you sound very knowledgeable about car buying!

I’ve always gotten cars 2nd or 3rd hand from fussy owners who lived in arid climates (so no surprises or premature rust.) But if I had to find something today, I don’t think I’d know where to start.

What do you do? Do you have a system? How do you get started? (Go for the make and model? The dealer? The price? New/used? Lease? Cash? Payments?) any references?)
 
annr said:
Casinostocks Casinostocks you sound very knowledgeable about car buying!

I’ve always gotten cars 2nd or 3rd hand from fussy owners who lived in arid climates (so no surprises or premature rust.) But if I had to find something today, I don’t think I’d know where to start.

What do you do? Do you have a system? How do you get started? (Go for the make and model? The dealer? The price? New/used? Lease? Cash? Payments?) any references?)
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Thank you for the kind words.

A few things which I do NOT do:

Try to lease a new model because most often, the R.V and the M.F are totally crap! In fact, if you can live with the last year of the model which is about to change (not to be discontinued) you can get much better deals specially if you don't care to buy it at the end of the lease, but some people just love paying because they are the "early adapters".

If I lease, I usually end up buying that car at the end of the lease because I tend to lease Japanese which in most cases end up with a market value in excess of the agreed residual value, i.e, I will have equity in that vehicle. I tend to keep the cars which I lease up to 10 years, meaning 7 years in addition to the initial 3 year lease! I often drive it for 5-6 or even 7 years and then pass it down to someone in the family. All that said, I normally just lease Hondas and Toyotas, but then again these are not everyone's cuppa!

As far as buying a used car, yes sure but I will just have to find that little nugget which was owned by a picky pr*ck such as myself and only if then, I don't mind paying up a bit more ;)
 
I might pay too much attention to Consumer Reports about cars, but Jeep pretty consistently ranks in the 10 least reliable car brands on the market. Lots of time in the shop and money spent on repairs. Personally, I would look elsewhere.
 
Casinostocks said:
Thank you for the kind words.

A few things which I do NOT do:

Try to lease a new model because most often, the R.V and the M.F are totally crap! In fact, if you can live with the last year of the model which is about to change (not to be discontinued) you can get much better deals specially if you don't care to buy it at the end of the lease, but some people just love paying because they are the "early adapters".

If I lease, I usually end up buying that car at the end of the lease because I tend to lease Japanese which in most cases end up with a market value in excess of the agreed residual value, i.e, I will have equity in that vehicle. I tend to keep the cars which I lease up to 10 years, meaning 7 years in addition to the initial 3 year lease! I often drive it for 5-6 or even 7 years and then pass it down to someone in the family. All that said, I normally just lease Hondas and Toyotas, but then again these are not everyone's cuppa!

As far as buying a used car, yes sure but I will just have to find that little nugget which was owned by a picky pr*ck such as myself and only if then, I don't mind paying up a bit more ;)
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Thank you. Good to know!

We went from used Volvos (pre-1990) to used Toyotas, and I think we would probably stick with Toyota (Avalon and Highlander).

You’ll appreciate this I bet: the 10
y/o Avalon has a white or light-colored leather interior. The fussy owner hand sewed clear plastic covers for the visors (fit like a glove) so that you would never get fingerprints or dirt on on the visors. The car had oriental rugs so the carpet was like new. It drives better than any new rental car according to someone in my family. So they are out there, just not on demand.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
I might pay too much attention to Consumer Reports about cars, but Jeep pretty consistently ranks in the 10 least reliable car brands on the market. Lots of time in the shop and money spent on repairs. Personally, I would look elsewhere.
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It's a good thing to pay attention to any consumer report but not to take 'em as gospel! As far as the pros go, you ought to know that manufacturer's give the pro testers a huge amount of incentives and freebies so again, take everything with a grain of salt. The best testament is what has been tried and proven and sadly many domestics have reliability issues, Jeeps in particular and can be pricey to service / fix. When it comes to many domestics, best to look for lightly used where the dreaded depreciation has taken its toll already. For instance, I luv the look of the new 2019 RAM trucks but will never buy them new, nah!
 
For those who may be interested in leasing, try to sign up / register to Edmunds and depending on the make / model, ask the Mods over there to provide you with a quote on the M.F and the R.V of th make/model you may be interested in just to verify the veracity of the dealer's numbers given to you. You can also type in the deal structure you are offered and ask if you are getting a good deal just to be sure that the dealer is not giving you fuzzy math!
 
For me, consumer reports best serves me to teach me what to look for or test. Often I find I disagree with their ratings.
 
Thanks for all of the replies. At this point it's looking like I'll buy it at the end of the lease.
At just $18,000 it would definitely be a good deal, rather than trying to buy something else for the same amount..(which would get me something older and with way more mileage) -- like a 2015 with 45,000+ miles whereas my vehicle will have less than 20,000 and is a 2017...
Closer to that time I'll reassess and see if anythings changed but for now, it's really an easy choice at this point..... Thanks guys I appreciate the feedback.
 
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