Lease or Buy a Cayman?

[450knotOffice]

What do you guys think? My wife is in the market for a Cayman and we are entertaining the notion of a Lease. I've never leased before and am curious what you folks out there think about it.

It'd be through Porsche. The terms would be five year lease and 15K miles/month. Total drive off is $4,135.

Opinions please.

[scottmandue]

I'm a financial moron but I'm smart and lucky enough to be around people who are very savvy when it come to money (successful business owners, investors) and as I remember when I asked they all told me that unless you can use it as a business write off it's a very bad deal.

YMMV

[89911]

A 5 years lease is a looooong lease in my opinion. I know the advantages and disadvantages of leasing, I'm leasing one car and own my other two. The whole problem is that you have no other options to get out of it, none, for 5 years. I don't know about you, but 2-3 years on a car and I'm already looking.

[89911]

There has got to be some coming up that are used. Check a high line dealer like MB or BMW. Buy the car used and take a 5 year payment. Chances are it will be close to the lease, it won't depreciate like a new car, and you can always sell it. And they will show up. I've seen plenty of Elise's showing up. Once a hot car ages a bit, that person is on to the next thing.

[gassy]

How much would the monthly payment be? Seems like the $4100 out the door you'd be dropping would be a nice down p on a used one.

[450knotOffice]

Thanks for the info guys. I didn't know that we'd be stuck with the car for five years with no recourse.

[Hugh R]

Yeah, your stuck with that total of five years of payments. If you want to "Trade It In" for another lease, they load onto the new lease what you owe on the old one.

[pwd72s]

Car leases are proof that P.T. Barnum was right...

[David]

You can always sell the car. We bought a car from an individual that was on a lease. They actually had a little equity after two years and we paid $1000 less than private party value. I should have asked how much they put down.

When ever I've done the math it's been cheaper to buy the car and sell it in a few years. You pay a bit more per month, but you build equity much faster. Kind of like a 15 year mortgage vs a 30 year.

[HardDrive]

5 year lease!!!! Why get locked in for 5 years? What if she hates the car and wants to dump it after 2 years?

[Don Plumley]

It's just math. A lease is a financial transaction, it either makes sense for you, or it does not. The primary benefit of a lease is the ability to write off the lease expense to offset income versus depreciating an asset -- i.e. the lease payment is more than depreciation allowance. This is complicated by the artificial residual value established by the manufacturers to push certain vehicles off the lot. But it is still just math.

Despite this, the primary reason most people lease is it enables them to get more car for the same monthly nut. So for the same payment as an Accord, you get a Mercedes. Which causes most buyers to ignore simple facts: Leases cannot (easily) be broken, exceeding the annual mileage limit is quite costly, and you do not (typically) develop any equity in the vehicle. You are renting the car.

[CurtEgerer]

It's a no-win situation, really. Lease, traditional financing, cash - they're all losers. The depreciation is insane these days. 3 years from now a $65K Cayman is just another used car that you can't give away for $25K (unless you've got a 100K mile bumper-to-bumper extended factory warranty). This is true of all new cars. The risk of an off-warranty electronic or mechanical problem on these cars has killed the resale market. I've sworn off of buying any more brand new sports cars.

[450knotOffice]

I'm learning from you guys.

[motion]

Nice problem to have, Scott!!! Leases are great under certain conditions. For example, its next to impossible to sell a used car these days. A short term lease with a low drive-off payment and low monthly payments can make a lot of sense. Low out-of-pocket expenses & just walk from the car after 2 or 3 years. Try selling a 2-3 year old car. Good luck.

[450knotOffice]

I just remembered that I've got a book that details leasing and it's pro's and con's. I need to find it.

[id10t]

Only way a lease would make sense to me is to buy into a long lease with just a year or so left on it. Finish off the lease payments/time, and if you still want to keep the car, buy it at a decent used price.

[89911]

Leasing is not always just for "fools". In fact, something like 75-80% of most high-line car are leased. Sure it cost money, but to have a new car every 2-3 years and walk away from it is a price many don't mind to pay. Nothing about owning new sports cars makes financial sense anyway.

[89911]

Originally posted by id10t
Only way a lease would make sense to me is to buy into a long lease with just a year or so left on it. Finish off the lease payments/time, and if you still want to keep the car, buy it at a decent used price.

Your paying sales tax twice, once included in you lease payment, the second when you go and buy the car again. Believe me, I've been down this road.

[jyl]

Can't you get your wife to consider a Boxster w/ hardtop? A 2-3 year old Boxster will be sooooooooo much cheaper than a new Cayman. Unless your wife is Maria Andretti, the Boxster will be just as fast and crisp-handling a car (you could even get an "S"). There's late-model Boxsters out there that are gorgeous, have been babied, look like brand new, for well under 1/2 the price of the Cayman. Does she really need the reptilian hatchback? Doesn't the convertible have some appeal, given you're in SoCal?

[Jims5543]

I leased my Audi against everyones recomendation.


I will NEVER lease again. Ever.

If you cannot afford the car, do not buy it. Sorry to sound harsh but I am yelling at myself in the mirror every day for my moment of stupidity.