Car Leasing - Lease and Mileage; Inter-Related or Not
Before you jump into the foray and sign the
car leasing papers, there are many
questions to be answered and understood. Although there are many benefits of a
car
lease, one should give deep thought before making a decision. To jump into an
auto
lease without due consideration, you might be causing unnecessary unhappiness and
financial pain.
Car lease contracts are mostly written to discourage and even prevent early termination. Hence,
be really careful and read the fine print. It is very important that you have a stable lifestyle
and a good job to negate the possibility of a
car lease termination. It won't
be possible to end an
auto lease early if you want to. Ending a
car
lease before time is one of the most common problems people face.
Many times the
car lease contracts limit the number of miles you can drive
the vehicle to 10,000 to 15,000 miles per year. If you happen to exceed your limit, you will be
slapped with excess mileage charges at the end of the
auto lease. Sometimes
additional miles – if you know you will be driving more - can be bought up front when you sign
the lease at a lower per mile cost.
Some people have an opinion that they should never lease a car if they drive a lot of miles.
But it is not the case and it is ok to do that. When you are
leasing a car you
are actually paying for its usage. So if you use it a little you will pay less; if you use more,
you pay more. Think of this possibility: If you happen to buy a car and drive it 60,000 miles when
you negotiate for it, that would be less than the same vehicle driven only 30,000 miles.
What we are trying to say here is that you should select the miles that match your driving habits
closely when leasing a car.
Always be careful to look at mileage stipulations when shopping for a
car
lease. For Canadians, the kilometer allowance would be most often 24,000 km. They would be
charged excessive kilometer charges but they vary for people in the US.
Look at websites like
Autobytel.com,
Autoweb.com,
CarSmart.com,
Edmunds.com and
LeaseTrader.com that will help you find more
information about the types of leases and the cars available under each. Get useful quotes from
sites like
Autobytel.com,
Autoweb.com,
CarSmart.com,
Autos.yahoo.com and
SwapaLease.com, etc.
Keep in mind before
leasing a car that the vehicle should have no more than the
average mileage for the car. A high-mileage car would not make a good
car leasing
deal. You may refer the table given below for maximum mileages:
- 1-year-old vehicles – 15,000 miles
- 2-year-old vehicles – 30,000 miles
- 3-year-old vehicles – 45,000 miles
Also, when you are planning for used
vehicle leasing, use the following guideline
for the length or the term of the
car lease:
- 1-year vehicle – 24/36/48 months
- 2-year vehicle – 24/36 months
- 3-year vehicle – 24 months
In no case should you go for a
vehicle or car lease that is more than 3 years old.
Most of the usable value of the vehicle would be depleted by that time. Moreover, the cost benefits
of car leasing would also disappear. If you want a car or a vehicle for more than three years,
buy one, don't lease it.
