UNDERSTANDING HOW LEASING WORKS:
Let’s say you pay $30,000 for a car, you drive it for three years, and then you go back to the dealer and trade it in. The dealer gives you $18,000 back for the trade-in. With these numbers, it cost you $12,000 to drive the car for three years. Wouldn’t it be easier if you paid only $12,000 in the first place? -- That’s what a lease is. You only pay for the amount of the car you use.
In this example, you used $12,000 of the car’s value in three years. Excluding interest, the monthly lease payment would be $12,000 divided by 36 months, or $333/month. The finance payment would be $30,000 divided by 36 months, or $833/month. Your payment would be $500/month less with leasing.
Ask us to show you the numbers on the vehicle you're interested in. We'd be happy to show you different options.
REASONS TO LEASE:
#1 - Lower Monthly Payment
The deals are almost always better on leases. The biggest advantage to leasing is that monthly payments will cost less compared to financing the same vehicle. Of course, (as shown in the example above) that’s because someone financing the car is paying for the whole car, while leasing only pays for the cost of the depreciation of the car during the time you have it. Check out our monthly Lease Specials.
#2 - Lower Cost of Ownership
If you generally keep cars for less than ten years, and if you drive 12,000 to 15,000 miles per year, you could save thousands of dollars by leasing a Subaru rather than buying one. Consider what happens when you buy a car. First of all, whether you pay cash or finance, you pay for 100% of the car. In the example above about “How Leasing Works,” you pay the full $30,000 for the car. Secondly, vehicle maintenance can be expensive when you have to start replacing brakes and getting new tires, etc. Compare our Service Center to some of our competitors to get an idea of how expensive Front Brake Pad Replacement can be.
With leasing, you have to pay for normal maintenance such as oil changes, but one of the major benefits of leasing is that you never have to pay for the more expensive maintenance costs. If you drive 15,000 miles per year, your lease ends with only 45,000 miles on the car. You never have to pay for the service at 60,000 miles, 75,000 miles, or 90,000 miles. Check out our Maintenance Schedule Lookup to see what is required at different mileage intervals. You should save well over $1,000 just on normal maintenance compared to buying.
In addition, with leasing, you should never even have to think about replacing parts that wear out, such as shocks, struts, CV boots, fuel filters, or platinum-tipped spark plugs. If you buy the car and drive it 15,000 miles per year, at the end of six years, your car will have 90,000 miles on it, and you will likely replace all of those items. You will spend at least two to three thousand dollars more replacing wear items on the car if you buy the car rather than lease it.
#3 - Less Prone to Surprises
As noted above, the cost of maintenance on a new vehicle is far less than a vehicle older than 3 years (we're using 3 years here because that's the average lease term). Everyone buys a Subaru because of their reliability and longevity. That doesn’t mean that they never break down. Vehicles have to be well taken care of to stay in tip-top shape. If that's not for you, it's better to lease. The first three years of a car’s life is its "prime-time" and bigger issues tend to show up after that time, meaning you don’t have to deal with it.
If you have young children, a newer car is much less likely to break down on the way to day-care, school, or soccer practice. If you have older children who are still at home and driving your car, a newer car gives you more peace of mind that they will get home safely for curfew.
#4 - Technology and Safety
Your leased car will have the latest safety and technology features. One more compelling reason to lease cars is that, because you are getting a new car every three years or so, you are also getting the newest safety features, the newest design features, and the newest technology. This is very important for keeping your family safe. And if driving a new car matters for your business or even for personal enjoyment, leasing makes more sense than buying used.
Safety features such as collision avoidance and blind-spot detection weren’t available even a few years ago. Now the Eyesight system is an option on most Subaru models. Learn More about Subaru Eyesight. Back-up cameras used to come only as part of navigation systems. Now all Subaru have them as standard equipment. Maybe a back-up camera and Bluetooth are not compelling reasons to go out and buy a new car, but if you are saving money anyway, wouldn’t you take them?
For more benefits of leasing or to determine whether leasing or buying is right for you, ask a Sales Consultant. We'll help to determine what the best option is for your unique situation.
