Car Lease - Arizona
#31
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 197
Re: Car Lease - Arizona
Little update on what we got in the end after arrive in October.
Got all the information from Expatride and IAS. IAS were very pushy in me trying to sign before we arrived, but with the house sale not going through until the end of the year, the downpayments were just too expensive for me.
So i messaged a few Ford dealers in arizona. After a few emails back and forth i got confirmation a deal could be done. Got my SSN sorted, bank account sorted then went to the dealer.
Got approx for a ford explorer XLT, wife wanted big wheels which sent the price higher. Downpayment $2500 (includes everything incl first month) Monthy payment: $525
But...Ford wouldn't approve me for two lease's. So the IAS option was beginning to look good.
Ford put me in touch with Honda, i ended up getting approved on a Honda Accord Sport at $1500 down, monthly $396 per month. a Honda CRV was coming out at $325. I went with the Accord Sport as its the same size as the Audi A7.
I also got approved very quickly at Nissan FYI.
Insurance is a killer, $360 a month for both vehicles.
Got all the information from Expatride and IAS. IAS were very pushy in me trying to sign before we arrived, but with the house sale not going through until the end of the year, the downpayments were just too expensive for me.
So i messaged a few Ford dealers in arizona. After a few emails back and forth i got confirmation a deal could be done. Got my SSN sorted, bank account sorted then went to the dealer.
Got approx for a ford explorer XLT, wife wanted big wheels which sent the price higher. Downpayment $2500 (includes everything incl first month) Monthy payment: $525
But...Ford wouldn't approve me for two lease's. So the IAS option was beginning to look good.
Ford put me in touch with Honda, i ended up getting approved on a Honda Accord Sport at $1500 down, monthly $396 per month. a Honda CRV was coming out at $325. I went with the Accord Sport as its the same size as the Audi A7.
I also got approved very quickly at Nissan FYI.
Insurance is a killer, $360 a month for both vehicles.
We first got an Edge Sport when we moved over early this year. A Honda Accord decided to drive into us the other day and write it off. Now have an X3 M40 in its place As a total petrol head ive spent a long time understanding leasing over here. A good rule is to try and get to the 1% rule. So if list is $50k, then try to pay less than $500 a month.
Your deals dont look bad for a first time lease over here. We certainly didnt do any better. My guess is you could probably have cut about $75 off each if you knew all the tricks, but thats about it.
As you say Insurance is a nightmare here. Hope it starts to come down after 6 months, but it seems some like you to have a US license for a year first.
#32
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 25
Re: Car Lease - Arizona
Cheers for the message.
Yeah i worried as we only got one lease sorted with Ford, they couldn't do the second car. So even at Honda it took 3 tries to get me through on the Credit.
Because we have no credit we start at Zero i guess.
i did try and push the dealers on price, but on the explore we went for the more expensive kit! MSRP was approx $43k
Honda accord was only MSRP $30k
Yeah i worried as we only got one lease sorted with Ford, they couldn't do the second car. So even at Honda it took 3 tries to get me through on the Credit.
Because we have no credit we start at Zero i guess.
i did try and push the dealers on price, but on the explore we went for the more expensive kit! MSRP was approx $43k
Honda accord was only MSRP $30k
#33
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 25
Re: Car Lease - Arizona
IAS doesnt give good prices as you have found out and is a backstop for people that struggle to get credit direct from dealers.
We first got an Edge Sport when we moved over early this year. A Honda Accord decided to drive into us the other day and write it off. Now have an X3 M40 in its place As a total petrol head ive spent a long time understanding leasing over here. A good rule is to try and get to the 1% rule. So if list is $50k, then try to pay less than $500 a month.
Your deals dont look bad for a first time lease over here. We certainly didnt do any better. My guess is you could probably have cut about $75 off each if you knew all the tricks, but thats about it.
As you say Insurance is a nightmare here. Hope it starts to come down after 6 months, but it seems some like you to have a US license for a year first.
We first got an Edge Sport when we moved over early this year. A Honda Accord decided to drive into us the other day and write it off. Now have an X3 M40 in its place As a total petrol head ive spent a long time understanding leasing over here. A good rule is to try and get to the 1% rule. So if list is $50k, then try to pay less than $500 a month.
Your deals dont look bad for a first time lease over here. We certainly didnt do any better. My guess is you could probably have cut about $75 off each if you knew all the tricks, but thats about it.
As you say Insurance is a nightmare here. Hope it starts to come down after 6 months, but it seems some like you to have a US license for a year first.
they keep mentioning the residual value on some cars. so even though they were cheaper say to buy outright, the leasing cost worked out higher.
#34
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 197
Re: Car Lease - Arizona
thanks again for the information its good to know. plus any tricks / tips you can share would be great. I'm sure we will lease again. being a novice over here, i was just glad to get approved on two cars, with minimal down payment and still come in under budget.
they keep mentioning the residual value on some cars. so even though they were cheaper say to buy outright, the leasing cost worked out higher.
they keep mentioning the residual value on some cars. so even though they were cheaper say to buy outright, the leasing cost worked out higher.
#35
Just Joined
Thread Starter
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 25
Re: Car Lease - Arizona
I did write some stuff up on here before, but two good sources to see what people are paying are leasehackr.com and edmunds car forums. You should get a good idea on discounts, rebates and interest rates (Money Factors). Dont beat yourself up over what you paid, ive seen a lot worse on forums. Our Edge was $44k MSRP and we paid $525 for 15kmpa and $3k down. I might of got that down by another $50, so it still wouldnt of made the 1% rule, but it was high spec so that didnt help. In contrast our $45k F150 XLT is $285 a month with $2k down and only a 2 year lease. I'm starting to learn
If our UK house had sold and completed before we came out, then that would've given us the cash to be a little more flexible. So the least i could put down the better. I get some $340 back each month from the company, so that almost pays for the Accord Sport
#36
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 197
Re: Car Lease - Arizona
Just under a year here. Cars in the UK like the Audi S3's BMW M240's, Audi RS3's suck when it comes to leasing here, yet in the UK are great. In contrast main stream saloons which depreciate like crap in the UK have great lease deals here.
I also thought trucks would be expensive, but residuals are incredibly high and manufacturers throw big rebates at them. Seems a crowded and competitive market place. The Toyota Tacoma is known to lose the least value across cars and trucks.
I also thought trucks would be expensive, but residuals are incredibly high and manufacturers throw big rebates at them. Seems a crowded and competitive market place. The Toyota Tacoma is known to lose the least value across cars and trucks.
#37
Re: Car Lease - Arizona
Tacoma is a great truck. Probably not suitable when leasing, but can definitely be tricked out by the DIYer.
#39
Re: Car Lease - Arizona
Then over to EV the Tesla is popular too, but would be locked into their monopoly on car maintenance.