Malagos

Hi all,

My move to Nashville is progressing well, now comes the more exciting part...the Car lease. I have spoken to a few companies and have had some options, now I would love your opinions:

1) ExpatRide: the have offered me a lease and the best they can do is $679 p/m with deposit

2) International Auto Source: not great...although the numbers seem low they do not include tax, fees, tags or titles. They say I have to sign and agree before i arrive in the USA

3) Audi Direct: I have spoken to Audi directly and they have offered me a brilliant offer at $625 p/m as long as I can provide my offer letter, SSN (when I have it), Visa, Passport and other items of evidence (all of the above is easy to obtain and evidence).

Now although it seems like a "no thought needed" I wanted to check if I was missing a glaring hole...is there any reason I shouldn't take the Audi offer?

Regards

Malagos

michaeldc

Getting a car is something I'm worrying about to be honest. I'll need a car pretty much straight away but if I buy one then I think the insurance will be huge, renting one and the rates will also be massive. On day one I'll be trying to get my SSN but I hear it can take weeks for it to come through in the post and until I get that I can't go for my US drivers license so insurance is going to be a big problem until then. I figured a lease might be wise but I thought they lasted like 2 years? How long have you been quoted as a minimum lease time?

Very interested to see what you get so would appreciate hearing how things work out for you!

Bob

A lot of folks have used the second option and generally seem happy with it.

VW is another option.

I suppose it all boils down to what you want to drive.

Have you factored in the cost of insurance on whatever you're planning on getting?

Tax, well it depends on the state, not all charge one for a lease, or they have differing amounts. Tag/plate/title, usually aren't all that much and the title is pretty much a one off, as is the plate, probably figure around the $100 tops as for the tag/registration, check the DMV site if that's annual or every other year.

Bob

Your insurance will be shit for the first couple of years regardless.

Lease, you can get anything up to 5 years, but they're usually in the 2-3 year range.

Watch out for mileage and the return dings.

You'll not get the best advertised rates either way, due to no credit history.

cheers

I have a 39 month lease at $278 a month which is too high.
I plan on my next lease being about $150 per month.
My point is you are way high.

Mercury39

Doesn't that all depend on what the car is? The OP is looking at an Audi, so depend on model and spec their $625/m could be very reasonable for an Audi.

Malagos

I assume you are talking about my monthly cost...hopefully. We should maybe consider what car I am looking at before making that statement (yes I should have explained in first post).

I am looking at a brand new Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/ Tech Pack (roughly $45000-$48000) with a $3000-$4000 down payment. I would be shocked and jealous if you have the same car for the $278 ($150) p/m.

Thank you all for your responses. I will double check with the garage that the quotation accounts for no credit history. Although this is a lease under the Audi Business Expat scheme so I would assume it is factored in.

I have also allocated $250 p/m for insurance as I jnow it's very high in the USA.

Regards

Malagos

AdobePinon

There's also the obvious question about whether a lease is even the correct solution. I've never considered them seriously, in part because I average almost 30,000 miles a year. Your, ahem, mileage may vary.

petitefrancaise

Audi/VW have a very good ex-pat programme. I know people that have used them upon arrival in the US and got v good deals that they are happy with.
I know you're not interested but Mazda will also finance a car/lease for new ex-pats.
Both of the above companies provide their own financing, they don't rely on just US based banks/finance companies and so are prepared to look at your situation to make a decision without the need for a US credit history.
The downside of course is that you are limited to their respective cars. Doesn't sound like too much of a burden to the OP!

I have heard that international autosource will also provide a car once you are stateside too. Their rates are reasonable but still higher than a US based resident with a decent credit score will pay. Just as an example - OH is about to get another lease, the same model of car but the payments will now be $100 a month less since he now has good US credit.

Expatride - I hear less about them but people seem happy.

carlrush

I've been talking to International AutoSource as I'm not keen on leasing (usual reasons; mileage, dinks etc.) so would like to buy a used car.

Depending on age/model I could maybe stretch and buy outright but want to build up my credit score. They seem happy to loan at a good rate for a used car as long as I can evidence my employment.

Maybe worth considering. Also means if I want to change cars there's no lease to break and I've got an 'asset' I can sell.

Bob

Even if you can buy outright, try and get the car loan and then you have the option of paying most of it off at once and keeping a minimum amount on it for 12 months, such as $100. It's a good way to build up credit history, along with a secured credit card or a AmEx global transfer if you've had a UK AmEx for more than 12 months.

dj6372

I was always told getting a car loan was one of the quickest routes to credit, so far it seems to work, my credit is rising nicely, especially as I am doubling the payment each month. The only negative on the report is length of credit, not much I can do about that.

SpoogleDrummer

As others have said the big concern with a lease is the mileage allowance. My boss is one year in to a lease with 15K a year allowance and he's had to stop using it as he was way over. I don't live too far from Nashville, work fairly locally and work from home a couple of days a week but I still rack up about 15K - 20K a year between my vehicles.

nick.simpson19

a note of caution is that you do more miles than you did in the UK!

If you can lease over 36 months you will get a great deal! I was limited to 24 months!

Hyundai are good! only 36 months min contract
Kia are good! but only 36 months min contract

sadiigo

I went with 2 Audis on the lease from IAS last September. Your quotes range is about right. I have $700 for Q5 3.0 with $5k deposit for 36 months excluding sales tax. The tax is treated differently between the states. In NJ it is added to the monthly payments. You'll be paying to the dealer processing fees around $600 (registration, admin etc). You won't get any title, as the car belongs to a leasing company.


As far as Audi Direct offer is concerned you could check it with IAS as well. Both will be using the same leasing company VW Credit Leasing. It covers financing for Audi and VW.


Please bear in mind one important thing. You won't be able to get financing without physical SSN card present. This is a pre-requisite of signing the credit contract. Getting SSN might be delayed (anything between 3 weeks and 2 months). You'll have to make alternative arrangements to drive around. This is where IAS will help you as they provide FREE car rental for up to 1 month. This will save you between $1,500 and $3,000!


Your insurance estimate is a bit high. I pay $270 per month for 2 cars and 2 drivers.