Hi there
Is it quite common for someone to lease a car on a personal lease contract over say 12 or 24 months rather than buying a car on finance in the USA? The reason I ask is I am not sure I want to purchase a car outright as soon as I arrive in the States (NC) later this year and so like here in the UK I was thinking of leasing a new car, on monthly payments for a preiod of time.

Do most dealers do this? or not really the thing to do in USA?

Leasing is extremely common in the US. Every auto dealer in your area in the US will have a multitude of leasing options.

We have never leased a car here, so can't give you personal experience, but most dealers have lease programs available, from what I see on the commercials, it looks like you have to put a sum up front before the lease starts and then pay a smaller monthly payment, than you might get with a loan for a new car (to buy) Then after a couple of years, you have to pay another lump sum on completion of the lease.

There are a couple of threads about this, you can find them in the search engine, there has also been mention of a website where people that have cars on lease, want someone to take over the lease and continue their contract.

I'm sure you will get more informed answers on this soon, but to answe your question, yes leasing is available here.

The question is whether you'll have the option of leasing without a credit history.

Best bet is to buy a good used one while you build up your driving and credit history OR use an first time buyer's auto loan to kick start your credit history.

Audi, Merc and BMW all offer "global executive" schemes for expats - you need to provide letter of employment, visa, SSN etc. Interest rates are not as good as if you are a USC. The term will not exceed your Visa expiry date.

I got a loan from BMW finance after only 4 weeks of being here with no credit history, they also offered me lease terms.

Do you mind telling us what sort of rates you were offered? Assuming you don't have any special perks or privileges? Thanks.

They were offering 0.9%, however that was based on being a normal consumer. I got 3.9% as part of their expat scheme. Term was 24 months.

In my personal opinion,its always more expensive to lease or finance a car then to buy it on cash. On lease or finance they want you to insure the car from the best insurer (reputed insurance) and there are too many fees involved.Many people in US initially drive rental car for few months until they are able to buy their own car.

I was thinking of renting a car as such for a few months but that looks like an expensive options. Renting a normal sized car will be about $200-250 a week I have seen....so will be about $1,000 a month. I am assuming leasing will be cheaper a month than this? Or is that not the case?

Thanks.

A local Toyota dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) recently advertised a Corolla lease - $2K down, $150 per month. Dealerships often have "sign & drive" deals as well - no money down. How easy it will be for you to qualify for good lease terms as a new immigrant is another question. If you search the forum you'll find that car leasing has been discussed many times.

Thanks Bill_S. This is the kinda thing I was looking for... if there are such deals where you pay an amount down then just pay monthly payments and return the car at the end of the period.

Yep, that's basically how it works. 24-month lease is X dollars per month, 36-month lease is Y dollars, 48-month lease is Z dollars. There will be a mileage allowance as well, usually about 12,000 per year. If you go over on the miles there will be a steep charge when you turn the car in at the end of the lease period. So if you go for a lease, be very realistic about how many miles per year you will be driving.

Thanks for the tip. Will look into it. Do most auto dealers offer these deals..or is it companies that specialise in Leasing cars that offer these deals?

To my knowledge, most auto dealers offer a lease option. It's not a specialized field.

Rene