Old Philosopher (salesman): "Welcome to Go Motors. This beauty is a work of art, isn't it?"
[And you DO expect to pay for fine
art, don't you?]
Miser (customer): "And how! But it's too rich for my blood. I'm on a fixed income."
[Man,
I'd look 10 years younger in this
baby!]
Old Philosopher: "All
the more reason to make it happen.
Seize the day, my friend. The two
saddest words in the English language
are 'what if.'"
[Why,
it's practically your patriotic duty
to buy this car!]
Miser: "I guess I might consider a lease if I could afford the payments. I drive across the state every weekend to see my grandkids. They'd sure think I was sporty in this."
[I'll
be a babe magnet at the early bird!]
Old Philosopher: "I'm sure we can keep those payments within your budget. We'll just extend the lease term to 72 months, give you the zero-percent financing instead of the cash rebate and dial back the annual mileage to 10,000. So how does it feel to be a luxury car owner?"
[Say
hello to my little friend, the "full-pop
lease."]
Miser: "As long as I don't have to break into my nest egg, I'd say it feels great!"
[I
wonder if it will blow my wig off?]
Where
she went wrong:
•
Poor Ms. Miser. For starters, she focused solely on her monthly payments and didn't negotiate a lower sales price. As a result, she could wind up with a "full-pop lease" based on 110 percent of the dealer's sticker price, the highest most banks will allow.
•
Extending the lease term is a technique dealers use to lower the monthly lease payment at your expense (in interest). And that zero-percent financing? It's almost always to your advantage financially to take the cash rebate instead.
•
Finally,
if Ms. Miser is trekking
across the state on a weekly
basis, she's going to burn
through well more than 10,000
miles a year and will pay
dearly for them (on average
between 10 cents and 20
cents per mile) in overage
at the end of her lease.
