OK, you've decided a lease might be good for you. And you've hammered out a deal. But before you sign, make sure you know the answers to the following questions:
Open-end leases are far less common. Sometimes called a finance lease, in this case you are doing the guessing. Your payments will be lower than a closed-end deal. In an open-end lease, the residual value is set, but it's only considered an estimate of the future value of the car -- hence open-ended. If at the end of the lease the car is not worth the estimated residual value, you pay the difference. Disagreements over that fair market value -- usually assessed by someone assigned to the job by the dealer -- can lead to some unwanted hassles.
In both cases, read all the small print. You may think you only have to pay certain charges at the end of a lease, but there is ample anecdotal evidence of people being surprised at additional end-of -lease payments. For example, did you agree to pay a "disposal fee,'' a payment you make when you give back the car? And be sure you understand exactly how the dealer decides what is "normal wear and tear'' and "excess wear,'' and get him to put it in writing. You can also re-lease the car (effectively leasing a used car with a whole new deal) or trade in any value left in it toward a new lease.