Ideal candidate for a lease?

[eric.frederich]

Would a lease be a good idea for a first model year? If it's good you buy it at end of term, if it's a lemon or you have concerns you can walk away?

What do you think? My ultimate plan is to own the vehicle and make mods to it. I was just thinking a lease would be like lemon insurance.

I know there are lemon laws, but the same thing has to break 3 times. Wife went through it in the 90's with a Kia. Between the 4 doors she had 6 or 7 issues, but never the same door 3 times.

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[BillyHW]

I prefer the freedom of owning. Taht's just me.

 

[Covfefe]

Gonna be installing a $5,000 powered convertible top, so I can't.

 

[Armycop]

I would never lease a Wrangler because I start modifying them right away. Most leases stipulate that the car can't be modified from stock.

 

[WXman]

Depends on how extreme you go. I have leased both of my JKUs, and I immediately lifted them and put wheels and tires on them. Tinted the windows. Basic mods. What I wouldn't do is install a lift kit that requires modifying the frame, however.

There are a lot of misconceptions about leases. Unless you pay for the vehicle in full with cash, the vehicle is not YOURS regardless of lease or "buy". The bank owns it as long as you're paying on it. Leasing allows you to have a lower payment and trade more often, and you don't incur mileage penalties unless you turn the vehicle in and walk away in my experience. I drive about 18,000 a year. I turned my first JKU in 2 years early and got full payoff on the trade toward my new JKU.

 

[Tseg]

Rarely is leasing any vehicle a smart economic move. If one can only afford the total cost of a vehicle through leasing one should probably not get it if one is trying to optimize their economics. So asking about what Wrangler makes the most [economic] sense to lease, I would argue none. With that said, I leased for years when I was younger for the same reasons everyone else leases, and spent years making my $400 - $500 per month payment every month, year after year. Then I bought a vehicle, drove it for about 6 years, paid it off and put the 'payment' budget in my bank account for one of those years. My next purchase I did similar, but with my trade in, shortened payments a year and bought a more expensive vehicle. I then discovered the even greater benefit of buying a 1-2 year old used vehicle with low mileage (which is an easier proposition if one owns their current vehicle). Now that I'm in my 50's I have my loaded '12 Rubicon and my wife's '14 loaded GC in the driveway, both paid for, putting my $1K per month car budget in the bank, and the combined trade in value is probably approaching $50K. I now have a lot of options... but am thinking I'll buy an '18 slightly used Rubicon 2-door in '19 in the mid-to-upper $30K range, get over $20K on my '12 Rubicon trade-in which still has under 50K miles on it, and have a 3-4 year payment of under $500 per month and then own it outright. Of course, this is all without tapping into my car-budget nest egg in my bank account that has also been growing... but may throw $6K-$10K of that at the deal and look at a 1-2 year payoff.

Ultimately, life is short, and for many life is not necessarily about dying with the most money in the bank, so there is a place for leasing. But leasing, even for a 1st MY vehicle that come with a warranty, I cannot see being a good idea if the concern is optimizing economics.

 

[WXman]

Yeah there are certainly multiple ways to look at it. However, if you're spending over $400 a month to lease a Wrangler, you're getting ripped off. Wranglers have the highest resale value in the land. I personally have leased them new for $350 a month but lately I've seen deals down into the $289 a month range. That is the reason to lease. If, for example, you lease for 3 years and then decide you LOVE that vehicle, you can then finance the rest at lease end for 4 more years and have the vehicle paid off in a total of 7 years. Most people, from what I'm told by a friend who is a sales manager, are going for 6-8 year loans on a "buy" anyway. So in the end, it's a wash either way. But with the lease, you get the first few years at a lower cost and the ability to decide if you really love the vehicle enough to keep it long term or not.

The main problem though is inflation is out pacing income. Wranglers have been increasing 3% annually for a long while now, and the average household income in the U.S. hasn't exactly been following that trend. So it's becoming harder and harder for the average person to have a new vehicle. Ironically, this is also what's driving up pricing in the used market.

 

[CantThinkOfAHandle]

I thought about leasing, but then figured that, when I returned it, they'd probably expect it still to have some paint left on it.

 

[JHJLUR]

I would never lease a Wrangler because I start modifying them right away. Most leases stipulate that the car can't be modified from stock.

sure you can, nobody cares..you just have to return it to stock before returning it...I don't think heavily modifying a lease vehicle is the best/smartest option, but you certainly can....I mean you can't go throwing a HEMI in there, but lift wheels etc...nobody cares as long as its back to OG before return.

 

[ThirtyOne]

I don't think I would be more likely to lease a first-year vehicle than any other year. As far as "lemon insurance" - 3 years is a long time if the vehicle is a lemon and if you try to get out of a lease early it is less favorable because you have to make all the payments not just the principal.

So lease or loan is your choice, but I don't think year 1 should be a factor.

 

[JHJLUR]

I don't think I would be more likely to lease a first-year vehicle than any other year. As far as "lemon insurance" - 3 years is a long time if the vehicle is a lemon and if you try to get out of a lease early it is less favorable because you have to make all the payments not just the principal.

So lease or loan is your choice, but I don't think year 1 should be a factor.

I agree, a lease either works for you or it doesn't and I don't think year 1 makes any difference....it is worth noting though, if the lemon law applies to your car/jeep, financing it or leasing it you can still get it replaced etc...in other words your protections are the same, at least in PA.

 

[Jcsieman]

Rarely is leasing any vehicle a smart economic move. If one can only afford the total cost of a vehicle through leasing one should probably not get it if one is trying to optimize their economics. So asking about what Wrangler makes the most [economic] sense to lease, I would argue none. With that said, I leased for years when I was younger for the same reasons everyone else leases, and spent years making my $400 - $500 per month payment every month, year after year. Then I bought a vehicle, drove it for about 6 years, paid it off and put the 'payment' budget in my bank account for one of those years. My next purchase I did similar, but with my trade in, shortened payments a year and bought a more expensive vehicle. I then discovered the even greater benefit of buying a 1-2 year old used vehicle with low mileage (which is an easier proposition if one owns their current vehicle). Now that I'm in my 50's I have my loaded '12 Rubicon and my wife's '14 loaded GC in the driveway, both paid for, putting my $1K per month car budget in the bank, and the combined trade in value is probably approaching $50K. I now have a lot of options... but am thinking I'll buy an '18 slightly used Rubicon 2-door in '19 in the mid-to-upper $30K range, get over $20K on my '12 Rubicon trade-in which still has under 50K miles on it, and have a 3-4 year payment of under $500 per month and then own it outright. Of course, this is all without tapping into my car-budget nest egg in my bank account that has also been growing... but may throw $6K-$10K of that at the deal and look at a 1-2 year payoff.

Ultimately, life is short, and for many life is not necessarily about dying with the most money in the bank, so there is a place for leasing. But leasing, even for a 1st MY vehicle that come with a warranty, I cannot see being a good idea if the concern is optimizing economics.

Your post somewhat implies the only (or at least main) reason to lease is if you can’t afford it otherwise. There is also the low mileage person that doesn’t drive enough miles to justify owning a car until the wheels fall off. My wife and I (due to working from home, proximately of our home to work, and flying when we travel far) drive a combined less than 17k miles per typical year between two cars. Our cars depreciate as much from age as they do to mileage. For that reason, unless we plan on keeping the car for absolute ever, we lease. We bought her Lexus RX bc it is super reliable and is what we call the “Goldie Locks” car - just good enough in almost all situations. We plan on keeping that for 15 yrs plus as a main family car. Everything else, we have leased because, yes, it keeps the payments lower, but it also allows us to keep up with the latest and greatest tech/safety in new cars while keeping cars that keep up with our evolving lifestyle and without taking the “new car equity” hit.

I plan on leasing the new JL at first. If, after 3 or 4 yrs, the reliability isn’t where I want, our lifestyle needs suggest there is a better fit, or something else comes to the market by then that I like better (like a new Bronco or redesigned 4Runner) I will change it up without any questions asked. If I love the JL by then, I’ll buy the JL and work towards getting to your position of having two nice cars paid off. That’s the ultimate dream but, like you said in your response, I’m not trying to sprint to that position just to save a few bucks and die being worth a few more dollars.

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